decoded_text stringlengths 4.18k 47.6k |
|---|
Disney World attraction competitors and make sure to order your favorite March Magic team’s t-shirt to show the world your support.
Posted 2 years AgoVolkswagen sales in the UK have fallen by 9.8% amid the diesel emissions scandal, official figures show.
There were 13,970 VW registrations last month, compared to 15,495 in October 2014, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
Seat and Skoda sales - two other VW brands - were down 32.2% and 3% respectively.
But other manufacturers also saw declines as for the industry as a whole fell by 1.1%, the first drop since early 2012.
This suggests the emissions crisis has not hit VW sales particularly hard yet.
Vauxhall sales were down by 16.4%, Nissan by 12.9% and Mitsubishi by 11.9%.
But year to date figures for the UK industry are up by 6.4% compared to this time in 2014.
SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes, said: "The UK car market has gone through a period of unprecedented growth and, so far, 2015 has been a bumper year with the strongest performance since the recession.
"As expected, demand has now begun to level off but the sector is in a strong position, as low interest rates, consumer confidence and exciting new products combine to attract new car buyers. The current full-year growth forecast remains on track."
VW admitted in September that it fitted sophisticated software to cheat emissions tests for nitrogen oxides in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide, including almost 1.2 million in the UK.
It set aside 6.7 billion euro (£4.8 billion) to deal with the controversy, and chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned.
Earlier this week the scandal deepened as VW revealed it had found "irregularities" in carbon emissions which may affect 800,000 vehicles.
Luxury brands bucked the overall year-on-year trend, with Aston Martin sales up 40%, Bentley up 29%, and Porsche - part of Volkswagen Group - showing a 20.7% rise.
A motoring expert claimed the SMMT figures for Volkswagen were probably caused by industry conditions rather than the diesel scandal.
Jim Holder, editorial director of magazines Autocar and What Car?, said: "I think it's more about a slowdown in the industry as a whole.
"Volkswagen's main rivals Ford (minus 8.8%) and Vauxhall had about the same fall.
"I think (the emissions crisis has) undermined confidence and it will have an effect but I think it will be short-term as long as VW don't continue making headlines every day."
Mr Holder added that the 1.1% year-on-year fall is not concerning for the motor industry because it means there is a focus on "profits over volume".
He said: "Manufacturers have been pumping cheaper cars into Britain because of the strength of the euro, but they were not very profitable deals.
"Recently the discounts have been getting smaller and smaller.
"From the dealers I have heard from, they are not at all disappointed at today's news. They see this as good news because they will make better profits.
"We're strong enough to take a step back and concentrate on profits over volume."Famous movie quotes as if written by a proper Englishman
“We must acquire a larger vessel.”
- Jaws
“I’m growing impatient with these malevolent slithering reptiles on this bloody aircraft.”
- Snakes on a Plane
“Toodeloo you ghastly miscreant.”
- Die Hard 1,2,3,4
“Please remove your simian appendages from my person, you unwashed gorilla man-thing.”
- Planet of the Apes
“There is a herptile in my western footwear!”
- Toy Story
“I shall return.”
- Every Arnold Schwarzenegger movie
“I am now fully versed in the combat stylings of “Kung Fu.”
- The Matrix
“I do wish I could cease committing acts of sodomy unto your delightful buttocks.”
- Brokeback Mountain
“My dearest apologies Captain, I have configured this vessel to it’s maximum efficiency. Alas, if you wish me to attempt to defy the laws of physics, I shall increase my efforts.”
- various Star Trek movies and episodes
“Does Marsellus Wallace match the appearance of a female canine? Then why is it, good sir, that you are attempting to have coital relations with him, as if he were a female canine?”
- Pulp Fiction
“I do not believe that is an orbiting planetary body, but in fact a massive facility constructed exclusively for use in space.”
-Star Wars: A New Hope
“Oh dear. I do believe that when we dined on this soylent green, the main ingredient was in fact human beings. In its defense, twas better than English food.”
- Soylent Green
“I say to thee honestly milady, I am an indifferent.”
- Gone With the Wind
“It’s an elaborate ruse!”
- Return of the Jedi
“Miss Scarlett, I regret to inform you that I am uneducated in the field of obstetrics.”
- Gone With the Wind
“Fare thee well, infant.”
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day2013 Darwin Awards Honoring Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool--by removing themselves from it in the most spectacular way possible.
Some Finnish 2013 Darwin Award Winner
Confirmed True by Darwin
Around 6pm On A Friday Night The 24- And 27-Year-Old Men Were Both In The Garage With Their Antique Weapons Collection. The Older Man Had Finished Defusing A Grenade And Was carefully removing the payload. The object of his attention was not a smAll Hand Grenade But Rather A Large 75-Mm Anti-Tank Grenade, 42 Centimeters (17 Inches) Long! Ironically The Attempt To Render It Harmless resulted in the opposite outcome. In the northern town of Kemi the peace of the garage was shattered by a small explosion. The man holding the grenade died in the ambulance, and the other survived with serious injuries.
In the aftermath of the explosion 200 people within a 150-meter perimeter surrounding the garage were evacuated to a school, and then dozens of kilograms of explosives were safely removed by the Peräpohjolan Police Department. Evacuees returned to their homes with gratitude for their lives. If more war weapons had been set off in a chain reaction then there would have been victims and damaged buildings up to 300 meters away from the garage!
Thankfully it was not a full detonation; rather than explode the old explosive material combusted and burned. Since no bystanders were injured, this is a wonderfully apt nomination for Darwin Award plus Honorable Mention. "In Finland you do not disassemble bomb, bomb disassemble you." ORIGINAL SUBMISSION
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Arsene Wenger had a touchline ban for Arsenal's first match against Udinese © PA Photos Enlarge
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will again have to sit in the stands for Wednesday night's crucial Champions League play-off tie at Udinese after UEFA handed him a further two-match touchline ban.
Wenger passed messages on to one of his coaches while serving a ban for the first leg at Emirates Stadium. And despite Wenger claiming he was told by a UEFA official this was allowed, European football's governing body have come down hard.
Arsenal have already stated their intention to launch an appeal on their official website.
It means Wenger will be banned from the touchline for the second leg in Italy and also for Arsenal's first group game - be that in the Champions League or the Europa League.
UEFA started disciplinary proceedings after he was seen to be communicating with first-team coach Boro Primorac against Udinese.
Wenger has expressed his frustration at the lack of clarity over the situation having apparently been informed by the governing body that he would be allowed to speak to Primorac during the match.
A statement issued by UEFA on Monday read: "The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has suspended manager Arsene Wenger from carrying out his duties at Arsenal FC's next two UEFA competition matches.
"Today's decision was taken in relation to the Arsenal manager not abiding by the decision of the Control and Disciplinary Body during the English club's UEFA Champions League play-off game against Udinese Calcio last Tuesday, 16 August. Wenger is therefore suspended for Arsenal's second-leg match against Udinese in Italy on Wednesday and then the next UEFA competition fixture for which he would be eligible.
"The Control and Disciplinary Body has also decided to fine Arsenal €10,000 for improper conduct by its officials. An appeal may be lodged against these decisions within three days of the dispatch of the reasoned decision.
"Wenger was serving a one-match suspension, handed down after Arsenal's UEFA Champions League game at FC Barcelona last season, in the Udinese home match. The UEFA Disciplinary Regulations stipulate that a manager may not communicate with his team during a fixture for which he is suspended and may follow the game from the stands only."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.Various vigilante groups in Istanbul are threatening repercussions if a Pride march takes place on June 26.
Kürsat Mican, the head of the Anatolia Muslim Youth Association, told officials, “don’t make us struggle with these [people]. Either you do what’s necessary or we will. We will take all the risks and we will stop the march.
“We definitely don’t want them to walk naked on the sacred soil of our country in the blessed month of Ramadan,” he went on. “We are issuing a warning and we are not responsible for what will happen after this point.”
Of course, it’s important to point out that he doesn’t speak for the majority of Muslims, any more than the Rabbi who stabbed people at Jerusalem Pride speaks for all Jews, or the KKK represents all Christians.
Another group called The Alperen Hearths issued a statement promising similar violence: “the Alperen Hearths, who are the representatives of the people, will perform their duties on this soil which was passed to us from our ancestors. Our reaction will be very clear and harsh. Things they are mocking us by ignoring our values in this holy month.”
Was that a typo in the last sentence? A mistranslation? Either way it’s hard to miss their meaning.
It’s unclear if the march will go forward at this point. At least one politician, Republican People’s Party Deputy Chair Selin Sayek Böke is trying to calm the situation. “We are monitoring this,” she said. “We must all live together with our differences.”
Last year’s Pride in Istanbul was marred by a police crackdown that included rubber bullets and water cannons fired at marchers.
It’s a harsh reminder that violence in the United States may be rare and traumatic. But internationally, it’s a much more frequent problem. Russia in particular has seen massive protests and assaults against LGBTs simply trying to peaceably assemble. It’s more important than ever to talk about why Pride matters, and the lessons that Stonewall has for those still oppressed to this day.The verdict is in... again! Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen. This is not earthshaking news or even news, but apparently Congress felt it was worth a million of your tax dollars to confirm what has been a scientific fact for nearly a decade: formaldehyde causes cancer; so said the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2006.
Federal government scientists at the interagency National Toxicology Program produce the biannual Report on Carcinogens, the government's official list of chemicals that are "reasonably anticipated" or "known" to cause cancer in humans. They make those determinations through a painstaking process that includes reviews by independent science advisory boards and multiple opportunities for public comment by a full range of stakeholders. In 2011, the 12th Report on Carcinogens (RoC) listed formaldehyde as a "known human carcinogen" and styrene as a "reasonably anticipated human carcinogen," another chemical listed by IARC, this one in 2002.
Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, the chemical companies that produce these two dangerous chemicals objected to the report's conclusion. Instead of taking responsible measures to protect the public and their workers from exposures to these chemicals, they went to Congress to try one more time to find scientists who would give them the answer they wanted. And Members of Congress, who receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in election contributions per year from the chemical industry, including the Koch Brothers, capitulated and ordered a whole new report re-investigating the safety of formaldehyde in the 2012 federal spending bill.
As a result, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was contracted to review the RoC findings on formaldehyde, as well as styrene, which NTP had concurrently noted as reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen. The cost to you and me? Two million taxpayer dollars. So we paid once for highly qualified non-biased government scientists to review the scientific evidence on the hazards of these chemicals; then we paid the NAS again to say "Yup, you were right!"
This chemical industry boondoggle demonstrates just how hard it will be to get the industry to change course and commit to making safer chemicals. For years, the industry PR machine has tried to spin the story that chemical makers really want to update the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the nation's chemical law, and bring it into the 21st century. But actions speak louder than spin. While professing a desire for change, the industry is fighting to keep two well-known cancer-causing chemicals churning through our economy.
Cancer-causing formaldehyde and styrene are ubiquitous in our environment and in products we use every day. Styrene is the building block of polystyrene, used to make Styrofoam food and beverage containers, coffee lids and more (look for the recycling code #6, often with "PS" below it). Formaldehyde is used in numerous consumer products, including furniture, construction materials and hundreds of cosmetic and personal care products where it is used as a preservative. In fact, the hair straightener Brazilian Blowout was found to be 5-12 percent formaldehyde, and caused acute harm to consumers and salon workers alike. Yet that level of formaldehyde -- which rivals the amount embalmers use -- is perfectly legal.
The ineffectiveness of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was made clear after the agency wrote the makers of Brazilian Blowout a letter politely asking them to stop using formaldehyde. The makers refused to change the formula, and the FDA lacked regulatory authority to force them to do so. So Brazilian Blowout with dangerous levels of formaldehyde remains available to consumers, despite serious health risks. And the FDA is a paper tiger, powerless to take action on serious threats found in cosmetics and personal care products. And that's just the way chemical and cosmetics industries want it--with them firmly in control of calling the shots on what's safe and what isn't, regardless of what health experts and government scientists know to be true.I’d appreciate the ability to choose how I receive value per post and vote.
I’d appreciate an internal exchange to manage my zappl assets. Personally, I want to receive votes in zappl. But I would like a feature to choose between the two, then exchange them both with bts. This would allow me to use bts to powerup my zappl account without leaving my wallet.
For example. My post got a bunch of upvotes. No matter what they choose to send, I can receive it as zappl. And if I wanted to trade that zappl for steem later, I can do so from within my wallet. Cause I was thinking the other day as I was turning soil in the garden for the newly planted tomatoes that need just sunlight and water to zappl so hard.
You likes?
More Information on @Zappl and their feature discussion click here.SINGAPORE - He left his van parked just outside a childcare centre for less than 5 minutes but that was all the time it took for financial adviser Khristian Kelvin Koh's vehicle to be stolen and later modified by the thieves.
Three suspects have been arrested and the van recovered. A small packet of a crystalline substance, suspected to be controlled drugs, and a drug-taking utensil were found in the vehicle.
Mr Koh, 40, was taking his two-year-old daughter to My First Skool at Guillemard Crescent last Friday (Sept 22) and he left his one-month old van unlocked with the keys inside.
It was parked less than 3m away from the gate of the childcare centre and he said the road was usually empty when he dropped by.
But when he returned less than 5 minutes later, his van was gone.
He made a police report immediately and, soon afterwards, put out a plea on social media to get help from the public.
For the rest of the day, he received close to 10 calls and messages. One particularly harrying message came from someone who briefly spotted his van travelling along the Tampines Expressway in the early afternoon at about 110kmh.
Mr Koh said that the van had both his house keys and his home address. "We called the locksmith to change the locks for our home," he said, adding that his wife took urgent leave to go home early.
At about 11.15pm, he got a call from the police, who said they had his vehicle at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
He went down and checked his van at about 3.30am, only to find that the people who stole it had altered the vehicle and thrown away many of his personal belongings.
"They removed my speakers and put in their own speakers. They threw away all the children's DVDs. My coins, cash card and my RayBan sunglasses are missing," said Mr Koh.
To his shock, he found that the thieves had driven around 400km in the 15 hours they had his van. They changed his license plate, too.
But his van was otherwise not damaged.
The police told The Straits Times that they received a call for assistance along Guillemard Crescent at 7.26am for a motor vehicle theft.
A statement from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority on Sunday said three Singaporeans were arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint at about 9.55pm last Friday. Two were men aged 27 and 23, while the other was a 23-year-old woman.
Police investigations are ongoing.
This latest case comes even as motor vehicle theft cases have fallen. There were 67 such cases in the first half of this year, a 10 per cent drop from the 74 cases reported in the same period last year, according to the police's mid-year crime statistics.
While thankful that he managed to get his stolen van back, Mr Koh regretted not being more careful. "We take our safety for granted. But as they say, low crime doesn't mean no crime," he said.
“I’m quite worried there might be drug residues in my van. I don’t want my children to come across them,” Mr Koh added.The psychedelic renaissance is afoot, and there’s almost no use arguing with the term anymore. It’s just too catchy. This elegant phrase pops up frequently to describe what’s been happening in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and around the world in the 21st century.
In addition to being the title of an excellent book by Ben Sessa, the two words serve as a catch-all for a whole host of phenomena: the medical studies occurring on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, the globalisation of the South American brew ayahuasca, microdosing LSD in the workplace to crack open the doors of perception, iboga as addiction interrupter, the widespread legalisation of cannabis, therapeutic access to MDMA, the spread of drug-selling dark web cryptomarkets, an evolving therapeutic vocabulary, a new availability of LSD, an ever-networking global community, and more. But the phrase “psychedelic renaissance” itself is worth investigating, meaning perhaps more than it intends.
“The psychedelic renaissance is no bicoastal hype,” wrote David Fricke in Rolling Stone in 1985. He was referring to the revival of ‘60s cultural tropes, mostly by bands in the so-called Paisley Underground, a genre of indie rock burbling out of Los Angeles in the ‘80s. Entheogenic supporters have been busy declaring a “psychedelic renaissance” since at least 1986, when it was reported in a book about neuroscience by Omni editors Judith Hooper and Dick Teresi. It then turned up as a photo caption in Newsweek the next year and spread as literary spore from there. Invoked in the ’90s to describe the ’80s and in the 2000s to describe the ’90s, the durability of phrase illustrates something vital about itself, about the raw power of psychedelics to inspire those involved with them to declare renaissances. Or waves, springs, or some other eloquent metaphor of renewal. (1)
More often than not, this invocation is used to assure the intended audience that the present situation–whenever the present may be–is to be differentiated from the controversial and dark period(s) that preceded it – periods when psychedelics were cheap and plentiful on the street. Dark periods like the ’60s. And the ’70s. And the ’80s, and ’90s, too. But most especially the ’60s.
What’s different about the psychedelic renaissance of the 21st century, of course, is that it’s here and actually happening, with once marginalised ideas entering the mainstream in legitimate ways. All of the above-listed developments are occurring with unprecedented post-millennial openness, weaving into global culture in a manner that–along with the ongoing legalisation of cannabis – suggests a gradual ceasefire in some battlefields of the war on drugs. It might even suggest genuine full cultural integration, always a buzzword in psychedelic communities, with its distinct overtones of the Civil Rights movement.
What’s not different about the psychedelic renaissance of the 21st century is the complete and total faith of those involved. To invoke a psychedelic renaissance is to both cast a forgetful spell on the past, and to do something completely in the tradition of the psychedelic renaissances of yore by creating a slogan that says (and does) what former Harvard professor Baba Ram Dass suggested in the ’60s: Be Here Now.
But what might actually be significant about the psychedelic renaissance of the 21st century is that it’s the first psychedelic renaissance from which the past can be viewed from a useful vantage point. With longtime practitioners less hesitant to share their stories, alongside an increasingly nuanced public dialogue on gender, race, addiction, mental health and more, it is a psychedelic history that is (like all of history) open to constant re-examination with all the new tools and perspectives available to contemporary scholars. It’s possible that, this time, people won’t forget.
Psychedelic history matters because, a half-century removed from the spread and mid-’60s criminalisation of psychedelics, it is possible to view the long arc of the psychedelic story and see the emergence of a coherent but flexible non-denominational spiritual system throughout the English-speaking world, with its own traditions and techniques and body of literature. And it is possible to measure how this has had an ongoing impact on technology, on arts of many varieties, on personal wellness, on the structure of businesses, on architecture and fashion, on an ongoing counterculture. It has also impacted spirituality itself, both as an end but also as a seemingly permanent bridge to more traditional belief sets.
With psychedelics returning to prominence in numerous fields, an awareness of their broader cultural history becomes even more important. Psychedelics are a contested science and their active use by a small but devoted population–estimated at perhaps 1.2 million people in the United States in 2014 according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health–is one of the reasons they remain contested. During the next years, many will undoubtedly engage in psychedelic use as a form of civil disobedience, seeking internal freedoms far from any type of government control, and many more will undoubtedly reframe and rethink the countercultural conditions with which psychedelics are most often associated.
As a large-scale spiritual and creative awakening, psychedelics mostly continue to remain outside the bounds of traditional study of most fields despite offering truly multidisciplinary opportunities for investigation. Nearly every thread of the current psychedelic wave can be pulled back for decades and across disciplines, from the long countercultural tradition of libertarianism fusing drugs and technology that now manifests on the dark-nets (arguably an outgrowth of the so-called California Ideology ), to ayahuasca tourism reported on by Paul Krassner occurring as early as 1971.
Alongside the new perspectives comes new documents. In unexpected ways, the past is always changing. Studies and articles and anecdotes scattered in myriad journals and newspapers and memoirs can now be connected for the first time by the web-crawling indexing bots of search engines. Hindsight has always been 20/20, but the new modes of detailed research available through Google Books and other ever-opening archives give it a sheen that is perhaps even better, a hyperreal vision of the past as a rich and always unfolding text. New mediums and platforms offer opportunities for serendipitous collisions by scholars, their projects, and even their primary subjects. Facebook and other social media networks make connecting to long-missing figures easy. There has never been a better time to be a contemporary historian. As with all of the new adventures in research come ongoing ethical questions: Just because something is online, is it acceptable to use it as a source?
Besides the wide variety of substances and practices, what complicates psychedelic history and makes a single definitive narrative impossible is both its criminality and the personal natures of its use, factors inseparable in most of western society. Even LSD’s 1943 discovery by Albert Hofmann is cloaked in mystery and subjectivity, as David Nichols has pointed out, with nearly every twist in the psychedelic history veiled by further mythologies, disinformation, and continued needs for privacy, from the nature of various governments’ 1950s and 1960s experiments to the darkest depths of the Drug War. Psychedelic history is secret, for the most part, and when it’s not, it demands at least some amount of nuance. These complications in turn play large roles in shaping the way psychedelics move into the modern world and the way scientific research itself is being conducted. In Rick Strassman’s The Spirit Molecule, the DMT researcher vividly recounts how his early ‘90s project involving the powerful psychedelic DMT created friction within his local research and spiritual communities, shifting the work itself in quantifiable ways.
But psychedelic history is getting less secret every day, thanks in part to the internet’s power to serve as a macroscope.
Stories once locked in private places now wind up in mysterious online corners for purposes that aren’t always transparent. As historian Michelle Morevic points out, a fundamental difference between researching online and researching in a physical archive is the intense physical context of the archive and the document’s place within it. Searched digitally, it is easy to conjure a piece of data or quote or anecdote without regard to its place in its original source. But online historical work provides a different kind of structure, a picture emerging in old newspapers, message board postings, phone books, over multiple careers and identities. But increasingly, the stories are breaking loose from their sources.
In 1967, the Haight-Ashbury-based Richard Brautigan published his poem “All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace” through comm/co, the broadsheet-producing publishing arm of San Francisco’s radical Diggers collective. Brautigan dreamed “of a cybernetic meadow / where mammals and computers / live together in mutually / programming harmony.” It was a signal moment for the counterculture, an invocation that fused longhaired utopianism with the fate of computers. Thanks to a spectrum of new tools that ranges from Google’s deceptively simple search functions to complex collaborative historical projects, such as the big data crunching occurring under the academic umbrella of the Digital Humanities. The cybernetic meadow has arrived in the academy.
A fashionable phrase to describe new data scraping tools, “digital humanities” covers a wide variety of practices that perform analysis of large bodies of historical text. It is in recent years that the psychedelic humanities are perhaps now achieving a state of maturity with bodies of text large and consistent enough to allow for substantial processing. One that stands out are the massive drug experience archives, hosted by Erowid and other sites, where drug users file trip reports. They’ve already been sliced into a number of decontextualised Twitter accounts, such as @Pharmaduke (mashing up trip reports with Marmaduke cartoons) and @SarowidPalinUSA.
“What we need now are the diaries of explorers,” Terence McKenna said in the early ’90s. “We need many diaries of many explorers so we can begin to get a feel for the territory.” Now, a quarter-century later, that’s exactly what the psychedelic world has. Papers have drawn on these reports before, such as Andrew Gallimore and David Luke’s “DMT Research from 1956 to the Edge of Time,” using a multitude of reports to quantify some of the more archetypal imagery experienced by users.
But the experience reports seem to invite all kinds of abstract sorting, including by substances, terminology used, poly-substance effects, or any type of other core dive. The vocabulary of the psychedelic world has changed numerous times over the decades, with entheogens or medicines or sacraments or any number of substitutes taking the place of the oh-so-basic “psychedelic.” Lately, “journeying” or “journey-work” have grown in popularity where “tripping” once sufficed. A sort through Erowid’s reports–or the anonymised text of public message boards like Reddit or the Shroomery–could reveal any number of evolving linguistic themes. Combined with the powerful mission of Psychedelic Information Theory, which aims to evaluate “the spontaneous production of complex information in the human organism” (such as Terence and Dennis McKenna’s infamous download at La Chorrera) these resources provide any number of data sets ready for holistic abstraction.
Without official recognition, Erowid especially has maintained themselves at the level of an institution, providing a framework for what is largely thought of essentially as a body of folk knowledge.
But by providing a home for the wide array of scientific and more esoteric literature, Erowid transforms it into a vaster unit and generates a larger meaning, the very function of an archive or library. On a more scientific front, Erowid also hosts the reports from PiHKAL and TiHKAL, books by Alexander and Ann Shulgin, encompassing their own humanistic database-like framework to assess their (and others’) experiences with a complete spectrum of psychoactive materials.
But these are only some ways to engage the emerging body of material that might support psychoactive historical research. From the pages of underground newspapers–such as the Babylon Falling collection recently acquired by the Interference Archive–one might draw out a history of drug slang. Or, using the papers’ frequent pages devoted to street drug prices, one might also map out the month-by-month real-time circulation of new strains of cannabis or types of LSD blotter. This type of large-scale data abstraction might complement more controlled lab studies to create a fuller picture of how psychedelics work.
First synthesised by Sasha Shulgin in 1974, 2C-B was made illegal in the United States in 1994. However, by 1996 there were reports of religious groups in South Africa using the material. With decades of recorded usage and related safety observations, 2C-B has earned its spot next to the classic psychedelics. While it’s perhaps not possible for independent drug-investigating psychonauts to run their own controlled studies, the community at large has already started doing that in some regard with the data currently available. TripSit’s Drug Combinations Chart, for example, is a self-described work-in-progress that maps the safety of various pairings based on experience reports from Erowid and elsewhere.
In the same way that 2C-B was accepted as such, LSD likewise underwent a similar folk-knowledge evolution, hitting the mainstream in the past few years in the trendpiece-friendly form of microdosing, as outlined by veteran psychedelic researcher James Fadiman. While Fadiman’s methods are only a half-decade old, the evolution towards smaller doses of acid has been ongoing, beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s when underground LSD distributors began to scale back from approximately 250 micrograms per hit to 150 and 100 and even lower, in large part because the Owsley-era “God dose” standard of 250 micrograms was collectively deemed to be, perhaps, a bit too strong.
While the plant medicines of ayahuasca and mushrooms have received much attention in recent years, the chemical natures of LSD and 2C-B and others root them in a more industrial age.
Where plant medicines often have long-established practices and accompanying belief sets, lab-synthesised psychedelics rarely possess such contextual weight. As LSD did in the United States starting in the ‘60s, as 2C-B has done in South Africa, they are free to form their own paths without upsetting traditional cultural economies.
During these last few years, with so much attention rightly given to the globalisation of ayahuasca and the return of psychedelic research, the troubled lineage of LSD use has been comparably overlooked, perhaps even self-consciously swept under the rug. But, transcending the diversity of experiences, it has become obvious that all of the new developments pertaining to psychedelics are the product of a shared and coherent history that will continue to shape public policy, public perception, and the unregulated practices of users. Even if psychedelics do become a regulated part of therapeutic practices, the vast majority of users will almost always lie outside that realm.
It is this secret history that is most in danger of disappearing, but also the most ready for chronicling. In the United States, a nearly infinite library of court documents await only hands with scanners and well-phrased Freedom of Information Act requests. Ready to be liberated and dumped online, these documents might be parsed and searched for the first time, crawled by interested archivists and indexing bots alike. In addition to possessing the invaluable Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive’s mechanism for preserving old web pages, the Archive also plays home to a constant stream of FOIA documents, all scanned in their entirety. Last year (for example) saw the arrival of some 9,400 pages of text pertaining to the Los Angeles branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, in turn tied to many other pockets of the ’60s L.A. counterculture.
The contemporary age of psychedelics is fusing seamlessly with the world of big data, as post-Silk Road iterations of the dark-net cryptomarkets churn out an endless supply of numbers to ponder. There’s all kinds of crunching to be done, and lessons to be learned. One recent theory suggests that the cryptomarkets aren’t fueling the global drug trade nearly as much as various intra-continental trades. Out on the forums of various marketplaces, users establish testing groups, descendants of the original LSD Avengers, reporting on the dosages for sale by vendors. Each and every metric suggested by the cryptomarkets poses the questions of how one would measure the same variables in the earlier epochs.
Investigating the history of psychedelics will always reveal the limits of historical techniques, when trails run cold as they approach subjects who don’t want to be found. Misinformation is frequent and intentional, memories are blurry and not always reliable. Like science fiction, the study of history has more to do with the present than its ostensible subject. For some scholars (and administrators), “digital humanities” promises a world of quantifiable strategies and approaches to historic texts. For psychedelic historians, the techniques and results might yield new kinds of seemingly contradictory blurriness, the same type of giant question marks that psychedelics themselves often create, revealing a part of the past that changes as fast as the present.
(1) Since completing the first draft of this essay, Google Books has seemingly restricted viewing permissions on an unspecified number of the items in its collection, including several of the links in the preceding paragraph. It is a reminder that, along with the new wealth of digital sources, comes new confusion over the privatization of information and Google’s apparently delicate and easily breakable system. Google’s lack of transparency as to why these pages are now non-viewable and non-searchable creates its own kind of shadow meta-history, like an untraceable version of the pages on Wikipedia that allow users to view page edits, not even savable by the blessed spider-bots of archive.org ‘s Wayback Machine.
[Event] The Legal Regulation of Psychedelics – Panel event in collaboration with The Psychedelic Society, 17th December 2016Ingenuity Cleveland ignites the spark of creativity among artists, entrepreneurs and innovators of all types, through joy and collaboration, in service to civic progress. With our annual IngenuityFest and year-round programming including the IngenuityLabs incubator program at the Hamilton Collaborative, we inspire audiences, push boundaries, empower communities, and generate economic impact, all while changing attitudes about our region.
We’ll celebrate IngenuityFest 2019 on September 27-29 at the Hamilton Collaborative (5401 Hamilton Ave.)!
Friday Hours: 5pm – 1am
Saturday Hours: 12pm – 1am
Sunday Hours: 12pm – 5pm
Our 2018 theme, FuturePast, celebrated the return of cherished traditions melded with the drive toward progress, forging a reimagined future of community, localism, and humanistic technologies. It represented a homecoming in many ways: our former industrial facility reawakening with new art and manufacturing, whimsical ideation, and a hum of imagination from the many renaissance women and men who call the Collaborative home.
Our 2017 theme, Metamorphosis, was inspired by our changing Cleveland, but also by the work we’ve undertaken as an organization to expand our mission, broaden our consulting and outreach, and especially to deepen our impact as a catalyst and driver for the brand-new Hamilton Collaborative in St. Clair-Superior.
Click below to get involved in IngenuityFest 2019 as a vendor, musician, exhibitor, or artist!Wednesday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough and panel ripped into Texas freshman Sen. Ted Cruz and his intention to shut down the federal government to stop the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Scarborough called Cruz a “train wreck” and “completely ignorant,” while Daily Best editor Tina Brown compared him to a member of the “Taliban.”
“Have |
shelled a South Korean border island, killing four people.
Monday sees the start of the two week-long "Ulchi Freedom" drill which involves tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops in a wargame that simulates an invasion by North Korea.
- Nuclear threats -
On Saturday, the North's powerful National Defence Commission threatened the United States with the "strongest military counter-action" should the joint exercise go ahead.
The North Korean army and people "are no longer what they used to be in the past when they had to counter the US nukes with rifles," the commission said in a statement.
It is now an "invincible power equipped with both latest offensive and defensive means... including nuclear deterrence," it said.
In a special Liberation Day address in Seoul, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said the recent landmine attack was a serious breach of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and vowed a tough response to any further provocation by the North.
"North Korea must wake up from its daydream that it can maintain its regime through provocations and threats... these will only lead to isolation and destruction," Park said.
Because the armistice was never replaced by a full peace treaty, the two Koreas technically remain at war.The shooting occurred around 11:30, police said. No information is available on the condition of the victims.
WILMINGTON -- With his gaze locked on the sidewalk beneath his feet, Vern Ross stood in the same spot where his teen son, Shane Simpson, was slain hours earlier, and pled for an end to the violence.
"My son is lost and I just don't want it to happen to someone else," he told the crowd assembled around him for a candlelight vigil Sunday evening. "We've got to stop this."
Shane and four others were at the corner of 11th and Castle streets Sunday when the occupants of a dark-colored sedan drove past and opened fire about 11:15 a.m., said Linda Rawley, Wilmington Police Department spokeswoman.
Shane was pronounced dead at the scene. The four other men sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Rawley said their conditions were unknown Sunday.
As of Sunday evening, no arrests had been made.
During the candlelight vigil at 6 p.m., Ross spoke of his "cheerful" 16-year-old, killed in what police are calling a gang-related shooting.
Nearly 50 people gathered with a tearful Ross to pay tribute to the New Hanover High School student.
"He was a loving guy, a caring and respectful guy," Ross said after the vigil. "He was a guy that grew up in the church and with a loving family. A really good guy. He just got caught up in the wrong time and the wrong situation."
Ross said his son was a gifted boxer, having competed in several title fights in and around Wilmington. According to New Hanover County birth records, Shane would have turned 17 on Jan. 15.
Talking to the crowd, the grieving father, a Wilmington native who grew up in the Creekwood area, admitted to his "bad boy" past. But he vowed that he would not seek revenge because of "God's grace and mercy."
"There is not going to be a retaliation from me, I'm hoping that Wilmington's finest will put a stop to this and the community will unite together to stop this violence," Ross told the crowd.
Kevin Spears, a friend of Ross', organized the vigil and said he hoped it will shine a light on the issue of escalating violence.
"I think this is our time, our chance, our opportunity to stand against this violence," Spears told the crowd. "Not just today or the next week. Not just for T-shirts that say, 'Rest in peace.' I'm talking about from here on out. It is just a small group of people making our town look horrible."
Authorities are searching for one person of interest in the shooting, Rawley said.
Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous attended Sunday's vigil and said they were "making some movement on this incident." He also echoed Ross and Spears' pleas for the violence to stop.
Police spent nearly three hours surveying the scene, maneuvering around at least 19 evidence markers strewn across Castle Street. Several detectives hovered over the cordoned-off street corner where Shane's body fell. About 2:30 p.m. the body was removed from the scene, strategically shielded from the view of bystanders.
Several dozen people lingered around the area as police worked during the day. Many spoke of the tragic nature of the shooting of such a young man, so close to the holidays.
Following the shooting, police responded to two more reports of shot fired -- one at the intersection of 17th Street and Medical Center Drive, and another near the intersection of Graham Street and Sumter Drive. Cpl. Leslie Irving with the WPD said there were no injuries or property damage in those incidents.
With no eyewitnesses or descriptions of the vehicles, Irving said it is unknown whether this gunfire was related to the shooting on Castle Street.
Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call the Wilmington Police Department at 910-343-3609 or text your info to Text-A-Tip.
Contact Hunter Ingram at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.CLOSE Former House Member Anthony Weiner announced his bid for Mayor of New York, in a video released on You Tube Tuesday night. Weiner is trying to make a political comeback, two years after he resigned after posting raunchy pictures on Twitter. (May 22) AP
Democrat who resigned amid a sexting scandal is running for a political job he's long coveted.
Former congressman Anthony Weiner is running for New York City mayor. (Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images) Story Highlights Democrat resigned from Congress in 2011 after tweeting lewd photos of himself to women
Weiner had been open about wanting to make a political comeback
Polls show him trailing City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for Democratic nomination
Former congressman Anthony Weiner officially jumped into the race for New York City mayor, ending weeks of speculation by declaring his political comeback bid in a YouTube video posted late Tuesday.
"I am running for mayor because I have been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life, and I hope I get a second chance to work for you," Weiner said.
The Democrat resigned from the U.S. House in disgrace in 2011 after sending lewd photos of himself to women via Twitter. He revealed in a New York Times Magazine interview last month that he was thinking of a political comeback and had commissioned polling on the mayor's race.
MORE: Weiner's first campaign tweet
Weiner made a direct appeal in the video for a second chance.
"Look, I made some big mistakes. And I know I let a lot of people down. But I've also learned some tough lessons," Weiner said in the video, which also features snippets of his wife, Huma Abedin, and son, Jordan.
Weiner recently returned to Twitter and has been sending out links to his 64-point plan to help New York City's middle class. He's also done several local TV interviews and hired Danny Kedem, a Democrat strategist who has run campaigns for Congress, to manage his mayoral bid.
Abedin. a former top aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, declares the couple's love for New York City in the video and vows that "no one will work harder to make it better" than her husband.
Weiner's entry into the race will upend a campaign that has been going on for months. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is leading Weiner for the Democratic nomination, 25% to 15%, in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. In a troubling sign for Weiner, 49% of New York City voters say he should not run for the city's top job.
Weiner, a former City Council member, ran for mayor in 2005 but lost the Democratic primary nomination to Fernando Ferrer. He intended to run again in 2009 and was leading early public opinion polls. When the council changed the city's term limits law and Mayor Michael Bloomberg ran again, Weiner abandoned his mayoral bid at that time and returned to Congress.
Weiner has about $4.3 million in his old mayoral campaign account and can use that money for this year's race.
The primaries are in September, general election in November.
Follow Catalina Camia on Twitter at @ccamia.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/193fSGyKrystal Jung of girl group f(x) has been offered to play the lead female role in the new drama of PD Shin Won-ho, the man behind the successful tvN dramas, Reply 1997, Reply 1994, and Reply 1988. The director’s new drama is called Wise Prison Life, a black comedy series about the everyday lives of prison inmates and the people around them.
A source from tvN did not provide the description of the character offered to Krystal and said today that nothing has been decided yet and the final casting will be revealed soon. However, if she accepts the offer, she will be acting opposite actors Jung Kyung-ho (Missing Nine) and Park Hae-soo (The Liar and His Lover), who were confirmed to play the lead roles last week. PD Shin Won-ho confirmed the casting of the two actors himself, but also did not disclose the details of their characters. It has yet to be known whether or not both actors will be playing as prisoners in the upcoming drama.
Krystal Jung is playing a supporting role in the currently airing tvN drama, Bride of the Water God. Her character in the fantasy drama is named Moo Ra, a goddess from the Water Kingdom who has lived among human beings for centuries and is currently living her life as a famous actress. Should she accept the offer, Wise Prison Life will become her second drama in which she is playing a leading role, next to My Lovely Girl.
Wise Prison Life will be written by Jung Bo-hoon, a junior writer from the Reply series. PD Shin announced earlier this year that instead of making another installment of the popular Reply or Answer Me franchise, he will be making a new drama that will show how ‘people in prison’ live in such a place. The production team of the drama is planning to broadcast it every Wednesdays and Thursdays starting this October, probably after Criminal Minds.
Source: 1Tests conducted by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission “suggest that Audi has manipulated the diesel engine of its best-seller A3,” Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote today in an exclusive report. The findings are explosive far beyond Volkswagen: Germany’s regulator Kraftfahrtbundesamt also tested Audi’s diesel-powered A3, and gave it a clean bill of health – after “apparently omitting crucial tests,” the paper writes. EU politicians speak of collusion between governments and automakers.
The EU commission is at loggerheads with EU member states that seem to protect their car industries instead of enforcing tough EU emission rules. Last week, the EU took formal legal action against seven member states to compel them to uphold the law. Meanwhile, the EU’s research arm conducted its own tests that were shared with the EU Parliament.
Per the Munich paper, which has the EU report, the JRC tested the current A3 model, “and found indicators that suggest that die exhaust treatment is being disabled, so-called defeat devices.” The A3 is Audi’s top-selling car. It received a facelift in May 2016, more than half a year after Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal became public. Germany’s Kraftfahrtbundesamt gave the car its highest Euro 6 rating.
Prompted by a board of inquiry of Germany’s government, the KBA tested the A3 again and said that “this vehicle complies with the Euro 6 requirements.” This after Volkswagen had formally declared that there are no illegal defeat devices in the vehicle. Says the Sueddeutsche: “The KBA apparently left out a test which it included with other cars.”
“This smells of fraud, even with the latest diesel models,” Claude Turmes, Green Party member of the EU Parliament told the Sueddeutsche, alleging “hanky-panky” between government, regulators, and the auto industry.
Independent tests in Europe have shown that the emission treatment of diesel cars by several automakers seems to work only within a tight temperature window. The EU regulations, however, demand that the exhaust system works “in normal use.” An Audi spokesperson assured the Munich paper that the A3 is O.K., and that the company has no information about the findings by the EU commission.Acknowledgment due to AdrianLamoLogs and Cryptome timelines for their fine documentation work, and to Denver Nicks for his background research on Bradley Manning.
May 23 or 24
Source Info
Information allegedly accessed by Manning, per his charging document:
The video of the July 12, 2007 Apache killing of Reuters journalists
The Rejkjavik State Department cable leaked by WikiLeaks
50 State Department cables (loaded onto his unsecured computer, transmitted to someone unauthorized to receive them)
150,000 State Department cables (obtained information from them via unauthorized access)
A classified Microsoft Powerpoint presentation
Chat Logs
Resources
Related Links
Video
David House on MSNBC with Jonathan Capehart, 23 December 2010
Glenn Greenwald on Democracy Now, 16 December 2010
Julian Assange tells Cenk Uygur that Bradley Manning is a “political prisoner” on MSNBC, 22 December 2010
Al Jazeera English on Bradley Manning, 18 December 2010
Michael Whitney on GritTV with Laura Flanders on Bradley Manning’s detention, 22 December 2010
Keith Olbermann on Bradley Manning’s detention, 17 December 2010 MSNBC
Adrian Lamo at The Next HOPE conference on why he turned in Manning, 7 July 2010
Audio
Glenn Greenwald interview with Adrian Lamo, Pt. 1 6/17/2010 Salon
Glenn Greenwald interview with Adrian Lamo, Pt. II 6/17/2010 Salon
Daniel Ellsburg discusses Bradley Manning’s arrest 6/11/2010 AntiWar RadioSeattle Education Association members undergoing picket training (Images: SEA)
UPDATE 7:00 PM: The union says negotiations are done for the night. Picket lines begin Wednesday.
UPDATE x2: Here’s an update from SPS:
The district and the teachers’ union have not reached agreement and school will not start on Wednesday, September 9. Please monitor local news media and the Seattle Public School district website http://www.seattleschools.org/bargaining-updates-2015 for details and possible child care options.
Original post: In 2013, the tentative deal for a 4.5% raise came on a Tuesday and school started the next day. In 2015, the gap is much larger and it appears Seattle Public Schools and the teachers union remain far apart in the final hours before Wednesday’s scheduled first day of school.
In a message posted Tuesday just before noon, the district announced its latest offer is some $90 million below the contract package being fought for by the Seattle Education Association, the union that represents the nearly 4,000 teachers at the city’s public schools.
SPS offered $62 million total package as counter to SEA $172 million worth of asks, just before midnight last night. Awaiting response. — Seattle Schools (@seapubschools) September 8, 2015
While agreements have been forged on extending recess to 30 minutes and providing an increase in special education staff, the two sides are far apart on raise proposals. The union continues to seek its original 6% per year over three year schedule of raises. The district has offered 2% this year, 3.2% for the following school year, and 3.75% in the final year of the proposed contract, according to the Seattle Education Association. UPDATE: One important point to clarify in the negotiations is that the raise discussion is about teachers’ “supplemental pay” which comes from the district. One teacher we heard from said that supplemental pay only represents about one quarter of her salary — the rest is controlled by the state. If you were looking at the $62 million and $172 million proposal totals above and scratching your head about what seems like a relatively low total — around $15,500 per teacher under the district’s proposal — now you know.
“We don’t have a tentative agreement, and our strike deadline is almost here,” the group said in its most recent “bargaining update” post.
According to SEA, the Seattle School Board is working to pass a motion Tuesday afternoon “giving the superintendent the power to take us to court and to take other misguided actions – a move that shows the board’s lack of respect for Seattle educators and our kids.”
“It’s disappointing that the school board is grasping at legalistic straws rather than focusing on ways to provide the supports that educators need to be successful with
students,” SEA president Jonathan Knapp said in the statement. “We won’t be scared into abandoning our commitment to winning a fair contract.”
The SEA is posting its updates here. A bargaining team with members from schools and programs across the district is representing SEA at the table. Gary Thomas, a teacher at Garfield High School is the lone Capitol Hill area school representative.
Seattle will run “all-day camps” at community centers in the event of a strike.
UPDATE 4:58 PM: City Council member and District 3 candidate Kshama Sawant has posted a letter to the Seattle School Board “supporting the right of educators to strike” and a message in support of the teachers union:
Educators and students have been neglected by the district while the state legislature has been held in contempt of court for failing to adequately fund education. Class sizes remain unmanageably large, and teachers have not seen a cost of living adjustment from Olympia in six years. Across the country education is under attack from charter schools, over-testing, the Common Core, union-busting legislation, and court cases that could strip public sector workers of basic union rights. It’s time to change this. I applaud the courage of the SEA members standing up for students and quality schools.
Sawant’s District 3 opponent Pamela Banks has not yet taken a public position on the issue.
UPDATE 9/9/2015 7:40 AM: According to the latest SEA bargaining update, pickets are planned for every school including Capitol Hill’s elementary schools at Lowell (11th and Mercer) and Stevens (19th and Galer), NOVA and the World School at Meany near 19th and Thomas, as well as Garfield High in the CD:
Picket lines will begin at 8:30 am Wednesday at every school. We need to have a solid show of strength and unity. That means ALL SEA members are expected to picket at their work locations. Your picket captain will provide a picket schedule. Wear comfortable clothes.Today we are talking about the health benefits of carrots, it’s nutrition, Use in prevention and cure of many chronic diseases and many other things.
Carrot is the second most popular vegetable after potato. It is a root vegetable which is widely rich in its nutrition. Its crop is ready in 3 months after sowing seeds. It is cultivated in Afghanistan for the first time and after that, it is widely cultivated in the whole world. It is a common vegetable and easily available in everywhere.
Nutrition:
It is full of vitamins and minerals. Use of carrot gives require nutrition to the body. It contains:
Vitamin A
Vitamin K
Vitamin E
Vitamin B
Vitamin B6
Iron
Chlorine
Sodium
Potassium
Calcium
sulfur
fiber
carotene
lutein
Carotene is very important for the health:
Carotene is a pigment which is converted into vitamin A. Carrot is a great source of getting natural carotene. It is full of beta-carotene. According to the new research, carotene is very important for the health of the body. People who add carotene in their diet they have 40% less risk of macular degeneration. It contains not only beta-carotene but also alpha-carotene.
Colour and taste:
Carrot is a root vegetable which is mostly found in orange colour but it is also found in red, purple, yellow and white colour. It is sweet juicy and crunchy in taste.
Health benefits of carrots:
carrot is a great source of vitamins and minerals. It has a lot of health benefits. It is eaten in raw, boil and cooked form. People like to drink carrot juice which is also full of nutrition. It is used in the food as sweet dishes, salad and soup. It is very beneficial in health point of view. It is best natural medicine and food to producing blood in the human body. It helps to control blood pressure and prevent many heart diseases and strokes. it boosts the immunity system and gives so much energy to the body to fight against many chronic diseases. The presence of beta-carotene in carrot helps to prevent from breast cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer and lung cancer. It also works to slow down the ageing cells in the human body. It helps to remove the toxin from the blood and clean from all the wastes. it controls cholesterol level in the body and helps in weight loss.
Best for eyes:
It is very beneficial for eyes as it is full of vitamin A which is very important for eyes. If you eat the carrot in your daily food then you do not need to take any medicine to get vitamin A. It is the best food in improving eyesight. It is proved, people who had poor eyesight, they improve their vision by including carrot in the diet. The doctor also suggests it as medicine to improving vision. For healthy eyes, carrot should be eating at least 3 times in a week. It is best to eat it in raw form with the peel. Not only that carrot juice is also very beneficial for improving eyesight. It is your choice to eat the carrot or drink its juice.
Best for teeth and bones:
It is full sodium and calcium which very important for strong teeth and bones. When carrot eats in raw form it helps in producing saliva. Saliva helps chew the food. To eat it is the best exercise of mouth. It helps to come out food particles which stuck in the teeth. It is very useful for many teeth and gums problems. It is very good for gum bleeding problem. It cleans the teeth and prevents from the cavity. Not only that it also very helpful for bones. It provides require calcium to the bones to make them strong. It gives relief in joint pain.
Best for skin:
Carrot is the best way of getting the shiny and healthy skin. It should be included in the diet for healthy skin in spite of any using formula creams. If you eat it in your daily diet, your skin becomes fair, glowing and reddish. the dermatologist also gives it importance for healthy skin. Healthy and shiny skin is the dream of everyone so eat it and drink its juice and enjoy healthy and shiny skin.
Best for hairs:
Carrot plays an important role in the growth of hair. it provides certain nutrition to the hair. People suffer in many hair problems like hair fall dandruff, dryness and itching, it works in all these problems. it helps in getting shiny, healthy and long hair.
Best for digestive system:
It is a food which is very good for digestive system. It is salutary for stomach and prevents from many stomach problems. It is the juicy vegetable which fulfils requirements of fluid. It relief in constipation. Is is full of vitamin A which helps to clean all the wastes from the body. It helps to reduce dehydration in the body. It is best in cure and prevents of many children stomach disease. People who have the poor digestive system they should eat it.
Carrot is a great gift of nature for the human being. As we know the health benefits of carrots. So we should eat carrots, for making the healthy and strong body. If we have the healthy body then we enjoy the life and its joys.I would like to thank mickyhovis of Reddit who originally asked this question. Why setup a bitcoin? To securely leave your bitcoin to someone else of course! Setting up a bitcoin inheritance isn’t too hard, but it is more difficult than leaving the name(s) of your beneficiar(ies) on your bank account. With that said, keep in mind it may or may not be a challenge for your beneficiary to claim your account – compared to importing an inherited Bitcoin address. Today we are going to discuss Four different methods for properly configuring a bitcoin inheritance. This guide is a living breathing document and may be subject to change in the future! Do be sure to check in with this page periodically to ensure you’re properly securing and storing your Bitcoin. (once every couple years ought to be fine).
1. Using OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY
Are you a computer wizard? I’m not, Seriously, I don’t know quite for certain how to do the heading I’ve just typed above. Let’s step through this process together shall we?
According to Gmaxwell and Theymos, we can modify the raw hex output of a bitcoin transaction to add in the locktime value which is the block-height itself. This Block-height will determine whether or not the transaction will be included in the block (accepted/rejected). If the Transaction is submitted and the NLockTime Value is greater than the block height value, then it is still considered “immature” and will be rejected by the OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY command – if the NLockTime height has passed then the transaction will be considered valid and will be relayed (transferred). Once the transaction is created, using either a website such as BlockCypher or even using Bitcoin Cli’s command createrawtransaction within the core software, we could instruct the will Executor to push the transaction(s), which would transfer the bitcoins to an address of your choosing. Though we are seeing great strides towards NLockTime being an option, especially with the latest release of core that implements BIP 65, OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY (the feature that utilizes NLockTime) as it stands is an incomplete solution. I would personally advise against this method as there are too many pitfalls and points of failure. I don’t trust my skills at this point to modify the raw bitcoin transaction to add that NLockTime value, I wouldn’t even know where to begin, do I append the value? Do I add the option on the json looking output thing then hash that into a hex encoded value to be sent? If you have any of these answers do be sure to include them in the comments as I will give you credit and update this guide accordingly!
2. Backup “Master Seed” phrase
This method is the easiest option to go with and is fairly flexible. I would recommend this technique should you expect to pass them on in the next 20 years:
Using an SPV wallet such as Electrum, Mycelium, or MultiBitHD – generate a new wallet from seed, and write this seed down someplace secure (I cannot stress this enough WRITE IT DOWN!!!!), and make it password protected. Send small amounts to this address to confirm it works, that you can spend from it, that it is password protected, and that you can recover the seed, and that recovering it, the coin is still password protected. create a different wallet/seed/and different password for each wallet you intend to bequeath. If you intend to give 3 persons bitcoin, make 3 different wallets with different recovery seeds and passkeys (to spend). (if desired) On your will – list the public addresses per each heir so that distribution of what going to whom is listed, for transparency. Use two or more locations to hold the data – One place of storage equals one centralized point of failure, even if you went the extreme route and saved the data on punched steel cards (which would work fine and be more resilient), more places of security equal more resiliency.
With regards to the crossed out lines above: Over the course of my research I have come to learn that there aren’t any mainstream bitcoin wallets that allow the creation of a master seed that also require a secondary pin to spend with – you must specify the spending pin AFTER the wallet has been imported. It turns out that TREZOR wallets allow you to specify the Pin before use – but the Seed itself can bypass this mechanism – providing little benefit if your master seed passphrase is compromised.
3. Using a Multi-Signature Wallet
Utilizing a Multi-Signature wallet allows you to share spending access between multiple devices (different persons who each own their own device, in principle at least). Why would you want to require multiple devices to sign a bitcoin transaction? One scenario that comes to mind is the legitimate concern about your potentially deteriorated mental state at or near death. Rather than risking memory or recall on dementia, wouldn’t you rather prefer that the Executor of your Will have preliminary access to help manage and move funds? With Multi-Sig, this is possible! Now multi-sig wallets come in a few different varieties but pretty much they all work the same: You can create multiple ‘shares’ of private keys and would require a ‘threshold’ or X amount of keys in order to spend and control the balance associated with these shares. Commonly known as m of n wallet or even a 2 of 3 signatures wallet, multi-sig wallets provide protection particularly for complex trusts where multiple points of control are desired (say for instance you wanted your family to work in conjunction and that you wanted your Executor to actually have checks and balances – you trust them but not enough such that they exclusively control your entire bitcoin cache of balances to be distributed – a multisig wallet would be ideal because multiple participants would be required to facilitate transactions) When setting up the Isabel Bitcoin Sign Crowdfund, Jorj and I together agreed upon and utilized Bitpay’s Multi-Sig Copay wallet. It was easy to setup, had extensive features such as seed backups, spending limits, and paper wallet sweeping capabilities; it’s even open source!
4. Using a Bip 38 Encrypted Backup
This is the final method mentioning and while it’s certainly not the newest and/or most elegant, it deserves mention for providing a means to password protect bitcoin private keys. Bip 38 Encrypted Backups are usually paper wallets. Set a decryption password and then simply ‘generate’. (the most well known one that I am aware of is bitaddress.org – I trust this site because it is fully client -side. that means you can download the website to your local computer, turn off the internet, and it still fully functions, pretty neat!). The advantage of using a BIP 38 encrypted wallet is that you have more liberties to easily distribute backups. Even if the encrypted private key is saved on the internet, it requires that separate password in order to validate and actually spend those funds. In my original advice on Reddit, I had not done prior research (simply typed from recall what I thought were the proper steps and methods) and had confused the BIP 38 functionality to be a default feature of HD (Master Seed). To create a password encrypted paper wallet:
Go to https://bitaddress.org Right click > Save as Be sure that your save dialog options are “Web Page Complete” NOT html only Disconnect from the internet (turn off the Wifi or Unplug the network cable or both) Open the Saved webpage (its okay, it will still work!) Follow the directions on screen to generate a random number (which will make a private key for you at random) Once loaded to 100% click Paper wallet Now, click BIP 38 Encrypt Enter a STRONG UNIQUE password (this is YOUR money right? Protect it!) Finally, click Generate … it will take a few moments, but then it will create a password protected wallet to be printed/saved.
Final Thoughts
You Did it! Now you are now equipped with the information necessary to properly setup a Bitcoin Inheritance! If you followed the guide above then kick back and have a beer (or pinot), you deserve it. Though the bitcoin protocol is changing, these methods outlined above should remain safe to change – or they will be amended with the proper procedures, should they change. Now, I did create this guide to help users who come from all walks of life, whether you are a software developer, an equestrian, or an arborist, you should be able to use this guide to keep your money secured. Do you have any questions or was anything in this guide confusing? Did you hate the guide completely or feel that it was complete, utter garbage? Let’s discuss in the comments!If you think Google Chrome doesn't load webpages fast enough for you, that could change soon. Google's flagship Web browser will soon implement Brotli, a new algorithm that offers better compression, leading to lighter webpages and faster loading. You can test the feature on a Chrome beta build available via the Canary channel.
Ilya Grigorik, a Google's Web performance engineer, said that Brotli is ready to roll out to Chrome. The feature is of course especially useful for mobile users. The algorithm replaces the widely used Zopfli encoding technology. Google says Brotli is up to 26 percent more efficient at compressing webpages. To note, that it only works on HTTPS connections.
By curtailing the data size, Brotli also ensures that fewer resources are required to handle webpages, which further leads to less battery consumption on the device. Announced in September last year, Brotli offers the ability to pack the codes together more densely, which results in the reduction of the size of data being transmitted. Brotli utilises a modern variant of LZ77 algorithm, Huffman coding and a second order context modelling.
What's interesting is that at the time of the announcement, Google hadn't shared a firm rollout time frame for Brotli, adding that it would require a lot of underlying changes at both server and browser ends. Though as expected, Chrome is already read to embrace the new technology.
Google says that it will soon implement the technology in the stable Chrome Web browser release.
The Chrome team has been hard at work for the last few months, offering several new features and improvements to its Web browser. The company last month made 'Safe Browsing' enabled by default on its Android client, and in the same month, it gave users an option to significantly improve the data consumption. Last year, Google also announced that it has made its OS X Web browser lighter on resources.The Wisconsin Badgers stayed relevant in the Big Ten West race and kept their conference championship and College Football Playoff hopes alive on Saturday, defeating division rival Iowa Hawkeyes 17-9 in front of a sold out crowd at Kinnick Stadium.
A strong-nosed defensive struggle was expected between these two teams, and that is exactly what we got to start the game, at least on the scoreboard. Despite racking up over 200 total yards of offense in the first half, the Badgers mustered just seven points and held onto a one point lead heading into halftime.
Missed opportunities highlighted the Badgers’ first half as points left off the board helped Iowa stay in the game after two missed field goals and a Corey Clement goal line fumble. It was the second consecutive season the Badgers suffered a fumble at the goal line against the Hawkeyes.
The second half picked up right were the first ended, with both teams struggling to score and each defense holding its own. Still leading 7-6 halfway through the third quarter, a 57-yard pass from Badgers freshman quarterback Alex Hornibrook to freshman wide receiver Quintez Cephus brought them within the Iowa five yard line. Cephus’ second catch of the season turned out to be a big one, as running back Corey Clement brought the ball into the end zone three plays later, putting the Badgers up 14-6.
“Some of those same guys came up big in the second half,” Badgers head coach Paul Chryst said. “We talked about that at halftime. What happened in the first half can’t affect them and doesn’t matter how you approach and play the second half.”
The game’s scoring went on a bit of a hiatus until late in the fourth quarter when Wisconsin kicker Andrew Endicott finally connected on one of his three kicks pushing the lead to 17-6 with just over a minute to play.
Appearing to be all but over, the 2015 Jim Thorpe Award Winner Desmond King took the ensuing Badgers kickoff 77 yards, giving the Hawkeyes a glimpse of hope. After another Badgers defensive stand, the Hawkeyes were forced to kick a field goal to bring them within one possession and put their fate into the hands of the kick team. Their hopes were soon diminished as their onside kick attempt flew out of bounds, giving the Badgers the ball and the win.
With the win, Wisconsin was able to avenge a 10-6 home loss from a year ago and regain the coveted Heartland Trophy, pushing the overall series lead to 45-43-2 in favor of the Badgers. The victory also keeps the Badgers’ Big Ten West division title dreams alive, remaining two games behind the leading team Nebraska Cornhuskers in the loss column. The Badgers and Cornhuskers will play next Saturday in Madison under the lights in a top ten showdown.
Updated Big Ten West StandingsBill Clinton was behind two separate political attacks on two of his wife’s progressive challengers — one concerning Bernie Sanders’ medical records and another concerning Barack Obama’s past cocaine use — a top 2008 Clinton campaign official speculated in newly leaked emails.
Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress and policy director of Clinton’s 2008 campaign, speculated in a Jan. 17 email exchange with Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta that Bill Clinton may have put David Brock, an infamous pro-Clinton opposition researcher, up to calling for Bernie Sanders to release his medical records earlier this year.
She also suggested that in late-2007, the former president or someone at the highest level of the campaign authorized Mark Penn, the campaign’s chief strategist, to subtly attack then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama over his past cocaine use.
Tanden offered her thoughts in response to Podesta stating that a tweet he had sent out seemingly in response to Brock was held up by the campaign.
“I am passed about one thing. I suggested doing that at 4:30 and got held,” Podesta wrote.
“You mean pissed? Got held by who? Hillary. God. Her instincts are suboptimal,” Tanden replied.
The tweet in question appears to be one Podesta sent addressed to Brock. The operative had publicly stated that he planned to call on Bernie Sanders to release his medical records. The move was seen as dirty politics.
“Chill out,” Podesta wrote to Brock on Twitter. “We’re fighting on who would make a better President, not on who has a better Physical Fitness Test.”
Tanden speculated on who might have ordered Brock to go after Sanders, who was gaining on Clinton at the time.
“Pretty typical though. I would not be surprised if wjc told him to do it,” Tanden remarked, referring to President Clinton.
She added: “Just as I’m pretty sure mark Penn didn’t |
in a different court.
In February 2016, Judge Eric Moyé declared Aubrey a vexatious litigant and ordered him to pay his mother $250,000. He could no longer sue his mother, his brother, or Ira without permission.
But Ira continued with the defamation suit. In April 2016, five weeks before the fire, Aubrey and Vodicka came to Ira’s office for a deposition. It had been a bruising couple of years for the couple. They had been involved in another contentious lawsuit in Austin, after they’d invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in a real estate deal that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. They had to sell their $1 million house, and they moved to an apartment in Dallas. They’d spent nearly $2.3 million fighting the case and still owed about $400,000 in legal fees. Aubrey had become estranged from his family. Ira had defeated Aubrey at every turn, stripped him of his ability to file lawsuits, and now was coming after him for defamation.
During the deposition, Ira and his attorney, Schoettmer, thought the 56-year-old Vodicka was impaired. He kept closing his eyes, mumbling about being in the bathtub that morning. Schoettmer asked if he was on medication.
“Yes, sir,” Vodicka said.
“Tell me what the medication is for?” Schoettmer asked.
“It’s anti-Ira medication,” he said.
After about 30 minutes, Ira stopped the deposition and asked the men to leave. Aubrey and Vodicka refused.
“You invited us to be here. We’re here,” Aubrey said.
“And it’s over with, and I’m asking everybody to please leave,” Ira said. The men lingered, and Ira grew more stern. “Steven and Brian, will you please vacate my office now. These are my offices, this is my property, and I’m asking you all to leave. … I’ll be forced to have you escorted out of here.”
The men left.
Two days after the fire, more than 1,200 people packed Congregation Shearith Israel for Ira’s funeral. The police department assigned extra officers to patrol. Rabbi Adam Roffman acknowledged the anger felt by many over Ira’s death. The familiar words of Ecclesiastes—to everything there is a season—would provide no comfort on that day, the rabbi said. “If there was a time for Ira to die, surely that day was not Friday,” he said. “If there was a time to lose Ira, it was not now.”
Police officers eyed the crowd packed with judges and attorneys. Ira’s cousin Emily, the state district judge, was there, as was Judge Moyé, who had been presiding over the defamation case. Sheriff’s deputies had been patrolling Moyé’s home that weekend and had instructed him to carry a gun, fearing that he, too, might be in danger.
The day after the funeral, on Monday, fire investigators asked Dallas police homicide detectives for help. Detective Bob Ermatinger got the case. He had worked at the Dallas Police Department for three decades and was one of the detectives who had appeared on the A&E series The First 48, the title a reference to the premise that if cops didn’t solve a case in the first two days, their odds of doing so decreased by half. Ermatinger came across as folksy on the show, tearing up with victims but coming down hard on suspects.
By the time Ermatinger got the Tobolowsky case, 72 hours already had passed. Investigators believed the perpetrator might have been burned, because Ira had been doused in a confined area of the garage. They needed to find the killer before any injuries had time to heal. Investigators had about half a dozen suspects on their list. That included: Debbie, neighbors, a lawyer Ira was trying to get disbarred, a patient of a plastic surgeon that Ira had defended, a lawn worker’s son who had asked the family for money, and a potential client who had called Ira at all hours and left bizarre phone messages. Some of the suspects cooperated and provided alibis; others were looked at only on paper.
But after talking to Ira’s relatives and colleagues, detectives turned their focus to Aubrey and Vodicka. The level of hostility the men had displayed toward Ira—and the fact that he’d recently defeated them in court—pushed the men to the top of their list.
On May 17, the Tuesday after the fire, detectives went to Aubrey and Vodicka’s Dallas apartment. They planned to take the men in for interviews, according to search warrants. But no one answered the door. Two detectives noticed the blinds on a window were open and angled upward. When they returned later, the blinds were closed. Both men’s cars were in the parking lot.
The next day, Aubrey and Vodicka were scheduled to appear at a hearing in Ira’s defamation case. Security was tight in the courtroom, as extra sheriff’s deputies stood guard, but the men didn’t show. From the bench, Judge Moyé announced his recusal. “I think at this point,” he said, “with the allegations which have been made related to Mr. Aubrey and his implication in the death of Mr. Tobolowsky and related issues, I don’t think that it is unreasonable for a judge other than myself to hear this case.”
Later that day, detectives returned to the men’s apartment. No answer. Aubrey’s car was gone. Ermatinger called their phones and left messages and also sent them texts. No response.
Detectives began monitoring the men’s credit card transactions and discovered that Aubrey’s card had been used that day to book a room at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Dallas under the name Alexandra Krot (a friend who did spend the night at the hotel, police later learned). That night, at 9:30, Ermatinger got a judge to sign search warrants to examine Aubrey and Vodicka for burns and search their apartment. He was looking for combustible liquids, empty containers, medical supplies to treat burns, and gas receipts, according to the warrants. No one was at the apartment when police arrived, but detectives seized an Apple desktop computer and paperwork for burner phones.
By the next day, Thursday, detectives had learned that the men shared a second apartment, on Southwestern Boulevard. Plainclothes detectives watched and waited until about 3:30 pm, when they saw Aubrey and Vodicka get into their car, heading out for a late lunch. Police cars surrounded the men. Detectives jumped out with guns drawn and screamed, “Get down on the ground!” according to a complaint Aubrey would later file with DPD.
For the next nine hours, Aubrey was kept in an interrogation room, according to his complaint, which he provided to D Magazine. Detectives came by every so often and told him they were looking for a doctor to examine his skin for burns, according to a written statement from Aubrey’s lawyer, Phillip Hayes. When a doctor finally arrived, he asked Aubrey to strip so he could examine him.
Ermatinger says Aubrey had red marks on both arms. But a SWAT doctor couldn’t definitively say what the marks were from. “The doctor explained to us that it could be from the flash of a fire, it could be burns, or it could just be a sunburn,” Ermatinger says. He says too much time had passed.
Ermatinger didn’t have any physical evidence linking them to the crime scene. But the men remained strong suspects. They did not have good alibis, telling detectives that at the time of the fire, they were at their apartment. Phone records, detectives told the Tobolowsky family, showed no activity on the men’s cellphones from about 9 pm the night before the fire until the next afternoon, meaning their phones were not pinging towers and may have been turned off. The records did show cell activity before and after that time period.
Ermatinger would have to wait for crime scene technicians to search the men’s computers and process the juice bottle found in the garage for fingerprints.
Michael Tobolowsky, the middle of Ira’s three sons, stepped in to help with his father’s law practice. At the time of Ira’s death, his firm had never been busier. He had cases pending, clients waiting, deadlines looming. Michael needed to file extensions and reassure clients that they hadn’t been forgotten. But as he read through his dad’s email, one case drew his attention: Aubrey’s.
The Thursday after Ira was killed—the day police detained Aubrey and Vodicka—more than a dozen Tobolowsky family members gathered at Ira’s sister’s house, around the block from the scene of the fire. Not knowing that police were interrogating suspects, the family set up headquarters, working on laptops at the kitchen table. At about 7 pm, Michael and his girlfriend stepped outside to get some air. They crossed the street and walked into the alley that runs behind Ira and Debbie’s house.
Michael felt that he’d lost not just his dad in the fire, but the backdrop of his favorite memories. It had been a noisy, lively home, where the three Tobolowsky boys kicked soccer balls down the halls, shot carrots from slingshots, and slid little brother Zach down the stairs in a cardboard box. As Michael and his girlfriend walked down the alley that night, the air still smelled of smoke. Michael didn’t think he’d ever be able to smell a campfire again without feeling ill.
He stopped to talk with a neighbor, then heard his girlfriend shout, “Michael!” She was staring at the wooden fence behind his parents’ home. Michael saw a hole surrounded by what looked like black paint. It appeared to have been made recently. For someone of his height—the 6 feet and 4 inches that helped get him onto the team at Trinity—it provided a clear view to the garage where his father had died.
“Holy shit,” he said.
The next morning, Detective Ermatinger had a look at the fence. He, too, thought it looked as if someone had drilled the hole. Crime scene technicians took the board for processing.
Detectives remembered seeing a drill at Aubrey and Vodicka’s apartment and obtained warrants for another search. When they searched it the following week, they found an Apple MacBook in the process of having its hard drive wiped clean, according to a later search warrant. They seized it for testing. From the two apartments, they also collected a cordless drill and bits, two red gasoline containers, a yellow propylene tank with a torch attachment, a blue propane torch, two cans of paint, and a couple of pairs of shorts and pants.
Aubrey refused to talk without a lawyer and said he couldn’t afford one. Detective Ermatinger called Assistant District Attorney Gary McDonald, who helped find a public defender and also subpoenaed Aubrey to testify before a grand jury, a tactic prosecutors sometimes use when dealing with uncooperative witnesses. A few days later, the prosecutor questioned Aubrey before jurors. It would be a violation of law for anyone to reveal what exactly was said that day, but the proceedings didn’t produce an indictment.
Last September, Michael left his law firm and took over his dad’s practice full time. He had spent months debating the decision. He had his dream job, working in a civil firm on big contingency cases. He worried that his father’s small practice might feel lonely, but he couldn’t stand the thought of shutting it down. Now he spent every day behind his father’s old mahogany desk. There were things about the office Michael wanted to change: the old wallpaper, the red and pink bathroom tiles. But he couldn’t bring himself to touch anything that had been his dad’s.
He focused on keeping his father’s clients happy, but the murder investigation was a constant concern. The medical examiner had released preliminary findings. His father had died of burns, smoke inhalation, and blunt force injuries. The family desperately hoped that Ira had been knocked unconscious before the fire had been set.
Michael filled a whiteboard with evidence and photos of Aubrey and Vodicka. He still researched other suspects, but the more he learned about the two men, the more he believed they were responsible. Michael decided to keep representing Aubrey’s mother and to move forward with his dad’s defamation case.
His mother was furious. “How dare you do this to our family?” she said. “We have lost too much. What if I lose you, too?”
It didn’t take Aubrey and Vodicka long to resume their legal filings, trying to undo Ira’s work. Aubrey once again tried to get his mother removed from the family trust. Michael alerted the courts to Aubrey’s designation as a vexatious litigant, but that designation only applied to Aubrey as a pro se litigant. Vodicka had reactivated his law license and could file the lawsuits on his partner’s behalf, sidestepping the need to get approval. Michael wanted to get Vodicka disbarred, to shut them down for good.
On September 12, Michael went to the courthouse for a hearing in the defamation suit. It was his first chance to see Aubrey and Vodicka since his dad’s death, four months earlier. When Michael walked into the courtroom, his heart raced and his hands clenched into fists. He made a point to look both men in the eye. He wanted to see if he could tell whether they had murdered his dad. As the hearing went on, Schoettmer and Aubrey sparred, trading insults. It grew so tense that the judge ordered the parties to leave the court separately.
Michael and Aubrey emailed about the cases, and their discourse quickly turned contentious. “As luck (or bad luck) would have it, you were born into a filthy and dirty family,” Aubrey wrote. Aubrey filed another lawsuit, this time accusing the Dallas Morning News of defamation for its coverage of the case. He was also suing Judge Moyé, Schoettmer, and Debbie.
Debbie had never been sued before, and she was frightened. Someone sent a blank piece of paper to her house, in an envelope with Aubrey’s return address on it. To her, it seemed to be saying: I know where you live.
Last fall, after work, Michael stayed up late in his East Dallas town home watching true crime shows: I (Almost) Got Away With It and Real Detective. They made him feel normal again, somehow. He got to repeatedly experience that climactic moment when the cops finally caught the bad guy, the satisfying ending that his family longed for.
In the shows, murders were solved by single-minded detectives who were obsessed with their cases. In real life, the Dallas detectives were distracted and overworked, running from one murder to the next. 2016 was a tough year for the Dallas Police Department. A gunman ambushed officers downtown in July, killing five. The Tobolowsky family mourned the tragedy, but they knew it meant their case would take longer to solve. And then came the fiasco with the Police and Fire Pension System, which, teetering toward insolvency, drove scores of older, experienced cops to retire before they’d planned to in an effort to preserve their pensions.
As the months passed, the family began to lose hope that the police could solve Ira’s murder. In 2016, there were 171 murder cases in Dallas, and police solved just half of them, falling below the national average of about 60 percent.
It had occurred to family members to take matters into their own hands. Debbie worried about keeping her boys leashed. “I don’t know how serious they were, but I thought they could have very easily gone and done something stupid,” she says. “I told them, ‘Do you think your father would want you in jail for the rest of your life?’ ”
Most of the family thought Aubrey had killed Ira. But he was still free, living not far away in North Dallas. One afternoon Ira’s sister saw Aubrey in Bed Bath & Beyond, and her knees buckled.
The family came to believe that investigators had bungled the case. Why had they waited six days before picking up Aubrey and Vodicka? If the men had burns, they’d had time to heal. Michael learned that the fence board with the hole had not been sent for testing to determine whether the black substance on it matched the cans of paint found in the men’s apartments. He didn’t believe police had collected all the available video footage. The family began filing their own public records requests to obtain footage from DART buses, but most agencies deleted video after 30 days. The family had tried to stay out of the detectives’ way; now they regretted it.
They’d call detectives and get no response. Michael called one detective every single day for a week. Nothing. If a prominent North Dallas family couldn’t get police to respond—one that had so many lawyers and a state and federal judge among its relatives—what must it be like for others with less means and access?
Michael contacted the investigator who had been hired by his parents’ insurance company to examine the fire scene. A 29-year arson investigator, he told Michael that several days after the fire he had bagged a dozen pieces of evidence that he was surprised authorities had left behind. He had carefully archived the items to preserve chain of custody. He told Michael that he’d ruled out all other causes—faulty wiring, car fire—and was convinced someone had poured an ignitable liquid on his father and set him on fire. He found nothing in the garage that matched the fuel source. It had been brought into the garage that morning by the killer, he said. Also, he told Michael that there was a 50-50 chance the suspect had suffered burns. If so, it might look like a sunburn, he said.
The family had debated hiring a private investigator and finally decided to call around. They talked to a retired FBI agent who charged a $25,000 retainer. They talked to another guy who told them, “I’m gonna do some stuff, but I can’t tell you because most of it’s illegal.” A third told them, “If you want to solve the case, you’re going to have to do it yourselves.”
In early October, Michael got an email from a pair of private investigators. “We are private investigators who simply have a low tolerance for scumbaggery and this case really bothers us,” they wrote. Michael liked the email and agreed to a meeting. The pair offered to start pro bono, see what they could find, and Michael agreed. The family had put up a billboard on Central Expressway offering a $25,000 reward. If the investigators could solve the case, the money was theirs.
As the family was taking an active role in searching for Ira’s killer, Dallas police were running an undercover investigation into the website masseurfinder.com. Aubrey regularly posted ads there, showing a picture of himself shirtless.
His ads read: “My goal is to offer male massage at its very best for ALL men of any curiosity, any size or any age. Professionalism and discretion are assured. I am a muscular 6’5’’, 220 lb fit and masculine masseur—smooth, friendly, easy going, intuitive, skilled and GIANT STRONG hands.”
A police officer sent a text message to “Massage Bi Steve” in response to the ad and set up an appointment at the Hilton Anatole on Stemmons Freeway. Aubrey knocked on the door and walked in carrying a massage table, according to court records. They “started a casual conversation that turned into a sexual conversation,” the officer wrote. Aubrey agreed to masturbation and sexual intercourse for $300. Officers booked Aubrey into jail on a prostitution charge.
That night, the Tobolowskys’ private investigators got word of the arrest and went looking for Vodicka. In Aubrey’s absence, they hoped he might talk. One of the PIs spotted him pulling into his apartment complex, carrying takeout. The PI identified herself as merely “an investigator” and offered to put him up in a hotel in case the media got word of Aubrey’s arrest and swarmed. Vodicka agreed.
While in the parking lot, Vodicka asked, “Do you know Debbie Tobolowsky?” The PI answered yes, and Vodicka said, “Will you please tell her that I’m sorry, and I never meant for any of this to happen?”
The second PI soon joined them, and the three went to a hotel room. One of the PIs had a video recorder, disguised as a pen, in his pocket. As they chatted, watching the Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers, one PI raised the subject of Ira’s murder.
“I mean, do you think he’s capable of doing something like that?” There was a long pause. “Well, I guess everybody’s capable, to some degree, but,” the investigator said.
“I don’t know,” Vodicka said. “I’d say, if there were anybody that he would bust out of the gate, you know, cross a line, it’d be his brother. And he hasn’t done anything, you know, like that on his brother.”
During the hourlong exchange, Vodicka said nothing definitive about Ira’s murder.
In mid-November, Detective Ermatinger went to Michael’s law office to let him know where the case stood. He brought another detective, Dale Richardson. After the men took seats in Michael’s office, Ermatinger said that he was retiring. Though he didn’t share this with Michael, his decision to retire was based in part on the shaky state of the pension. He wanted to preserve as much of his retirement savings as possible. He said that he hated to leave Ira’s case unsolved, but fresh eyes might do it some good. Richardson would take over.
Michael had a question. If they found no more evidence, did prosecutors have enough to file a case? No, the detectives answered. They had good circumstantial evidence against Aubrey, but nothing that placed him at the house on May 13.
As Michael walked them out, he told Richardson he’d leave him alone for the next two weeks as he got up to speed on the case. Richardson said he would appreciate that. He told Michael about a mom who had been calling him every week since her son’s murder three years ago. Michael wondered whether he would wind up like that mom, calling detectives every week—forever?
Detective Ermatinger, now retired, says the men remain primary suspects; no one else on their list came close. He says detectives executed more search warrants on the Tobolowsky case—roughly 18—than on any other case he’d worked. Most of those dealt with Aubrey and Vodicka; others were for cell tower dumps.
“They are suspects, and they are strong ones,” Ermatinger says. “But I had no evidence to arrest them. We like to have a fingerprint at the scene or catch them on a video or, of course, DNA is even better than a fingerprint. They provided all those samples, but we can’t match anything at this time.”
Family members also worry about the lack of physical evidence. While believing the men killed her husband, Debbie sometimes wonders whether police have adequately ruled out the other suspects. “I’m deathly afraid we’ve spent all our time focused on them, and someone else is out there laughing, thinking they got away with it,” she says.
Aubrey declined an interview for this story but did respond to questions over email. “Ermatinger is a lying sack of shit,” he wrote. Aubrey says his arms were not red when detectives picked him up. He offered a list of Ira’s adversaries, asking why those people were never pursued by police. His only connection to Ira, Aubrey says, was a string of lawsuits—just words, no threats. As for the emails to his mother, he says he only threatened to expose her behavior. “I did not say I would physically harm her or anybody,” Aubrey wrote. Aubrey says he was not hiding from police after the fire, that he was at the second apartment, and he says the equipment that police found—the drill, plumbing supplies, gas containers—was left over from when he did maintenance on his house in Austin.
“I did not kill Ira, nor do I know who did,” Aubrey wrote.
One afternoon in January, Ira’s eldest son, Jonathan, and one of the family’s private investigators went to see Aubrey’s younger brother, Tom. Tom had been the one member of the family who had taken Aubrey’s side during the inheritance battle. The police hadn’t interviewed Tom, and the Tobolowskys wondered if he was still in touch with Aubrey. Jonathan knocked on the door of his Dallas home and introduced himself and the investigator, calling her “his friend Rachel.” Tom invited the pair inside. Jonathan had the pen video camera clipped to his shirt between two buttons.
“Thank you for letting us in,” Jonathan said, as they settled in chairs in the living room.
“No problem,” Tom said.
Jonathan got to the point: “Do you think he did it?”
“That was my first instinct, yeah,” Tom said.
“I mean, you know him. He’s your brother,” Jonathan said. “Is he capable of something like this?”
“Well, it’s hard to imagine, but obviously somebody did it,” Tom said. “Like I said, that was my first instinct, but it’s very difficult to imagine somebody that you grew up with killing somebody.”
Jonathan asked if Tom would be willing to help the family by calling Aubrey.
“I don’t know that he’d be stupid enough to tell me something,” Tom said. He hadn’t spoken to his brother since before the fire. Tom continued: “He had the perfect upbringing, but then he’s had a really shitty last eight or nine years. … Several years ago, if he had killed Buck, I wouldn’t have been surprised.”
“Really? I didn’t know it was that bad,” Jonathan said.
“It was that bad,” Tom said.
Tom said he had seen his brother and Ira face off in court, and it had always seemed professional, not particularly contentious. “I think he had a bit of a love-hate relationship with your dad. … I think he enjoyed the sparring, the battle,” Tom said.
“I mean, that’s a very hard thing to hear, to be honest with you,” Jonathan said.
After a half-hour, the men exchanged phone numbers. Tom said he was sorry for all the Tobolowsky family had been through and told Jonathan to call anytime.
These days, Michael arrives at the office around 6 am. He likes to get his legal work done early, so he can spend the rest of the day trying to push his father’s murder investigation forward. His office is filled with whiteboards, columns detailing lists of motive and opportunity and evidence. One whiteboard lists 10 suspects in his dad’s death. He has crossed off only two, his mother and neighbors. Like his mother, he fears police may not have done enough work to rule out any of the rest.
He’s still awaiting results from police on key evidence. Detectives sent the juice bottle to Quantico for analysis; forensic experts are trying to extract data from the wiped computer.
The Tobolowsky family worries whether the Dallas police have the resources to find Ira’s killer. They’ve pinned their hopes on private investigators. Late last year, they learned Aubrey and Vodicka had moved to Florida. The men live in a bungalow surrounded by palm trees.
Aubrey continues filing motions in Dallas courts. He has taken aim at Michael. After hearing about one particularly hostile filing against her son, Debbie cried for two days. Michael worries about her. She has been living elsewhere, paralyzed about what to do next. She wanted to move back into the house after it was repaired, hoping to feel her husband’s presence. But over time, she realized she couldn’t go back.
“If he had died a natural death, it would have been different,” she says. “But because he was murdered there, I felt violated. It became a place where something evil happened.”
One afternoon recently, Ira’s longtime paralegal, Leigh Allen, walked into Michael’s office as he and his older brother, Jonathan, discussed the case.
“Are you ever going to stop investigating?” Allen asked.
Jonathan looked at her. He said, “Don’t you know him better than that by now?”
Michael vows he will never stop. He knows his father trusted the justice system, believed that everyone was innocent until proven guilty, and that the system generally works. He can hear his father telling him, Life isn’t fair. I’m not coming back either way. I don’t want you sitting here, mourning me forever.
With an arrest, with justice and closure, maybe Michael could move on. But not now. Because he can also hear his father saying, Get the bastard.https://doi.org/10.19079/pr.2017.6.cro
Hegel, Husserl and the Phenomenology of Historical Worlds by Tanja Staehler is an effort of integration between the phenomenological thinking of two of the most influential philosophers in the contemporary tradition: G.W.F. Hegel and Edmund Husserl. The author’s intention is to reframe a phenomenology of historical and cultural worlds by pursuing the potential of a mutual compenetration of the two German philosophers more than focusing on a static and sterile debate regarding what might make them two different thinkers. The main thesis here shows how Husserl’s phenomenology radicalizes Hegel’s by adding the character of infinite openness to the teleological development of historical Spirit, which afterwards will manifest itself as horizonally constituted. At the same time an Hegelian narrative applies to the entire “parabola” of Husserl’s thought, which the author describes as a progressive development from an abstract to a concrete phenomenology that finally emerges in his later studies and that, by an effort of recollection in the most Hegelian meaning, illustrates the phenomenological development with the motivations and explanations for his abstract beginning. Important to mention is how, within the tradition of Husserlian debate, Staehler takes the side of Derrida and Steinbock by defending the presence of a third phase in Husserl’s philosophy, alongside the static and the genetic, which she names historical. The three stages also serve as the methodological sections of the work.
Hegel and Husserl, in their different phenomenological traditions, both make clear that if philosophy wants to be recognized as a rigorous science it must be presuppositionless and thus, that a leap is required by consciousness in order to clarify what remains overshadowed by the immediacy (in Hegel) and naïveté (in Husserl) of our natural attitude toward the world. In this sense phenomenology takes the sceptical critique as its own starting standpoint by moving the focus of analyses from its directedness toward being, backward to the level of its appearance to consciousness. Scepticism then becomes a moment in the philosophical approach more than a simple school of thought (a point we credit to Hegel) and the very beginning of self-reflection. What for Hegel, however, is a thoroughgoing scepticism, simply “directed against the being of sense-certainty which takes its being as true as such,” and which points beyond the level of phenomena (although in a new mediate form), for Husserl the philosophical approach takes the shape of a refraining from positing the being in the world. We might say that while the teleological presupposition leads Hegel toward a pre-established pathway engaging in what the author calls a pedagogical dialectic between the natural attitude and philosophical consciousness, Husserl chooses the path to suspend the natural attitude itself and to assume a philosophy of a perpetual beginning. A difference in the perspective but not really in the ultimate goal, as the final idea is to have a rigorous discipline better able to disclose in a clearer way the interplay of the perception between the individual consciousness and the phenomenal world. Alongside the similarities and differences between Hegel and Husserl, Staehler lets us notice how a first problematic arises when we approach the beginning of philosophy in the form of a necessary sceptical attitude as it represents everything except a presuppositionless standpoint and which thus requires a given motivation and a contextual explanation. This is a question that remains open until the last part of the work where the encompassing Spirit (in Hegel) and the Lifeworld (in Husserl) will appear and will be able to give a context to the motivation by an effort of recollection.
Hegel describes the process that leads consciousness from the immediacy of sense-certainty to the understanding of itself as the one very constitutive agent of the perceptual activity in the first three chapters of the Phenomenology of Spirit. The possibility of self-certainty is triggered by a tension between the unity of the object and the multiplicity of its properties which leaves us the feeling of a phenomenal world characterized by an ungraspable double nature. However, as the author underlines, that uncanniness is only given as a consequence of a static point of view and that when a dynamic perspective is taken the contradiction is solved. The concept of force is probably the best image to show how the coexistence of unity and its unfolding multiplicity is easily graspable when framed within a process-oriented approach. Staehler sees here a common pattern with the Husserlian image of the apple tree and the changing of its determinations in the persistence of an identical bearer. Important to notice is how the possibility of the synthesis of the manifold of the modes of givenness into a phanto-matic unity is possible only by the mediation of time which in Husserl is constituted at the level of inner consciousness. From a static and descriptive methodology the analysis here starts to move slightly to a genetic and constitutive approach. However, while a dynamic-oriented philosophy might represent the possibility of a parallelism between the two philosophers, a basic difference between them remains in the attitude toward the nature of the unity beyond the phenomena. If Hegel, carried by his teleological impetus, does not show any refraining from positing the identity of the object, for Husserl its possibility can be given only when all its modes of appearance are taken into account, a possibility that lies in the infinite. As the author says, “the goal of the perceptual process thus cannot be the adequate givenness of the object, but the closer determination of the thing in the process itself.”
The fact that the absolute identity of the object might be attainable only by an ideal and infinite perspective does not mean that Husserl denies the possibility of knowledge. The author is clear on that point when she frames both philosophers in what she calls an idealistic realism. The tension between unity and manifold is a tension between the focus of the natural attitude on the identity of the phenomena and the relativity of kinaesthetic, individual and cultural horizons while the role of phenomenology is the achievement of a more balanced perspective. Objectivity in Husserl is always partial but anyway possible and progressively enriched not only at the level of internal consciousness but even through communication with others. The analysis on identity and differences (in Hegel) and unity and manifold (in Husserl) begins to show the emergence of the main thesis of this work, namely how the character of openness of Husserl’s phenomenology might radicalize Hegel’s historical development. In order to proceed to this new stage of analysis, however, it is necessary to enter into the debate regarding the interpretation of Husserl’s phenomenology which, following Staehler, has been often too quickly enclosed in an idealistic framework as a consequence of misunderstanding the Husserlian concept of solipsism. The genetic approach, especially the one developed in Ideas and Cartesian Meditations, actually poses the possibility of the otherness of the other and it establishes the basis for what the author calls the historical Husserl. Solipsism, from her point of view, is not to be interpreted in the classical way but as a phenomenological reduction, exactly as the concept of the epoché, in order to clarify the how of the possibility of otherness. At the end of the genetic phase it eventually “becomes accessible in its inaccessibility” allowing the possibility of the foundation of the realm of intersubjectivity to be posed.
Hegel describes the development of the social and cultural world in the fourth chapter of his Phenomenology of Spirit where the master and slave dialectic and the struggle for recognition are introduced. The contradiction is eventually resolved in a typical Hegelian movement by a process of sublation by which the two forces find a balance within a new encompassing level, allowing Spirit to emerge. One of the last chapters of the work is dedicated to the Hegelian interpretation of the Antigone where the dialectical process is again described at the level of an ethical development. Far from psychologizing the characters, Hegel is more interested in the invariant pattern that Antigone and Creon carry on. In the struggle between the divine law and the political law an impasse is reached where neither of the two loses or wins. A reconciliation is only possible at an encompassing level, where the two compenetrate each other. This is expressed by the Chorus. Nothing similar appears in Husserl’s phenomenology of intersubjectivity, which never thematizes the Lifeworld as encompassing realm. Staehler states however that Husserl in his later studies, specifically the ones figuring into the Crisis, shows a plexus of phenomenological approaches which stand apart from the transcendental-psychological way opened by the epoché and by which an ontology of a Lifeworld is posited. The concept of the crisis is openly disclosed and serves as a catalyst in a recollection of the entirety of Husserl’s philosophy.
European man in Husserl’s terms lives in a contextual crisis that is rooted in the forgetfulness of the subject and of the Lifeworld, which are overshadowed by objective and scientific thinking. The role of philosophy is to find again a balance by the re-establishment of the subject as a real active agent of history. The role of phenomenology and its motivation, which were left suspended at the beginning of the work, are now finally explained. If the psychological-transcendental way, following the author’s analyses, leads us to the threshold of the ontology, the ontological way by historical reflection shows us the necessity for a better understanding of our inner consciousness. The recovery of the active role of subjectivity and intersubjectivity allows Husserl to move from history as a pure objective science of facts to what he calls ideal-history and toward a more horizonal and culturally-constituted historical development.
Cultural worlds are described by the author as a plexus of products, norms and values and also as “a world of custom, laws and regulations which the individual needs to consider.” They manifest themselves with the double nature of being established (stiftung), re-established and changed by man but at the same time at work as contextual constraints. There is a kind of |
too.
So when it came down to it, the decision was easy. There was no way I could pass on representing the Dominican Republic in the WBC. It’s in my blood. I’m doing it for my mother. I’m doing it for my uncle. I’m doing it for everybody who has supported me in my career.
And most of all, I’m doing it for my grandfather.
Honestly, if he were here to watch me play in the WBC, I don’t think he would have any words to describe how it would make him feel. Which would be O.K., because whether he’s here or not, the only word that will matter when I put that jersey on will be the country on the front: Dominicana.
Gracias, Abuelo.
This is for you.The columnist Cal Thomas recently asked Trump, “Who do you say Jesus is?” Trump replied:
Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence. Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind.
Trump’s emphasis on Jesus’s bravery and courage may not resonate with every believing Christian, but it draws on a century-old tradition of Muscular Christianity. Its 19th-century advocates worried about the feminizing influences of urban civilization, and sought security and confidence in a religion that would be strong, vigorous, manly. A Christianity for winners.
One of its greatest champions was a Manhattan-based businessman, who rose to national prominence by virtue of his mastery of media and his knack for salesmanship: Bruce Barton. As a boy, Barton later recalled, he’d been unsettled by his Sunday school lessons, which offered brave, manly heroes like David and Daniel:
But Jesus! Jesus was the “lamb of God.” The little boy did not know what that meant, but it sounded like Mary’s little lamb. Something for girls—sissified. Jesus was also “meek and lowly,” a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He went around for three years telling people not to do things.
Years later, after Barton built a successful career as a pioneer of the advertising industry, selling Americans things they’d never known they needed—he’s the second B in BBDO—he thought again about that contrast:
He said to himself: “Only strong magnetic men inspire great enthusiasm and build great organizations. Yet Jesus built the greatest organization of all. It is extraordinary.”
So he reopened the Gospels, and confessed himself startled by what he found. (Barton’s readers might be equally startled.)
A physical weakling! Where did they get that idea? Jesus pushed a plane and swung an adze; he was a successful carpenter. He slept outdoors and spent his days walking around his favorite lake. His muscles were so strong that when he drove the money-changers out, nobody dared to oppose him! A kill-joy! He was the most popular dinner guest in Jerusalem! The criticism which proper people made was that he spent too much time with publicans and sinners (very good fellows, on the whole, the man thought) and enjoyed society too much. They called him a “wine bibber and a gluttonous man.” A failure! He picked up twelve men from the bottom ranks of business and forged them into an organization that conquered the world. When the man had finished his reading he exclaimed, “This is a man nobody knows!” “Some day,” said he, “someone will write a book about Jesus. Every businessman will read it and send it to his partners and his salesmen. For it will tell the story of the founder of modern business.”
Barton wrote that book. The Man Nobody Knows became an instant bestseller, moving a quarter-million copies by 1926. It was, like The Art of the Deal, an inspirational success manual. And it’s hard to miss the echoes in the language the two authors employed, or in the ideals they chose to exalt.Understanding references and their subtleties in Perl is one of the more difficult concepts to fully wrap one's head around. However, once they are fully understood by the blossoming developer, they find a whole new level of capability and power to exploit and explore.
I often see newer programmers struggle with the concept of references on the Perl help sites I frequent. Some still have a ways to go, but many are at the stage where perhaps one more tutorial may push them over the edge and give them that 'Ahhhh' moment of clarity. My moment of clarity came when I read Randal Schwartz's "Learning Perl Objects, References & Modules" book for the something like the 8th time. Although once the concept of references is understood, the syntax and use cases can still be confusing for quite some time, especially in Perl, because There Is More Than One Way To Do It.
This tutorial is the first in a five part series. This part will focus on the basics, preparing you for more complex uses in the following four parts. I've created a cheat sheet that summarizes what you'll learn in this document.
I will stick with a single consistent syntax throughout the series and will refrain from using one-line shortcuts and other simplification techniques in loops and other structures in hopes to keep any confusion to a minimum. Part one assumes that you have a very good understanding of the Perl variable types, when they are needed, and how they are used. Some exposure to references may also prove helpful, but shouldn't be required.
If you find anything in this document that you feel could use improvement, or if you have any questions or you feel the document needs further clarity, please feel free to provide any and all feedback via the comments section below, or send me an email.
THE BASICS
References in Perl are nothing more than a scalar variable that instead of containing a usable value, they 'point' to a different variable. When you perform an action on a reference, you are actually performing the action on the variable that the reference points to. A Perl reference is similar to a shortcut to a file or program on your computer. When you double click the shortcut, the shortcut doesn't open, it's the file that the shortcut points to that does.
We'll start with arrays, and I'll get right into the code.
We'll define an array as normal, and then print out its contents.
my @array = ( 1, 2, 3 ); for my $elem ( @array ){ say $elem; }
Prepending the array with a backslash is how we take a reference to the array and assign the reference to a scalar. The scalar $aref now is a reference that points to @array.
my $aref = \@array;
At this point, if you tried to print out the contents of $aref, you would get the location of the array being pointed to. You know you have a reference if you ever try to print a scalar and you get output like the following:
ARRAY(0x9bfa8c8)
Before we can use the array the reference points to, we must dereference the reference. To gain access to the array and use it as normal, we use the array dereference operator @{}. Put the array reference inside of the dereference braces and we can use the reference just as if it was the array itself:
for my $elem ( @{ $aref } ){ say $elem; }
The standard way of assigning an individual array element to a scalar:
my $x = $array[0];
To access individual elements of the array through the reference, we use a different dereference operator:
my $y = $aref->[1];
Assign a string to the second element of the array in traditional fashion:
$array[1] = "assigning to array element 2";
To do the same thing through an array reference, we dereference it the same way we did when we were taking an element from the array through the reference:
$aref->[1] = "assigning to array element 2";
You just learnt how take a reference to an array (by prepending the array with a backslash), how to dereference the entire array reference by inserting the reference within the dereference block @{}, and how to dereference individual elements of the array through the reference with the -> dereference operator. That is all there is to it. Hashes are extremely similar. Let's look at them now.
Create and initialize a normal hash, and iterate over its contents:
my %hash = ( a => 1, b => 2, c => 3 ); while ( my ( $key, $value ) = each %hash ){ say "key: $key, value: $value"; }
Take a reference to the hash, and assign it to a scalar variable:
my $href = \%hash;
Now we'll iterate over the hash through the reference. To access the hash, we must dereference it just like we did the array reference above. The dereference operator for a hash reference is %{}. Again, just wrap the reference within its dereferencing block:
while ( my ( $key, $value ) = each %{ $href } ){ say "key: $key, value: $value"; }
Access an individual hash value:
my $x = $hash{ a };
Access an individual hash value through the reference. The dereference operator for accessing individual elements of a hash through a reference is the same one we used for an array (->).
my $y = $href->{ a };
Assign a value to hash key 'a':
$hash{ a } = "assigning to hash key a";
Assign a value to hash key 'a' through the reference:
$href->{ a } = "assigning to hash key a";
That's essentially the basics of taking a reference to something, and then dereferencing the reference to access the data it points to.
When we operate on a reference, we are essentially operating on the item being pointed to directly. Here is an example that shows, in action, how operating directly on the item has the same effect as operating on the item through the reference.
my @b = ( 1, 2, 3 ); my $aref = \@b; # assign a new value to $b[0] through the reference $aref->[0] = 99; # print the array for my $elem ( @b ){ say $elem; }
Output:
99 2 3
As you can see, the following two lines are equivalent:
$b[0] = 99; $aref->[0] = 99;
CHEAT SHEET
Here's a little cheat sheet for review before we move on to the next part in the series.
my @a = ( 1, 2, 3 ); my %h = ( a => 1, b => 2, c => 3 ); # take a reference to the array my $aref = \@a; # take a reference to the hash my $href = \%h; # access the entire array through its reference my $elem_count = scalar @{ $aref }; # access the entire hash through its reference my $keys_count = keys %{ $href }; # get a single element through the array reference my $element = $a->[0]; # get a single value through the hash reference my $value = $h->{ a }; # assign to a single array element through its reference $a->[0] = 1; # assign a value to a single hash key through its ref $h->{ a } = 1;
This concludes Part 1 of our Guide to Perl references. My goal was not to compete with all the other reference guides available, but instead to complement them, with the hope that perhaps I may have said something in such a way that it helps further even one person's understanding. Next episode, we'll learn about using references as subroutine parameters.
Update: An astute reader sent me an email after noticing that this tutorial does not mention scalar references at all. This was a design choice. I didn't feel it necessary to justify the extra space to explain them, as they are very rarely used. They do exist though :) Thanks Asbjørn Thegler for the kind email!After 162 grueling games, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees squared off in the Bronx for the right to move on in October. The Young Kids Vs. The Old Money in a do-or-die, winner take all, game. And the young guns blasted two long balls and manufactured a run late to win 3-0.
This team has the sound of a story we heard just last year. New on the block, blossoming young talent, that has always been told they will turn the franchise around, has made good on their promise and has delivered the Houston Astros into October. The only problem is they are playing the slightly older, more talented version of themselves in the Divisional Series, the reigning A.L. Champs–Kansas City Royals.
The Houston Astros come to Kansas City after what was their best season since thier World Series run of 2005. The Astros are heading into this series with an 86-76 record, in second place in the A.L. West, and as the second wild card team. Houston's Coach, A.J. Hinch is even a young gun himself only managing with the Astros for the 2015 season, and a short replacement stint with the Diamond Backs before that. Hinch, a former Royal Catcher, is a top candidate for A.L. Coach of the Year, a position the Royals Ned Yost is also a possible candidate for.
Astro's Offense: The swing first, ask questions later Astros have a unique philosophy in comparison to the Royals. The Astros struck out an astronomical 1392 times this season (Most in the A.L.). By comparison, the Royals only struck out 973 times (Least in the A.L.). Yet that isn't to say all the Astros can do is mash mammoth homers. Like the Royals the Astros steal bases….and lots of them. This year the stros ripped off 121 bags. The Royals were the next closest with 104. This is not the epic clip of 153 that the Royals stole last year, but it is still best in the A.L.
Astros Lineup:
1. Jose Altuve 2b- One of the best hitters in the game, Altuve has lead the MLB in hits the last two years. Beyond hitting he is also a major stolen base threat committing 38 thefts in 2015 (Lorenzo Cain is the second highest with 28).
2. George Springer RF- The Astros have a few young studs on this team, but Springer was the one that may have been the most touted! Injured for parts of this season (after getting hit by the Royals in July) Springer seems to be back into mid-sesaon form. Springer is a dual threat with tremendous speed, and some real power!
3. Carlos Correa SS- Of all the young talent on Houston's ballclub, none seem to have the ceiling Correa has. My pick for A.L. Rookie of the Year, Correa has burst onto the scene in a big way. After avoiding bringing him up until June (for super two reasons I'm sure), Correa has taken off. If you would spread his numbers out over a full MLB season he would have hit 33 homers and 111 RBI's in his ROOKIE season. This 20 year old would have lead the Royals in both of these categories, and not to mention he is a flashy, tall shortstop that is on his way to stardom with these Astros!
4. Colby Rasmus LF- Possibly the douchest of players since Brett Lawrie, Rasmus leads the league in bat flips, and stringy hair. A wash-up with the Cardinals, and Blue Jays, this hot head has found a home in Houston. Rasmus does have some power, and a strong arm in the outfield. Yet, strikes out a lot, and is easy to get off of his game. Expect the Royals to try and test him early in the series.
5. Evan Gattis DH- The strongest baseball player alive, Gattis says, "no gloves, no problem." When he grips the bat, sawdust falls to the ground. Though not a base stealer, Gattis defies you to say he isn't speedy. If I were to ask you who had more triples this year, Paulo Orland, Jarrod Dyson, Lorenzo Cain, or Evan Gattis, there is no way you would say Gattis. But it was with 11!
6. Carlos Gomez CF- Traded to the Astros at the trading deadline, Gomez was recently crowned one of the 8 actual 5 tool players in the MLB (joining the likes of Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchon and Lorenzo Cain). However, Gomez recently tore some muscles in his intercostal ribs, and seems to still have some pain, especially when swinging and missing. He does not however, seem to have pain when he launches mamo-bombs like he did last night against Tanaka.
7. Luis Valbuena 3b- Another in the mold of Astros that take big cuts, and big misses. with 106 strikeouts this season, Valbuena has also belted 25 homers and a.224 avg. This power lefty adds some pop at the bottom of the line-up.
8. Cris Carter 1b- Pretty much the right handed Valbuena, with a bit more pop, and a few more swing and misses. The definition of all-or-nothing.
9. Jason Castro C- He is definitely on this team for his defense.
Astros Defense: A strong outfield and solid middle of the infield puts this team very above average on the defensive ends. The soft part of this team will be their corner infielders, and one the Royals may try to exploit as games get later, and scores stay low. Jason Castro may be the real difference maker (as Salvy will be on the opposite side). He will be the guy to neutrilize this running game, and continue to frame the corners.
Astros Pitching- The strength of this team lead by Dallas Kuechal, the Astros come in with a strong rotation. The 21 game winner is a strong candidate for the Cy Young, but struggles on the road. Kuechal is 15-0 at home however. But since Kuechal pitched the Wildcard game he is likely unavailable until Sunday's game 3. Toeing the rubber for the stros in game 1 will be Colin McHugh. McHugh is a 19 game winner with a 3.89 ERA this year. He beat the Royals in May with a solid 1 run 7 inning performance. Game two has not been decided yet for the Astros, however, my bet is on Scott Kazmir. Kazmir will be the possibly be the game two starter but was rocked for a 7+ era in the month of Septmeber. That being said he is a crafty lefty, and the Royals are not a strong team against soft throwing left handers, so I would bet to see him. The bullpen of this team is defintely their weakest part, but at the end of this bullpen is Luke Gregorson and his 31 saves.
So this being said, I think this Astros team is going to be a good match-up for the fans. Two fast paced teams, with some emerging stars! I think the experience and the chip on the shoulder of the Royals is going to carry them through however. This team still feels like they are being disrespected by the national media, and not getting the credit they deserve as the best team in the American League. So expect them to come out guns blazing against the Astros. I do expect the Astros to win the Kuechal game on Sunday in Houston, but I am sorry to say that is the only game I am expecting. I say Royals win in 4 games.
Previous Post Happily Ever After This submission was posted by Seth Wingerter. We welcome all to submit posts, and if you would like to do so, please click the SUBMISSION tab at the top of the page -- As I walked through the gates that night, I had an almost... Read more Tweet Next Post Things to Know: A look at Houston and Kansas City On Tuesday evening, the Royals found out that they will face the Houston Astros in the ALDS after Houston defeated the New York Yankees, 3-0, in the American League Wild Card Game. Here is a look at both the Astros and Royals postseason histories and... Read more
Facebook Comments
commentsQuincy Jones is owed about $30 million in unpaid royalties from Michael Jackson’s estate, the veteran producer’s attorney told a jury on Tuesday.
Attorney Mike McKool delivered his opening argument in the trial, which is now underway in Los Angeles Superior Court. McKool said that before Jackson’s death in 2009, Jones had received his customary royalties from producing three albums: “Off the Wall,” “Thriller,” and “Bad.”
But, McKool argued that that changed when Jackson died and the singer’s estate took control of his finances. Jackson’s death brought a surge of interest in his catalog, and the estate reaped an increased share of the royalties from his hit songs. But Jones was not allowed to share in the bounty, McKool contended, and indeed was not even informed of the increased royalties until after filing suit in 2013.
“He hasn’t been adjusted as Michael was adjusted,” McKool told the jury.
McKool also contends that Jones was shorted on his share of the profits from “This Is It,” the behind-the-scenes concert documentary released after Jackson’s death. McKool said the film made use of Jackson’s original recordings, but that Jones was not given an adequate share of the licensing fee. McKool said the film grossed more than $500 million, of which the estate took $90 million, but that Jones was paid only $455,000.
Related CBS to Air ‘Michael Jackson’s Halloween’ Animated Special
Zia Modabber, the attorney for Jackson’s estate, countered in his opening argument that Jones has been richly rewarded for his producing work even after Jackson’s death.
“We believe the evidence will show that Mr. Jones is not entitled to anything but a fraction of the money he’s after,” Modabber said. Since Jackson’s death, he said, “Mr. Jones has been paid over $18 million, and he will make millions more.”
Modabber showed the jury a 10-minute clip of “This Is It” before the trial broke for lunch.
Following the lunch break, Modabber concluded his opening argument by contending that Jones was properly paid, and is not owed additional money from Sony’s joint venture with Jackson.
“He didn’t get paid any of the money Michael was going to get because he didn’t do any of the work,” Modabber said. “Mr. Jones is asking for tens and tens of millions of dollars. He just wants it and he hopes you will give it to him.”
John Branca, Jackson’s longtime attorney and now the co-executor of his estate, was the first witness. Under questioning from Jones’ lawyer, Branca said the estate had offered Jones $2 million to $3 million to settle the case, which is what he believed Jones is owed.
Branca and Jones’ lawyer sparred over the definition of a “videoshow” in Jones’ contract, with Branca claiming it pertained to music videos and not to movies such as “This Is It” or life performances such as Cirque du Soleil.
“It was never our practice to cheat … Mr. Jones,” Branca testified, as the debate became heated. “You’re creating a false impression.”
Branca acknowledged that the estate had erred by failing to give Jones a credit for “This Is It.”
The trial is expected to last about three weeks. Jones will likely testify next week.They bullied her to the point of suicide & they keep bullying her!
The cavalcade of gay and transgender porn actors who hounded August Ames until she committed suicide this week are making excuses for the attacks that her family believes contributed to her death.
Ames, whose real name is Mercedes Grabowski, took her own life this week after she became the subject of a harassment campaign following her refusal to have sex with gay actors.
The late adult film actress denied accusations of homophobia, clarifying that she did not want to risk her health by having sex with “crossover” performers, who are not subject to the same health testing protocols as their straight counterparts.
Her brother, James Grabowski, blames her tragic death on those who harassed her. “I want my sister’s death to be recognized as a serious issue–bullying is not OK,” he told British newspaper Sun Online.”It cost me my baby sister’s life.”
Ames previously revealed her struggles with depression and sexual abuse in a podcast.
Following her death, some of Ames’ detractors took to social media to justify their actions. Transgender activist Zinnia Jones, who produces amateur porn under the name Satana Kennedy, defended the harassment.
(Click images to enlarge)
Male pornstar Jaxton Wheeler, who told August Ames to swallow a cyanide pill for her opinions and hounded the late performer for days, doubled down on his comments following her death.
He stated that he was “going to sleep just fine” despite Ames’ suicide, because he “stood up for the Gay and Bisexual community.” Following harsh criticism, Wheeler made his Twitter account private.
Another gay pornstar, Bruce Beckham accused Ames of being an “uneducated homophobe” and called her opinions a cry for attention.
Following her suicide, he defended his attacks as “educational” and said she chose “to end her own life when faced with confrontation, accountability, and education.”
“Life isn’t easy, but none of us get a pass for bad behavior,” he concluded.
After being called out for his callous remarks, Beckham issued a pithy reply to say he was “sorry for calling you homophobic without initiating private discourse.”
Despite his attacks on Ames’ supposed ignorance, Beckham acknowledged twice in November that PREP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) only protects against HIV, but not other STDs, noting the importance of partner disclosure.
He made his comments in response to comments on bareback videos he produced.
Wesley Woods, another gay porn actor who hounded Ames for her “homophobia,” said he has received backlash for his attacks. Speaking to Hornet, Woods says that while he considers her suicide “tragic,” he “firmly stands behind” what he said and expressed frustration for bullying her.
Austin Wilde, another porn actor who took issue with Ames’ tweets described his remarks as “neither threatening or harassing, I do stand by my words.” He doubled down by saying her opinion “displayed her to be homophobic and uneducated on the subject [of health testing].”
Transgender performer Aspen Brooks was one of many porn actors who urged their followers to attack Ames, indicating that the late pornstar was “calling you all dirty men.”
Brooks later complained about being verbally abused following Ames’ suicide. “I don’t think I deserve this,” Brooks said, downplaying the abusive remarks sent to Ames.
August Ames’ tragic suicide should be a lesson to social justice warriors on Twitter to live what they constantly preach, but it’s clear that the only thing they care about is earning social currency.
Source: dangerous.comNo more drama! Multimodal face-recognition techniques
Facial recognition algorithms nowadays have problems with extreme facial expressions, especially dramatic ones that appear in multimedia applications, social networks and digital entertainment. For example, various dramatic poses, different illumination or various expressions make things harder for computer algorithms to track and recognize faces. One of these niches with extreme facial gestures is sports – victory celebrations and expressions during difficult games such as tennis present a challenge for modern machine learning and computer vision algorithms.
Social media images have two main problems: first, these photographs are usually taken in real-life conditions, of different lighting, illumination and conditions; and second, the vast number of images consists a huge database where lots of algorithms tend to perform slowly. Researchers from IEEE have recently tried to deal with these issues and have proposed a deep learning framework to jointly learn face representation using multimodal information. The proposed deep learning structure consists of convolutional neural networks and a stacked auto-encoder (one of the main types of deep networks consisting of a stacked ensemble of auto-encoders, which learns a compressed, distributed encoding/representation for a certain set of data).
The next step is to extract these features and to concatenate them to form a high-dimensional feature vector, and the stacked auto-encoder compresses its dimension. These networks were trained to learn these facial features on a CASIA-WebFace. This dataset, developed at the Center for Biometrics and Security Research, is a large-scale collection consisting of 10 575 subjects and 494 414 images. Our researches have used a subset of 9000 images to train the network to recognize these features, and the rest was used for testing – to see if these networks have successfully learned how to recognize faces. For those outside the field of computer vision, compare that to learning a subset of class material, and then a teacher tests your knowledge using a different set, but with similar content. The Labeled Faces in the Wild database was used for verification, and this model achieved the 98.43% verification rate.
Most of face-recognition algorithms tend to extract just a single face representation from the available face image. However, recent research focused on extracting holistic-level features. IEEE researches first act by extracting multimodal features from the holistic face image, and they use the 3D model to render a frontal face. With the help of a number of image patches, the mentioned stacked auto-encoders compress these information into a compact face signature.
This combination of different techniques yielded a high-accuracy result, and can be used in future image recognition, detection and tracking systems, especially with those in non-ideal real-world conditions. The research of social media images and datasets is just taking its first steps, but studies in computer vision and machine learning like these will give it a huge boost.
_______________
References:This is the eight part of a tutorial series about rendering. We added support for shadows in the previous part. This part introduces indirect reflections.
This tutorial was made with Unity 5.4.0f3.
After the building has been marked as static, the reflection probe will be updated. It will appear black for a moment, and then the reflections will appear. The reflective sphere isn't part of the reflections itself, so keep it dynamic.
Objects don't actually need to be completely static. You can mark them static for the purposes of various subsystems. In this case, the relevant setting is Reflection Probe Static. When enabled, the objects are rendered to the baked probes. You can move them at run time, but their reflections remain frozen.
While real-time probes are most flexible, they are also the most expensive, when updated frequently. Also, real-time probes are not updated in edit mode, while baked probes are updated when they or static geometry is edited. So let's stick to baked probes and make our building static.
Alternatively, we could change the reflection probe's type to Realtime. Such probes are rendered at run time, and you can choose when an how often. There is also a custom mode, to give you total control.
The reflection probe captures the environment by rendering a cube map. This means that it renders the scene six times, once per face of the cube. By default, its Type is set to Baked. In this mode, the cube map is generated by the editor and included in builds. These maps only include static geometry. So our building has to be static before it gets rendered into the cube map.
The scene view indicates the presence of the reflection probe with a round gizmo. Its appearance depends on the configuration of the scene view. As the gizmo obstructs the view of our sphere, let's turn it off. You can do this by opening the Gizmo dropdown menu in the scene view toolbar, scrolling down to ReflectionProbe, and clicking on its icon.
To see the reflection of the building, we have to capture it first. This is done with a reflection probe, which you can add via GameObject / Light / Reflection Probe. Create one and put it in the same position as our sphere.
Reflecting the skybox is nice, but it's even nicer to reflect actual scene geometry. So let's create a simple building. I used a rotated quad as a floor and placed a few cube pillars on top of it, and some cube beams on top of those. The sphere hovers in the center of the building.
To produce an actual reflection, we have to take the direction from the camera to the surface, and reflect it using the surface normal. We can use the reflect function for this, like we did in part 4, The First Light. In this case, we need the view direction, so add it as a parameter to CreateIndirectLight.
We get the correct colors, but we're not seeing an actual reflection yet. Because we're using the sphere's normals to sample the environment, the projection doesn't depend on the view direction. So it's like a sphere with the environment painted on it.
The conversion of the M channel is required because when stored in a texture, it is limited an 8-bit value in the 0–1 range. So the `x` instruction scales it up, and the `y` instruction makes it nonlinear, like gamma space.
RGBM contains three RGB channels, plus an M channel which contains a magnitude factor. The final RGB values are computing by multiplying them with `xM^y`. Here `x` is a scalar and `y` is an exponent, stored in the first two component of the decode instructions.
UnityCG contains the DecodeHDR function, which we can use. The HDR data is stored in four channels, using the RGBM format. So we have to sample a float4 value, then convert.
The skybox shows up, but it is far too bright. That's because the cube map contains high dynamic range colors, which allows it to contain brightness values larger than one. We have to convert the samples from HDR format to RGB.
A cube map is sampled with a 3D vector, which specifies a sample direction. We can use the UNITY_SAMPLE_TEXCUBE macro for that, which takes care of the type differences for us. Let's begin by just using the normal vector as the sample direction.
To reflect the actual environment, we have to sample the skybox cube map. It is defined as unity_SpecCube0 in UnityShaderVariables. The type of this variable depends on the target platform, which is determined in HSLSupport.
In the case of metals, the indirect reflections dominate everywhere. Instead of a black sphere, we now get a red one.
Because the reflection comes from indirect light, it is independent of the direct light source. As a result, the reflection is independent of the shadows of that light source as well. So the Fresnel reflection becomes very obvious in the otherwise shadowed edge of the sphere.
The smoother a surface, the stronger the Fresnel reflections. When using a high smoothness, the red ring becomes very obvious.
The sphere has picked up a red tint. In this case, red is an indication of reflectivity. So our sphere reflects some environmental light towards us from its center. And apparently, it reflects more at its edge. That's because every surface becomes more reflective as the view angle becomes more shallow. At glancing angles, most light is reflected, and everything becomes a mirror. This is known as Fresnel reflection. The version of UNITY_BRDF_PBS that we're using computes it for us.
Set the scene's ambient intensity to zero so we can focus on the reflections. Turn our material into a dull nonmetal again, with a smoothness of 0.5. Then change the indirect specular color to something obvious, like red.
Our sphere turned out black, because we're only including direct light. To reflect the environment, we have to include the indirect light as well. Specifically, the indirect light for specular reflections. In the CreateIndirectLight function, we configured Unity's UnityIndirect structure. So far, we've set its specular component to zero. That's why the sphere turned out black!
This does not look like a true mirror at all. Mirrors aren't black, they reflect things! In this case, it should reflect the skybox, showing a blue sky with a gray ground.
The result is an almost entirely black surface, even though its color is white. We only see a small highlight, where the light source is directly reflected towards us. All other light gets reflected in different directions. If you were to increase the smoothness to 1, then the highlight would disappear as well.
Shiny surfaces act like mirrors, especially when metallic. A perfect mirror reflects all light. This means that there is no diffuse reflection at all. It's nothing but specular reflections. So let's turn our material into a mirror, by settings Metallic to 1 and Smoothness to 0.95. Make it solid white as well.
Currently, our shader colors a fragment by combining the ambient, diffuse, and specular reflections on a surface. This produces seemingly realistic images, at least as long as the surfaces are dull. Shiny surfaces don't look quite right, though.
While this is physically correct, real life is rarely perfect. For example, you could see direct light and shadows on the dirt and dust that sticks to an otherwise perfect mirror. And there are many materials that are a mix of metallic and dielectric components. You can simulate this by setting the Metallic slider somewhere in between 0 and 1.
The same rules apply for metals, but the indirect reflections dominate. Hence, the direct light and shadows disappear as shininess increases. There are no shadows on a perfect mirror.
As we saw earlier, indirect reflections are independent of the direct illumination of a surface. This is most obvious for otherwise shadowed areas. In the case of nonmetals, this simply results in visually brighter surfaces. You can still see the shadows cast by the direct light.
Recall that a metal colorizes its specular reflections, while a nonmetal doesn't. This is true for the specular highlight, and also for the specular environmental reflections.
Both metallic and nonmetallic surfaces can produce clear reflections, they just look different. Specular reflections can appear just fine on shiny dielectric materials, but they don't dominate their appearance. There still is plenty of diffuse reflection visible.
Besides using smoothness to represent rougher mirrors, you can of course also use normal maps to add larger deformations. As we're using the perturbed normal to determine the reflection direction, this just works.
The DecodeHDR_NoLinearSupportInSM2 function just forwards to DecodeHDR, but has an optimization for Shader Model 2.0 targets.
The optimization part at the end is for PVR GPUs, to avoid dependent texture reads. To make it work, it requires the reflection vector to be passed as an interpolator.
It performs the same operations that we do, but it has some variations based on target platform and some other settings. Also, it contains some comments and disabled code that touches on the details of how the mipmaps are created.
To pass the cube map as an argument, we have to use the UNITY_PASS_TEXCUBE macro. This takes |
states where he thought his party had a fair chance of performing well electorally. A consistent campaign was launched months before the two states went to polls. Kejriwal himself made countless trips to Goa and Punjab every few days to gain a foothold in places other than Delhi. However, his party performed dismally in Goa, with all but one candidate losing their deposits, while Punjab gave Aam Aadmi Party far fewer seats than Kejriwal had thought.
Not one to take an electoral defeat lightly, Arvind Kejriwal had an epic meltdown after the results, blaming the EVMs and casting aspersions on the election commission. The Rajouri by-poll results seem to have angered him further, and he sought to lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of his candidate. It remains to be seen what his reaction is going to be after the final results of MCD elections are out. However, we can get a sneak preview of the same from the way Arvind Kejriwal’s trusted lieutenants Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan behaved in newsroom debates the day the exit poll trends were out. Both screamed breathlessly about ‘doctored’ EVMs.
Assuming that the exit polls are correct and that the AAP will be totally vanquished in the MCD polls, the question is, why are Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan parroting Arvind Kejriwal’s narrative so faithfully and shrilly on television? I think the answer lies in the Rajya Sabha elections coming up next year.
Advertisement
Delhi can send three Members of Parliament (MP) to the Rajya Sabha. With the brute majority Aam Aadmi Party enjoys in the Delhi assembly, it is a foregone conclusion that all three Rajya Sabha seats will go to AAP. Currently, these three seats are represented by Congress MPs Janardan Dwivedi, Parvez Hashmi and Karan Singh. They will remain in office until 27 January 2018, when fresh elections will be held for these three seats.
In the undivided Aam Aadmi Party of 2014, it was likely that at least two out of three Rajya Sabha seats would have gone to Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, who lent intellectual heft and money power to the young party in its initial days. However, both Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were independent thinkers who had a political presence of their own. It is possible that having Yadav and Bhushan as parallel power centres in the Rajya Sabha was something an autocratic, power-hungry Arvind Kejriwal felt he could not afford. So Yadav and Bhushan were unceremoniously chucked out of the same party that they helped build from scratch in the name of internal democracy.
With Bhushan and Yadav out of the game, all three Rajya Sabha from Delhi are up for grabs, and it is quite likely that both Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan will claim two out of these three seats as their own. This could explain their staunch backing of Arvind Kejriwal and all his hysterical narratives. However, if AAP loses the MCD elections badly, as it is projected to, the power equations inside the party could shift.
Advertisement
It is possible that Arvind Kejriwal’s autocratic authority might be questioned or undermined by certain disgruntled sections of the party who can see the party’s fortunes slide under his leadership. His halo as an honest crusader has certainly vanished. In such a situation, the next big battle for the AAP leadership will come in January 2018, before the Rajya Sabha seats come up for re-election. Whether the party will survive the MCD defeat that stares it in the eye would be an interesting thing to see, as that will determine who will represent Delhi in the Rajya Sabha in 2018.Oklahoma native says concert will "happen very quickly"
Blake Shelton and NBC have begun to organize a benefit concert for the victims of the Oklahoma tornado that have left thousands homeless, killed at least 24 people and decimated the city of Moore.
"We'll know more about it in the next 24 hours," Shelton told Billboard at the conclusion of Tuesday's edition of "The Voice." "I'm hoping it will raise a lot of money. Obviously it will be televised and will happen really quickly."
Oklahoma Tornado Relief: Here's How to Help
While pointing to his fellow coach on "The Voice" Usher, Shelton noted, "I can call in some really big favors."
Shelton is a native of Ada, Okla., about 75 miles south of where the tornado struck on May 20.
Shelton and his wife Miranda Lambert opened Tuesday's "Voice" with "Over You," a ballad the duo had written about his older brother being killed in a car accident. Unlike most "Voice" shows that encourage wall-to-wall applause, the Tuesday edition opened in silence.
Oklahoma Stars React to Disaster | OKC Radio Chips In
"I think it was the perfect song for this situation," Shelton said. "The moment was right and I wish things would've been different and I wouldn't have been thinking about performing a song like that."
Shelton will perform on the show again next week with his new Warner Nashville label mate Sheryl Crow. Her debut for the label is slated for release in September.Corey Trivino left Brighton District Court with his mother after pleading guilty to two counts of assault and battery.
Corey N. Trivino, the former top scorer for Boston University’s hockey team, was sentenced to two years of probation after a teary-eyed former student at the school testified in court Tuesday that her life was turned upside down when he cornered and assaulted her in her dorm room last December.
“Mr. Trivino’s actions have caused me more pain, suffering, and fear that I’ve ever experienced in my life,’’ said the woman, who identified herself in court, but whose name the Globe is withholding because she was the victim of a potential sex crime.
“Corey Trivino is wholly responsible for what happened, and it is up to this court to take appropriate action,’’ she said, ending her five-minute victim impact statement. She said she has suffered from nightmares, strained relationships with family and friends, and “a persistent state of hypervigilance and paranoia” because of the attack.
Advertisement
But she indicated in court that she is in agreement with Trivino’s sentence of probation through August 2014. The sentence came through a plea agreement with prosecutors, in which Trivino pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery and a single count of trespassing.
Get Metro Headlines in your inbox: The 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here
Authorities initially charged Trivino, a second-round draft pick of the New York Islanders who expects to report to training camp in about a month, with assault with intent to rape, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison, but prosecutors dropped those charges last March because of lack of evidence. Two indecent assault and battery charges were amended to assault and battery, and a breaking and entering charge was amended to trespassing.
Trivino, 22, appeared stone-faced as he listened to the victim, who stood at a podium about 10 yards directly in front of the table where the defendant sat with his lawyer.
After the victim’s statement, Trivino, wearing a black suit with a dark shirt, stood and offered an apology, as his mother and father, sitting behind him, watched.
“I’m sorry for everything she had to go through because of that night,” he said. “... I’m really truly and deeply sorry for what happened.”’
Advertisement
Trivino’s lawyer, Conrad Bletzer, said of his client, “He clearly did have alcohol problems; he does have an alcohol problem.”
The victim said she was working as a resident adviser at a dormitory on 10 Buick St., and on Dec. 11 at about 11 p.m., she went to check on loud noises coming from a nearby room.
Trivino, who was born and raised in Canada, answered the door and was clearly intoxicated, the victim said. After a brief discussion in which she told him to quiet down, the victim said she returned to her dorm, but he followed her, pushed in her door, and entered her room.
According to a police report, Trivino groped her and forcibly kissed her. She ordered him to leave her room, and he did, but returned soon after and banged on her door. She opened the door and Trivino again pushed his way in and tried to kiss her, the victim told police. After being cornered, the victim said she pushed him away. Trivino left her room again, only to return a short time later.
The victim said that she opened the door again, feeling that she had to do so because she was the resident adviser. She said Trivino grabbed her arms tightly, then went to sit on her bed. Trivino took off his shoes, reclined on the bed, and told her he was going to sleep there overnight, she told police.
Advertisement
When Trivino overheard the victim call the resident director, he put his shoes back on and left the room.
Two Boston University police officers arrested Trivino as they responded to the case.
Court records indicated that Trivino’s grandfather liquidated a portion of his pension to come up with $15,000 to pay for his grandson’s bail.
While on probation, Trivino is required to remain drug- and alcohol-free. He is slated to attend a National Hockey League camp later this year and would then fall under the NHL drug and alcohol testing rules. Trivino was drafted by the New York Islanders in 2008. Under the terms of his probation, Trivino is required to share the results of drug testing with his probation officer.
Trivino was kicked off the BU hockey team after his arrest and expelled from school. A student visa that allowed him to stay in the United States while he studied is no longer valid, and he will live at home in the Toronto area until he reports to training camp, according to court records.
His arrest and the arrest in February of then-BU hockey player Max Nicastro on rape charges led to an inquiry into the BU hockey program by top administrators at the school.
In June, prosecutors ended their case against Nicastro, writing in court papers that “the Commonwealth has concluded that the evidence will not permit the Commonwealth to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.’’
Brian Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.comFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Authorities warned on Friday night that infants, pregnant women, the elderly and patients with a compromised immune system may have been at an increased risk due to a mistake that affected drinking water in Fort Lauderdale.
Authorities advised those at risk needed to "seek advice from their health care providers about drinking" water from the Fiveash Water Treatment Plant, which services Fort Lauderdale.
The plant, west of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, draws ground water from the Biscayne Aquifer and treats it through aeration, chemical processing and filtering.
The Florida Department of Health in Broward County was notified June 3rd that the City of Fort Lauderdale "violated a treatment technique" at the Fiveash Water Treatment Plant from April 25-29, the press release said.
"The standard maintenance procedure was not followed and this sanitizer was inadvertently released into the drinking water," said Matt Little, the city's spokesperson.
The investigation started after complaints about the taste of the water. The water had High Test Hypochlorite, a white chlorinated powder, that did not meet The National Sanitation Foundation's public health standards, authorities said.
The drinking water did not pose any health risks on Friday, according to Little. For more information, call the city at 954-828-8000.
Copyright 2016 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.The US Supreme Court ruled last week that giving support to groups listed as terrorist is illegal, even if that support is designed to end violence.
The upshot is that work to end the world's ongoing armed conflicts through peaceful means - mediation support, or training in how to peacefully resolve disputes - comes with a risk of 15 years in prison.
Image caption The US favours talking to the Taliban, but NGOs could be penalised The US government and its allies have been calling for inclusive and political solutions to the world's most intractable conflicts - this sometimes means talking to 'terrorists' Andy Carl
The quiet diplomacy with IRA and loyalist paramilitaries which helped bring about the Good Friday agreement - meetings, training seminars and facilitated dialogues - would now be deemed a terrorist offence.
Those who engaged with the Sunni Awakening Councils in Iraq may, it turns out, have been breaking the law.
And those who are currently supporting the Afghan or Somali governments' policies of engagement with their sworn enemies could be at risk of prosecution.
This clarification of a law first adopted in 1996 and adjusted in the 2001 Patriot Act, is a big setback for American organisations well known for their work in mediation, such as the Carter Center, the American Friends Service Committee or the Conflict Management Group.
The long arm of US justice means that it extends to all of its residents and citizens (including those living abroad, like myself) and those organisations that receive US government funding.
Perverse logic
The UK, unfortunately, has similar laws.
Image caption It's still legal to talk to some militants in the Philippines - but not to others
The Terrorism Act 2000 makes it illegal to hold meetings not considered "genuinely benign" (a worryingly vague phrase) with terrorist-listed organisations. The UK Charity Commission, meanwhile, has issued guidelines to encourage whistle-blowing if any NGOs are suspected of operating outside this law.
The EU also keeps a list of groups categorised as terrorist.
It's not always clear why some armed groups are on these lists, and others are not.
The Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) or the Free Aceh Movement, for example, are not, allowing governments and NGOs such as my own, to legally provide advice in supporting their engagement in peace processes.
A recent example is our involvement in the International Contact Group in support of the negotiations in the Southern Philippines. Our role is to help the parties themselves to draw lessons from other peace processes.
Although these laws have a counter-insurgency logic (denying aid and training to militants) they are also having perverse consequences - beginning with creating a disincentive for mediation and compromise in conflict zones.
Swiss freedom
Image caption Persuading armed groups to give up land mines is now in many cases illegal
Not surprisingly, US and British NGOs and government agencies have introduced a degree of self-censure, taking themselves out of the job of facilitating peace talks, and instead leaving the jobs to governments and NGOs in countries without similar legislation or the EU's terrorist lists.
It is no accident that the avant-garde of peace mediation can be found in Norway and Switzerland.
The humanitarian logic is clear. If civilians are to be protected from organised armed conflict then there will have to be engagement with armed groups.
If NGOs like Geneva Call were based in almost any country other than Switzerland, they simply wouldn't be able to do their essential work of attempting to get the commitment of armed groups to ban the use of land mines.
What we have seen in our own work with armed groups and in documenting peace processes is that these peaceful forms of engagement tend to strengthen the pro-dialogue elements within a group, while their absence tends to strengthen hardliners by removing viable alternatives to violence.
It is essential that our policy makers develop more nuanced legal instruments, which condemn and discourage violence but keep the door open for peace talks.
Closing options
The UN itself has similar policies and lists which led to the infamous resignation in 2007, of UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, Alvaro de Soto. He complained that his inability to meet with Hamas had meant that it was no longer possible for the Secretary General's office to play its neutral mediation role in the Middle East.
The US government and its allies have been calling for inclusive and political solutions to the world's most intractable conflicts.
TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS US State Department lists 45 organisations, from al-Qaeda to the Real IRA
The EU lists 59 individuals and 47 organisations
The UK lists 56 organisations
Only 10 organisations feature an all three (US, UK, and EU) lists
To achieve this, it sometimes means talking to "terrorists" and certainly supporting policies whereby armed groups join the political process and abide by the rule of law.
So, in pursuit of legitimate concerns to curb the use of violence and terror, why make human rights and mediation a casualty? Closing off such options can have the reverse and perverse effect of encouraging extremism and belligerence.
Peacebuilding work, already dangerous to do and difficult to fund just got harder.
Conciliation Resources is an independent charity working internationally to prevent violent conflict, promote justice and build lasting peace in war-torn societies.A 15-year-old boy has died after being hit by several vehicles, including an unmarked police car and an ambulance, on the M23 in West Sussex.
Police said the teenage pedestrian, from Burgess Hill, was initially hit by a car between junction 10 and 10a at Crawley at 0150 BST on Sunday.
He was then struck by several other vehicles travelling on the motorway.
The police car was not responding to an incident. The ambulance was taking a patient to hospital.
'Offer support'
"This is an extremely tragic event and our sympathy is with the family and friends of the young man," Sussex Police said in a statement.
"Family liaison officers are with them to offer support as they try to come to terms with their loss.
"The identity of the victim is not available at this time while all family members are informed."
It is believed the teenager had been attending a family function before the accident.
No arrests have been made and the incident has been referred as part of standard procedure to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
The IPCC said in a statement that it would consider the case on Monday, but on the information presently available it was not believed any IPCC investigation would be required.
Ambulance transfer
Police said the teenager was hit by a black Nissan Note.
South East Coast Ambulance Service said the ambulance was carrying a patient with a non-life threatening illness.
The patient was transferred to another ambulance called to the scene and taken to hospital.
The motorway was closed in both directions until about 1000 BST.
The northbound carriageway reopened first, followed later by the southbound. Traffic was diverted via Crawley.
Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident to come forward.Settlement by the French (1625-1632)
In 1625 the French arrive and establish a colony at the island St. Kitts (St. Christopher), together with English colonists. From this island they set sail to Hispaniola. They found it fairly populated by Spanish colonists and therefore continued to the North to the island Tortuga. On this island only a few Spanish colonists were based. They start setting up plantations and steadily increase their numbers, some of them from the Islands St. Kitts and Nevis that were attacked in 1629 by Spanish forces under command of Don Fabrique de Toledo. In the same year they also attacked Tortuga. The Spanish forces are succesfull and temporarily expell them.
A number of the colonists flee into the woods and some escape to the woods of Hispaniola. Spanish forces fortify Tortuga in 1630. Despite this, the French take possession of the island again when most of the Spanish forces leave for Hispaniola to root out the French colonists in the woods there.
The small Spanish force that had been left was defeated and the Frenchmen extend the fortifications the Spaniards had set up. Most of the English colonists did not return, but settled again at the Island of Nevis. Those that did return established a new colony under the control of the Providence Island Company in 1631. The Governor of this English Colony is Anthony Hilton.
Buccaneers on Tortuga (1633-1634)
The French send a request for a Governor to the Governor of St. Kitts. He sends Jean Le Vasseur to them with men and equipment to further fortify the island. He built the Fort de Rocher on a rocky outrcrop of a natural harbour.
Tortuga from then on is regularly used by privateers and pirates as a base of operations. In 1633 the governor of Tortuga, also called association island, is still Captain Anthony Hilton. In this year the first slaves are imported. 1634 saw the Governor-General of the French West Indies transfer his seat of power from St. Kitts to Tortuga. The Compagnie des Isles d'Amerique takes posession of French Colony on the island.
Tortuga under Attack (1635)
Captain Nicholas Riskinner(/Reiskimmer) arrives on Tortuga in 1635 to take up as Governor of the English Colony on the island. Apparantly he was a scoundrel since Richard Lane, enroute to the Island of Providence and sailing on the same vessel to the West Indies, reported that he had taken his goods by force. Riskinner dies shortly after his arrival at Tortuga.
For some time slaves had been imported to work on the plantations of the island. Despite advice that the colonists should distribute them over the island and treat them well the experiment with slavery faltered in 1635. On Tortuga the slaves were said to be out of control and the planters dispersed because of Fraud and mismanagement. There are also continual disagreements and fights between the English and French colonists.
An Irish deserter of the English colony named John Murphy brought intelligence of this to the Spanish forces in the area. As a result, in the same year, the colony is attacked by Spanish forces under the command of Ruy Fernádez de Fuenmayor, latter governor of Venezuela (1638-1643). The English colony is soon captured and many colonists are killed. On that same year Spanish forces under the command of Captain Gregorio de Castellar y Mantillalater attacked the Island of Providence (Santa Catalina). The English forces on Providence island were able to defend it succesfully against the attack. After the attack on Tortuga, and its abandonement by the Spaniards, the English and French colonists that managed to escape from the attack return to the Island.
Second Attack on Tortuga (1636-1639)
This situation of the failing plantations must not have been improved much by the year 1638 when Spanish forces again attack Tortuga and temporarily expell the colonists. In a letter by Don Inigo de la Mota to the Spanish king in 1639 he makes mention of the succesful attack on the pirate colony and its mixed population that consisted of Dutch and French pirates.
Very shortly hereafter, in 1639, these manage to recapture the Island and refortify it. In 1639 the number of colonists on Barbados and St. Christopher is so large that these wander to other colonies to be able to establish themselves and make a living. Some of them go to Tortuga where they set up succesful plantations in tobacco. Their leader was Captain Robert Flood.
The Third Attack on Tortuga (1640-1659)
In 1640 the buccaneers of Tortuga began calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast. In this same year Jean Le Vasseur is commissioned to take full posession of the island. He was able to expell the ill-organised English colonists without much difficulty by 1641.
The population of prates and privateers on Tortuga consisted of a mix of most Europeans, but the largest parts were French and English. A Spanish report from 1646 again mentions the buccaneer hideout and informs us that the population consist of Dutchmen and Englishmen in 1645.
The French governer imported several hundred prostitutes round 1650, hoping to regularize the lives of the unruly pirates, some of whom lived in a kind of homosexual union known as matelotage. Le Vasseur is assassinated by his own followers in 1653. During his years as a Governor the island was heavily fortified against attacks from Spanish forces.
His successor, Chevalier de Fontenay, was attacked in January 1654 by Spanish forces from Santo Domingo. A garrison was left to hold the island but it was withdrawn in 1655 to aid in the defence of Santo Domingo against English forces in the area. When some Englishmen heard of this they sailed from Jamaica to reoccupy it. This they did from 1655 to 1659. From the island they frequently attacked the few Spanish settlements that still remained on Hispaniola. As a consequence these were destroyed. Colonel Edward D'Oyley, then Governor of Jamaica, tried to establish an English government on the island from 1658 to 1659. Despite help from French deserters he failed and a French government was set up.
The High Point of the Buccaneer Base (1660-1669)
In 1660 the French attack the Spaniards on Tortuga and retake posession of the island to use it again as base for piracy and privateering. Most buccaneers set out from the island and, after some time, return to drink and gamble away their spoils in a matter of days or weeks.
The buccaneer Captain Guy used Tortuga as well as Jamaica as bases of operation in 1663. In this same year the Governor of Jamaica, Sir Thomas Modyford (1664-1671) received orders to relax his restrictions against buccaneers on the island. Many of the English on the island went sea-roving against Spain again, but the Frenchmen under the rovers left Jamaica to concentrate on Tortuga as a base of operations. The immediate result was that they expelled most of the English settlers living there. 1664 saw the French West India Company again take posession of the island and send as its Governor Monsieur D'Ogeron. In 1665 he arrived at Tortuga. Bertrand D'ogeron had the difficult task of convincing the buccaneers to accept him as governor and to abandon their relations with Dutch rovers. He found the men whom he hoped to convert into colonists dispersed in small and unorganised parties living in a rather primitive fashion.
In a report to the French Minister Colbert he told him that there were about seven or eight hundred men scattered along the coasts of the island in inaccessible places. By the by he was able to control them and he even managed to get many new colonists to settle on the island and on Hispaniola. Several French privateers and sea-rovers were also attracted and made Tortuga their base of operations. In 1666 Morgan arrives on Tortuga as an endentured servant. After running away from a cruel master he joins up with buccaneers as a surgeon. The Buccaneer L'Ollonais is based at Tortuga in the 1660s. Together with Michel le Basque he carries out an attack on the cities of Gibraltar and Maracaibo in 1667. Sometime later in 1667 he sets out again with a fleet of ships to plunder the harbour city Puerto de Cavallo and the town of San Pedro. This same year he dies on the coast of Nicaragua where he and some of his crew were captured by Indians and killed.
Henry Morgan sailed to the Isla Vache, South-West of Hispaniola, in October of 1668. There he was joined by a band of French buccaneers from Tortuga. After sailing for some time he attacked Maracaibo in 1669. In 1669 the Governor of Tortuga, d'Ogernon, was again trying to restrict the activities of the buccaneers of Tortuga: he tried to persuade them to confine themselves Tortuga for refitting and the disposal of their booty. He did not succeed, however.
The Decline of the Buccaneers (1670-1679)
Some of the buccaneers of Tortuga who found piracy too dangerous turned to logwood-cutting. When the forests of Tortuga and the easily accessible ones in Hispaniola were cut out they went to Campeachy. In the peninsula of Yucatan they sought the better wood. Their principal gathering-ground was in the Gulf of Mexico at a place called Triste. Their were several more places along the coasts of Yucatan, Moskito and between Honduras and Guatemala. A valuable trade sprang up between the logwood-cutters and Jamaica. Despite many protests of Spain Jamaica continued to trade in the wood. The use of corsairs by Spain forced the buccaneers to sail in company for protection. By 1670 the English buccaneer Henry Morgan had to conceal his activities under French Letters of Commission and he actively promoted the island of Tortuga as a base of operations and for the disposal of booty.
500 buccaneers from Tortuga and a 1000 buccaneers from Jamaica, under the command of Henry Morgan set sail in 1670. They attacked and plundered Santa Marta, Rio de la Hacha, Puerto Bello and Panama. Morgan received a formal vote of thanks from the Council of Jamaica in May 1671 for his activities. In this year he is send to England and briefly incarcerated in the Tower (for appearances sake) in 1672. He was treated as a hero on his arrival in London.
A lot of Jamaican buccaneers went sailing under commission for the Governor of Tortuga by 1670. Many of them also settled on the coast of St. Dominigue. Others wandered off to other colonies in the Caribbean. Despite the attempts of D'Ogeron these settlers continued to trade with the Dutch. They obtained most of their stores and African slaves from them in exchange for tobacco and ginger.
Around Tortuga the Governor eventually managed to control the trading activities of the buccaneers somewhat by employing a regular squadron of frigates that drove the Dutch traders away. The buccaneers from Tortuga and St. Dominique were used as a striking force and a means to supplement French forces in their attempts to gain a larger foothold in te Caribbean.
When the Lieutenant-General of the French Antilles, Jean Charles Baas, made an attack on Curacao in March 1673 he was expecting help from Tortuga. The assistance from Tortuga failed to arrive, however, because they were shipwrecked on the coast of Puerto Rico. They fell in the hands of the Spaniards and were treated as pirates.
In 1675 a Dutch force under the command of Jacob Binckes arrived in St. Dominique and attempted to stir up a revolt under the colonists there. In a fight off Petit-Goave they attacked and plundered a French merchantman, but soon afterwards the Governor of Tortuga arrived with reinforcements to aid in the defence of the settlement and the Dutch were driven off. The Governor never completely succeeded in controlling the buccaneers at Tortuga. Between 1670 and 1678 many buccaneers continued their raids on vessels and colonies of foreign nations, especially those of Spain. Tortuga remained a harbour where not much questions were asked and buccaneers could come with their booty. Among them were many Englishmen who plied heir trade under French commissions.
In 1678 the leader of the French buccaneers in Tortuga and Hispaniola was the Sieur de Grammont. At the head of a large force he continued attacking Spanish settlements around Maracaibo. He even managed to set up a pirate stronghold there for six months.
Buccaneers under command of the Marquis de Maintenon were ravaging the coast of Venezuela. They also destroyed the Pearl fisheries at Margarita and several Spanish settlments on Trinidad.
The End of the Buccaneers at Tortuga (1680-1688)Well, first thing I have to say is that I have NO IDEA how my boyfriend and I failed to notice the package on our porch area. Sure, there is a little fence around it, but I was able to notice it this morning when heading out.
(Aren't I off to a great start in surviving the apocalypse? I can't notice a box of this size for a day or two?)
Inside I found some really cool gifts! A large olive green wool blanket to help keep me warm! I hate being cold. I moved to California and I still get cold from time to time. This will be nice when friends and I go camping, but also general use around the house.
The second is a graphic novel about the first atomic bomb. A graphic novel. I love comics. I'm interested in nuclear history. How have I never seen this before?! Truly an awesome gift for me!
Thank you so much, Danica! Love the gifts!At the ultimate level of abstraction, there are only two things that cybernetics ever talks about: explosions and traps. Feedback dynamics either runaway from equilibrium, or fetch strays back into it. Anything else is a complexion of both.
The simmering furor around Anthropogenetic Global Warming assumes a seething mass of technical and speculative cybernetics, with postulated feedback mechanisms fueling innumerable controversies, but the large-scale terrestrial heat trap that envelops it is rarely noted explicitly. Whatever humans have yet managed to do to the climate is of vanishing insignificance when compared to what the bio-climatic megamechanism is doing to life on earth.
Drawing on this presentation of the earth’s steadily contracting biogeological cage, Ugo Bardi zooms out to the shadowy apparatus of confinement:
… the Earth’s biosphere, Gaia, peaked with the start of the Phanerozoic age, about 500 million years ago. Afterwards, it declined. Of course, there is plenty of uncertainty in this kind of studies, but they are based on known facts about planetary homeostasis. We know that the sun’s irradiation keeps increasing with time at a rate of around 1% every 100 million years. That should have resulted in the planet warming up, gradually, but the homeostatic mechanisms of the ecosphere have maintained approximately constant temperatures by gradually lowering the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. However, there is a limit: the CO2 concentration cannot go below the minimum level that makes photosynthesis possible; otherwise Gaia “dies”.
So, at some moment in the future, planetary homeostasis will cease to be able to stabilize temperatures. When we reach that point, temperatures will start rising and, eventually, the earth will be sterilized. According to Franck et al., in about 600 million years from now the earth will have become too hot for multicellular creatures to exist.
Even those ecologically-minded commentators who are attracted to the idea of stability might find themselves troubled by the insidious realization that ‘Gaian’ biogeological equilibrium is only achieved through thermo-atmospheric strangulation. Across deep time, the walls are closing in. The biosphere is slowly asphyxiating itself — in accordance with an exquisite self-regulatory mechanism — in order not to bake.
Cybernetic traps produce an objectively schizoid condition, because what they capture is held in a double-bind. The ‘Gaian’ alternative to incineration is phyto-suffocation, so that the biosphere only survives by killing itself. If the human species were entirely extinguished tomorrow, the harshness of this double-bind would not be relieved by an iota. There are no realistic eco-salvation narratives in play.
We can be quite confident that the mega-mechanism works in the way outlined. The long-range reduction of atmospheric CO2 to a trace gas strongly suggests that no alternative thermo-regulation ‘dial’ has been available to the biosphere over the last half-billion years. This same phenomenon indubitably supports the principal AGW contention that CO2 is a significant ‘green-house’ gas, at least over long time scales, since it clearly has been identified as a thermo-regulator molecule by the biogeological machine. A demonstrated option for suffocation indicates a highly constrained adaptation landscape.
These concessions to the climate ‘consensus’ do not dismiss its basic error, or failure of vision. The devotees of Gaia — however calm their scientific their analysis — are aligning themselves with a death trap. Reversing the long-range reduction of atmospheric CO2 is the overwhelming priority of terrestrial life, and any solution that does not recognize this is merely repairing a slow-suicide machine. (This type of understanding is sheer blindness.)
Escaping the Gaian death-grip will require planetary re-engineering on a colossal scale, inevitably involving some combination of:
(a) Raising the earth’s albedo
(b) Constructing orbital IR filters
(c) Dual-purposing of space elevators as planetary heat drains (?)
(d) Changing the earth’s orbit (admittedly, a serious challenge)
(e) Other stuff (suggestions please).
The essential understanding is that these things are to be done not only to cool the earth, but in order to be able to massively raise the level of atmospheric CO2. The reduction of CO2 to a trace gas is already a disaster, which anthropomorphic influence affects in an essentially trivial way. Humanity, at worst, is messing with the mechanics of the death machine.Paris Dennard, Fredricka Whitfield and A. Scott Bolden on CNN
CNN Newsroom anchor Fredricka Whitfield had to referee a dramatic on-air dispute between two guests. The argument centered over black support for President Donald Trump.
Paris Dennard, the former Director of Black Outreach for President George W. Bush defended President Trump, while A. Scott Bolden, the former chair of the DC Democratic Party, offered harsh criticism.
“So Scott, are you among those who disagree with the appropriateness of the president being at the civil rights museum?” Whitfield asked.
“I certainly don’t believe he should be there,” Bolden responded. “I’ll give you his record on civil rights and his record on oppressing black people and brown people.”
As Bolden proceeded to list Trump’s record on civil rights, Dennard followed each item with a shout of, “wrong!”
The tension continued to rise as Whitfield attempted to moderate the conversation.
“Just last night, he went to Florida and the Alabama border and asked for people to vote for someone like Roy Moore who believed that America was great at its best during slavery times,” Bolden noted.
“And Paris, this is personal for so many people of color in this nation. So for you personally then…how do you as a black man defend the president’s remarks last night for support of a man who talked about days being great in the days of slavery?” Whitfield interjected.
“Exactly, he can’t,” Scott interrupted.
“Let’s |
Africa, and overcoming the current worldwide competitive imbalance that is in favor of American teams.[207]
Other codes of football share a common history with American football. Canadian football is a form of the game that evolved parallel to American football. While both games share a common history, there are some important differences between the two.[208] A more modern sport that derives from American football is Arena football, designed to be played indoors inside of hockey or basketball arenas. The game was invented in 1981 by Jim Foster and the Arena Football League was founded in 1987 as the first major professional league to play the sport. Several other indoor football leagues have since been founded and continue to play today.[209]
American football's parent sport of rugby continued to evolve. Today, two distinct codes known as rugby union and rugby league are played throughout the world. Since the two codes split following a schism on how the sport should be managed in 1895, the history of rugby league and the history of rugby union have evolved separately.[210] Both codes have adopted innovations parallel to the American game; the rugby union scoring system is almost identical to the American game, while rugby league uses a gridiron-style field and a six-tackle rule similar to the system of downs in American Football.
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Bennett, Tom (1976). The Pro Style: The Complete Guide to Understanding National Football League Strategy. Los Angeles: National Football League Properties, Inc., Creative Services Division.
Bernstein, Mark F. (2001). Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-3627-0.
Dyreson, Mark; Mangan, J. A.; Park, Roberta J., eds. (2013). Mapping an Empire of American Sport: Expansion, Assimilation, Adaptation and Resistance. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-98035-3. (Unpaginated version consulted online via Google Books.)
(Unpaginated version consulted online via Google Books.) Fleisher, Arthur A.; Goff, Brian L.; Tollison, Robert D. (1992). The National Collegiate Athletic Association: A Study in Cartel Behavior. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-25326-0.
Foster, George; O'Reilly, Norman; Dávila, Antonio (2016). Sports Business Management: Decision Making Around the Globe. New York City: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-41930-3.
Gardner, Paul (1996). The Simplest Game: The Intelligent Fan's Guide to the World of Soccer. Macmillan General Reference. ISBN 0-02-043225-9.
Greenberg, Murray (2008). Passing Game: Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-477-4.
MacCambridge, Michael ( Ed. ) (1999). ESPN SportsCentury. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-7868-6471-0.
Markovits, Andrei S.; Rensmann, Lars (2010). Gaming the World: How Sports Are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-3466-2.
McDonough, Will (1994). 75 Seasons: The Complete Story of the National Football League. Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1-57036-056-1.
Migdol, Gary (1997). Stanford: Home of Champions. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1-57167-116-1.
Miller, Jeffrey J. (2015). Pop Warner: A Life on the Gridiron. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-2274-3.
Nelson, David M. (1994). The Anatomy of A Game. Newark, New Jersey: University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-455-2.
Peretz, Howard (1999). It Ain't Over 'Til The Fat Lady Sings: The 100 Greatest Sports Finishes of All Time. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. ISBN 0-7607-1707-9.
Perkins, Brett (2009). Frantic Francis: How One Coach's Madness Changed Football. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1894-9.
Pettegrew, John (2007). Brutes in Suits: Male Sensibility in America, 1890–1920. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8603-4.
Quirk, James P.; Fort, Rodney D. (1997). Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01574-3.
Ryczek, William J. (2014). Connecticut Gridiron: Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-7833-0.
Schmidt, Raymond (2007). Shaping College Football: The Transformation of an American Sport, 1919–1930. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0886-8.
Umphlett, Wiley Lee (1992). Creating the Big Game: John Heisman and the Invention of American Football. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-28404-0.
Vancil, Mark ( Ed. ) (2000). ABC Sports College Football All-Time All-America Team. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-7868-6710-8.
Wagg, Stephen (Ed) (2011). Myths and Milestones in the History of Sport. London: Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-1-349-31693-9.
Further reading [ edit ]By: Kathryn C. Calhoun, MD, ACRM
Trying to conceive, and undergoing fertility evaluation and treatments, can be stressful and expensive. There are many ways to ensure that you are optimizing your fertility outside of the fertility doctor’s office. This will help to secure the maximum benefit from your treatment cycles.
How to Increase Your Fertility
Body Weight
It is widely accepted that pregnancy rates are lower in women who are obese or very thin. Much of this effect is due to irregular periods (anovulation) resulting from weight changes, but women with regular periods may also have more difficulty conceiving at the extremes of weight. Additionally, there can be increased problems during pregnancy for mothers who are not at an ideal weight. Men who are obese may also have problems with sperm and testosterone production.
Your doctor can help you identify your ideal body weight for pregnancy and, together, you can determine a timeline to achieve this weight safely.
Fertility and Diet
A diet may be part of a program to help you achieve a higher or lower body weight prior to conception. A nutritionist can be helpful in recommending daily calorie goals to achieve desired weight loss/gain; you can also calculate this number using resources available on the internet.
There is no convincing evidence that any particular type of diet (i.e. vegetarian, antioxidant-rich, low-fat) can improve fertility in women, apart from helping them to achieve an ideal weight. For women who are pursuing weight loss, the most important factor in a successful diet is that it be a sustainable plan, i.e. one that you can continue for life.
There is also no evidence that any particular diet can reliably affect infant gender.
Exercise
The American Heart Association and the American Congress for Obstetricians/Gynecologists recommend moderate activity for 45 minutes per day on most, if not all, days. This recommendation includes pregnant women with no specific contraindications to exercise.
Regular exercise has well-proven benefits for cardiovascular health; it appears that it may also reduce pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and high blood pressure.
Regular exercise during the conception/pre-pregnancy period also seems to be safe for women with no specific contraindications to exercise. There is some data that women who are more active in the year prior to fertility treatment are more likely to conceive. Conclusions are less clear for vigorous sports and elite athletes.
Each woman should check with her doctor about specific activity recommendations during fertility treatment, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and pregnancy.
Sexual Practices
Couples attempting conception should plan to have intercourse every 1-2 days during the “fertile window,” which refers to the 7 day period ending on the day of ovulation. There is no evidence that sexual position or prolonged bed rest after intercourse affect pregnancy rates.
There is no documented relationship between female orgasm and fertility.
A study of the use of sexual lubricants by couples attempting conception reported that use of lubricants did not affect pregnancy rates. Some sexual lubricants affect the motility of sperm in the laboratory, but it is unclear how they affect sperm motility when applied in the small quantities that are used in real life. Mineral oil, canola oil and hydroxyethylcellulose based lubricants do not affect sperm motility in the laboratory.
Sexually-transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea or chlamydia, can often go undetected and may affect a woman’s fallopian tubes. A current gonorrhea or chlamydia infection can impact a man’s semen quality. It is important to share relevant history and current symptoms with your doctor.
Click here for more information on sexual practices and fertility.
Alcohol
Studies are mixed about the effect of alcohol on female fertility, but high levels of consumption (> 2 drinks/day) are best avoided during conception due to the well-documented harmful effects on fetal development.
Alcohol consumption appears to have no effect on male fertility.
Tobacco
Women who smoke are more likely to be infertile and to go through menopause at an earlier age. Smoking also increases the risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancy and miscarriage. Exposure to first-hand or second-hand smoke reduces the chance of conception in an IVF cycle.
Men who smoke have poorer semen analysis scores, though the exact impact on male fertility is unclear.
Cigarette smoke is best avoided in pregnancy, due to associations with fetal growth.
Recreational drug use
It is difficult to know the effects of illegal drugs, though some studies have shown decreased fertility with marijuana use.
It is best to avoid drug use during conception/pregnancy because of the well-documented harmful effects on fetal development.
Prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs
You should share all regular and occasional medications and supplements with your doctor. Even products that claim to be “all-natural”, “organic” or “bio-identical” can affect your reproductive health.
Caffeine
Daily intake of 300mg or less has not been shown to affect fertility or miscarriage rates. A table of common drinks/foods and their caffeine content is provided for reference – energy drinks are probably best avoided in the conception/pregnancy period due to their higher caffeine content and other additives.
Name Amount Caffeine (mg) Coffee 8oz 100-200 Tea 8oz 40-120 Coke (regular or diet) 12oz 35-50 Mountain Dew 12oz 50 Hershey Bar 1 small bar 10
Artificial Sweeteners
There is no consistent evidence that use of aspartame (Nutrasweet), sucralose (Splenda), or stevioside (Stevia) by pregnant women increases the risk of birth defects.
Saccharin (Sweet 'N Low) is eliminated more slowly by the fetus, and was associated with fetal bladder issues in one animal study so many clinicians recommend avoiding saccharin during pregnancy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Nutrition and the FDA and the Council on Scientific Affairs (CSA) of the American Medical Association (AMA) concluded that aspartame is safe for both the pregnant mother and developing baby, but recommend moderate doses.
The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for aspartame is 50 mg/kg/day (Diet Coke contains 131 mg aspartame per 355 mL can and one packet of Equal contains 33 mg of aspartame.)
There are no recommendations for artificial sweetener use during conception/fertility treatments.
Stress and Fertility
The effect of both psychosocial and physical stress on fertility cannot be underestimated. Reduction of stress during conception has beneficial effects on pregnancy rates and outcomes. Methods to reduce stress are unique to each woman/couple, but should be an important part of any conception/pregnancy plan.
Massages are generally safe in conception/pregnancy, though the masseuse/masseur should be made aware of fertility treatment/pregnancy. Attention must be paid to proper hydration before and after the massage.
Although it is difficult to study acupuncture in a randomized controlled trial, many studies have reported benefits of acupuncture treatment on the outcomes of fertility treatment.
Environmental toxins
Information continues to build regarding pollutants and toxins and reproductive health. Care should be taken to avoid chemicals used in certain industries (dry cleaning, printing), pesticides and heavy metals. Exposure to radiation (including industrial microwaves) should also be limited.
Heat/saunas
Sauna bathing does not affect female fertility, and can be safe during uncomplicated pregnancy. Literature is inconclusive regarding the effects of recreational heat (saunas, laptop computers) on male fertility.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Calhoun please call 678.841.1089 or click here.As people become aware of the differences among the exchanges, “some of the laggard states are going to end up changing,” said Ron Pollack, the executive director for Families USA, a consumer advocacy group that supports the law.
Whether the law ultimately accomplishes its aim of making the insurance markets nationwide more competitive — and plans more affordable — will only become clear over time. Experts expect some insurers to drop out after a year or so, while some other companies may decide to enter, depending on how the markets evolve. Insurers will have to figure out how to offer plans that most people can afford but still provide coverage to those with expensive medical conditions — and, for investor-owned plans, how to make a profit in the meantime.
“A rush to judgment will be just that,” said Dan Mendelson, the chief executive of Avalere Health, a consulting group. “It’s not going to be possible in 2014 to make a strong valid judgment of whether the exchanges are working or not.”
Insurers already active in the market are the most likely to show up on the exchanges. Blue Cross plans, for example, have already established relationships with local hospitals and physician groups, as well as state regulators. “We don’t have to recreate the wheel because the Blue plans are already there,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, the chief executive of Independence Blue Cross, a nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia.
In California, Anthem Blue Cross, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California will remain big players. Most likely to be missing from any given exchange are many of the national insurers, whose business is focused mainly on providing coverage to workers through their employers — companies liked UnitedHealth Group, Aetna and Cigna.
WellPoint, which operates Blue Cross plans in 14 states and is the nation’s largest provider of individual and small business policies, has little choice but to compete because many of its customers will be buying insurance on the exchanges.
But the other companies may delay entering any given exchange until they see a real chance to gain customers. Given the uncertainty over how well the exchanges will function, and whether enough healthy people will enroll, insurers are likely to enter only those markets where they already have a sizable number of existing customers.Thousands of protesters in major Egyptian cities are now entering the fifth day of public demonstrations calling for the military leadership to step down. The streets of Cairo around Tahrir Square have been flooded with tear gas, as riot police and members of Egypt's military clash with protesters. The two sides have advanced and retreated, hurling stones, tear gas canisters, and other debris at each other, and security forces reportedly continue to fire rubber bullets and some live rounds into the crowds. The international community has stepped up criticism of Egypt's military leaders, and has expressed anger at the violence used against the protesters. Human rights groups have now raised the estimated death toll to at least 38. The recent unrest has led to the resignation of the interim civilian government, but other concessions from Egypt's Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi have not satisfied the crowds who remain in the streets fighting what they see as an unfinished revolution.The decision represented a major turnaround from the faith in the project that Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive, expressed as recently as August. At the time, he said that Shell’s holdings in the Alaskan Arctic could be “multiple times” more bountiful than the enormous fields in the Gulf of Mexico. “We can’t be driven by today’s, tomorrow’s, or next year’s, or last year’s oil price,” he said.
Shell’s efforts to drill in Alaska have long seemed quixotic. It came closest to finding oil in 2012 when it drilled two shallow wells but had to stop short of deeper oil zones after several bizarre accidents, including the crushing of a containment dome during a vital test. This summer, a storm whipping though the Arctic Ocean forced Shell to suspend drilling, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service made a regulatory ruling that cut back the company’s drilling plans.
After a Finnish icebreaker hired by Shell struck an uncharted shoal in the Aleutians in July, it was forced to go to Portland, Ore., for repairs. Protesters there tried to block the vessel, going so far as to suspend themselves from a bridge over the Willamette River.
Shell’s current venture into the Alaska offshore began under Mr. van Beurden’s predecessors, and he has always been concerned about the project’s costs and risks. Soon after he became chief executive in 2014, he temporarily halted drilling in Alaska because of legal and regulatory issues.
He came around to the view that the potential bonanza was worth the expense and headaches, but now that drilling has produced an unexpectedly poor result, he may have decided to follow his original instincts and call a halt.
“This first dry well seems to have been the trigger for the C.E.O. to pull the plug on their Alaska exploration campaign,” said Oswald Clint, an analyst at Bernstein Research in London.
The Alaska operations have cost billions of dollars. Shell said the value of Alaska drilling on its balance sheet was $3.1 billion and that it had a further $1.1 billion in contractual commitments, probably for items like drilling rigs. The company said it would take write-offs as a result of the decision to halt drilling.GARY, Indiana—Over a din of smart-ass comments and after-work banter, Peg at Bugsy’s Tavern asks the obvious question: “You guys wanna watch the news?” The answer is yes, of course, and the crowd at the tiny bar off the main drag in this busted town of 80,000 settles in to hear the score of their newly famous resident.
There’s a Jane Doe or two among the seven women allegedly killed by Darren Deon Vann who need to be identified; more charges are forthcoming for Vann, who is already pinned for the murder of Afrika Hardy, strangled and left in the bathtub of a Motel 6. Six bodies have been discovered thanks to his confession.
“Supposedly there’s 14,” a concrete worker named Josh said Monday night.
“There’s gotta be more,” a beer-sipper agrees.
What there isn’t, the patrons at Bugsy’s are told as they gaze into TV screens glowing in the approaching dusk, is a motive. The whole episode is shocking, confusing, newsy and depressing—a black eye for a town already sporting a fat lip and a broken nose.
There are 10,000 abandoned houses in Gary, the mayor said earlier in the day as details emerged about the crime that brought police to Vann’s doorstep. The homes sit in various stages of decay—some are torched to the point that blackened studs are the only thing left of a family’s long-gone home. Others are fixer-uppers, if you happen to be a construction expert and financial idiot. But most of the abandoned houses, with sagging roofs and drafty walls, are just there.
“It makes me uncomfortable,” a woman says, standing in front of 413 E. 43rd Ave., where the body of Anith Jones was found. “My kids walk by here every day.”
They’re far from alone. Children hopping off school buses roamed the streets Monday afternoon as news crews gathered at the house, slightly obscured from the street by a yard of unkempt grass littered with fallen tree branches. Inside were all the signs of a flophouse. Empty cigarette packs, liquor bottles, containers sticky with food residue covered the floor. In a bedroom at the top of crumbling stairs, a bed was made up with a comforter. A baby carriage and a car seat sat nearby.
“They should just give ‘em away for free,” Josh at the bar says of the houses as the mayor recounts for reporters the difficulties of dealing with Gary’s blight.
Apparently “they” don’t have to, because whoever was living in the upstairs bedroom at 413 E. 43rd isn’t paying rent. Vann likely wasn’t either, if the looks of his home in the 1400 block of East 50th Court are any indication. That abode wasn’t as accessible to vagrants and the wind as 413 E. 43rd, but it is definitely on the wrong side of the fixer-upper scale.
RELATED: The Path of a Serial Killer (PHOTOS)
After the news, Bugsy’s empties a bit. Political ads demonizing some politicians and praising others play on as an older man sips his Colt 45. Smiling politicians seem a long way from here. Gary has been broken for a while, and it looks like much of it has been left to rot. What can a politician do for a town that’s so fucked up that 10,000 abandoned houses are simply part of the scenery, where a killer can dump bodies seemingly at random without much fear of being caught, where only one of the three women so far identified as Vann’s victims had a missing-persons report out on her?
At 7 o’clock, the bartender at Bugsy’s clocks out and gives a bit of direction to her second-shift replacement. The news is over, but I start to notice other stories on the walls of the bar. Newspaper clippings, many of them with pictures of the owner, a former Gary firefighter, are everywhere. Often, the newsprint reads, the fires were battled at abandoned houses.
The bartender switches the channel and the lone patron doesn’t bat an eye. He just keeps sipping his Colt 45 and staring at the TV, where hockey-masked Jason is roaming the woods and two teenagers are running in fear. There are plenty of wooded areas like the one being taken in by the stone-faced drinker sitting next to me, and two of Vann’s victims were found among the trees. But this killer didn’t have to do much hiking. Instead he took advantage of what, for him, is Gary’s greatest asset: abandoned houses left behind when people fled for greener pastures.CLOSE USA Today's Matt Krantz looks into the factors leading up to Thursday's market sell-off in this edition of America's Markets.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez speaks at Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires after the collapse of debt talks with U.S. creditors. (Photo11: Victor R. Caivano, AP)
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the location of Belize.
After years of bitter court battles with creditors, Argentina has defaulted on its debt, according to rating agency Standard & Poor's. After failing to come to an agreement with creditors from its previous default in 2001, the country missed necessary bond payments on July 31, triggering the default announcement. As of publication, other organizations, most notably the rating agency Moody's Investors Service and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, a derivatives trade group, have yet to release public statements confirming the default.
Argentina is not the only country that has struggled, or even failed, to pay its debt in recent years. It is hardly the only country with a severely impaired credit rating either. Alongside Argentina, Moody's currently lists 10 other countries with a rating of Caa1 or worse. A Caa1 rating is several notches below Ba1, which still carries substantial credit risk. Based on ratings from Moody's Investors Service, these are the 11 countries at risk of default.
The countries with the lowest credit ratings significantly differ from one another. They span the globe, ranging from Greece and Ukraine in Europe, to Pakistan in Asia, to Ecuador, Venezuela, and Belize in the Americas.
These nations also suffer from vastly different problems. Some nations, such as Ukraine and Egypt, owe their recent downgrades to political conditions. Others, such as Belize and Ecuador, have actually been upgraded in recent years based on their improved financial positions.
When a government has a great deal of debt relative to the size of its economy, its credit rating may also be lower. Three of the nations potentially at risk of default had among the world's highest debt levels, at 120% of GDP or more based on 2014 estimates. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Greece's debt is projected to hit nearly 175% of GDP by the end of this year, more than that of any other nation in the world except for Japan.
However, not all countries with low ratings necessarily have a large amount of outstanding government debt. For example, Ecuador's government debt, according to the IMF, was forecast to total just 24.8% of GDP in 2014 — an exceptionally low amount. In many cases, these countries simply do not regularly access international bond markets, either because of small financial sectors or because of debt-restructuring agreements.
Borrowing funds in the international bond market can be quite expensive for countries with poor credit ratings. Countries have to pay high interest rates on their debt because because investors require greater returns on what they perceive to be riskier investments. For example, a 10-year U.S. Treasury Note pays an annual coupon of just 2.5%. By contrast, a comparable bond recently issued by Jamaica pays out 7.65% a year. In Greece, yields on 10-year government bonds reached 29% in early 2012, right before the country defaulted.
MORE: 10 cities running out of water
Often, countries that tap into international bond markets do so in other currencies. For example, nations such as Argentina, Jamaica, Belize, and Ukraine have all issued bonds in other nations' currencies. The main reason to use common currencies — such as the dollar, yen, and euro — is that their inflation rates are typically far lower than the currencies of the issuing countries. This means that investors do not need to worry as much about their investment losing value.
In fact, inflation is a major problem in several of the countries with the worst credit ratings. In one such nation, Venezuela, inflation is expected to exceed 50% in 2014, according to the IMF. Argentina's inflation rates are likely much higher than reported by government statistics on consumer prices, which were long considered highly unreliable.
Based on credit ratings provided by Moody's Investors Service, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 11 countries with credit ratings of Caa1 or worse. A rating of this level indicates considerable credit risk. Because many of these nations have significant debt in other currencies or have otherwise weak currencies, we used foreign currency ratings and outlooks for these nations. Figures on GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, population and debt levels are estimates for 2014 from the IMF's World Economic Outlook.
These are the 11 countries at risk of default.
Ecuador
> Moody's credit rating: Caa1
> Moody's outlook: Stable
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 24.8%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $10,492
When Ecuador last defaulted in 2008, President Rafael Correa described the nation's debt as "immoral" and "illegitimate." The country's past debt sales had been tainted by corruption, Correa said at the time. Since 2008, Ecuador's Moody's credit rating has steadily risen, reaching Caa1 in 2012. Earlier this year, the country both bought back a substantial fraction of its defaulted debt and issued new bonds for the first time since its previous default. According to figures from the IMF, Ecuador's economic growth has been relatively healthy in recent years. GDP grew by 5.1% in 2012 and by an estimated 4.2% last year. GDP is forecast to rise by 4.2% again in 2014.
Egypt
> Moody's credit rating: Caa1
> Moody's outlook: Negative
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 91.3%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $6,696
Political unrest in Egypt in recent years has made investors wary, leading Moody's to downgrade Egyptian debt to Caa1 in March 2013. Fears were further compounded by currency devaluation as Egyptians moved their assets into U.S. dollars and out of Egyptian pounds. But despite the country's low credit rating, yields on Egyptian bonds fell below 5% in June. This may be an indication that investors are less concerned about the risk of political instability in the country. And while its outlook remains negative, Moody's recently praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's commitment to reduce the government's budget deficit in the fiscal year starting on July 1, 2014.
MORE: The 10 most oil-rich states
Pakistan
> Moody's credit rating: Caa1
> Moody's outlook: Stable
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 63.7%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $3,231
This April, Pakistan issued its first bond in seven years, raising roughly $2 billion in dollar-denominated debt. Pakistan has a multi-billion dollar line of credit with the IMF, but loans are conditional on the country enacting structural reforms to its economy. Pakistan was at risk of default last year until the IMF agreed to lend it money. Tax collection remains a major problem in the country. According to The Express Tribune, only roughly one in 200 citizens even files an income tax return. The country's total debt amounts to roughly 64% of its annual GDP, even as government spending for 2014 is estimated to be among the world's lowest, at roughly 20% of GDP.
Venezuela
> Moody's credit rating: Caa1
> Moody's outlook: Negative
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 51.6%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $13,531
Venezuela's need for short term cash may lead to trouble in future years. President Nicolas Maduro's administration plans to issue bonds through the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, to increase the availability of foreign currency in the country. More foreign currency may help tame inflation in Venezuela, which stood at 40.7% in 2013. However, according to Bloomberg, the rate at which the oil company is taking on debt will likely outpace oil revenues in the coming years, making it increasingly difficult to make future loan payments. Venezuela is expected to spend less than 2% of GDP on interest payments in 2014, a number that is likely to balloon if the country continues to rapidly issue debt. Venezuela also has the highest 10-year bond yields in the Western Hemisphere at 15.81% as of June 2014.
Argentina
> Moody's credit rating: Caa1
> Moody's outlook: Stable
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 52.9%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $18,917
Argentina's current problems can be tied back to 2001, when the nation defaulted on about $100 billion worth of debt. While most of the nation's bondholders at the time agreed to restructure their debt, a few investors refused. After a U.S. court ruled in 2012 that Argentina should not pay its current bondholders without paying the holdouts as well, the country has faced the prospect of yet another default. On July 30, Standard & Poor's stated that Argentina had defaulted. Other relevant financial bodies, such as the International Swaps & Derivatives Association, are also expected to declare Argentina has defaulted. Argentina has been beset by economic problems for years. Inflation was widely-believed to be well in excess of the government's reported rates, and Argentina has deliberately devalued its currency, the peso.
MORE: Cars so hot they're out of stock
Belize
> Moody's credit rating: Caa2
> Moody's outlook: Stable
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 80.4%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $8,915
Belize is a tiny Central American nation with a population of less than half a million residents. The country has suffered from debt problems for years, first defaulting nearly a decade ago, after which it consolidated all of its international debts into a single bond. The country missed a payment on this "superbond" in August 2012, leading to a 2013 debt restructuring that resulted in a longer repayment time, a haircut to the bond's overall value, and smaller payments for bondholders. Following the restructuring, Moody's upgraded Belize's credit rating to Caa2 with a stable outlook. The IMF projects that Belize's total gross debt will reach 80.4% of GDP by the end of 2014.
Cuba
> Moody's credit rating: Caa2
> Moody's outlook: Stable
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): N/A
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): N/A
In April, Moody's downgraded Cuba's credit rating to Caa2 with a stable outlook. Weaknesses cited by Moody's at the time included "limited access to external financing, high dependence on imported goods, political transition risk, and lack of data transparency." Recently, Russia announced it had written off most of Cuba's debt, significantly cutting the country's obligations. Cuba does not pay interest on its debt and its bonds are rarely traded. The IMF does not collect figures for Cuba, which is not a member of the IMF and World Bank.
Cyprus
> Moody's credit rating: Caa3
> Moody's outlook: Positive
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 121.5%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $24,171
In March of last year, Cyprus received a 10 billion euro loan from the IMF, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission to save its banking system from bankruptcy. Just over a year later, Cyrus returned to global debt markets, raising $1 billion in five-year bonds yielding less than 5%. This was a moderate victory for the Mediterranean island country as its five-year bond yields neared 14% in prior years. Despite rating its bonds as Caa3, the lowest rating before default, Moody's has a positive outlook on the country. The country's improving economic performance, coupled with historically low interest rates in other eurozone countries, will likely push more adventurous investors towards Cyprus to take advantage of higher yields.
Greece
> Moody's credit rating: Caa3
> Moody's outlook: Stable
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 174.7%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $24,574
Once the poster child of economic calamity, Greece's efforts to restructure its debt and impose economic discipline are paying off. In April of this year, Greece returned to international bond markets after a four-year hiatus, raising nearly $4.2 billion in an oversubscribed issue of five-year bonds with a yield below 5%. According to Greece's Finance Ministry, almost 90% of bonds were issued to investors outside of Greece, indicating that international investors are beginning to view Greek government bonds as a good investment. While this is good news, Greece still has more work to do. The country's unemployment rate remains above 26% and deflation currently threatens to further depress demand.
Jamaica
> Moody's credit rating: Caa3
> Moody's outlook: Positive
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): 133.7%
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): $9,256
Jamaica re-entered the global bond market in July 2014 with a bang, raising $800 million, which was well above the $500 million expected by government officials. The expanded deal indicates that investors are excited about investment opportunities in Jamaica. The country's improving economy may explain some investor exuberance. Despite slow growth and an unemployment rate that has been consistently above 11% since the global recession, Jamaica has reduced government expenditure as a share of GDP from 38.6% in 2009 to an estimated 26.9% this year. Additionally, the Jamaican government expects its budget deficit to be nearly balanced in 2014.
Ukraine
> Moody's credit rating: Caa3
> Moody's outlook: Negative
> 2014 Gov't debt (pct. of GDP): N/A
> 2014 GDP per capita (PPP): N/A
Following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February, who was a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the political crisis in Ukraine has largely escalated. In March, Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in the Black Sea, from Ukraine. Violence between the government and pro-Russian separatists has also been rampant in eastern Ukraine. Financially, Ukraine's relationship with Russia is also complex. Russia lent its neighbor $3 billion last December, when Yanukovych still ran the country. The bond deal contained a clause triggering automatic full repayment if Ukrainian government debt exceeded 60% of GDP, alongside other conditions that have worried several debt market experts. Due to the ongoing crisis, Moody's downgraded Ukraine's credit rating, and the IMF excluded projections for Ukraine from its most recent World Economic Outlook report.
24/7 Wall St. is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1n8wK23If America wants to connect with the real aspirations of these revolutions, it will expand to other Arab awakening countries the |
includes the line: “My sweet Virginia, I’m the same as I was in your arms/ My sweet Virginia, I’m the same as I was in your heart.”
“Bet you don’t wanna know what the rest of the song is about!” he added.
Grohl also told a cool story early on in the night about his first trip to Toronto at the age of 18 or 19. His punk band (he didn’t mention Scream by name) had a show at the Horseshoe Tavern (it was actually the Rivoli). Their soundcheck was at noon, even though their show was at 11 p.m., and when they got there, someone was putting up Iggy Pop posters. He discovered Pop had a record-release party there that afternoon, but when he asked if he could attend, he was told no.
Rush Art Director Hugh Syme on the Stories Behind the Band's Iconic Album Covers and His New Book 'Art of Rush': Exclusive
Instead they were out back when Pop arrived. The punk legend asked if he played drums and knew his music (of course he did). Grohl ended up rehearsing with him and pulled in Scream’s bassist as well. That was the first and only time he’s ever played drums for Pop, he said.
Grohl actually has been onstage with Pop since: He danced with him at a Stooges show in 2011.
The Foo Fighters play another show in Toronto on Thursday night.John Maynard Keynes wrote, frustrated, that leading Labour politicians of his era did not realise they are not ‘secretaries of an outworn creed … but the heirs of eternal liberalism’.
For most of Labour’s history, the party has proved Keynes’ frustrations right; partly because liberalism has another political home, partly because practical applications of our basic values tend to be so rare that we forget philosophical debates.
But if liberalism does have an immovable place in Labour’s values, it is in how we project Britain’s role in the world. Equality at home and abroad has always been Labour’s purpose, freeing people from the ravages of war and poverty. For a long time, too, it has been a value shared with the country as a whole.
Britain no longer has that desire to liberate. Instead it is gripped by inertia and self-indulgent arguments over semantics. Parliament debates whether we should use the term ‘Isis’, rather than how to defeat them. And how do we feel about the terms ‘refugee’ or ‘migrant’? Should we share photos of dead toddlers washed up on the shore?
This is a dangerous place for Britain to be in; a serious crisis of purpose. It is the sort of diminished view of ourselves that ends in a prime minister responding to scores of stranded or dead refugees by saying: ‘I don’t think there is an answer that can be achieved simply by taking more and more refugees’.
‘More and more refugees’; as though an admission that Britain is so incompetent, so incapable, of providing anything other than the extremities of all or nothing. Choosing nothing is the desperate squeak of a politician who cannot separate his own failings on immigration from the humanitarian crisis which is rolling across Europe.
Stability in Syria and the defeat of Islamic State are clearly both crucial to the long-term solution. They too require political courage: Labour has serious questions to ask itself for preventing action in Syria in the last parliament, while David Cameron must act in this one. But neither of those stand in the way of Britain rediscovering human decency and helping those who would rather risk death in escape than face near-certain death at home.
There are commendable efforts from charities and individuals organising aid donations for those trapped in Calais, and Yvette Cooper deserves credit for taking the issue on and suggesting Britain commits to taking 10,000 refugees. But we know this cannot be all our country has to offer.
Cameron is a prime minister already halfway out the door; having set his exit date, what does he have to lose? Two practical solutions from opposite ends of the political spectrum should prompt him into realising he has cover to act. First, the free-market Adam Smith Institute’s Sam Bowman made the case for a guestworker programme so that refugees can find safety and work.
And on Calais, IPPR’s Nick Pearce has written from experience about how the government can set a practical and humane course. Again, neither of these is enough – but they are a whole lot more than Cameron is doing.
The real heirs of eternal liberalism may not be those in high political office, but those who choose the water over land to free their families from war and poverty. But when our political leaders can watch barrel bombs crash into Syrian homes and, a couple of years later, dead children wash up on the shores of our European neighbours and respond by shrugging their shoulders, maybe it no longer really matters.
———————————-
Alex White is a member of Progress. He tweets @AlexWhiteUK
———————————-
Photo: Freedom HouseBrian Schulz, a Boat Builder Had an Idea to build a Japanese Forest House in the middle of a Oregon forest… and after 1 1/2 years and $11,000, he completed it. One Year And $11,000 Later, This Perfection Exists. What’s even better about this home in the woods, it was mostly built from natural, locally sourced materials. In other words, this place was mostly funded by his hard work and innovation – something truly inspiring. Take a look at Schulz’s home and his journey along the way below.
Inspired by Japanese architecture, this is the finished home in the woods of Cape Falcon, Oregon.
As mentioned above, the truly inspiring part about this house is that nearly everything you see was locally sourced.
Schulz said, “it is undeniable that the pursuit of local materials connects more deeply to your landscapes.”
“The simple act of searching adds richness to our lives,’ he added.
The entire idea started when he went to a recycling center and found a brass sink.
He started fantasizing about building an entire house around it.
So… he did.
He set out to salvage all of the necessary materials.
It’s incredible that so much of what you see in this house was pulled from his local surroundings.
Schulz says, “With deep enough pockets a person might be able to duplicate such a structure by writing a large check to a talented builder, but that would risk missing the point entirely.”
He also did quite a bit of traveling to find all the right resources. He conveyed that this was one of the best parts of the process.
“You meet people, you discover new places, you have adventures, you learn things, AND, you come home with beams, windows, doors, and shingles.”
No home would be complete without an outhouse.
Mostly natural outhouse.
Schulz stated that the $11,000 cash mostly went to concrete, insulation and shakes. After all, it’s tough to build a home this awesome completely from your surroundings.
Source: Cape Falcon Kayak
AdvertisementsWashington (CNN) Stephen Bannon has his eyes on Senate races in Alabama and Arizona. With a health care vote looming, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is spending not-so-quiet weekends in Alaska. And President Trump's tax reform campaign may face competition for headlines.
It's all part of this week's "Inside Politics" forecast, where you get tomorrow's headlines today.
1) Tax reform vs. health care reform
When companies roll out a new product, the smart ones craft an announcement and marketing plan.
Tax reform is a signature GOP promise and central to President Trump's agenda. So there IS a careful rollout plan that includes presidential travel to Indiana and outreach to interest groups with a big stake in the debate.
But there is one problem. The chaos that is the GOP's Obamacare repeal-and-replace debate seems likely to suck up a fair amount of oxygen this week, because there is a last-ditch legislative push and a Saturday deadline to use a rule that allows passage with just a majority vote in the Senate.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has been reporting on the rollout plan, and the timing challenge.
"When you talk to Republican aides as this prepares to roll out, what they're preaching is patience. They've been working behind the scenes in a really kind of normal, unified roll-out manner with the White House -- Senate aides, White House aides," Mattingly explained.
"We have to get a budget. We are going to have to go through regular order, committees, hearings, markups, then to floor," he said. "The real concern right now... can the president stay patient? Especially if health care goes down, can the president stay patient? That's where aides are worried right now."
2) Trump's long-awaited refugee policy
President Trump long has complained that too many refugees are allowed into the United States, and has promised a new policy.
Well, eight months after he took office, Trump's proposal is expected to come this week.
Bloomberg's Toluse Olorunnipa shared his reporting that suggests the drop in incoming refugees from Obama administration's levels could be dramatic.
"It could be as low as 15,000 this year," Olorunnipa said. The timing is key for the Trump White House on this, he added.
"It comes at a time when he's planning to reiterate his travel ban and potentially increase the number of countries or have new targets of countries that are going to be placed under significant restrictions for having their citizens come into the US."
3) Murkowski's busy weekends in Alaska
Sen. Lisa Murkowski says that early fall weekends are priceless back home in Alaska and a great time for her to meet with constituents and enjoy the state's unique beauty.
But maybe she shouldn't count on peace and quiet this time.
Murkowski's vote is key as Senate Republicans will try one more time to pass an Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan.
With the deadline looming this week, she's getting phone calls from the White House and Senate colleagues. But CNN's MJ Lee reports that those conversations back home are what Murkowski promises will most shape her final decision on the Graham-Cassidy bill.
"She's meeting with some constituents. And this is really, really critical, because remember that last time when she went home after voting no, she told these stories about being greeted by tearful voters in her airport, thanking her for voting against this bill. And she has made it very clear, perhaps more than anybody else in the caucus, that whatever the decision comes down to, it is going to be all about Alaska," Lee said.
"It it is going to be all about those meetings and what she hears from her people... they are going to be very, very important."
4) Bannon eyes Senate races in Alabama, Arizona
Stephen Bannon kept a low media profile during the Trump campaign and in his months working as President Trump's chief White House strategist.
But he will be center stage Monday at a campaign event for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the former state Supreme Court chief justice who is running against President Trump's choice, interim Sen. Luther Strange.
It's a high-profile event for Bannon just days after the President visited Alabama, and the Bannon-vs.-Trump subplot understandably gets a lot of attention.
But Bannon has a longer play in mind. He's hoping a Moore win boosts his Breitbart News site and encourages anti-establishment challengers in other key races.
The Senate race in Arizona is one of them. Sources tell CNN that Bannon and key allies are actively trying to recruit a strong conservative challenger in Arizona, where GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, a frequent Trump critic, is up for re-election this year.
In that race, Bannon and Trump are -- at least at the moment -- on the same page in hoping Flake is defeated. The President has tweeted kind words about Flake's challenger, Kelli Ward.
But Bannon is one of many conservatives who doesn't see Ward as their best hope. Former GOP Rep. Matt Salmon's name has come up as a possibility. And add GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, a tea party favorite who has previously said he would not challenge Flake.
GOP sources in Washington and Arizona tell CNN that Bannon and key allies are hoping Gosar reconsiders, and they're making it clear he would get fundraising help if he changed his mind. Meanwhile, Bannon hopes a Moore win in Alabama would send a message about the mood of the GOP base.
5) Spotlight on Virginia governor's race
In this contentious age of Trump, the Virginia governor's race seems almost a throwback between two relatively polite, soft-spoken candidates.
Not that Democrat Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie don't have big differences. They do.
Because of its "odd year" placement on the calendar -- and because Virginia is so competitive politically -- this governor's race is being watched as a potential bellwether of the 2018 political climate. Because the stakes in the 2018 midterms are so high, that makes it critical.
Mary Katharine Ham of The Federalist notes some key issues that will inevitably get this race a bigger national spotlight.
"The Democrat was ahead by about 5 to 7 points, even 10 points in some polls recently. But just this week a Suffolk poll showed it getting much tighter," Ham said. "It will remain probably polite, but it has this undercurrent of the Trump culture wars and the NFL and the (Charlottesville) statue stuff."THE powers of pardon bestowed on an American president—modelled on those enjoyed by English monarchs in centuries past—are so sweeping and awful that they impose their own discipline on chief executives, or so Alexander Hamilton predicted in Federalist 74. The responsibility of deciding the fate of a fellow-creature will “naturally inspire scrupulousness and caution,” wrote Hamilton. What is more, a president would so “dread” being accused of misusing those powers in a fit of “weakness or connivance”, that he will use them with the utmost “circumspection.”
For all his brilliance, Hamilton could not foresee the election of a president like Donald Trump, for whom acts of unblushing, explicit, crowd-pleasing connivance are a proof of cleverness. Nor could Hamilton guess that partisan factions would one day so divide the republic that a for-profit propaganda industry would cheer on a president for abandoning both scruples and caution.
Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks.
But that is where America finds itself today. As evidence, consider Mr Trump’s pardon for Joe Arpaio, the demagogic, conspiracy-peddling, publicity-seeking former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Mr Arpaio, an early and vocal supporter of Mr Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and a longtime darling of conservative talk-radio and TV hosts, was finally ejected from office by his own voters in 2016 after being convicted of criminal contempt, for wilfully defying court orders to stop using race and ethnicity as grounds for pulling over local residents, in pursuit of immigrants without legal status. By the time he was defeated, Mr Arpaio, 85, had cost the county tens of millions of dollars in legal bills, including settlements after his department was found guilty of unlawful violence in its jails, in some cases leading to deaths.
A presidential pardon, in the words of Supreme Court justices over the years, is intended as an “act of grace”—a forgiveness of a crime that has been proven, and of guilt that has been accepted by the perpetrator. The underlying idea is that public policy may sometimes make it wise to temper the harsh edges of the rule of law—for instance when insurrectionists need to be persuaded to drop their arms (as when George Washington pardoned tax-hating farmers during the Whiskey Rebellion).
Mr Trump and his cheerleaders have a different explanation for Sheriff Joe’s pardon. The authoritarian showman is being pardoned, the president has signalled, because he did nothing wrong in the eyes of “patriots” who know how police powers should really be used. That is not an act of grace. It is an act of nullification by stealth: the highest office-holder in the land saying that legal checks and balances are so much politically correct nonsense.
Mr Trump winked and nodded at the upcoming pardon in a splenetic, rambling 76-minute speech in Phoenix earlier this week. “I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy,” he said, after asking the crowd: “Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?”
“I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine,” Mr. Trump told his supporters. In tweets the president called Mr Arpaio an “American patriot” who “kept Arizona safe.”
Not all would agree with that assessment. Lexington travelled to Maricopa County last year and met both Sheriff Joe and Joe Penzone, the no-nonsense former cop who defeated him. Phoenix is a deeply divided city—a place to see the demographic clash that the writer Ron Brownstein has called “the grey versus the brown.” On one side, its sun-baked sprawl is filled with silver-haired white retirees from across the country, many of them intensely conservative. They live alongside young families who are increasingly Hispanic and non-white.
Mr Arpaio, who styled himself “America’s toughest sheriff”, is an authoritarian impresario. He housed county prisoners outdoors in tents, even as temperatures reached 145°F (63°C), made them wear pink underwear and put them in chain gangs, sending them to cut weeds or clean roads in the affluent suburbs where his supporters lived. He recruited a posse of volunteer sheriff’s deputies, who sport police uniforms and roar about in patrol cars. In 2011 Mr Arpaio assigned a five-member “cold-case posse”, financed by conservatives across the country, to investigate whether Barack Obama had faked evidence of his birth in America (the sheriff argued that Mr Obama had indeed faked his birth certificate, making him an early ally of Mr Trump, who used the racially charged “birther” conspiracy to launch his own career in nativist politics).
While lesser rivals acquired more minor military hardware from the Pentagon, Mr Arpaio secured a tank (actually a self-propelled Howitzer). He made the action-film star Steven Seagal a posse member and let him drive that tank through a local man’s garden wall in search of illegal cockfighting (policing animal cruelty was a crowd-pleasing staple of the sheriff’s work). Sheriff Joe’s fans cheered when he ordered immigration sweeps that targeted people who appeared to be non-white or Hispanic. He was an early Trump backer, declaring: “Everything that I believe in, he believes in.”
By the time of the 2016 election Mr Arpaio already faced charges for criminal contempt, after allegedly defying court rulings to stop racial profiling. He had been rebuked for setting private investigators on a judge investigating him. The Pentagon asked for its hardware back after several weapons were lost. Mr Penzone, a veteran Phoenix police sergeant, ran for sheriff as a Democrat on the message that citizens’ money had been squandered and that law enforcement had suffered. He promised to close the “tent city” jail, noting that it was half-empty and cost taxpayers a fortune. That back-to-work message won Mr Penzone 158,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton received in Maricopa County, as he picked up support from Republicans embarrassed by or tired of Mr Arpaio. In other words, those Americans who know Mr Arpaio best had already rejected him by the time Mr Trump swooped in to bestow his blessings on his work.
In his own tweets after his pardon, Mr Arpaio called his conviction “a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department.” He included a link to a website seeking donations to pay off his legal fees.
Senator John McCain of Arizona, for one, was unimpressed by suggestions that chest-thumping patriotism, as judged by conservative citizens, trumps the rule of law. “No one is above the law,” declared Mr McCain, a Republican. “The individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold.”
Mr McCain’s words are stirring but out of date. In Mr Trump’s America, those who make the right crowds roar and stamp their feet need fear no reproach.“Let me assure you, the Trump-Pence administration will stand for the sanctity of life and defend the unborn from the first day we take office,” said Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), a supporter of some of the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion measures.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ignored abortion rights at the anti-choice Values Voter Summit over the weekend, even as his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), doubled down on ending legal abortion in the United States.
Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ignored abortion rights at the anti-choice Values Voter Summit over the weekend, even as his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), doubled down on ending legal abortion in the United States.
Addressing the extremist Family Research Council’s (FRC) annual summit on last week in Washington, D.C., Trump attempted to convince the room full of conservative Christians that he would have their backs should he be elected in November. Despite promising to “fight for the American family and American family values,” any mention of abortion was absent from the GOP nominee’s speech.
The summit “was created in 2006 to provide a forum to help inform and mobilize citizens across America to preserve the bedrock values of traditional marriage, religious liberty, sanctity of life and limited government that make our nation strong,” according to the event’s website. Trump’s failure to discuss abortion marked a noticeable omission given the opportunity the summit presented to try to move voters motivated by these issues to the polls amid the GOP candidate’s shifting positions on abortion rights.
Pence, however, offered a fervent pitch to the so-called values voters the next day, suggesting that the Trump-Pence ticket would work to limit and eventually end legal access to abortion care.
Get the facts, direct to your inbox. Subscribe to our daily or weekly digest. SUBSCRIBE
“I want to live to see the day that we put the sanctity of life back at the center of American law, and we send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history, where it belongs,” said Pence.
Pence appeared poised to squash fears among conservative voters about Trump’s murky anti-abortion record.
“Let me assure you, the Trump-Pence administration will stand for the sanctity of life and defend the unborn from the first day we take office,” the Indiana governor, a supporter of some of the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion measures, told the crowd.
Pence touted fake clinics, also known as crisis pregnancy centers—organizations that routinely lie to pregnant people to persuade them not to seek abortion care—that he helped to fund in his home state. He name-checked Real Alternatives, the fake clinic umbrella organization that received $3.5 million in state funds under his leadership.
Pence pledged that Trump will sign into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the popular anti-choice copycat legislation banning abortion care at 20 weeks; uphold the Hyde Amendment, the restriction on federal funding for abortion care that disproportionately impacts people with low incomes and people of color; and appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices “who will strictly construe the Constitution of the United States in the tradition of the late and great justice Antonin Scalia.”
Pence perpetuated the myth that Planned Parenthood uses federal Title X family planning money to fund abortion care.
“The days of public funding for Planned Parenthood are over when the Trump-Pence administration arrives in Washington, D.C.,” Pence said.
Trump will carry out the wide-ranging anti-abortion agenda because he “understands the moral imperative” behind the cause, the Pence said. “We’ve spoken of it many times, in fact, did again this morning on my way here to see you.”
FRC President Tony Perkins also acted as a de facto anti-choice apologist for Trump. Perkins dismissed Trump’s failure to address abortion during his summit speech, telling Rewire during a Saturday press conference that the Republican candidate rarely addresses actual policies.
“If you noticed, Donald Trump doesn’t talk a lot about specific policies. He talks broadly because he’s not a policy guy,” Perkins said, later adding that Trump had “made clear in other settings [his stance] on his life issues” and that was “one of the reasons that you heard from Mike Pence today.”
“In fact [Pence] mentioned in his speech that he had spoken with Donald Trump this morning about the life issue, and he made it very clear: Planned Parenthood, defund it,” Perkins said.
Merrie Turner, an anti-abortion activist arrested during extremist group Operation Rescue’s 1991 “Summer of Mercy” in Wichita, Kansas, and convicted on some of those charges for her role in the clinic protests, told Rewire that Trump addressed abortion even if it wasn’t explicit in his summit speech.
“Well, first of all, he did address it if people were listening,” Turner said in a Saturday interview, pointing to Trump’s brief discussion of the Supreme Court during his speech. “What he said was that he … would place Supreme Court justices on the Court who replicated that of Antonin Scalia who recently passed away, and is missing from the Court and is very pro-life, and would have voted so on any cases.”
Turner suggested that Trump’s view on abortion was “evolving” and that by not mentioning it, he would ensure he didn’t alienate any voters.
“[H]e’s being educated on the issue and what abortion really is. You know, even as we speak he is learning more and understanding more,” Turner said. “So at the same time, he realizes it’s important not to alienate American citizens from choosing to perhaps bring he and Mr. Pence into the White House to stand for other issues as well. And so I think that he is wise in not making too much of that issue at this point.”
Though Trump didn’t see fit to discuss abortion at the Values Voter Summit, it was still a hot topic among conservative speakers and panelists at the event.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) kicked off Friday morning by telling the crowd that prior to becoming a member of Congress, he brought an employee to a fake clinic after they had told him they were pregnant.
“[W]e had a long conversation, and so I took her to a crisis pregnancy center. She was nervous, confused, in pain—but those folks at the crisis pregnancy center walked her through the process to help her make the choice of life,” Scott said. “So as an elected official, when I have the responsibility and the opportunity, the privilege to protect life, I do so having been in the private sector, realizing the importance that we should place on life and the choice of life.”
The weekend’s scheduled events included a speech from David Daleiden, the anti-choice activist behind the discredited Center for Medical Progress videos attempting to smear Planned Parenthood through allegations that the provider profited from fetal tissue donations.
Daleiden rebuffed multiple email and in-person requests for an interview with Rewire.The Chandpur Civil Surgeon Office has sent a Tk1 crore allocation back to the government, fearing irregularities and misappropriation of the fund. The purchase committee of the office took the decision in a recent meeting following directives from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on May 29. Mysteriously, the office has not yet received an official copy of the allocation order signed by DGHS Assistant Director (Budget) Dr Md Anisur Rahman on February 23. Chandpur Civil Surgeon Dr Md Saifur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that he was not aware of the allocation order until a supplier, who had interest in the allocation, showed it to him on May 9. The allocation was made for buying medical equipments and accessories for seven hospitals and 20 health centres in different upazilas of the district. Dr Saifur sent a letter to the DGHS director general on May 15, informing that he was not able to spend the fund as the allocation order came to his notice after a long delay. The fund was to be distributed by June this year. The letter also stated that the allocation order did not specify how the fund would be spent. In its reply on May 28, the DGHS asked him to return the allocation if the officials concerned find it impossible to spend the money in the stipulated time. Alamgir Bhuiyan, a supplier of medical equipment, told Dhaka Tribune that Dr Saifur could have easily bought the equipment. Many would be deprived of health services because of the decision to return the fund, he added. Bangladesh Medical Association's (BMA's) Chandpur unit General Secretary Mahmudunnabi Masum expressed his shock over the matter and said no one was aware that the allocation had been made. “Efforts were made to misappropriate the fund in secret, but it backfired after the decision [to return the fund] was made at the last moment,” he said. Dr Saifur added the purchase committee had taken the decision to return the fund considering that it could not be properly spent in the stipulated time. The government would have incurred financial losses in that case, he added.Washington (CNN) Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Sunday that he was not troubled by Jared Kushner's reported attempts to establish a back-channel with Russia.
"It don't see the big deal" Kelly said on "Fox News Sunday."
Reports on Friday said that Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak told the Russian government in December that Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior aide, had requested a back-channel with Russia for Trump's team.
Kelly said he did not know if the reports were true, but added that he supports attempts to foster communication with Russia.
"Any channel of communication, back or otherwise, with a country like Russia is a good thing," Kelly said. "I doesn't bother me."
He said the US could not necessarily trust messages from Russia, but would include this distrust as another "data point" in White House deliberations.
Kushner has drawn increased scrutiny as reports have emerged about his contacts with the Russian ambassador and a Russian banking representative. CNN reported on Thursday that the FBI was looking into Kushner's many roles on both Trump's transition team and in the White House.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he was skeptical of the back-channel story because he did not trust Russian officials.
"You've got the ambassador to Russia reporting back to Moscow on an open channel," Graham said. "I don't trust this story as far as I can throw it.... The whole storyline is suspicious."
JUST WATCHED Graham on Kushner report: Story is suspicious Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Graham on Kushner report: Story is suspicious 02:07
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Sunday on ABC that US officials need to get to the bottom of the allegations against Kushner, including if Kushner was not honest about his Russia contacts during the security clearance process. Schiff said that if he had confirmation of the allegations, Kushner's security clearance should be revoked.
"I do think there ought to be a review of his security clearance to find out whether he was truthful, whether he was candid," Schiff said. "If not then there's no way he can maintain that kind of a clearance."
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," said he would not confirm the stories about Kushner's conversations, but added that he was "very concerned" about reports of the Trump administration approaching Russia "from a theoretical standpoint."
"My dashboard warning light was clearly on," Clapper said.10 Animated Shorts make the Oscar Long list 06 November 2014 // News Steve Henderson Editor & Writer - mr_s_henderson
The most watched, debated and analysed awards ceremony is heading back for another year of drama, trivia and red carpet dresses. Alongside this glittery explosion of celebs and movie stars the Academy Awards also honours animation and today have announced 10 shorts that could be nominated for an Academy Award. This list of eligible shorts will be finalised into a much shorter selection when the official nominations are announced on the 15th January, before the 87th Academy Awards ceremony on the 22nd February.
The UK have a single entry and, as is often the case, it is from a student with The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs earning a place on the list. Previous Oscar winner Torill Kove is in the running for a nomination too with Me and My Moulton alongside previous winners William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg with The Numberlys. Bill Plympton also stands a good a chance as any of the selected to earn his 3rd nomination once the list is finalised in January. Plympton also finds himself on the long list for the animated features with Cheatin’ so could find himself with a nomination in both categories.
There really is no way of telling which of these films will make their way onto the shortlist. The academy doesn’t operate like an animation festival and holds the shorts in a different regard to animation fans, which always makes the list of nominees interesting, to say the least.
So here are the 10 shorts in the running for a nomination. Don’t forget to let us know which one you would like to see win by voting in our poll below
The Bigger Picture
Directed by Daisy Jacobs
National Film and Television School
Coda
Directed by Alan Holly
And Maps And Plans
The Dam Keeper
Directed by Robert Kondo & Dice Tsutsumi
Tonko House
Duet
Directed by Glen Keane
Glen Keane Productions & ATAP
Feast
Directed by Patrick Osborne produced by Kristina Reed
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Footprints
Directed by Bill Plympton
Bill Plympton Studio
Me and My Moulton
Directed by Torill Kove
Mikrofilm in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada
The Numberlys
Directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
Moonbot Studios
A Single Life
Directed by Joris Oprins
Job, Joris & Marieke]
Symphony No. 42
Directed by Réka Bucsi
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest
Who would you like to see short listed? Vote here!
Who do you want to see shortlisted for the Best Animation Short at the Oscars? The Bigger Picture by Daisy Jacobs (25%)
The Dam Keeper by Robert Kondo & Dice Tsutsumi (22%)
Coda by Alan Holly (17%)
Symphony No. 42 by Réka Bucsi (15%)
Duet by Glen Keane (5%)
Footprints by Bill Plympton (3%)
Me and My Moulton by Torill Kove (3%)
The Numberlys by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg (3%)
A Single Life by Joris Oprins (3%)
Feast by Patrick Osborne (2%)For the facelift to the first floor, which includes the kitchen, living room, dining area, office and a bathroom, they enlisted their son, who earned an architecture degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a university in Zurich known for producing visionaries like the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
The planning involved over two years of family negotiations. The parents wanted to update the exterior to give it a new look; the son didn’t think it was necessary. The son wanted a sunken level; the parents thought it would be too complicated. “Even buying furniture was a democratic process,” said Pe Hadzimanovic, who is writing a book about architecture.
The budget ballooned from an initial $100,000 to $200,000 (including furniture).
Once the design details were complete, out went the gray carpeting, and in came the off-white Italian travertine stone bought in Zurich that “reflects light,” Mr. Hadzimanovic said. Now none of the rooms on the first floor are completely enclosed. The only interior door left is to the first-floor bathroom. In the white-walled entrance foyer, there is now a custom-made, two-sided closet of lacquered fiberboard that holds jackets and purses on the foyer-side, and books and files on the adjacent side, in an office. A rectangular opening 10-inches wide and 20-inches in height, carved into the closet, offers a peek onto the office, which is furnished with a Poul Henningsen PH Snowball lamp and an ochre-colored Eames fiberglass armchair. The cut-out, a motif employed throughout the house, is also aligned to give Mr. Hadzimanovic an unobstructed view down the length of the house onto the back garden while he works. (The cut-out has also turned into a cat door for the Hadzimanovics’ Russian Blue to easily slip into and out of the room.)
Off the foyer is the kitchen, which Pe Hadzimanovic doubled in size, adding more than two dozen teak-paneled drawers and cabinets. He also installed a nearly 12-foot-long glass panel along one wall, one-and-a-half-feet high, to give a view onto the Cypress trees that skirt the side of the house. “I feel linked with nature when I’m in the kitchen,” said Ms. Hadzimanovic, speaking in Serbian. Another cut-out, a 20-by-20-inch square opening, is wedged between a new Electrolux range and Gaggenau wall oven, and also aligned to view the backyard.
Next to the dining area, the living room is brightened with large glass panels that look out onto the back garden, with its manicured lawn and towering evergreens. Closest to the glass panes is a tan leather chair whose ultra-thin legs are made from the gas springs of a car (about $5,900), and an origami-inspired, laser-cut white metal floor lamp, both from the Zurich firm Strala. Six Eames Lounge Chairs from a.spring form a rectangle around a 19th-century prayer rug from Turkmenistan (about $9,400), bought during a mother-and-son shopping trip to Madayan Carpets in Zurich. Pe Hadzimanovic, who has penchant for tinkering even on iconic pieces, decided to fit each Eames chair with a dark veneer crafted by a woodworker in Germany.
“We had had the velour sofa, the leather sofa — it was time for something different,” his father said. But of the Eames chairs, he conceded, “Perhaps they are too good, too special.”
The chairs, however, were a minor issue compared with the renovation’s final stage.
Last summer, Mr. and Ms. Hadzimanovic left for a three-month vacation on the Croatian coast, weary of the renovations. They gave their son carte blanche with the first-floor bathroom.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
When they returned, the couple found a new industrial-looking bathroom with a toilet centered in the middle with exposed pipes. (Friends have referred to the bathroom as the “Centre Pompidou.”)
Ms. Hadzimanovic objected to the hard, black rubber floor, likening it to “the floor of a cheap train,” Pe Hadzimanovic recalled. His father was taken aback by the shower and sink handles, actually $60 green and red enameled hose valves from a hardware store. The son was eager to start work on the second-floor bathroom. But his father had an immediate reply: " |
and not to travel by subway or train.
Earlier, unconfirmed reports on social media suggested further shooting took place at Karlsplatz square in central Munich, while another reportedly occurred at Isartor square, close to the city center.
Munich authorities declared an emergency in the city following the shooting at the mall. Local residents were urged not to leave their homes via special messages sent to their smartphones by the Katwarn system. Meanwhile transport authorities say they have halted several bus, train and tram lines.
Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer and Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann have formed a crisis center, while German security cabinet is set to hold a meeting on Saturday to assess the situation.
If the Munich shooting was a lone wolf attack, it could have been committed with a variety of motives, ranging from deeply personal reasons to ideological. However, because it was an coordinated assault made by a group, then it was likely a terrorist act, Jonathan Steele, an international affairs commentator, told RT.
Schüsse in OEZ - Polizei in Schusssicheren Westen sperrt das Gebiet ab #OEZ#münchenpic.twitter.com/VvHF1Y3gOE — Timm Kraeft (@TimmKraeft) July 22, 2016
“If it is just one person doing it, then [the reason for the shooting] could be any kind of a personal grudge [this person] had, or he could be a member of a far right group, or a person with a hate complex of some kind. But when several people are involved in a shooting and one has to assume it is coordinated, it is clearly a terrorist cause,” Steele said.
“But we still do not know from what country these people came … whether it is connected with anything Islamic, so we have to be careful and not assume that automatically,” he added.
The shooting in Munich comes a week after a teenage Afghan asylum seeker wounded five people on a train in Germany in an axe rampage.
It also follows a terrorist attack in Nice, France, on Bastille Day, in which a Tunisian man drove a truck in a crowd, killing 84 people.Note: This story has been updated by the author at 12 noon ET.
Mother Jones does love found footage, doesn't it? The progressive mag's airing of Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comments at a fundraiser definitely hurt the former Massachusetts governor in his attempt to boot President Obama in 2012.
Now Mojo is back with the vid above, which the mag must hope will discombobulate Republicans and help put the brakes on a libertarian-leaning senator whose anti-war and anti-NSA stances draw long looks from disaffected liberals and lefties.
"Rand Paul: Jimmy Carter was better on the budget than Ronald Reagan" is how the vid begins. It shows the Kentucky senator in a variety of settings between 2007 and 2009 slagging St. Reagan as a spendthrift.
As Mediaite's Andrew Kirell points out, all of Paul's basic statements about spending under Reagan are absolutely true. The short version: Reagan spent like a drunken sailor and skipped out on the bill.
Here's a chart by Reason columnist and Mercatus Center economist Veronique de Rugy:
Paul is correct to say that Reagan was worse than Carter when it came to spending. As de Rugy does the math, Carter increased real spending 17 percent over the last budget of his predecessor, Gerald Ford. Over two terms, Reagan increased spending by 22 percent over Carter's final budget. On an annualized basis, then, Carter grew spending by 4.25 precent a year, while Reagan grew it by 2.75 percent. However, when expressed as a percentage of GDP, spending under Carter averaged 20.6 percent per year while Reagan averaged 21.6 percent. Spending typically really gears up in a second-term president's final years, so it's plausible to theorize that had Carter managed to stick around for eight years, he might have equaled or surpassed what the real-world Reagan managed. Note: The paragraph above has been edited to better reflect annual spending patterns.
When it comes to debt, there's no question that Reagan was worse. Over an eight-year reign, he tallied up $1.4 trillion in deficits, or an average of $177 billion per year. Carter—a famously cheapskate Southern Baptist—racked up just $253 billion over four years, for an average deficit of $63 billon per year. Tax revenue went up sharply under Reagan, for sure, but like a Hollywood big shot, he still managed to spend ever larger amounts, resulting in an average annual deficit of 4.1 percent of GDP. The Peanut Farmer From Plains? A relatively tiny 2.3 percent of GDP. (All this data if from the Congressional Budget Office.)
Far from being the budget hawk of lore, Dutch had no problem jacking overall spending through the roof, especially when it came to military spending. As Reagan's first budget director, David Stockman, told Reason in 2011:
reason: Reagan was famous for saying that government wasn’t the solution to the problem; government was the problem. Why wasn’t he more skeptical of Pentagon claims of what they needed and of where their financial estimates were coming from? Stockman: That’s one of the mysteries of the time, I guess, and it’s one of the factors that led to the utter failure of spending control. He was utterly uninterested in any detail of the defense budget, of any of the claims for dollars made by the Pentagon. He gave them a blank check, without question, and that had a two-fold effect. One, it ballooned spending just as we were massively reducing the revenue. But second, it created an enormous political impasse. And that is, the spending increases were so huge in defense that it became almost impossible to get anybody to look at you with a straight face on Capitol Hill and say we’re gonna go after the food stamp program or school lunches, when you’re just showering tens of billions of dollars on ammunition accounts and spare parts replacements and a massive expansion of the Navy, which was totally uncalled for.
After trimming some programs early in his presidency, Reagan came around to pushing massive increases on just about everything, including education (a newly formed federal department he promised to kill upon taking office), Medicare (which he had denounced as "socialized medicine" in the early 1960s), and Social Security (before championing massive hikes in payroll taxes in his second term, he had once called for making Social Security voluntary).
In many ways, Reagan's late-life embrace of old-age entitlements may have been his worst spending legacy. Created to address very different times and a very different workforce, Social Security and Medicare were in dire straits by the 1980s and had Reagan tried, he might have been able to replace these fundamentally unsustainable and unfair transfer programs into more effective and lower-cost safety net programs. Instead he called saving Social Security and Medicare—a feat accomplished through massive increases in FICA rates—"the highest priority of my administration." By the end of his presidency, the combined employee-employer rate was 15 percent, up from 9.35 percent in 1981 (and more income was subjected to Social Security tax to boot).
As I argued the other day at The Daily Beast, Reagan is the "Godfather of Groupon Government," of huge and ongoing discounts to current taxpayers. Just as Groupon makes purchases more attractive by offering major price breaks, Groupon Goverment makes government goods and services more attractive by charging taxpayers much less than the retail price.
The Godfather of Groupon Government is none other than Ronald Reagan, who campaigned on killing whole cabinet departments and then presided over deficits that were so scandalously large that even Andy Warhol felt a need to comment on them. Starting in 1983, revenue increased every year under Reagan, but so did spending...leading to a tripling of the national debt on the Gipper’s watch. Between 1974 (when new budget rules and accounting systems were put in place) and 2013, the CBO reports that total federal revenues averaged 17.5 percent of GDP while outlays averaged 20.5 percent of GDP. Expressed in terms of dollars, the government only charged Americans 84 cents per dollar of spending. Over the course of Reagan’s two terms, revenue only covered 82 cents, thus generously offering Americans an 18 percent discount.
Whole thing here.
Three or four years ago, I heard then-Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) give a great talk to a group of conservatives. I can't reproduce the exact phrasing but the gist went something like this. Daniels talked about going to college in the late '60s and early 1970s. He talked about how there were always a bunch of lefties and progs around on campus, talking about FDR and the New Deal and how it hadn't gone far enough. Daniels said he'd tell those folks to get bent (again, the phrasing isn't exact), because the New Deal was like 30 years ago, man, and it doesn't have very much to do with today's America.
So far, so good. Conservative-libertarian audiences like peeing on campus radicals and FDR. Daniels pulled some applause and hoots. But then he went on to say something that was really fricking awesome. He pointed out that here "we"—Republicans, he meant, or maybe fiscal conservatives more broadly—were in the 2000s and all "we" could do was invoke St. Ronald Reagan like he was the second coming of Jesus H. Christ (again, not his phrasing). Daniels looked around the room and said, You know, we're further in time from Reagan than those half-baked New Dealers were when I was in college. We've got to get new ideas, new policies, and a new vision of government. Times have changed. America has changed. Budget realities have changed.
The room was silent. Even the crickets were sitting on their hands (or whatever crickets have). In the movie of my mind, I'd like to think that I started a slow clap that eventually caught on and Mitch Daniels was carried out jubilantly by the crowd, kind of like Debra Winger is by Richard Gere at the end of Officer & a Gentlemen.
But of course none of that happened. Around the same time Daniels had also famously called for cease fire in the culture wars and for Republicans to focus on spending issues (the governor didn't mince words about how awful his former boss, George W. Bush, had been). Conservatives jumped all over him like pit bulls on a steak. Because he has a mind and was a serious thinker about policy, Daniels once discussed the effects of a possible V.A.T. tax during a talk about the legacy of Herman Kahn and was pilloried for that.
He left the podium that night having pissed off the very people who needed to hear his message the most, passed on a presidential run, and is now the president of Purdue University. If there was ever a victim of epistemic closure on the right, it was Mitch Daniels.
The point is: Take on Reagan's legacy and you're playing with fire. Especially if you're right about Reagan's terrible record on spending, which Rand Paul absolutely is. I used to think that the GOP would never move forward until it fully acknowledged just how utterly awful George W. Bush's presidency really was. Across every possible dimension—with the possible exception of immigration reform, where Dubya essentially created the DREAM Act that fills Republcan lawmakers with nightmares about cantaloupe-calved illegals "hauling 75 pounds of marijuana aross the desert"—Bush was a big-government disaster. Despite stated interest in a top-to-bottom makeover, the GOP isn't really interested in changing all that much of its general platform or vibe. Until they are, they can kiss libertarians goodbye, along with other rising segments of America. The GOP's one big ace in the hole is that they run against Democrats. But even that wears off.
Rand Paul is interested in doing things differently (check out this Google News capture of recent articles about the guy). He's actually reaching out to minority voters by talking about school choice and how free markets will help alleviate poverty and lack of opportunity. He's proposed budgets that actually cut government spending. He's the loudest political voice for civil liberties in an age of ubiquitous government surveillance. He's pushing back against exaggerated fears of voter fraud and dumbed-down arguments about global warming. He's smart on military spending, which is to say he's against limitless defense spending and blunderous foreign policy.
He's not perfect from a libertarian angle—no politician is—but he is a damn serious threat to the Republican establishment. And to the Democratic status quo too. Which explains both why conservatives and establishment Republicans are going after him and lefty progs want to see him take a powder. And why his star is rising among the growing number of political independents who are sick of living in a fantasyland of the past and a thoroughly disappointing present. When the knives come out to cut him down to size—from the right and from the left—I hope he has the guts to stick to his libertarian guns.
Over the past dozen-plus years, we've seen what conventional Republicans and Democrats have to offer America, and it ain't pretty. Change is needed and it ain't going to be easy. But that just makes it more important to fight for.Sensing an opportunity after Lisa Murkowski stood up for poor oppressed oil executives and blocked consideration of a rise in the liability cap for companies implicated in oil spills, Democrats plan to bring up the Menendez-Nelson-Lautenberg “Oil Company Bailout Prevention Act” again and again next week, daring Republicans to continue to block it. So in response, Republicans have put together their own bill, raising the liability cap to a floating, easily gamed number.
A day after Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski shot down a Democratic-led effort to lift the liability cap on oil companies, Florida Sen. George LeMieux and three other Gulf Coast Republicans introduced legislation they say would “dramatically increase” the industry’s liability. The legislation — which also has the backing of Sens. David Vitter, R-La., Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., would set a new cap equal to the last four quarters of the responsible party’s profits — or double the current limit, whichever is greater. “BP is already responsible for the costs of the cleanup, but we must ensure taxpayers are not forced to pay for associated damages,” LeMieux said. He said economic damage from the spill will “far exceed” the current $75 million cap, and that under the bill, BP’s liability would jump to $17 billion dollars.
Obviously, the question becomes “what year is applicable to the cap,” and if it’s in the same year as this spill for BP, for example, that cap suddenly shrinks. If the company loses money in a calendar year, do they become not responsible at all (for a startup company with capital expenditures, that’s entirely possible)? Plus we’re putting the calculations in the hands of the accountants for the responsible party. Does that seem viable to you?
I hope the Republicans try to put this bill on the floor, so everyone can see exactly what side they’re on. Plus they can keep repeating the fact that BP made $17 billion dollars last year and yet gets politicians to do their bidding and stop them from paying their fair share.So Shashi Tharoor thinks India should jump aboard the reparations bandwagon. Courtesy of his polished rhetoric and YouTube’s ubiquity, two million tweeting Indians, including the prime minister, approve. But what is it they all so ‘like’? And where is the logic in Tharoor’s diatribe? The undergraduates of the Oxford Union had proposed that “Britain owes reparation to her former colonies”, a motion no doubt prompted by recent publicity given to the claims of Kenyan veterans of the Mau-Mau struggle of the 1950s. Tharoor didn’t mention the Kenyans, nor did he find time for any other surviving victims of colonial oppression. He had a bigger, much staler fish to fry. The UK must apologise and offer compensation for the injuries and injustices sustained by India’s millions during what he called “200 years of colonial rule” in South Asia.
As the nearly-man of the UN Secretariat and then the Congress, Tharoor cited “the principles of reparation” and “a moral debt that needs to be repaid”. He was presumably thinking of international human rights law and the deliberations of the International Court of Justice. Yet, neither body existed during most of Britain’s overseas rule. The conduct of states, as of individuals, can only be assessed by the standards of their age, not by today’s litigious criteria. Otherwise, we’d all be down on the government of Italy for feeding Christians to the lions. The Mexican economy would be in hock to the Aztecs and the Mongolians would be eternally atoning for Ghengis Khan.
Stirring it up Tharoor at the Oxford Union
With all due deference to Tharoor, there exists no principle under which a race or people may be held to account for the conduct of its deceased forebears. Nor does “a moral debt” devolve down the generations like original sin. Culpability is not heritable, and collective atonement is no panacea. The slate cannot be wiped clean by apologies plus hush money; nor should it be. History is a grubby business; if we are to right present wrongs, we need to be haunted by its uglier episodes. Exorcising them by buying absolution for long deceased culprits is just a big red herring. Far from being “a tool for you [that is, the British] to atone”, as Tharoor would have it, reparations are meant to compensate surviving victims of injustice, not posterity.
Moving effortlessly into undergraduate register, the floppy-haired Tharoor first told a few jokes, then trotted out a string of statistics. In British-ruled India, famine claimed “15-29 million” lives; war added a few hundred thousand more; livelihoods were lost, industries depleted, freedoms constrained, peoples humiliated. His figures sounded extravagant but his facts are not. They are indeed what happened; they need to be remembered. But not by harping on the horrors of the past as a substitute for grappling with ongoing injustices. Logically, Tharoor would have us all—including those complicit in caste oppression, female infanticide and sectarian violence—down on bended knee, proffering apologies for the accident (or what should be the accident) of our gender, our antecedents, our co-religionists or our nation. He asks a lot, and he presumes a lot. Proverbially, it is only the blameless who may cast the first stone. Tharoor’s lineage must be one to be envied.
The uncontrolled pillage of the Clive era lasted only two decades. Hastings (left) and Cornwallis cleaned up the act.
The Oxford debate caught me immersed in Ferdinand Mount’s The Tears of the Rajahs (Simon & Schuster, 2015). It’s a book from which Tharoor might take comfort. Somewhat long but impeccably written, Mount’s narrative takes the form of a quest to discover the truth about his ancestors—mostly Lows, Thackerays and Richmonds—who achieved distinction in 19th century India. All were admirable in their way; some got rich; many died young. But Mount’s concern is how to reconcile these thoroughly decent men and women with the discrimination they practised, the tendentious policies they enforced and the appalling bloodshed for which they were often responsible. What was their motivation, he wonders. Were they so fired by the certainty of their civilising mission that nothing could be allowed to stand in their way? Or were they in fact plagued by doubts about the whole imperial enterprise? Take John Low, an army officer who made good as a political agent and whose Indian career spanned half a century. Mount writes of him: “He took an active part in deposing three kings, each of them rulers over a territory and population the magnitude of a middle-sized European state. He deprived a fourth raja, perhaps the grandest of them all, of a large portion of his kingdom. He survived three shattering mutinies. Yet at no time do you have the feeling that he was spurred by a sense of imperial mission. He wanted, if possible, to do his duty, that was all. But what exactly was his duty? That too was shadowed in doubt and mired in misgiving.”
Much the same could be said of the whole British Empire. Supposedly “acquired in a fit of absent-mindedness”, the empire remained shadowed in doubt and mired in misgiving until it evaporated. The British were not natural imperialists. To them, the idea of ‘empire’ usually conjured up absolutist regimes in continental Europe that were anathema to their own constitutional traditions. Anciently a colony of Rome and lately at war with Napoleon’s empire, Albion preferred ‘dominion’ to ‘empire’, long after empire had become a reality. There was no prior rationale, no imperial blueprint, no duty-defining text, and least of all for India.
Turning point A victorious Robert Clive with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757
Until the 1960s, India was not even considered a former colony. It had not been colonised nor was it ever the responsibility of the Colonial Office. It was run by the much bigger India Office. A trading company had spent over a century acquiring it, and not until 1874 was sovereignty transferred to the Queen-Empress. Queen of all Britain’s other territories, she was empress only of India. For the British, India was the empire—just as it was for the Mughals, the Guptas or the Mauryas. (And who is going to make reparations for them?)
Quite rightly, Tharoor rubbished the idea that de facto reparation had already been made in the shape of the world’s largest railway network, or that it is still being made in the form of government aid. The railways were not built to oblige Indians; nor were the roads and bridges. Their prime purpose was to shift troops, weaponry and merchandise, most notably raw cotton. Likewise, irrigation schemes were designed to increase production rather than mollify farmers. Even aid can hardly be seen as a form of payback, more as a sweetener for inward investment. Other sweeteners, like schools and hospitals, ought to have been an imperial priority but weren’t.
If the railways, irrigation, even modern aid are not entirely it, what else counts as a British contribution? The ICS, for one.
Tharoor didn’t mention this neglect, preferring to stress India’s losses in two world wars. Heavy as these were, and incurred without consulting Indian opinion, he might nevertheless have reminded his audience that in India, unlike in Britain, there was no conscription. Recruitment was voluntary, and some of the heaviest casualties were sustained in defence of India itself during the Burma campaigns. Tossing into the reparation scales the casualties suffered by the two million Indian combatants rather diminishes their sacrifice, while begging the question of what price non-Indian casualties in the same campaigns.
If British rule did anything for India, it is to be found not in the railways or the army but in the civil service. Tharoor correctly lambasted Clive and his 18th-century cronies for milking Bengal with one of the most corrupt administrations the world has ever known. He failed, however, to note that this state of affairs lasted only a couple of decades. Thanks to Hastings, Cornwallis and their successors, it was succeeded by what became one of the least corruptible and most cost-effective administrations ever devised. Universally admired in its day, the old ICS is still fondly remembered and not least by many of today’s Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.
Bound in iron The railways, an abiding legacy of the Raj, was built to serve empire
The other obvious bonus of British rule was the reconstitution of India itself. Without the imperial bullying, it is difficult to see how the late Mughal fragmentation of South Asia might have been reversed. The likeliest outcome would surely have been a return to the multi-state configuration that had characterised the subcontinent throughout most of history. This being the case, today’s British government might think it a bit rich for modern India to be demanding reparation for an intervention to which, arguably, it owes its existence.
In Nehru’s words, freedom, when it finally arrived, came not “wholly or in full measure but very substantially”. The price, the deficiency, was of course Partition. Herein lies a real and present injustice for which reparation may indeed be owing, not least because many of the victims still survive, while the ongoing rancour still skews progress throughout the region. But who was responsible for Partition? Not Clive or even Curzon, but certainly Mountbatten and the British government of Clement Atlee, and above all, Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Pandit Nehru. Perhaps Tharoor’s skills would be better deployed in addressing this digestive challenge rather than dishing up a rechauffage of rotten fish.
(John Keay is the author of India: A History, among other popular historical books on colonisation.)A record number of people have applied to join the French police force over the past year. Many new recruits say the recent attacks in Paris inspired them to sign up. It also seems that the shootings have made the country rethink its attitude towards the police.
A young recruit pushes away a woman charging at her with a club. The recruit draws her revolver. "Police! Don't move!" she yells.
Audrey is taking part in a self-defence class at the police training school in Sens, eastern France, having signed up after gunmen attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket at the start of 2015.
"Since the [Paris] terror attacks in January and November last year, the danger confronting us is clear," she says. "Any one of us can be a victim. Every one of us needs protection. And we all want to help somehow. That's why I'm here. To help make this country safer."
In March this year, a record 35,000 people sat the exam to join the police - 50% more than last year.
Only 8% of those who took the test passed - the same success level as for the entrance exam for the elite Science-Po political science school in Paris.
Image caption Recruits taking part in firearms training
"I was really shocked by the video from the Charlie Hebdo killings of the policeman who was on the ground, asking for mercy, who they shot in cold blood," says another recruit, Perez, when I ask him why he joined the police.
I think these young people are discovering a sense of duty and the desire to help their fellow human beings Jacques Richard, Director of police training college
"That made me want to defend our republic, defend our nation even more. In the morning we'll wake up and know that maybe today we'll risk our lives but we're more motivated than ever," he says.
The policeman Perez is talking about was called Ahmed Merabet, and the next recruit I talk to shares the same first name.
"I'm of Algerian origin," he says. "We had a lot of terrorism in Algeria when I was growing up. I remember the curfews when we went there on holiday. When the Bataclan happened in November I remembered Algeria, and in December I joined the police."
Three of the victims in the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks were police officers, and the live TV coverage of their colleagues storming the shop to save hostages led many to see them as heroes.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption French special forces storm the Hyper Cacher building in January 2015
Then, in November, the first man to confront the attackers inside the Bataclan concert hall in Paris was an off-duty police officer who happened to be passing. He entered the building and shot one of the gunmen dead with his service revolver. A few days later police stormed a flat in St Denis, just north of the city, killing the suspected ringleader.
"The terror attacks are a decisive factor for many in our new intake," says the director of the training college, Jacques Richard.
"I think these young people are discovering a sense of duty and the desire to help their fellow human beings.
"When something like this happens, people pull together. Everyone wants to make their own contribution. There's been a big increase in the number of people volunteering to give blood, for example. And more people have wanted to join the emergency services and the police. It's had a big influence on the way people think."
Image copyright EPA Image caption Policeman Ahmed Merabet was shot outside the Charlie Hebdo offices
The image of the police in France has changed significantly over the past 20 years. The 1995 film La Haine, a hit both at the box-office and with the critics, portrayed the police as sadistic and racist.
"It's an anti-police film," explained Mathieu Kassovitz, who won the best director prize for the movie at Cannes that year. When the cast climbed the famous festival steps, the police on duty there turned their backs in protest.
The police have had an extremely negative image in France for centuries, says historian Jean-Marc Berliere, who's written several books about them.
"Even in Louis XIV's time the people loathed the police," he says. "In the public imagination the police meant repression and the limitation of freedom."
Image copyright AFP Image caption Protestors clashed with police outside the Sorbonne in 1968
A defining moment was May 1968 when police and rioting students fought pitched battles around Paris's Sorbonne University. That revolutionary movement spread to workers bringing the French economy to a virtual standstill for two weeks. Violence erupted when President Charles de Gaulle tried to sort things out by sending in the police.
I couldn't believe it - here was a young, urban, intellectual crowd applauding the police Jean-Marc Berliere, Historian
But the media always had a soft-spot for the paving-stone-hurling students.
But four days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, something extraordinary happened. People filled the streets of Paris to show their sympathy for the the victims and demonstrate their support for the police. A video posted on YouTube captures the moment.
The crowd parts. There are women running - some of them laughing. "What's going on?" says the man filming with his smartphone. And then, police - in vans and on foot. Their black rubber shoulder protection giving them the kind of silhouettes usually associated with science fiction heroes. And the crowd starts to chant, "Merci, merci" - Thank you, thank you.
Image copyright Alamy Image caption Demonstrators applaud police officers escorting families and relatives of the victims
"I couldn't believe it," says Jean-Marc Berliere who was there. "Here was a young, urban, intellectual crowd applauding the police! I saw women giving them flowers. I saw people shaking their hands. I saw women kissing them. And you could see how moved the police were. It was so unexpected."
For Audrey, it made her realise that "this job is, in fact, fantastic".
Something like this had happened only once before, says Berliere, at the liberation of Paris in August 1944. The police were the first to rise up against the Germans before the Allies got there. "Afterwards, when they marched, the crowds shouted 'Vive les flics!' - Long live the cops!" he says.
It's not clear if the police's popularity will last, or if it will sag like a souffle in a police canteen.
A video of a police officer hitting a young black demonstrator at a recent demonstration against labour reforms has not helped their image. Neither has a book by renowned anthropologist Didier Fassin, La Force de l'Ordre (Security Forces). He was allowed to follow the police in one part of the Paris region from 2005 to 2007 and reports widespread brutality and racism.
But, for the time being at least, a significant part of the French population is seeing the police in a new way. As heroes.
Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.RecyclerView provides several optimisations over ListView. But it doesn’t provide an important component which ListView provides out-of-the-box. And that’s the ExpandableListView. Many of us still require such a kind of design where headers can be expanded/collapsed to show/hide child views. In this post, we will look at an idea of how to implement this functionality using RecyclerView.
If you are not familiar with RecyclerView, you can go through my previous blog posts here and here.
Let’s consider a list of employees who are categorised according to their designation. The designations and employees are shown using different view types. The designation view act as header and employee views act as children.
I have two Lists containing employees denoted by userList and their designations denoted by userTypeList respectively.
List usersList = usersData.getUsersList(); List userTypeList = usersData.getUserTypeList();
We have to change our Adapter class to handle the expand/collapse functionality. To keep track of the expand/collapse state I am using a SparseIntArray in the adapter where 0 represents collapsed state and 1 expanded state.
private SparseIntArray headerExpandTracker;
To keep track of the view type and its position in the respective Lists I am using a SparseArray of ViewType where ViewType holds the data index and type as shown below.
public class ViewType { private int dataIndex; private int type; public ViewType(int dataIndex, int type) { this.dataIndex = dataIndex; this.type = type; } public int getDataIndex() { return dataIndex; } public int getType() { return type; } }
Now we will change the getItemCount() method to get the number of items to display. Initially all the items will be in collapsed state. So only headers will be visible.
Here is the getItemCount():
@Override public int getItemCount() { int count = 0; if (userTypeList!= null && usersList!= null) { viewTypes.clear(); int collapsedCount = 0; for (int i = 0; i < userTypeList.size(); i++) { viewTypes.put(count, new ViewType(i, HEADER_TYPE)); count += 1; String userType = userTypeList.get(i); int childCount = getChildCount(userType); if (headerExpandTracker.get(i)!= 0) { // Expanded for (int j = 0; j < childCount; j++) { viewTypes.put(count, new ViewType(count - (i + 1) + collapsedCount, USER_TYPE)); count += 1; } } else { // Collapsed collapsedCount += childCount; } } } return count; }
In the code, I am looping through the userTypeList adding each of the header view type to the viewTypes SparseArray. Then we check whether the header is expanded or not using this code:
if (headerExpandTracker.get(i)!= 0) { // Expanded State } else { // Collapsed State }
If it is collapsed we are adding the count of the collapsed child views to the collapsedCount. The number of children for a given user type will be calculated and returned in the getChildCount method.
If it is expanded we are adding each child view type to the viewTypes array. Note this line:
viewTypes.put(count, new ViewType(count - (i + 1) + collapsedCount, USER_TYPE) );
Here the first parameter of the ViewType class represents the index of the data in the userList. We subtract the headers added from the count using (i + 1) and adding the count of any collapsed views before this user view, using collapsedCount.
Next in the getItemViewType() we return the correct view type based on the position.
@Override public int getItemViewType(int position) { if (viewTypes.get(position).getType() == HEADER_TYPE) { return HEADER_TYPE; } else { return USER_TYPE; } }
Then in the onCreateViewHolder(), based on the viewType the correct view is inflated and the ViewHolder is returned.
After that, based on the view type, onBindViewHolder binds the necessary data to the necessary view.
@Override public void onBindViewHolder(RecyclerView.ViewHolder holder, int position) { int itemViewType = getItemViewType(position); ViewType viewType = viewTypes.get(position); if (itemViewType == USER_TYPE) { bindUserViewHolder(holder, viewType); } else { bindHeaderViewHolder(holder, position, viewType); } }
private void bindHeaderViewHolder(RecyclerView.ViewHolder holder, int position, ViewType viewType) { int dataIndex = viewType.getDataIndex(); SectionHeaderViewHolder headerViewHolder = (SectionHeaderViewHolder) holder; headerViewHolder.sectionTitle.setText(userTypeList.get(dataIndex)); if (isExpanded(position)) { headerViewHolder.sectionTitle.setCompoundDrawablesWithIntrinsicBounds(null, null, headerViewHolder.arrowUp, null); } else { headerViewHolder.sectionTitle.setCompoundDrawablesWithIntrinsicBounds(null, null, headerViewHolder.arrowDown, null); } } private void bindUserViewHolder(RecyclerView.ViewHolder holder, ViewType viewType) { int dataIndex = viewType.getDataIndex(); ((UserViewHolder) holder).username.setText(usersList.get(dataIndex).getName()); Glide.with(holder.itemView).load(usersList.get(dataIndex).getImageUrl()).into(((UserViewHolder) holder).userAvatar); }
Note this int dataIndex = viewType.getDataIndex(); in the code above. Using this dataIndex we will get the correct data from userTypeList and userList respectively.
The expand/collapse action is triggered from the Header ViewHolder’s onClickListener. In the click listener, an interface function is called which is implemented by the Adapter. This function takes the adapter position as parameter.
@Override public void onHeaderClick(int position) { ViewType viewType = viewTypes.get(position); int dataIndex = viewType.getDataIndex(); String userType = userTypeList.get(dataIndex); int childCount = getChildCount(userType); if (headerExpandTracker.get(dataIndex) == 0) { // Collapsed. Now expand it headerExpandTracker.put(dataIndex, 1); notifyItemRangeInserted(position + 1, childCount); } else { // Expanded. Now collapse it headerExpandTracker.put(dataIndex, 0); notifyItemRangeRemoved(position + 1, childCount); } }
Here the headerExpandTracker is checked to see if header is expanded or collapsed. If collapsed, it has to be expanded. The headerExpandTracker value is changed and the adapter is notified about the insertion of the child views using notifyItemRangeInserted passing the position of the first child view and the total count. Similarly if it’s in expanded state, the headerExpandTracker |
Obama administration issued another memorandum that defined adoption milestones for the IPv6 network standard, including one to "Upgrade public/external facing servers and services" should "operationally use native IPv6 by the end of FY 2012."
That hasn't happened. While the government's adoption of IPv6 is outpacing the private sector, at an estimated 55 percent, data from the government's National Institute of Standards and Technology shows that federal agencies are far behind what Obama directed three years ago.
"I think there's reason for optimism about overall uptake and compliance," said Mill, when asked about the issue. "Last week, 18F, in collaboration with the Office of Government-wide Policy here at GSA (which runs the.gov registry, among other things) released a public dashboard called Pulse that monitors participation in the Digital Analytics Program, and HTTPS deployment."
"Pulse isn't a perfect status dashboard for the policy," said Mill. "For now, it only measures parent.gov domains and not subdomains, and the big percentage number for HTTPS measures use and not enforcement/HSTS.
When asked about the potential adoption curve, he was optimistic.
"While I don't work on IPv6, I think it's important to note that deploying IPv6 and HTTPS are very different, and the overall state of deployment in the world reflects that," said Mill.
"IPv6 requires tearing up infrastructure (and replacing actual hardware all over the world), and support for IPv6 isn't always present in support software and commercial services. HTTPS, on the other hand, has been around since the late-90s, and just about every bit of network hardware and software out there supports it. Properly configured, it Just works today, and that's a big part of why adoption has been seeing such uptake on the Web generally."LISTEN: Richard Sherman on being president, improving Legion of Boom Your browser does not support the audio element.
As one of John Clayton’s first orders of business as a host weekday host for 710 ESPN Seattle, he made his presidential choice clear: writing in Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.
And to mark the occasion, Sherman laid out his platform for the White House and, potentially more likely, as future president of the NFL Player’s Association.
“I would respectfully accept that nomination,” Sherman told Clayton. “I think I’d have a pretty ingenious plan for our economy to spark more jobs. I’d obviously lower my own tax bracket, but compared to the candidates we have, I’d do a great job. So would young Tyler Lockett. (He) would be a phenomenal candidate except, his age.”
Related: Richard Sherman says Seahawks’ Legion of Boom ‘hitting our prime’
Thus, the Sherman/Lockett ticket – with the slogan: “Make America the place you want to raise your kids” – for the “Independent par-tay” is born. But what about receiver Doug Baldwin?
“Baldwin has to be my Secretary of Defense,” Sherman said. “He’s an angry guy, I’d trust my country with Doug Baldwin.”
With most of his cabinet set, Sherman said he’d like to get America, first and foremost, out of debt.
“I’d get us out of this deficit,” he said. “I’d stop spending billions of taxpayer dollars on stadiums and probably get us out of debt and maybe make the billionaires who actually benefit from the stadiums pay for them. That kind of seems like a system that would work for me.”
And, as for president of the NFLPA, Sherman would like to make the rules more fair for defensive players.
“I’d make defensive players able to at least have the ability to go out there and play,” he said. “Instead of pass interference being a potential 999-yard play, it could only be 10 yards, just like offensive pass interference, which only seems fair.”World News Print This Israel prevented 17 sight-impaired Gazans from leaving for cornea transplant operations on time; a donation of dozens of corneas went down the drain By Physicians for Human Rights Press Release
At the beginning of the week Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-Israel) received an appeal from the Musallam Medical Center in Gaza. According to the appeal, a large group of 14 patients from Gaza, who were invited to Ramallah for cornea transplants from Sunday to Wednesday this week (January 3-5, 2010), did not reach their destination. Three other patients approached PHR-Israel separately. The group of patients includes some who were waiting weeks or even months for cornea transplants. The longest wait was 31-year-old S.A., who has been waiting for this operation for three years.
The main Musallam Medical Center in Ramallah this week received two deliveries from the US with dozens of corneas, donated by Tissue Bank International, an American organization that facilitates cornea and tissue transplants. Every year corneas are sent during Christmas break, during which such operations do not take place in the US, as a donation to the Palestinian health system, and dedicated especially to eye patients from Gaza.
The inquiry by the medical center in Ramallah raised the concern that the exit of the patients from Gaza was being prevented by the Israeli authorities, and accordingly PHR-Israel on Sunday made an urgent request to the DCO in Gaza, responsible for issuing exit permits to patients. In its appeal to the DCO, PHR warned that preventing the exit of the vision-impaired patients for eye operations this week will necessarily cause them to lose the opportunity for cornea transplants in the near future, if ever, because the corneas designated for the transplants have a very short expiration date.
Despite this request, the Israeli authorities prevented the exit of the 17 patients for the operation on time. Five patients were not given any answer; two patients were summoned to investigations by the General Security Service (GSS), scheduled for dates later than the cornea expiration dates; two requests were rejected; and eight requests were approved only after media intervention, but after the corneas had already expired.
This case, with its far-reaching consequences for the vision-impaired patients who now lost the opportunity to repair their eyesight, illustrates the many difficulties that face the residents of Gaza who need medical care that is not available in the Gaza Strip. The delays, apathy and rejection by the Israeli authorities, which every month curtail the access of dozens of patients to medical care, had particularly severe significance in this case, because prevention of these patients' exit from Gaza caused the loss of the corneas (which can be transplanted within no more than 48 hours from the moment of donation). Now the patients will have to wait for another cornea donation, at an unknown time and likelihood.
Therefore, PHR-Israel strongly protests the blatant disregard of the Erez checkpoint authorities for the medical urgency of allowing the exit of patients for cornea transplant operations.
For more information, please contact Ran Yaron at ranyaron@phr.org.il or +972-54-7577696
Physicians for Human Rights- Israel
The Israeli authorities at Erez checkpoint this week prevented the exit of 17 sight-impaired patients, suffering from various eye diseases, from the Gaza Strip in order to undergo cornea transplants, a treatment that is not available in the Gaza health system. Because of this delay, the medical window of opportunity to perform the transplants for these patients was closed, because corneas can be transplanted only within the shortest time frame (24-48 hours after they are extracted from the donor's body). The patients from Gaza whose exit was prevented will therefore have to wait for another donation, which may or may not happen.At the beginning of the week Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHR-Israel) received an appeal from the Musallam Medical Center in Gaza. According to the appeal, a large group of 14 patients from Gaza, who were invited to Ramallah for cornea transplants from Sunday to Wednesday this week (January 3-5, 2010), did not reach their destination. Three other patients approached PHR-Israel separately. The group of patients includes some who were waiting weeks or even months for cornea transplants. The longest wait was 31-year-old S.A., who has been waiting for this operation for three years.The main Musallam Medical Center in Ramallah this week received two deliveries from the US with dozens of corneas, donated by Tissue Bank International, an American organization that facilitates cornea and tissue transplants. Every year corneas are sent during Christmas break, during which such operations do not take place in the US, as a donation to the Palestinian health system, and dedicated especially to eye patients from Gaza.The inquiry by the medical center in Ramallah raised the concern that the exit of the patients from Gaza was being prevented by the Israeli authorities, and accordingly PHR-Israel on Sunday made an urgent request to the DCO in Gaza, responsible for issuing exit permits to patients. In its appeal to the DCO, PHR warned that preventing the exit of the vision-impaired patients for eye operations this week will necessarily cause them to lose the opportunity for cornea transplants in the near future, if ever, because the corneas designated for the transplants have a very short expiration date.Despite this request, the Israeli authorities prevented the exit of the 17 patients for the operation on time. Five patients were not given any answer; two patients were summoned to investigations by the General Security Service (GSS), scheduled for dates later than the cornea expiration dates; two requests were rejected; and eight requests were approved only after media intervention, but after the corneas had already expired.This case, with its far-reaching consequences for the vision-impaired patients who now lost the opportunity to repair their eyesight, illustrates the many difficulties that face the residents of Gaza who need medical care that is not available in the Gaza Strip. The delays, apathy and rejection by the Israeli authorities, which every month curtail the access of dozens of patients to medical care, had particularly severe significance in this case, because prevention of these patients' exit from Gaza caused the loss of the corneas (which can be transplanted within no more than 48 hours from the moment of donation). Now the patients will have to wait for another cornea donation, at an unknown time and likelihood.Therefore, PHR-Israel strongly protests the blatant disregard of the Erez checkpoint authorities for the medical urgency of allowing the exit of patients for cornea transplant operations.For more information, please contact Ran Yaron at ranyaron@phr.org.il or +972-54-7577696 Print This Make a Donation! Donate here If you appreciated this article, please consider making a donation to Axis of Logic. We do not use commercial advertising or corporate funding. We depend solely upon you, the reader, to continue providing quality news and opinion on world affairs.
---Image caption The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company spent $1.06bn (£663m) on some of BP's North Sea assets in November 2012
A new oil field has been discovered in the northern North Sea by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA).
The company said two columns of oil have been found since drilling began in November at the Darwin field, about 80 miles north-east of Shetland.
Leo Koot, managing director of TAQA's UK oil and gas business, said: "This discovery proves that the North Sea still has great potential."
TAQA recently agreed to buy some BP's North Sea assets for $1.06bn (£663m).
Further tests on both discoveries will now take place.
The Darwin field is a joint venture between TAQA and Fairfield Energy.
The chief executive officer of Fairfield, Chris Wright, said: "We are delighted with the excellent results from the Darwin drilling programme, which has seen one potentially significant discovery and confirmation of the areal extent of a previous discovery.
"The presence of two rigs concurrently on the location demonstrates the operational excellence and commitment of both Fairfield and TAQA, towards expediting exploration and appraisal of this important area.
"Furthermore, it demonstrates our team's strong technical ability and, with our supportive investors augurs well for further successes as we continue to grow in the months and years ahead."If u really r annoyed by the vocabulary of the text generation, then a new exhibition at the British Library should calm you down. It turns out they were doing it in the 19th century – only then they called it emblematic poetry, and it was considered terribly clever.
Details were announced today of the library's new exhibition devoted to the English language, exploring its 1,500-year history from Anglo-Saxon runes and early dictionaries to not dropping your Hs and rap.
The exhibition will open this winter after three years of planning.
One of the stars of the show will be the oldest surviving copy of Beowulf, the longest epic poem in Old English, which was written down at least 1000 years ago. There will also be the first book ever printed in English, which, reassuringly perhaps, has inconsistent spelling. The French are both "frensshe" and "frenshe" in Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, published by William Caxton in Flanders around 1473.
Roger Walshe, the British Library's head of learning, said it had been "a hugely ambitious project for us, but a hugely enjoyable one as well". He added: "There is always interest in language and there are always debates about whether language is changing or declining or improving and also what is influencing language. We felt we were uniquely placed to be able to give a historical perspective to that debate."
The show will demonstrate how quickly language can change (does anyone today give a second thought to asking for a latte?), and how the same debates and fears crop up time and again. For example, one of the exhibits will be Jonathan Swift's Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue, from 1712, in which he angrily suggests that English is in chaos and a state-sanctioned group of experts is needed to "fix" it for ever.
That such a thing has never happened – unlike the Académie Française, for example – has made the English language unusually open to change.
A good chunk of the exhibition will look at how repeated attempts have been made to improve the way we speak English. The well-intentioned Victorian pamphlet Poor Letter H advised its mostly lower middle class readers that if they really want to get on in life, they should be saying house, not 'ouse, and head, not 'ead.
But the book also says the H should remain silent in words such as hospital and herb. Jonnie Robinson, the British Library's curator of sociolinguistics, said these words are only pronounced as they are now because of the mania for not dropping the H. "Our middle class anxieties of the 19th century have inserted an H because you got clipped round the ear if you dropped one."
Then there is the way we were meant to speak 50 years ago – the dreaded received pronunciation that first emerged from posh Victorian boarding schools and was adopted by the BBC, even though at its peak only 2% of the British population ever spoke in such a clipped, Celia Johnson way.
One exhibit will be a BBC pronunciation guide from 1928, in which broadcasters are told to pronounce combat as cumbat and housewifery as huzzifry.
There will be examples of the linguistic games people played, and a poem from Gleanings From the Harvest-Fields of Literature, published in 1867. In it, 130 years before the arrival of mobile phone texting, Charles C Bombaugh uses phrases such as "I wrote 2 U B 4". Another verse reads: "He says he loves U 2 X S,/ U R virtuous and Y's,/ In X L N C U X L/ All others in his i's."
The show will have listening stations where visitors can hear how regional accents have changed over the years, or hear the "remarkibold" nonsense of Stanley Unwin.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to contribute their own voice to the British Library's vast sound archive and can choose to read a book extract. Quite what future generations will think of thousands, perhaps millions, of people in the years 2010 and 2011 reading an excerpt from Mr Tickle, from the Mr Men, is another question, but it suits the library's purposes.
The exhibition will also feature, on loan from the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Robert Cawdrey's 1604 A Table Alphabeticall. The volume is considered the first English dictionary in the modern sense – an alphabetical wordlist with definitions – and it predates Dr Samuel Johnson's Dictionary by 150 years.
English in one form or another is now spoken by 1.8 billion people worldwide, and has had a successful history apart from the 300 years when the Normans were in charge, bringing in their French as the language of nobles and government. Also going on display will be the first evidence of an English king using English, in the form of a letter written by Henry V around 1419, in which he discusses the political situation in the north of England.
• Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices will be at the British Library from 12 November 2010 until 3 April 2011From Vancouver magazine, July/August 2012
On Passage Island, a remote community just off West Van’s Lighthouse Park, two city refugees finally find home
It was 1968 and Phil Matty was heartbroken. He’d recently buried his mother, a shooting buddy, and his best friend. His marriage (26 years, a couple of sons) was at an end. Aching to leave the city and its ghosts behind, he scraped together enough money to buy, of all things, Passage Island – 32 inhospitable acres rising from the Strait of Georgia like a hyphen between Lighthouse Park and Bowen Island. A realtor and developer, he sub-divided the land into 61 lots, confident that he could recoup his investment by attracting urban refugees like himself. In Guadalajara, he’d seen an unusual Félix Candela house design called The Saddle, and he set to constructing his own version, from the concrete roof’s convex and concave curves on down. It would challenge any novice homebuilder, but with the West Coast damp, on an island so remote that materials, equipment, and workers all had to be barged over, it was doubly arduous. Still, he made the refuge habitable within a year – 1,000 square feet as idiosyncratic and purposeful as its owner.
Matty remarried, and with bride Julie moved into an edenic new life. They had two sons together who grew up a couple of Huck Finns, rigging rope swings in trees, swimming off rocks, chopping firewood, catching fish from the front yard. “It was a fantastic place to grow up,” Kim, the elder boy, says. “I loved being so connected to nature.”
Isolated as it was, Passage was growing too. As more owners joined the Mattys, they were asked to follow “the covenants,” an informal set of bylaws discussed and enforced a few times a year over potluck dinners. Passage is only a 10-minute walk from end to end, with a central trail accessing the mainly waterfront plots, but that was distance enough for neighbourhoods to develop: the south end, where the Mattys settled, was home to more established residents; the north end, newer residents and weekenders. Because the seas were so rough docking was impossible; islanders bolted gangways to the bedrock, sunk concrete weights offshore to moor buoys, and bought dinghies to reach their boats.
Yet gentrification still ensued – wealthy snowbirds purchased lots and built massive summer homes – and with it, appreciation. A lot worth $6,200 in 1969 is now valued at $250,000; add a luxury house, and the price triples. Property tax is cheap, under $600 a year in most cases, but insurance is sky-high. The fear of fire is constant. A carelessly butted cigarette could decimate the island. Recycled fire hoses, buckets, cisterns of water, and calls to the Pacific arm of the Canadian Auxiliary or Coast Guard are all options, but by the time the water was pumped up from the ocean of help arrived, it would likely be too late.
In 1979, an architect from the city bought a third of an acre at the north end. He couldn’t settle on a design for a home, so every summer the family would arrive in a boat laden with supplies, offload, and pitch a tent and set up an outdoor kitchen. It was bliss, daughter Philine Scholz recalls, the happiest time of her life. The days – with their profound connection to the weather, the land, the wildlife – were simple. Mornings she’d meet up with a gaggle of Passage Island boys on an expanse of rocky flats and tidal pools perfect for sun bathing and inner tubing and swimming. “We would just play forever, from dawn to dusk.”
As Philine grew older, her father hoped Passage could be a safe idyll, far from the dangers and temptations of the city. Summers he still dropped her off with camping gear and supplies, and she and a girlfriend would hang out with the Passage boys, unsupervised, for a week at a time. Every year brought a new crush. “But I was such a scrawny, late-blooming, awkward girl. The boys were like, ‘Philine, bring a friend out!’”
Utopias, it seems, never last. After high school, both Kim and Philine left Passage Island in pursuit of the world. “Once I started wanting to party with my friends, the logistics of getting back and forth at 2 in the morning were ridiculous,” Kim says. At 17 he tried an apartment in North Vancouver. Within months, the north-facing gloom and his Nintendo-playing, TV-watching lifestyle so depressed him that he bought a boat instead, and for a decade he lived aboard it in Coal Harbour. For her part, Philine spent years on the road, moved to Texas with a boyfriend, and later returned to B.C. to go back to school. By 1997 she’d landed in Kamloops, where she worked at a local hotel. One day, while chatting with a guest, Passage Island came up. As it turned out, the woman not only knew Kim, she knew he had just gotten married. Philine, surprised by pangs of jealously, wondered how life might have turned out had the two kids stayed.
_____
Kim found himself reliving his father’s life. In 2000, his parents died, and with a divorce of his own to navigate, he too was heartbroken and in need of a change. His thoughts turned to Passage, and by 2003 he managed to scrape together the money to buy his childhood home back from the family estate. The house had fallen into disrepair, but its bones were solid. Perched over the ocean, close enough to be hit with spray, it had been carved right out of the bedrock – its rear wall is literally stone.
Family members and island neighbours showed up with buckets and cleaning supplies, and started scrubbing out the cobwebs – a perfect expression of island life: Passage is no tourist destination; there’s no public land, and no place to dock, anyway. The lines between neighbour and family blur: it’s the kind of place where you can trade firewood for jam. When Kim’s boat broke down one morning, three offers to help came in before lunch.
The isolation means islanders are off the grid in almost every capacity. Responsibility for all the services a city normally delivers fall to individuals, who must monitor their water and power. Water for washing and plumbing is gathered off the roof into cisterns, then filtered by small pumps. Power comes from solar panels, wind generators, and battery banks. Fridges, stoves, space heathers, and hot-water heaters are all powered by propane delivered by barge and stored in large tanks outside. Yet for all its seclusion, Kim created a surprisingly cozy retreat with all the features (TV, cellphones, internet, indoor plumbing) of urban life. A bank of 14-foot windows faces West Vancouver’s Lighthouse Park and the city lights beyond. There are a couple of bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a large living space. Outside, a two-level deck accommodates piles of wood ready for the fire, various handyman projects, a backup boat and crane, cornflower-blue Adirondack chairs, and a saltwater hot tub.
The same year, Philine, too, found herself reliving the past. Eager to flee city life, and to heal the wounds of a broken relationship, she returned to her parents’ empty plot on Passage. Up on the bluffs, now with a four-year-old daughter in tow, she waved to Kim out a sea below. They hadn’t seen each other in over a decade, but their friendship revived instantly and in no time, she was making the trek to visit Passage, and Kim every weekend.
Until on fateful afternoon two years later. Through sheets of unforgiving rain, Kim watched Philine struggle to pitch her tent on a wedge of brush-covered bedrock. Douglas firs leaned dangerously in the wind; waves battered the rocks far below. Her daughter, wet and miserable, waited nearby. Finally, Kim did what any islander might do: he invited them to stay at this place. Before Philine could answer, the child, now six, was charging through the forest to the other end of the island, where a cozy fire and warm, dry bed waited. Like her mother before her, she could run the route blindfolded.
Romance ignited. “There was something very attractive in his confidence,” says Philine – the way Kim would monitor the power for the house, chop wood, or make boat repairs. She remembers a moment on the beach when he smiled at her and she realized that not only had the boy she knew turned into a man, she was drawn to him. “Once, he put his arm around me and said, ‘I’m going to take care of you.’ I know it sounds like a cliché, but those words had never been said to me before.” Even Kim, newly divorced, was surprised by the force of his emotions. “I fell in love with Philine right away. I could finally let myself fall.”
A few months later, mother and daughter moved in with Kim permanently. After so many years apart, they discovered they shared a life philosophy. “We both have very strong family values,” says Philine, “we both want children, and we both have a passion for Passage Island, which makes the relationship that much stronger.”
_____
On the island everything takes longer, and everything takes extra effort. Weekdays, the three leave at 7:15 in their 18-foot hard-top Hurston and boat over to Thunderbird Marina in West Vancouver (anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the weather). Until a few years ago, Philine worked at a credit union. After snagging yet another pair of nylons on the Velcro of her survival suit (without one, she got pneumonia her first winter), she started tossing her office clothes, shoes, and makeup in a plastic bin in the back of the boat. At Thunderbird, she would choose her wardrobe, and run to the marina bathroom to get dressed and do her hair and makeup. Now Philine works in a less formal environment, so mornings Kim drops her off at Horseshoe Bay then continues on to drop their daughter off at school then to his job in the dairy at a Safeway.
Five years after moving to Passage, Philine Scholz married Kim Matty. The ceremony took place on her parents’ plot, that wedge of bedrock where she’d tried to pitch her tent in the rain all those years ago. Amongst red cedar, Douglas fir, and shoreline pine, they committed their lives to each other and to raising Philine’s daughter in this place apart. Friends and family arrived, camped, slept on floors. The celebration lasted into the wee hours, then the next day, and the day after that.
Philine calls Kim the Superman of the island, although he grumbles when she says it. He’s devoted to Passage, and his history makes him the lynchpin of the community. Island kids call him Uncle Kim; he’s involved in every aspect of life there. He scuba-dives to check on neighbours’ moorings, heads up communal builds, and fights the war against ivy introduced by a visitor 10 years ago. No one knows the island better.
Philine organizes Easter egg hunts, wienie roasts, and crafts. She does whatever is needed, from helping with a cement pour to nurturing new growth in the forest. She revels in the close connection to nature that Passage inspires and encourages other young families to build a life on the island. “You can disconnect from city living, and just get to know yourself,” she says. “You value different things. We spend a lot of time together as a family.”
Kim and Philine always wanted a child of their own, and for years they tried to conceive. Philine’s daughter desperately wanted a sibling too, and when she was seven she decided to do something about it. She had heard about adoptions and that they cost money, so she started saving for a baby. The $500 sitting in her account six years later may have to be spent on something else, though, because Kim and Philine have become pregnant. A third-generation Matty knows tides and waves in its very bones: maybe that’s why the baby is due in July, when the weather is best.
Photo by Ian Azariah
AdvertisementsThe mass deaths are difficult to quantify because wild bats are almost impossible to count, but to scientists monitoring hibernation sites, serious declines are as undeniable as they are unprecedented. Population counts at two dozen small winter colonies in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont show they have plummeted from 48,626 bats to 2,695 -- an average 94.5 percent decline -- since the outbreak began.
The little brown bat, historically among the most common of North American bats, has been the hardest hit of the six species known to be afflicted with the baffling illness. The others are: the big brown bat, the Eastern small-footed bat, the Northern long-eared bat, the tri-colored bat (formerly known as the Eastern pipistrelle), and the Indiana bat.
“We’re at the vanguard of an environmental catastrophe,” says Tim King, a conservation geneticist with the US Geological Survey in West Virginia. “There’s very little definitive information available at this point. Everybody’s just scrambling, with very limited resources, to do whatever they can to help -- help stop this.”
At least 1 million bats in the past three years have been wiped out by a puzzling, widespread disease dubbed “white-nose syndrome” in what preeminent US scientists are calling the most precipitous decline of North American wildlife in human history. If it isn’t slowed or stopped, they believe bats will continue disappearing from the landscape in huge numbers and that entire species could become extinct within a decade. It’s enough to make some wonder: Is the bat in the cave the new canary in the coal mine?
It’s late August, when bats are in their swarming phase, and the 71-year-old Kunz and two fellow biologists have trekked, at night, in hard rain, with heavy gear, 2,520 feet up the rugged Taconic Mountains to Aeolus -- the largest bat hibernaculum in the Northeast -- to bleed live bats and collect samples for researchers leading the hunt for clues into the cause of mysterious bat deaths like these.
“What we saw was bat soup. There were a lot of bones of wings and skulls and emulsified bodies,” Kunz says. “There were dead bats -- decomposing bats -- hanging from the walls of the cave.
The renowned bat biologist from Boston University, who bears a passing resemblance to Harrison Ford, minutes earlier had recovered the bands while trudging, like a real-life Indiana Jones, through a slippery mud-like ooze of rotting bat carcasses, liquefied internal organs, toothpick-sized bones, piles of guano, and a strange white fungus on the cave floor.
Thomas Kunz emerges from Aeolus cave in East Dorset, Vermont, with a half-dozen metal ID bands -- smaller than SpaghettiOs -- cupped in the palm of his latex-gloved hand. They’re tiny emblems of death, having once been affixed to the forearms of little brown bats.
Initial white-nose studies have produced two consistent findings: The fungus has been found on bats at every site where mass deaths have occurred, and most of the dead bats are emaciated. But the link between them has evaded scientists. The leading hypothesis -- Kunz shorthands it as “itch and scratch” -- is that the fungus irritates the bats’ skin, arousing them more frequently than normal in hibernation to groom it off. Those actions, the thinking goes, squander their fat reserves until, ultimately, they starve to death.
The hallmark of the syndrome is a skin infection that creates holes in and scarring of the bats’ wing membranes, causing them to lose elasticity. “It’s challenging to think of why an animal might die of a skin infection. Isn’t that just like getting athlete’s foot?” says David Blehert, director of diagnostic microbiology at the National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin and lead author of the report that identified the fungus. But you can’t really liken it to that, he explains, because this infection “actively invades living skin cells.”
Researchers strongly suspect but have not proved that the sickness is caused by a newly identified cold-thriving soil fungus aptly named Geomyces destructans. (Some believe the fungus is a secondary infection that grows on bats with already weakened immune systems.) Nor have they unraveled the enigma of a perplexing chain of events that leads from an apparent fungal infection to erratic bat behavior to death by what appears to be starvation.
White-nose syndrome gets its name from the white fungus that looks like confectioners’ sugar found around the noses -- as well as on the ears, wings, and other exposed skin -- of many infected bats, though not all show signs of the disease.
In addition to Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont, the plague-like condition has been confirmed in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and, earlier this year, Virginia and West Virginia. It appears headed toward caves and mines in Kentucky and Tennessee, and possibly North Carolina and Ohio. (There have been no confirmed cases in Ontario or Quebec.) For Kunz and his colleagues, this winter will be telling.
Since white-nose was detected in February 2006 by a caver photographing a private section of Howe Caverns near Albany, New York -- considered the disease epicenter -- its spread, from New England to South Atlantic states, has been terrifyingly swift. Infected hibernation sites were discovered the second winter less than 20 miles from Howe; the next, about 120 miles; and by last winter, more than 650 miles.
Scientists are alarmed that white-nose syndrome, unlike many wildlife diseases, is a multi-species killer, infecting nearly every cave-dwelling bat species in states where it has struck. It attacks the bats as they hibernate in caves and mines, typically from mid-October to mid-April.
“If it continues at this pace,” says New York bat specialist Alan Hicks, “in a few years we won’t have any [of these] bats.”
The animals, which are nocturnal, are exhibiting other aberrant behaviors, such as clustering near cave entrances where it’s coldest, perhaps an attempt to lower body temperatures further to conserve energy, and flying around outside in winter, in daylight, possibly in a desperate search for food.
Because Geomyces destructans grows in chilly cave-like temperatures, optimally 41 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit, bat biologists originally thought the die-offs might end when surviving bats fled the hibernacula. But they kept on dying into May and June. “Even those bats that might make it through the winter may have sufficient wing damage that they’ve lost maneuverability and they can’t catch food very effectively,” says DeeAnn Reeder, a bat researcher at Bucknell University. “So, there’s all of these things that are happening to them, and we haven’t connected those dots.”
Heightening concerns further, female bats give birth just once a year to a single pup or twins. “They are not going to be able to rebound from this very quickly, if at all,” says Vermont Fish and Wildlife biologist Scott Darling.
Scientists are not certain how white-nose syndrome is spread but say its rapid dispersal suggests bats -- which can migrate 200 miles between summer roosts, where they intermingle, and hibernation sites -- are most likely transmitting the disease to one another. Increasingly, however, there are suspicions that humans who explore caves and mines may play a role in the spread by unwittingly carrying fungal spores, which attach to their clothing and equipment, from infected sites to clean ones. As a precaution, the US Forest Service last spring closed approximately 2,000 caves and mines in 33 states in its Eastern and Southern regions for up to one year. The action followed a US Fish and Wildlife Service request that the public observe a caving moratorium in 17 states. Since then, cave owners and managers have closed dozens more.
Of the six species of bats affected so far, only one -- the Indiana bat -- is on the federal endangered list. If white-nose syndrome continues its anticipated blitzkrieg deeper South and into the Midwest, three more species on that list are likely to be imperiled: the gray bat, the Virginia big-eared bat, and the Ozark big-eared bat. Yet even fears that some species could vanish entirely are being overshadowed by the enormity of ordinary bats, like little browns, dying by the tens of thousands. No one can predict the ecological fallout from
1 million dead bats -- some say the actual figure might be double that -- but whenever something is taken out of the ecosystem in large numbers, there are obvious concerns.The coffee genome has finally been sequenced, and it’s revealing some insights into how one of the world’s favorite drinks got its buzz. Compared with other plant genomes such as grape’s, the coffee genome has expanded the family of genes that include those that code for enzymes involved in caffeine production, researchers report online today in Science. There are 23 new genes found only in coffee, the group finds. These genes are different from the caffeine-related genes in chocolate, indicating that the ability to produce caffeine evolved at least twice. This isn’t just the first published coffee genome; it’s also the first in its 11,000 or so species family, which includes milkweeds, periwinkles, and the species that supplies quinine. Although the genomes of many groups have undergone duplications thought to make possible their diversification into different shapes and sizes, the researchers found no such expansion in the coffee group. Instead they suggest that the duplication of individual genes, including the caffeine ones, spurred innovations. |
is true after C, the triple proves partial correctness for P and Q. That is, it proves some property asserted by P and Q about C.
A simple example using C with the assertions in comments:
// { x == n } x = x + 1 ; // { x == n + 1 }
Here the triple {P} C {Q} asserts that if x is equal to some n before x = x + 1 then x will be equal to n + 1 afterward.
In addition to this basic structure it's possible to define axioms for common programming constructs like assignment, branching, while loops, and for loops that allow for more general reasoning and manipulation of assertions. For assignment it takes the form {P[E/V]} V=E {P}. That is, substituting E for V in P before the assignment should hold and P should hold afterward [3].
// P[E/V] x = x + 1 ; // P
Borrowing Q from the earlier example here, P is x == n + 1. Substituting x + 1 for x in P gives x + 1 == n + 1, or x == n, for the precondition.
// The result of substituting `x + 1` for `x` in `x == n + 1`: // { x == n } x = x + 1 ; // { x == n + 1 }
With the help of this and other axioms, established for each programming environment, Hoare logic allows the wielder to write specifications for programs. For most domains (especially those that my usual reader works in) the approach might be heavy handed, but there are many domains where this type of specification is necessary. In particular it's often important to specify the behavior of a program with regards to memory.
Separation Logic
Separation logic is an extension to Hoare logic that provides tools for specifying memory use and safety with new assertions for how a program will interact with the heap and stack [4].
The four assertions that Separation logic adds for describing the heap are:
emp - for the empty heap. It asserts that the heap is empty, and it can be used to extend assertions about programs that don't interact with the heap.
- for the empty heap. It asserts that the heap is empty, and it can be used to extend assertions about programs that don't interact with the heap. x |-> n - for the singleton heap. It asserts that there is a heap that contains one cell at address x with contents n.
- for the singleton heap. It asserts that there is a heap that contains one cell at address with contents. P * Q - as a replacement for ∧ with disjoint heaps. It asserts that, if there is a heap where P holds and a separate (disjoint) heap where Q holds, both P and Q hold in the conjunction of those two heaps.
- as a replacement for with disjoint heaps. It asserts that, if there is a heap where holds and a separate (disjoint) heap where holds, both and hold in the conjunction of those two heaps. P -* Q - as a replacement for implication, =>. It asserts that if there is a heap in which P holds then Q will hold in the current heap extended by the heap in which P holds. An important point of clarity: P -* Q holds for the current heap and not the current heap extended by the heap in which P holds.
There are also some shortcuts for common heap states that are built on top of these four assertions:
x |-> n, o, p is equivalent to x |-> n * x + 1 |-> o * x + 2 |-> p. That is, x points to a series of memory cells that can be accessed by using x and pointer arithmetic.
is equivalent to. That is, points to a series of memory cells that can be accessed by using and pointer arithmetic. x -> n is a basic pointer assertion. It is equivalent to x |-> n * true, that suggests there is a heap where n is the value at *x which is a part of a larger heap about which we can't make any assertions.
Again we'll turn to C to demonstrate how these assertions fit with common programs [5].
// { emp } int * ptr = malloc ( sizeof ( int )); * ptr = 5 ; // { ptr |-> 5 }
The first assertions states that the heap is empty ( emp ). After the malloc call and assignment there exists a singleton heap with a single cell containing the value 5 that is pointed to by ptr.
// { emp } int * ptr = malloc ( sizeof ( int )); * ptr = 5 ; // { ptr |-> 5 } int * ptr2 = malloc ( sizeof ( int )); * ptr2 = 5 ; // { (ptr |-> 5) * (ptr2 |-> 5) }
Adding ptr2 means the addition of another singleton heap and the connective *. It's possible to write this as { (ptr -> 5) ∧ (ptr2 -> 5) }, but this assertion provides no information about how the heap is arranged. It simply says that there are two pointers to the value 5 somewhere in a heap. They might be pointing to the same memory location. By using the singleton heap pointer |-> and the connective *, the new assertion makes clear that the two pointers are not pointing to the same memory location.
// { emp } int * arry = calloc ( 3, sizeof ( int )); * arry = 1 ; * ( arry + 1 ) = 2 ; * ( arry + 2 ) = 3 ; // { arry |-> 1,2,3 }
Here the comma separated list of values following the singleton pointer in { arry |-> 1,2,3 } denotes contiguous memory. It's simply a shorthand notation for the pointer arithmetic.
// { arry |-> 1 * (arry + 1) |-> 2 * (arry + 2) |-> 3 }
It's worth noting that separating implication, P -* Q doesn't appear to have any particularly useful or clear concrete examples. This seems to be the consequence of its relationship to logical implication in that the whole assertion is only false when Q is false. Borrowing from Reynolds [6], something like { x |-> 1 -* Q } for some assertion Q can be extended with the separating implication to show:
// { x |-> 0 * (x |-> 1 -* Q) } * x = 1 ; // { Q }
The precondition here says that there are two disjoint heaps. One in which x |-> 0 holds and one in which (x |-> 1 -* Q) holds. The implication on the right is, if second heap was extended so that x was pointing to 1, Q would hold. After the assignment *x is no longer 0 but rather the second heap has been extended so that *x is 1 and as a result Q holds [7].
Rust Ownership
Rust provides two new type modifiers for dealing with pointers and memory management. Both have very specific semantics that are checked at compile time to help prevent memory leaks.
~ - provides a lexically scoped allocation on the heap. That is, when the newly assigned pointer variable goes out of scope the memory is freed.
- provides a lexically scoped allocation on the heap. That is, when the newly assigned pointer variable goes out of scope the memory is freed. @ - provides a garbage collected allocation on the heap. In Rust each task has its own garbage collector responsible for handling this type of heap allocation.
A few simple examples borrowed in part from Rust's tutorials will illustrate when the memory for each of these type modifiers is freed.
fn main () { { let a = ~ 0 ; } // a is out of scope and *a is freed }
With the tilde, the memory at *a on the heap is freed when the variable to which it is assigned goes out of scope. Since a is declared inside an explicit block it goes out of scope at the end of the block and the associated memory is freed.
fn main () { let a ; { let b = ~ 1 ; // move ownership of *b to a a = b ; io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * b )); // error: use of moved value: `b` io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * a )); // => 1 } } // *a is destroyed here
When the ownership of memory is transferred between variables the compiler prevents further reference to the original owner. In this example a is the new owner and the compiler will prevent any further reference to b. This concept of single ownership is the reason that the memory can be deallocated safely when the current owner goes out of scope.
Alternately, the @ type modifier can be used to request that the run-time manage the allocated memory on a per-task basis. This presents some interesting issues when creating pointers to memory allocated as part of a record.
struct X { f : int, g : int } fn main () { let mut x = @ X { f : 0, g : 1 }; let y = & x. f ; x = @ X { f : 2, g : 3 }; // original *x is now subject to gc io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * x )); // => {f: 2, g: 3} io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * y )); // => 0 }
Note that x is declared as a mutable variable (Rust's default is immutability). When a pointer is made to the field f with &x.f and then x is reassigned, the memory at *x would be subject to garbage collection. Luckily Rust does a bit of work for you and inserts a lexically scoped reference to the original record to prevent deallocation by the garbage collector.
struct X { f : int, g : int } fn main () { let mut x = @ X { f : 0, g : 1 }; let x1 = x ; let y = & x. f ; x = @ X { f : 2, g : 3 }; io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * x )); // => {f: 2, g: 3} io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * y )); // => 0 }
You might also wonder how Rust handles references to lexically scoped record fields. In this case the compiler raises an error and (rather nicely) highlights the discrepancy in scoping expectations.
struct X { f : int, g : int } fn main () { let a ; { let mut b = ~ X { f : 1, g : 2 }; // move ownership of *b to a a = & b. f ; } // error: illegal borrow: borrowed value does not live long enough io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * a )); }
Here, a is assigned the memory location of the field f of b, but the scope of a is larger than the scope of b which means that *b will be freed long before *a.
Formalizing Ownership
Rust's memory management facilities exist mostly at compile time to prevent users from shooting themselves in the foot, but it's still worth applying Separation logic to get a feel for what's happening to the heap.
fn main () { // { emp } { // { emp } let a = ~ 0 ; // { a |-> 0 } let b = ~ 1 ; // { a |-> 0 * b |-> 1 } } // { emp } }
Both a and b are scoped to the explicit block and exist in disjoint parts of the heap. When they go out of scope the memory associated with both is deallocated leaving an empty heap.
fn main () { let a ; // { emp } { // { emp } let b = ~ 1 ; // { b |-> 1 } let a = b ; // { a -> 1 ∧ b -> 1 } } // { a |-> 1 } }
In this case if there was a reference to b after the ownership of *b was transferred to a the compiler would complain. Since there is no reference we assume that b is pointing to the same location until the pointer is removed at the close of the explicit block.
struct X { f : int, g : int } fn main () { // { emp } let mut x = @ X { f : 0, g : 1 }; // { x |-> 0, 1 } let x1 = x ; // { x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ x -> 0, 1 } let y = & x1. f ; // { x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ x -> 0, 1 ∧ y -> 0 } x = @ X { f : 2, g : 3 }; // { (x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ y -> 0) * x |-> 2, 3 } io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * x )); // => {f: 2, g: 3} io :: println ( fmt! ( "%?", * y )); // => 0 } // { emp }
Here we've re-purposed the managed memory example from earlier with the explicit addition of the reference that would otherwise be inserted by Rust to prevent GC, x1. Let's examine each expression and the associated assertions in turn.
// { emp } let mut x = @ X { f : 0, g : 1 }; // { x |-> 0, 1 }
As before the allocation of managed memory creates a singleton heap pointer to the memory containing the record values [8].
// { x |-> 0, 1 } let x1 = x ; // { x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ x -> 0, 1 }
Adding an additional reference to that same memory means that we have two pointers to the same memory. As a result we cannot use the * connective or the the singleton heap pointer |-> to represent the heap.
// { x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ x -> 0, 1 } let y = & x1. f ; // { x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ x -> 0, 1 ∧ y -> 0 }
A new reference to the memory location of the first record field in x and x1 adds another pointer that overlaps with the existing heap. It's important to keep in mind that the basic conjunction simply says that the heap may overlap. To the reader it may be obvious, but in terms of specifying program behavior it's a weaker assertion that the equivalent made with the * connective.
// { x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ x -> 0, 1 ∧ y -> 0 } x = @ X { f : 2, g : 3 }; // { (x1 -> 0, 1 ∧ y -> 0) * x |-> 2, 3 }
Finally with the allocation of a wholly new record and pointer for x we can employ the more powerful connective because the new record lives in a newly allocated section of memory on the heap. The remaining pointers to the original record and its first field remain ambiguous.
Further Reading
Not covered here for brevity's sake is an important part of Separation logic, the Frame Rule. The Frame Rule provides for rigorous local reasoning about the heap without concern for other possibly overlapping references to the same memory locations. That is, it allows each assertion to be correct in spite of the fact that the program fragments they pertain to are often operating in a larger application that manipulates the heap.
Also, the concept of borrowed pointers is important reading if you're interested in Rust. A common but effective memory efficiency is achieved in C by passing pointers to data structures instead of using the default pass-by-value semantics. Similarly one can "borrow" a pointer to a data structure in Rust, but because of the type level restrictions it's both safer and more complex [9]. The borrowed pointers tutorial makes those complexities clear.
Conclusion
Hopefully this post has given you an initial sense of a portion of Rust's memory management facilities and also the formalism of Separation logic.
Special thanks goes to @steveklabnik, @evanphx, and Matt Brown for reviewing various bits of my post.Story highlights "Look, you always have to be concerned," Trump told CNN affiliate WTMJ in Wisconsin.
Trump said past presidents had put off dealing with North Korea.
(CNN) President Donald Trump said Tuesday 'you always have to be concerned' when he was asked how worried Americans should be about the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea.
"Look, you always have to be concerned," Trump told CNN affiliate WTMJ in Wisconsin. "You don't know exactly who you're dealing with. I had a great great meeting with the president of China and that meeting tells me a lot and you've seen a lot of things happen. They have a pretty good power, not a great power perhaps, but a pretty good power over North Korea. We're gonna see what happens. It's a very, very tricky situation."
North Korea's UN ambassador on Monday said US actions had "created a dangerous situation in which thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula and poses a serious threat to world peace and security."
In his interview on Tuesday, Trump said past presidents had put off dealing with North Korea.
"Now I'm put in a position where he actually has nuclear and we're gonna have to do something about it," Trump said. "Hopefully he wants peace and we want peace and that's going to be the end determination, but we're going to see what happens."With Sporting Kansas City riding high off a stoppage-time victory this weekend a pretty big weekend looming for soccer in Kansas City, it’s time to open up the mailbag and see what’s on the minds of The Full 90’s twitter followers.
@TheFull90 question for your next mailbag, how long until nemeth breaks into the starting 11? — Aaron Sloan (@aarons18) April 6, 2015 @TheFull90 also if everyone was healthy/fit what would an optimal starting 11 look like? — Aaron Sloan (@aarons18) April 6, 2015
I think we know the answer to your first question already: Whenever Krisztian Nemeth fully fit. After an excellent preseason showing, the Hungarian slipped right into the Starting XI his first two games — at attacking midfield and left winger.
Against Philadelphia, he was brought into the game to replace Jimmy Medranda. While the offense didn’t suddenly spring to life when he stepped on the grass, the attack suddenly had a bit more life. He wound up being integral in both of KC’s stoppage-time goals. On the first, his dive into the six-yard box seems to freeze Rais M’Bolhi. On the second, he fights for good position and forces himself (or, more likely, forces Union defender Ray Lee) into the path of Benny Feilhaber’s corner kick.
Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Kansas City Star
What I like about Nemeth for this particular team is that he brings a new set of skills to KC’s wide attacking group. He isn’t a guy who needs the ball at his feet all of the time (like Graham Zusi, Bernardo Añor and Medranda) to be effective.
Nemeth has shown that he has the skill, speed and savvy to make the off-ball support runs that can help free up space for Dom Dwyer. Having a player make those type of runs across and behind the opposition backline is what helps keep Dwyer off that island he can often wind up on.
As for part two. I think it depends on the formation. If Peter Vermes decides to roll with the familiar 4-3-3 it’s likely:
GK: Marin
DEF: Myers, Opara, Besler, De Jong
MID: Carrasco, Feilhaber, Espinoza
FWD: Zusi (r), Dwyer, Nemeth (l)
If Vermes pulls the opening day formation back out (a 4-2-3-1 without a covering midfielder), it could look a bit similar but with one tweak to the left wing that’s honestly an idea I like, not necessary what PV would do.
GK: Marin
DEF: Myers, Opara, Besler, Sinovic*
MID: Espinoza, Feilhaber
AM: Zusi (r), Nemeth (c), De Jong (l)
FWD: Dwyer
Given a few games to get familiar with this approach, I think that particular lineup has a very tantalizing upside.
*Check out this week’s episode of Talkin’ Touches, where Andy Edwards and I discuss a bit of the Marcel De Jong/Seth Sinovic debate. For what it’s worth, I think De Jong could make a lot of sense as a wide midfielder for this team combining with Sinovic (who is a better defender) down that flank.
@TheFull90 With this group isn't it time for PV to consider Nemeth and Dwyer side by side in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2/4-1-3-2? — Rocky V (@struts10) April 7, 2015
I get a variation of this question, it seems, once a month since I started the mailbag. My answer now is the same as it was last season: If PV didn’t move to two forwards when he had C.J. Sapong (a natural target CF) and Claudio Bieler (a natural poacher), then he’s probably not going to make that switch ever.
Adding a forward up top might help solve an attacking problem, but it doesn’t really jibe with the rest of the pieces on this team or the defense PV has installed over the years.
Kansas City’s defense thrives on the ability to press the middle of the park with three central midfielders (which is often a fourth when you consider how much running and defense Dwyer presents from his advanced forward spot). With that much pressure, KC’s defenders often tasked with keeping everything in front of them and choosing which passing lanes to close down.
When you press, it’s important to have proper cover behind the midfield so the team doesn’t get stuck into one-v-one match ups.*
*This is what Oriol Rosell did so, so, so well, by the way.
Moving a player out of the midfield shape and all the way to top of the field likely weakens KC’s midfield (and by extension, defense) too much for it to balance out. Also, modern attacking fullbacks (like Myers/De Jong/Sinovic) need room to operate and a standard wide midfielder in a 4-4-2 could complicate the space.
How do you maintain balance AND get Nemeth and Dwyer into the same region to combine together? See answer to question one.
@TheFull90 A level of expectation exists for this team & Front Office now. W/in the framework of MLS' ruleset, how do they maintain/exceed? — sparksjay (@sparksjay) April 7, 2015
Have you ever wondered what it would look like if two newspaper guys answered Twitter questions in front of a camera? Well, you’re in luck.
We plan on doing this once a week. It’s tentatively titled: Two Guys in Plaid Shirts Talk Soccer at a Small Table. Catchy.
(Yes, I know that I nod my head a lot and fidget. Thanks for your comments in advance.)
As I understand it, Vermes just really likes the way that the San Antonio Scorpions play and thinks Jon Kempin and Saad Abdul-Salaam will get quality minutes there. The defending NASL champs have some good pedigree (MLS alums Omar Cummings, Eric Hassli, Marvin Chavez, Julius Jones and Nana Attakora). Things didn’t go so well in the opener last weekend, as the Scorpions lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1. Both Kempin and Abdul-Salaam played 90 minutes.
As for Oklahoma City, Kansas City sent midfielder Mikey Lopez there already this season, so they haven’t abandoned their partners down south. (There is no cap/basement on how many players are sent on loan to Jimmy Nielsen’s team.)
One thing to remember: The MLS-USL deal allows players to move back and forth on temporary loans for most of the season; the NASL loans don’t allow for that sort of movement. Meaning, PV might send more players down to OKC as the season progresses for playing time, injury rehab, etc. Kemping and SAS are likely in Texas until the NASL season ends.
As for Fluminense, the agreement between the two sides is still very much in place. This offseason, SKC sent Jimmy Medranda to train in Brazil. Why hasn’t a player come to KC yet? It might because the Braziliero doesn’t kick off until early May.
I’m not sure if the loanee will again be Igor Juliao. Maybe?
Juliao wasn’t a fantastic fit for KC last year defensively, but he’s only 20 and has the ability to make a big difference going forward in attack. I imagine we’ll find out more about Fluminense in the coming days.
@TheFull90 #full90mailbag Did Sporting Park really win the game for SKC on Saturday night, or was really really bad goalkeeping the culprit? — Benjamin Winters (@SKCBensa) April 7, 2015
While it’s a fun narrative to chalk up KC’s thrilling stoppage-time victory to the power of Sporting Park (which, being a fan of narratives myself I already did), it’s hard to ignore how terrible Rais M’bolhi was in that game.
How bad was he? Well, his head coach held a press conference on Tuesday to announce he was benching the starting goalkeeper and that he had left the country to clear his head.
Whether he was flapping around wildly at crosses or making the odd decision to stay rooted to his line at pivotal moments, he was an all-around dumpster fire.*
Rais M’Bohli’s stats are pretty damning. Dead last among starters in goals against, save percentage & saving catches (of which he has zero) — Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) April 6, 2015
*Also, while M’Bolhi drew a lot of the headlines, Kansas City can’t feel too comfortable about how poor Luis “Chilean Rob Riggle” Marin looked in the first half of this game. While Marin probably isn’t “M’bolhi Bad,” it’s not a great sign that he was burned for two set-piece goals and struggled in distribution — supposedly his main quality.
However, I’ll answer your question with another question Ben: What happens when you take a team with a shaky goalkeeper, a team that is weak in the air (near the bottom in aerial duels won) and can’t defend set-pieces (see the disallowed Dwyer goal for more proof), and plop them into the middle of a literal cauldron of almost 20,000 fans? (Answer: They fold under pressure.)
I call it a 60/40 split in favor of the fans.
@TheFull90 will FCKC repeat! What will attendance for their Sporting Park match be? — Steven Thomas (@StevenThomasKC) April 7, 2015
Let’s move this mailbag out of the past and into the future. This has the potential to be a really, really cool weekend for soccer in Kansas City. It will be our first Saturday-Sunday Sporting KC-FC Kansas City double header of the year — and the first ever with both games at Sporting Park.
The men will take on Real Salt Lake at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night. Then the women will take the same field at 3 p.m. on Sunday to start their NWSL title defense against Sky Blue FC.
I expect a decent crowd (especially with the Royals out of town and tickets pretty affordable), but I’m not really sure it can reach “packed-house” level. The NWSL is still very much in its infancy and women’s club soccer lacks the draw of the men’s game and the U.S. women’s national team.
Despite the positives on the field last season, the team saw a pretty large dip in attendance from 2013 to 2014 (according to SoccerWire.com, it was a 50% decrease). Part of that was the move to the just over 3,000 capacity Verizon Wireless Field Durwood Stadium at UMKC. But the league had attendance issues overall.
For Sunday, I think that anything approaching 10,000 would be massive for the organization. (Only the Portland Thorns averaged more than that in 2014; no other team averaged more than 5,000.) Given the venue, timing and word-of-mouth as the Women’s World Cup nears, a reasonable expectation would probably be about 4,000-5,000.
As for the season expectations, while the team wasn’t able to pick up Sydney Leroux (Mrs. Dom Dwyer) this offseason, it’s an exciting time to be an FCKC fan.
The team has high hopes following last year’s title run and brought back U.S. national teamers Becky Sauerbrunn, Lauren Holiday and Amy Rodriguez. The Blues also acquired national team midfielders Heather O’Reilly and Yael Averbruch this offseason. Locally grown talent Shea Groom (Liberty), Kaysie Clark (Liberty), Frances Silva (Overland Park) and Mandy Laddish (Lee’s Summit) all joined the team as well.
I won’t be able to attend the games this weekend, but I’m looking forward to heading out to as many games as possible at the Swope Soccer Village this season, where FCKC will play the rest of its home games in 2015.
Thanks for the questions this week.Donald Trump famously said early in the 2016 campaign that he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters." For about 1 in 4 Americans, that just might be true, a new poll indicates.
Asked if they could "think of anything that Trump could do, or fail to do, in his term as president that would make you disapprove of the job he is doing," about 60% of Trump supporters said no, according to a new nationwide poll released by Monmouth University in New Jersey. That's equivalent to about one-quarter of all Americans overall, given Trump's current level of support.
At the other end of the scale, most of those who disapprove of Trump said that they could not "think of anything Trump could do, other than resign, in his term as president that would make you approve of the job he is doing." They made up 28% of the total, just slightly larger than the 24% who said they would support Trump no matter what.Six rich Mini Millionaire Cheesecakes with a Caramel centre. Individual No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecakes with a delicious Caramel surprise, drizzled in double chocolate, more caramel, a sprinkle of crunchy caramel pieces and gold glitter. ✨
I’ve been planning on making a Millionaire Cheesecake for ages, but this week I made the executive decision to make individual ‘treat size’ ones. Recently, I’ve made a lot of large cheesecakes and, although I live in a household of three, they’ve only been taking 2-3 days to be devoured (due to our identical lack of willpower). However, we sometimes have help from visitors! This week I decided to be less naughty and only made SIX mini cheesecakes.
I’ve noticed some of you who have made my cheesecake recipes live in small households too, with only two or three people. You’ve either waited for an occasion to make one or halved my original recipe. These mini chocolate and caramel cheesecakes are perfect for a small family or a treat for two that won’t burst the belt buckles. If you want to make more than six bitesize Millionaire Cheesecakes (which I highly recommend) just double the mixture!
These indulgent Miniature Millionaire Cheesecakes are as aesthetically pleasing on the inside as they are on the outside and require little, if any, skill to recreate! For the oozy caramel centre I used Carnations. Obviously, you can use any pre-made caramel sauce you want, or if you’re feeling brave you could make your own. However, using a pre-made caramel makes these no-bake mini cheesecakes super quick and easy to create. What really gives them that luxurious edge is the drizzle of white and dark chocolate with some more caramel sauce, a dusting of gold glitter and some sprinkles.
Don’t be fooled by their miniature size, these cheesecakes won’t disappoint! To make these “treat sized” Millionaire Cheesecakes you will need five piping bags, and a loose-based mini bites dessert tin. If you don’t own one of these tins, you can use a cupcake tin and paper cases instead, but the amount the mixture makes might vary!
Ingredients
For base:
75 grams of shortbread
25 grams of unsalted butter, melted
For filling:
25 grams of milk chocolate, melted
25 grams of dark chocolate, melted
75 grams of soft/cream cheese, room temperature
2 tsp of icing sugar
50 ml of double cream, chilled
1 tbsp of caramel sauce
For decoration:
Salted caramel crunch sprinkles
Golden crunch sprinkles
Edible gold glitter
20 grams white chocolate, melted
20 grams dark chocolate, melted
20 grams of caramel sauce
Method
Step 1: Place the shortbread in a large mixing bowl, using the end of a rolling pin to crush them into a fine crumb. Then add the melted butter to the crushed shortbread, mix until thoroughly combined. Evenly distribute the buttery crushed shortbread between six of the mini moulds. Use a teaspoon to pack the biscuits down, once complete put the tin in the fridge whilst you make the cheesecake filling.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, mix the soft cheese and icing sugar together, using a spatula. Then add the sweet soft cheese mix into the melted chocolate, stir together quickly using a spatula. Pour the double cream into the same bowl as the chocolate cheese mixture, and stir together until thoroughly combined. There is no need to use a whisk as the chocolate will set it!
Step 3: Scoop the chocolate cheesecake into a piping bag, then pipe it around edge of each individual mould, leave a hole in the middle for the caramel. Pour the caramel into a piping bag, then pipe it into the hole you left in the cheesecakes. Pipe the remainder of the chocolate cheesecake on the top, and even it out with a spatula. Pop in the fridge for 2 hours or until set.
Step 4: Push the cheesecakes out of the tin, and remember to remove the little metal disks if you are using the same tin as me. Place some sprinkles into the middle of the cheesecakes. Pour you melted caramel into a piping bag, snip a tiny bit of the end off and drizzle over the top, repeat this with the white and dark chocolate. Then place some more sprinkles on top and dust with gold edible glitter. Keep them in the fridge until you want to eat them!
I hope you enjoy these treat sized Millionaire Cheesecakes. Make sure you follow me on:
Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
and tag me in your no-bakes!
B x
AdvertisementsFlights ops aboard USS George H.W. Bush (Photo: US Navy)
Vladimir Putin’s decisive move into Syria has caused politicians on both sides of the aisle to scramble for a response. Republicans want to demonstrate strength, to show that they can stand up to Russia, while Hillary Clinton has to show how she’ll change course from Obama-administration policies that are undeniably failing on a mass scale. And so candidate after candidate is now on record — they want American pilots to enforce a “no-fly zone” over Syria.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, and Carly Fiorina each want to establish a safe zone over Syria — and enforce it against the Russians, even to the point of shooting down Russian aircraft if they enter protected airspace. Hillary Clinton has broken with the Obama administration and supports a no-fly zone over Syria as well, but it’s less clear whether she’d be willing to escalate to direct military confrontation with Russia. In the debate last night, she indicated that she wanted Russia to be “part of the solution” in Syria, but she also said that she’d make it “very clear to Putin” that it’s “not acceptable for him to be in Syria creating more chaos.”
Yet a no-fly zone would represent a serious strategic mistake. First, let’s state the obvious: Any no-fly zone that included Russia as “part of the solution” would be wholly ineffective. Russia would simply continue its bombing runs. Grounding only Assad’s air force and not Russia’s would be useless. Any meaningful no-fly zone has to be enforced against Russia.
Advertisement
RELATED: Report: U.S. Concedes Air Superiority Over Syria to Russia
That decision — let’s be perfectly clear — would move a great-power conflict from “possible” to “probable.” I don’t say this often on foreign-policy matters, but Rand Paul is fundamentally right. A no-fly zone is an unacceptable risk. Putin clearly views Assad’s survival as vital to Russia’s national interests. Even now, a Syrian, Hezbollah, Iranian, and Russian coalition is massing for a significant ground offensive. Would Putin let that offensive flounder simply because Americans told him not to support his troops and his allies? Or would he instead put American will to the test, resulting in direct aerial combat, lost lives, and a geopolitical incident that would not be easy to confine or control?
Advertisement
And for what strategic purpose? There is simply no allied force on the ground that can defeat Assad and ISIS and al-Qaeda. Our best allies, the Kurds, are geographically confined to the north, and there is no prospect that they could or would spearhead an offensive south to Damascus. The Kurds don’t want to run Syria. They want to protect their homeland.
Advertisement
#share#Nor would a no-fly zone necessarily stem the tide of Syrian migrants to Europe. Ground combat creates refugees even without close air support. Moreover, many of the migrants aren’t fleeing directly from Syria. They’re people who are already secure from the fighting, in safe zones in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, who are seeking greater security and stability in Europe. Indeed, vast numbers of the “Syrians” aren’t from Syria at all.
A new president must be willing to take risks, but those risks must be in the service of a coherent strategy that offers a viable opportunity to materially improve the facts on the ground. For the United States, that means redoubling our efforts in Iraq |
Among 23 persons with available information, 8 (35%) reported being hospitalized. One death associated with Salmonella infection was reported in Washington.
April 16, 2013
Case Count Update
A total of 23 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 9 states. Since the last update, 3 new cases have been reported from Idaho (1) and Ohio (2).
Among the persons who reported the date they became ill, illnesses began between December 26, 2011 and March 5, 2013. Ill persons range in age from less than 1 year to 91 years, with a median age of 14 years. Thirty-nine percent of ill persons are 10 years of age or younger. Sixty-one percent of ill persons are female. Among 20 ill persons with available information, 7 (35%) have been hospitalized. One death associated with Salmonella infection has been reported in Washington.
Illnesses that occurred after March 19, 2013 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported.
Investigation Update
In interviews, ill persons answered questions about contact with animals and foods consumed during the week before becoming ill. Nineteen (86%) of 22 ill persons interviewed reported contact with pet hedgehogs or their environments before becoming ill. Investigations are ongoing to determine the type and source of hedgehogs that might be linked with illness. Ill persons with available purchase information reported purchasing pet hedgehogs from multiple breeders in several states.
The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) Animal Care is currently assisting CDC to identify the sources of hedgehogs linked to ill persons. State health departments have also tested additional environmental and hedgehog samples collected from ill persons’ homes. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium was isolated from Illinois environmental samples of a hedgehog’s wheel, ramp, feed area, and bedding as well as from the pet hedgehog’s feces. The outbreak strain was also isolated from an Ohio pet hedgehog’s feces.
January 31, 2013
Case Count Update
A total of 20 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 8 states. Since the last update, 4 cases have been reported from Illinois (1), Ohio (1), Minnesota (1), and Washington (1).
Among the persons who reported the date they became ill, illnesses began between December 26, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Ill persons range in age from less than 1 year to 91 years, with a median age of 13 years. Forty-five percent of ill persons are 10 years of age or younger. Fifty-five percent of ill persons are female. Among 13 ill persons with available information, 4 (31%) have been hospitalized. One death associated with Salmonella infection has been reported in Washington.
Illnesses that occurred after January 4, 2013 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported.
Investigation Update
In interviews, ill persons answered questions about contact with animals and foods consumed during the week before becoming ill. Fourteen (93%) of 15 ill persons interviewed reported contact with hedgehogs or their environments before becoming ill. Some ill persons specifically mentioned contact with African Pygmy hedgehogs. Investigations are ongoing to determine the type and source of hedgehogs that might be linked with illness. Ill persons with available purchase information reported purchasing pet hedgehogs from multiple breeders in several states.
The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) Animal Care is currently conducting traceback investigations of hedgehogs purchased from USDA-licensed breeders linked to ill persons. In addition, state health departments have tested environmental and hedgehog samples collected from ill persons’ homes. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium was isolated from a Minnesota environmental sample of a container and sink in which a pet hedgehog was bathed. The outbreak strain was also isolated from a second hedgehog purchased after the first hedgehog and case-patient in Minnesota became ill.
January 9, 2013
Case Count Update
A total of 16 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 7 states. Since the last update, two cases have been reported from Oregon (1) and Washington (1).
Among the persons who reported the date they became ill, illnesses began between December 26, 2011 and November 2, 2012. Ill persons range in age from less than 1 year to 62 years, and 50% of ill persons are 10 years of age or younger. Sixty-four percent of ill persons are female. Among 10 ill persons with available information, 3 (30%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Illnesses that occurred after December 17, 2012 might not be reported yet due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported.
Initial Announcement
September 6, 2012
CDC is collaborating with public health and agriculture officials in many states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Animal Care Program (USDA-APHIS-AC) to investigate an outbreak of human Salmonella Typhimurium infections linked to hedgehogs purchased from multiple breeders. Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify cases of illness that may be part of this outbreak. In PulseNet, the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC, DNA “fingerprints” of Salmonella bacteria are obtained through diagnostic testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, or PFGE.
These outbreaks can be visually described with a chart showing the number of persons who became ill each day. This chart is called an epidemic curve or epi curve. Illnesses that occurred after August 14, 2012 might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks. Please see the Salmonella Outbreak Investigations: Timeline for Reporting Cases for more details.
Contact with hedgehogs can be a source of human Salmonella infections. Salmonella germs are shed in their droppings and can easily contaminate their bodies and anything in areas where these animals live and roam. You should always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching hedgehogs or anything in the area where they live and roam. Adults should supervise hand washing for young children.
Investigation of the Outbreak
As of September 5, 2012, a total of 14 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 6 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Indiana (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (2), Ohio (2), and Washington (5). The outbreak strain has been rarely seen in the past.
Among the persons who reported the date they became ill, illnesses began between December 26, 2011 and August 13, 2012. Infected individuals range in age from less than 1 year to 62 years, and 50% of ill persons are 10 years of age or younger. Sixty-two percent of ill persons are female. Among 10 ill persons with available information, 3 (30%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
In interviews, ill persons answered questions about contact with animals and foods consumed during the week before becoming ill. Ten (100%) of 10 ill persons interviewed reported contact with hedgehogs or their environments before becoming ill. Some ill persons specifically mentioned contact with African Pygmy hedgehogs. Investigations are ongoing to determine the type and source of hedgehogs that might be linked with illness. Ill persons with available purchase information reported purchasing pet hedgehogs from multiple breeders in several states.
USDA-APHIS-AC is currently conducting traceback investigations of hedgehogs purchased from USDA-licensed breeders linked to ill persons. In addition, state health departments have tested environmental and hedgehog samples collected from ill persons’ homes. Two environmental samples from areas where hedgehogs lived or were bathed in patient households yielded the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium.A new analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data has found that same-sex couples are more likely to be interracial or inter-ethnic compared to their heterosexual counterparts.
Analyzed by the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, "Same-Sex Couples In Census 2010: Race And Ethnicity" found that 20.6 percent, or more than one in five same-sex couples, were interracial or inter-ethnic, compared with 18.3 percent of straight unmarried couples, and 9.5 percent of straight married couples.
Among the study's other interesting findings: those same-sex couples which included a racial or ethnic minority were also more likely to be raising children, and the number of same-sex couple-led households increased at a faster rate between 2000 and 2010 compared to that of married or unmarried heterosexual households.
"This is our first 2010 glimpse of the racial and ethnic compositions of U.S. households headed by couples, including same-sex couples, Gary Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar at UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, said in an email statement. "The new Census data help provide a fuller picture of the diversity within the LGBT community."Mumbai +
hurricane Katrina +
NEW DELHI: At present, India is home to five mega cities, with over 10 million population, but by 2030 this number will go up to seven. Delhi will continue to be the second most populous city in the world till 2030, adding a staggering 9.6 million people to its population -- the most in any mega city.The facts have been revealed in the 2016 World Cities Report issued by the UN's department of economic and social affairs.The report has not relied on the administrative boundaries of cities but has, instead, preferred to use the concept of "urban agglomeration" which is the "the contiguous urban area, or built-up area". For example, in the case of Delhi urban agglomeration, the satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon are included. Such inclusion makes sense as people in these contiguous areas are economically and socially integrated with the main city.Around the world, about 500 million people live in 31 such mega cities. That's about 6.8% of the world's population or 12% of the world's urban population. The report calculates that by 2030, the number of mega cities will increase to 41 and their population to about 730 million or 8.7% of the world's population.Other Indian cities figuring in 2016's mega cities list are, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. By 2030, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad will join them, as their respective populations would cross 10 million.The UN report shows that only a minority of urban dwellers actually live in mega cities. Nearly 21% of the world's population stays in cities of population between 500,000 to 10 million, while an even bigger share of 26.8% resides in smaller cities and towns with a population of less than 500,000.By 2030, the world's population will decisively shift to urban living with 60% of the estimated population living in cities, big or small. Currently, about 54% of the world's population is urban.Most of the urban growth is happening in developing countries in Asia and Africa. By 2030, as many as 33 of the 41 mega cities will be from the third world. Of the 47 cities that grew by over 6% every year between 2000 and 2016, six were in Africa, 40 in Asia (including 20 in China) and just one in North America.Interestingly, not all cities are growing. Out of the 1,063 cities with a population over 500,000, as many as 55 have shown a decline since 2000. Most of these cities are located in Europe and some in Japan. Their decline is mostly due to falling fertility levels, although some have shown a dip in population due to natural calamities like New Orleans (due to) and Sendai in Japan (tsunami).Kundalini Awakening Systems 1
Transformation into the Divine Reality
As the Kundalini activation permeates the body a chain reaction is building. This can happen very quickly or slow depending on the quality of a person's practice, acceptance and surrender.
The spine will feel as if it wants to be straight. A feeling of powerful energies begins to build at the base of the spine and as they increase a pressure forms at this base until it gives way like a dam bursting. Exquisite energies then sweep up the spinal column causing the back to arch backward and the head is immediately wrapped in a swirling mass of energy. Lights and sounds and smells are experienced. Sensations of tiny electric currents are felt just below the scalp zipping and fizzing their way around the head and often spreading through out the body. An inner HUM begins to be percieved.
Extreme feelings of love and joy are felt as this energy convulses the body with the intensity of an internal hurricane of joy and movement. Some people have reported seeing streamers of light fountaining out the top of their head around them. The top of the head at the fontanel can become an organ of vision.
Beauty, Joy, love and a feeling of completion pervade the body as the energy begins to fill the cranial spaces with a golden white light that is viewed with eyes closed but looking up. The sensation of a bowl on the top of the head extending down to the temples is perceived (the new halo). Some minor spastic movements and jerking of the body is felt as the Kundalini completes its initial foray in and around the body.
This can last for minutes or seconds and it is what the energy of that person decides is needed. No pain, unless you resist, and even then, in the beginning, it will wait until you resist consistently before helping you understand.
This is the time to call upon your personal divinity. The one you have been communicating with (praying to). Or your own inner divinity. Don't be surprised to actually see them appear in the physical reality as you are in a blending of realities as this first appears. To a degree the veil that separates us from the Divine Reality (the true reality) has been lifted, but not completely, as it is understood that you still have to function in a body and in the physical world.
You may begin to experience the skills and attributes of the awakened individual i.e. telepathic skills, seeing peoples thoughts or emotions, astral projection, remote viewing or sensing. These are only "lesser experiences" when encountering the Divine but need to be stated.
Now you have a whole new set of rules to live and flourish by and guidance is there to help you understand what those rules are. The Kundalini will guide you through the process by way of intuition, visions, and feelings.
At this time it is EXTREMELY important not to see, hear, or experience any of the negative forms of entertainment our western society has to offer. No books or movies or music that isn't loving or conducive to positive loving feelings. This is necessary for your pattern to develop and strengthen. As much as you are able to be, be at peace and prayerful. Remember the (Inner Joy) and smile and know that you're indeed blessed for now and ever...
- blessings - chrismThose who prefer to drive electric cars, and who also simultaneously have a taste for luxury and worries about being shot while driving in these electric cars, will be happy to learn that there’s at least one company out there that now has you covered, by offering armored versions of the Tesla Model S.
While I would assume that most people who purchase Teslas are more worried about out of control robots and AI than they are about getting gunned down while driving, there probably are a fair number of rich people out there somewhere that wouldn’t mind having some extra protection built into their cars, I would guess. (I’m looking at you Mexico and El Salvador.)
Here’s a quick overview of the upgrades made to create the armored Model S on offer from International Armoring Corporation:
All opaque material surrounding passenger area is reinforced with ballistic steel and composite lightweight armoring materials.
All original glass is removed and replaced with ballistic glass.
Doors and frames are reinforced with ballistic steel, composite lightweight materials, overlaps and spall guards.
Armored battery, firewall, and front fenders protection is installed.
Reinforced suspension.
Run-flat systems are installed on all tires.
I like the idea of an armored battery, but I do have to wonder how effective the armoring used in the build would be. I wonder what sort of testing regimen has been performed on that count? The effect that all of this armoring has on the vehicle’s range is also an interesting question.
Here are the words used to sell the offering on the Utah-based company’s site:
IAC is able to combine safety with style when it comes to the Electric Tesla Model S. Without compromising the Tesla’s sleek design, IAC armors this eco-friendly vehicle to be able to withstand any attack. The armored Tesla model S comes in four trims with various features and battery charges. Don’t compromise your vehicle selection; armor with Armormax lightweight armor and keep your desired vehicle. The bulletproof Tesla Model S has a revolutionary design equipped with the 85 kilowatt-hour battery and a high performance drive inverter as well as it’s classy interior and exterior. Call us today to for a quote.
Those interested in finding out more can do so via the company’s website, or by phone (801-393-1075).Swing low: The heartland of English rugby could soon become the temporary home of Chelsea FC (Ian Walton/Getty Images)
CHELSEA are considering playing for a season at Twickenham, the home of English rugby union, while their Stamford Bridge stadium is redeveloped, in a bid to take its capacity from 41,800 to 60,000.
The Rugby Football Union confirmed that initial talks had taken place, though they are at a very early stage. The conversations indicate that Chelsea, owned by Roman Abramovich, have abandoned a long-held dream of building a new London stadium in favour of redeveloping their current home.
Football has never been played at Twickenham, which has a capacity of 82,000, but the stadium has allowed rugby league on its hallowed turf and hosted rock concerts. The RFU said last night: “We are regularly contacted by a variety of organisations, within and outside sport,…Our awesome friends at Nozomi Entertainment have offered to let ANN give-away a bunch of recent and upcoming Nozomi titles.
10 randomly selected entrants will each receive the Nozomi title of their choice.
Here are the titles available!
El-Hazard The Wanderer
Release Date: 6/7/2016
Makoto always upstages Jinnai without trying, which just aggravates the delusional rivalry that Jinnai has concocted within his own mind. However, when Jinnai attempts to sabotage Makoto's newest invention, the machine creates a dimensional rift and throws Makoto, Jinnai, and several others from their school into a strange, new world that is filled with amazing creatures, beautiful sights, and dangerous enemies. If they ever want to get home, it's going to take wits, courage, and a lot of luck in El-Hazard: The Wanderers!
Special Features: Line Art Gallery, Full Color Art Gallery, Clean Openings, Clean Closing, Animated Comics.
Spoken Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles.
Gasaraki
Release Date: 5/3/2016
In Gasaraki, the flames of war are fanned in the Middle East, as two secretive forces unleash their latest weapons of mass destruction. But in a world where giant robots are real, the most dangerous weapon of all lies buried within a human mind. Yushiro, the fourth son of the mysterious and powerful Gowa family, finds himself at the center of events that may change the future of mankind forever!
Special Features: Clean Openings, Clean Closings, Behind the Scenes.
Spoken Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles.
Gakuen Alice
Mikan and Hotaru are best friends! (Well, according to Mikan, anyway. Hotaru doesn't seem to care.) Then one day, Hotaru is escorted away in a fancy black car, apparently scouted by a school in Tokyo called "Alice Academy." Crushed at the loss of her favorite pal, Mikan scurries after her, determined to enroll, too!
But Alice Academy is a mysterious place. Can Mikan tough it out in a school where explosions, superpowers, giant baby chicks and axe-wielding teddy bears are the norm? Though it's not as if she has a choice, because once students enter Alice Academy, there is no escape!
Special Features: Clean Opening, Clean Closing, Character Bios, Liner Notes, Previews.
Spoken Languages: Japanese with English subtitles.
Magic User's Club OVA Series
Exactly one year ago, aliens invaded Earth. But it wasn't the kind of invasion you'd expect. After descending from space and destroying any opposition, the giant spaceship known as The Bell just... sat there. For a year it's been floating silently over the ocean, quietly observing how Earthlings live. Everyone's pretty much used to it by now.
Everyone, that is, except the Magic User's Club. They're a small band of misfits who can do actual, honest-to-goodness magic! Their leader, Takeo, doesn't trust the aliens to stay peaceful. He wants to fight the alien menace, but it'll be a tough task when his club consists of a perverted president, a flamboyant VP, a flaky princess, a bumbling new recruit, and her temperamental best friend! Can this motley crew pull it together and save the world?
Special Features: Magic User's Club Karaoke Clip, Behind the Scenes at Studio Triangle, Special Promotional Video, Clean Openings and Closings, Commercials.
poken Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles.
Magic User's Club TV Series
The Magic User's Club is a group of five well-meaning misfits who do more than card tricks – they can use actual magic. And with that magic, they managed to defeat a giant ship from outer space! But their close encounter left an enormous cherry blossom tree right in the middle of the city. It's so big that it blocks out the sun!
Takeo Takakura, the club's noble (but perverted) president, calls a special Sunday meeting to take care of the tree. It seems simple enough, but when magic is involved, nothing ever goes according to plan… What's more, there's a ghostly figure hidden among the branches, watching their every move. Who is this silent specter, and what does he want?
Special Features: Special Short Film, Clean Openings and Closings, Commercials.
Spoken Languages: English, Japanese with English subtitles.
Pita-Ten
Kotarou used to spend most of his time alone, but when the apprentice angel Misha moves in next door, his life is thrown into chaos. Misha immediately clings to Kotarou, but since she doesn't know much about life on Earth, her “divine intervention” is anything but helpful. She constantly breaks things, gets into trouble, and causes all sorts of misunderstandings.
Now, Kotarou finds himself in one weird situation after another. Where will he end up next? The accidental lead in a school play? Literally glued to his friends? The victim of a voodoo doll? Who knows, but at least he won't be bored!
Special Features: Clean Opening and Closing, Event Promo, Liner Notes, Commercials.
Spoken Languages: Japanese, English subtitles.
Winners:
Salvatore Marrone, PA - Magic User's Club
Emily S. Vincent, TN - Gakuen Alice
Josh Waters, UT - El-Hazard The Wanderer
Matthew Dildine, NC - Magic User's Club TV Series
Paul Hachmann, ON - Pita-Ten
Christian Ocampo, IL - El-Hazard The Wanderer
Jesse Colon, PA - Gasaraki
Charles Provorse Jr, NY - Magic User's Club TV Series
Beth McDougald, GA - Pita-Ten
Vichika Long, OR - Pita-Ten
Didn't win? Check out Nozomi Entertainment for these and other great titles.Fox News contributor Erick Erickson issued his most strident attack on the LGBT community this week, comparing gay activists to ISIS.
Erick Erickson is a Fox News contributor, the Editor-in-Chief of RedState.com, and was recently named the "Most Powerful Conservative" in America. That last honor is a stretch at best (anyone hear of the Koch Brothers?) but it's a clear indicator that Erickson, God help America, is a thought leader on the right. (Considering he's a man who can't properly spell "Twitter," that is a scary thought.)
On Thursday, Erickson published an editorial he wrote that claims the "divide between Islamic extremists and gay rights extremists is at death."
He goes on to lament the news about a Washington florist who refused to arrange flowers for a same-sex couple's wedding, citing her deeply-held religious beliefs. Erickson, falsely, states "Barronelle Stutzman is now going to lose her business, her life savings, and possibly her own home for putting her faith into practice. Both her customer and the State of Oregon are taking everything she has for not bowing at the altar of sexual sin."
(In fact, the fines, if any, have not been determined. Even the Kleins, the Oregon bakers who lost their case, have had no fines determined, years after they refused to bake a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding.)
"Islamic extremists take lives because of the Islamic extremists' beliefs," Erickson continues. "They will take life for being offended. There will be no magnanimity and there will be no mercy."
Never mind the fact that ISIS repeatedly has thrown people they accused of just being gay off the rooftops of buildings, then stoned them on the ground - just in case the impact or the terror didn't kill them. The analogy between gays and ISIS is mind-bogglingly false.
UPDATE: Fox News Contributor Erick Erickson: 'I Don't Think Barack Obama Is A Christian'
Calling gay rights activists "the Imams of America's cultural ghetto," Erickson notes they, for the most part, "have not turned physically violent. But they are intent on destroying any who disagree with them. They will take the homes, businesses, and life savings of any who defy them. They will use the tools of the state and mob action through boycotts, fear, and intimidation to make it happen. They will not kill but they will threaten and scare."
One might think every baker, florist, and photographer in America has been sued and lost their businesses, life savings and their homes for refusing to follow the laws enacted not by gay people, but by state legislatures and local city councils. In actuality, none have.
Dissatisfied at comparing gays to ISIS, Erickson takes one last swipe at the LGBT community.
"Christians have more children than homosexuals. We also have a God who stands with us, loves us, and will see us through to eternity."
In Erickson's eyes, gays are terrorists, there are no gays who are Christians, those children Christians are having aren't gay, and God does not stand with or love gay people.
This is the thought leader the right has chosen.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Erickson as RedState's founder.
Image by Cassandra Vinograd via Twitter
Hat tip: Joe Jervis
More on Erick Erickson at The New Civil Rights Movement:
Top Tea Party Site: Michael Sam And 'Pencil Neck Boy Toy' Should Go To Iraq And Stand Up To ISIS
Today's Vile Tweet Of The Day Brought To You By Ignorance-Embracing Tea Party Extremism
Listen: Fox News' Erick Erickson Says Gays Are 'Terrorists'
Fox News Contributor Slams 'Absurdity' And 'Insanity' Of Homosexuality And Transgenderism
See a mistake? Email corrections to: [email protected]The Braves have officially agreed to a four-year deal with free agent outfielder Nick Markakis, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported on Twitter. He will be guaranteed $44MM in the pact, per Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Markakis is repped by Jamie Murphy of TWC Sports.
For Atlanta, the move marks yet another fascinating plot point in an offseason of change. After dealing homegrown star Jason Heyward, the club has now replaced him with another defense-first corner outfielder in Markakis. Of course, Markakis is older, but he is also much cheaper than Heyward figures to be when he eventually lands a big new contract off his own.
Markakis, who grew up in the Atlanta area, will bring a somewhat polarizing skillset to his new home. He has a high-OBP, low-power bat that generally make him a slightly above-average offensive player. Though he has been more than that in the past, his recent history and advanced age suggest that Markakis will probably not return to his days of hitting at 20% or even 30% above league average.
And while Markakis is considered an excellent defender by many, both UZR and Defensive Runs Saved have turned some skepticism towards that assessment in recent years. Those metrics have tended to value him more as an average performer in right, with a lack of range outweighing his excellent arm and steady glovework. That debate will continue in Atlanta, where Markakis will be looking to fill some awfully big shoes in right.
While the Markakis contract falls shy of the $48MM that MLBTR’s Steve Adams predicted he would receive, it is certainly right in the ballpark for a tough-to-peg player. It appeared that Markakis was set to return to Baltimore on a contract of this general magnitude before talks sputtered. Recent reports had suggested both that Markakis was looking at suitors other than the incumbent Orioles, and that talks had picked up with Atlanta.
Markakis ultimately lands just $14MM shy of the Nelson Cruz pact, a not-insignificant achievement for a right fielder who has not hit 20 home runs since 2008. Melky Cabrera stands as the obvious prize amongst remaining free agent outfielders. He and players like Colby Rasmus may benefit from the fact that Markakis went to a seemingly-unlikely suitor.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.The "Waco Horror" still reverberates, 100 years later
WACO, Texas - Mary Pearson doesn't need to be reminded of Jesse Washington's lynching. The Robinson resident grew up hearing the stories from her grandmother, a relative of the 17-year-old farmhand who was tortured to death on Waco's town square a century ago last Sunday. The moral was never precisely stated, but the horror has stuck with Pearson all her 67 years. Just after the boy received a death sentence for murdering his white employer, a mob seized him and dragged him to City Hall, where they doused him with coal oil and hanged him over a pile of burning wooden crates. They carved his charred body into souvenirs and dragged it around town. But even more troubling for Pearson was what didn't happen: Law enforcement didn't intervene in the lynching, nor did anyone in a crowd of 15,000 spectators. "All the folks were standing around, most of them were white, and nobody said anything, nobody stood up to try to do anything," Pearson said in an interview with the Waco Tribune-Herald after a recent proclamation by Waco's mayor condemning the lynching. "It's a hurt and frustration even to think about it.... It can cause me a heavy depression. "Every time I think about it, I get really angry and I have to ask the Lord to help me." White Waco spent most of the 20th century trying to forget the atrocity, dubbed the "Waco Horror" by the national press. The incident stood as a turning point in national anti-lynching efforts and helped bring to prominence the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization. But the atrocity received no mention in local history books until the late 1960s and was largely ignored or downplayed locally until 1998, when Councilman Lawrence Johnson publicly called for a memorial to "atone" for the lynching. Meanwhile, the story survived on the frequency of a whisper in corners of the black community, in the form of legends and admonitions to sons and daughters. Forgetting became impossible in the mid-2000s, when a series of books, exhibits and news articles brought the incident again to national attention. In 2006, the Waco City Council and McLennan County commissioners passed a general condemnation of the area's lynching past. The Community Race Relations Coalition and the NAACP have headed an effort to commemorate the centennial this spring with a lecture series, a march and a push to get a state historical marker for the lynching. The observances culminated with a "town hall" meeting at the Bledsoe-Miller Community Center. The centennial is not meant to reopen old racial wounds or cast blame on anyone now living, said Peaches Henry, a McLennan Community College assistant English professor and president of the Waco NAACP. Rather, it's an opportunity to bring whites and blacks together to reflect on a difficult shared history. "Here's the importance of history: It allows us to remind ourselves of both the good and the bad, and then to correct our course," she said. Henry said the city and county resolution against lynching a decade ago was a good start. The question of Washington's innocence or guilt aside, Henry said city and county leaders failed to uphold the rule of law and were complicit in a heinous crime of torture. The recent proclamation by Mayor Malcolm Duncan Jr. went further and specifically referred to the "heinous lynching of Jesse Washington." "It's important to call the names of those who were wronged," Henry said. "The same was true of the woman (Lucy Fryer) who was murdered. She was someone's mother, sister and cousin. She was also important. For the council to offer a proclamation naming Jesse Washington is very significant. It means that in the public record he is no longer invisible." Those involved in the commemorations say burying the past doesn't keep it from haunting the present. Scheherazade Perkins, 64, a member of the race relations board, grew up in Waco and graduated from the black A.J. Moore High School in 1969. She never heard of the lynching until she was an adult, but it helped explain anxieties she heard when she was growing up. "Obviously there is much that has been done, much progress that has been made," Perkins said. "But there are processes that still go on, an unspoken terror that still exists, that makes people want to stay under the radar. It makes them hesitant to come forward with concerns for fear that they will be not only labeled but mistreated. "Some of that lingers, not only with the older people who were right on the fringes of the atrocity, but with those who pass the same sentiment down: 'Boy, you need to watch your mouth, because you never know.' " The centennial comes at a time of national debate and unrest over police killings of unarmed black males, such as Freddie Gray in Baltimore; Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland. A Washington Post investigation found that 40 percent of unarmed men shot and killed by police in 2015 were black, even though black men make up only 6 percent of the population.
Henry, the local NAACP president, said she has high regard for Waco police leadership, but she still has anxieties for her own son, an Eagle Scout and college junior, wherever he goes. Freddie Gray solidarity protests 23 photos "There's the talk that every young African-American man receives: When you get pulled over, keep your hands on the steering wheel," she said. "You never make a move without letting the officer know. "There's nothing about my son when he is walking or driving down the street that can protect him." It's a more subtle version of the same fear that African-Americans had a century ago, Henry said. "What the lynching proved about our community was that African-American men and women were not viewed as humans or equal citizens," Henry said. "While they no longer hang people upon trees, we do see situations where African-American lives are not valued." The dark trajectory from the murder of Lucy Fryer to the murder of Jesse Washington took only seven days. Around dinnertime on May 8, Fryer's grown daughter returned from the fields to discover her mother in the seed shed of the family's farm in Robinson, with her head bashed in with a blacksmith's hammer. A physician also said there was evidence she was raped, though he did not testify in the trial. According to newspaper accounts from the time, law officers found Washington a few hours later, sitting in his yard, whittling a piece of wood. Washington was part of a family that had moved in earlier that year to work for the Fryers. Deputy Sheriff Lee Jenkins would later testify that he found blood all over Washington's clothes and put him and other family members under arrest. Once in the police car, Washington fell asleep in the back seat. In Waco, he was interrogated, first denying then confessing to the rape and murder, giving officers information leading them to the blacksmith hammer hidden in hackberry brush. In a 2005 book about the case, "The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington and the Rise of the NAACP," Patricia Bernstein leaves open the question of Washington's guilt. She notes questions from the time about his intellectual capacity to understand the proceedings, as well as a legal system that had stacked the deck against black defendants. As a mob of Robinson and Waco vigilantes grew, vowing to avenge the crime, Sheriff Samuel Fleming had Washington sent for safekeeping to jails in Hillsboro and Dallas, according to Bernstein's book. He allowed a crowd of 500 people to search McLennan County Jail to ensure that Washington was not there. By the time the trial started Monday morning, crowds were thronging around the courthouse. Newspapers at the time estimated that 2,500 people were allowed to squeeze |
all be guys that you could reasonably plan to draft. Don’t go crazy drafting them way earlier than their ADP, but a good approach would be to split the difference between their Big Board rank and their ADP, and aim to draft them around there. That said, let’s get on with it! The infielders:
Team ESPN Team CBS Team Yahoo C Nick Hundley Salvador Perez Brian McCann 1B Chris Carter Eric Hosmer Victor Martinez 2B Anthony Rendon Rougned Odor Josh Harrison SS Marcus Semien Jose Iglesias Ketel Marte 3B Maikel Franco Evan Longoria Kyle Seager
Team ESPN
C – Nick Hundley, 248th BB, ADP>260
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 429 12 43 52 5.275
I tend to find that mid-to-low end Colorado players are undervalued – this is a little less true in weekly leagues where you have to worry about the feast and famine that comes with the home-road splits. That said, Hundley was solid last year and is projected as the 10th best C in 5×5 format. Injury is always a bit of a worry for a 32 year old catcher, but if you’re taking your C this late, anything you get from Hundley is just gravy. Tom Murphy’s demotion reduces a bit of the playing time concern I may have had here as well. Low risk, potentially nice reward, especially if you end up finding another C on the waiver wire so that you can run a home/road platoon for Hundley.
1B – Chris Carter, 126th BB, ADP>260
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 535 30 65 79 2.227
This one will probably not be super popular (hint: that’s when you know you’ve found an undervalued guy) – most fantasy players will remember last year, when Carter flamed out in spectacular fashion for the Astros only to be replaced by Jon Singleton who was even worse. Now with Milwaukee, we have to think he could do the same this year… but the great news is, Milwaukee has nothing to play for this year. Between their awful rotation and rookie-studded lineup, guys like Villar and Carter are going to get some run this year as they hold on to their control years/option years on the members of the Brewers farm system. The 535 PA seem reasonable as Lucroy will get some time at 1B, and if you give Carter that many PA, he’s going to run into a bunch of homeruns. He’s way harder to tolerate in H2H but in Roto I’m looking for him late. Just remember the lessons learned in previous years: do NOT drop him during the cold stretches, because you will instantly regret it when he goes on one of his week-to-month long homer binges.
2B – Anthony Rendon, 75th BB, 133rd ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 581 17 77 68 6.277
Rendon’s 2014 (21HR, 17SB,.287 AVG) had us all dreaming heading into his age 25 season last year, and then he reminded us why he wasn’t a hyped prospect as he limped through an injury-disrupted season. Even despite his rough 2015 numbers, his projection says he should be drafted much higher than his current 133 ADP this year. Some are worried he’s just going to be an injury guy from here on out, but I personally would not be surprised if he follows a similar trajectory to his teammate, Bryce Harper, and puts together an elite, healthy season this year. Plus, you’ll want to take advantage of what might be his last year of 2B eligibility.
SS – Marcus Semien, 191st BB, ADP>260
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 588 16 68 62 10.249
You might ask, “What does Semien do well?”, but my question is “What does he do poorly?” Semien is going very late, or undrafted in many drafts, and it doesn’t make sense to me for a guy that looks like he’ll be a solid contributor across four categories this year, and not too harmful in the fifth, AVG. Especially for a SS, 16HR and 10SB is nothing to sneeze at. And, if you believe Jeff Sullivan (usually a good idea), Semien was damn good last year when he wasn’t getting the Ron Washington “It’s incredibly hard” treatment. If his 2016 looks like his early and late 2015, this is a late-round MI that could turn into a top-10 SS by the end of the season.
3B – Maikel Franco, 66th BB, 108th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 595 23 71 82 3.271
After the top four 3B’s are gone this year, the value drops off. But if you don’t get one of the next handful, things get really rough. Personally I don’t have any real interest in Frazier/Seager/Beltre (overrated/boring/old) at their current ESPN ADP’s, and then we get to Franco. Owner of a mere 16% K-rate last year, along with 14 HR in half a season, we have every reason to believe that Franco will follow up with a solid power-average combo this year. The team is bad, but that’s okay. Among the breakout players of 2015, Franco seems like the most solid bet to repeat in 2016.
Team CBS
C – Salvador Perez, 51st BB, 127th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 531 17 54 66 1.272
I’m not sure what I’m missing on Salvie Perez this year. Sure, the Royals run him into the ground every year, and his production drops off a bit in the 2nd half, but hey, that also means we’re projecting him for 531 PA. That is elite at catcher, and despite showing signs of in-season wear, Perez has more or less proved to me that he can take it. He’s undervalued in all three formats, but he’s going extra late over at CBS considering their default format is two-catcher.
1B – Eric Hosmer, 67th BB, 95th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 644 17 77 82 7.286
Hosmer is underrated because he does everything well, but is not really excellent in any one category. If you miss out on the top tier of 1B, I like Hosmer as a cheaper alternative who will still keep you competitive at 1B. At age 26, he has room for growth remaining, though I’m not sure we’ll ever see a 25 or 30 HR season from him. I don’t love the “Player A/Player B” game, but if you had to compare him against another 1B’s statline, it’s this one:
637 21 85 73 7.284
Guess who? Joey Votto. Between his power dropping off with age and his team being terrible, Votto is basically a more expensive version of Hosmer this year. Anytime someone gets a comp to one of my favorite players like that, I’m paying attention. A good average and non-zero contribution in steals means Hosmer will be a nice consistent contributor in your lineup.
2B – Rougned Odor, 60th BB, 95th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 600 18 73 74 13.273
Maybe one of the least sleepy sleepers this season, Odor is still going fairly low over at CBS. There is some risk – consider how bad he was to start off 2015, and remember that one of the (former?) best prospects in the game, Jurickson Profar, is sitting behind him in AAA. That said, here’s a young guy who may still be growing into his power in his age 22 season, who put up elite numbers over the 2nd half last year. As projected, he looks ready to give you above-average production in all five categories. In some ways he could be one of the least surprising guys to take a leap into the upper eschelon of fantasy players this season, so if Odor passes the sniff test for you, pony up and take him before his ADP.
SS – Jose Iglesias, 273rd BB, ADP>300
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 581 5 59 48 14.278
Here’s a late round/waiver wire SS, one of my favorite types of players to draft (given that people generally overvalue the positional scarcity at SS). Iglesias will put up solid AVG and SBs, and while the power will leave something to be desired, and R/RBI are hard to come by from the 8th or 9th spot in the order, I do think he’ll play all year. JaCoby Jones is pegged as a mid-2017 arrival over at RosterResource, and the only MLB SS’s on the team are Andrew Romine and potentially Mike Aviles. Woof! Watch your shins, Iglesias, the Tigers are counting on you.
3B – Evan Longoria, 105th BB, 132nd ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 644 23 75 81 3.257
Remember when Longoria was really good? It seems like we’ve all decided that he’s bad now, based on a meh 2014/2015, but the projections don’t agree. If I miss out on the top 3B’s, Longo is one of the guys I’d be willing to take a shot on in the middle rounds at 3B. 20 HR’s seems like the new normal for Longo, but I’m also willing to believe there is some upside above that.257 AVG given his.270 AVG just a year ago. He’s not exciting any more, but he’ll get the job done (if that job is making sure you don’t have to start the corpse of David Wright, or something similarly terrible, at 3B this year).
Team Yahoo
C – Brian McCann, 85th BB, 132nd ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 512 23 60 74 1.242
Yahoo hates Brian McCann for some mysterious reason. But that’s good news for you if you’re playing over there, as his projection has him pegged as the 85th best player (similar to his ADP at the other two sites). He hasn’t quite capitalized on his move to New York the way I’d hoped, but it’s still possible he runs into some cheapo HRs this year on the short porch and beats the 23 HR projection. He’s another playing time guy – as-is, he will get some starts at 1B, but following the Greg Bird injury he may also be the primary backup to Teixeira. For those familiar with Teixeira’s work, you’ll realize that likely means McCann becomes the everyday 1B for at least some stretch this year, which would be good for his health as well as his playing time.
1B – Victor Martinez, 106th BB, 214th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 595 19 67 83 1.286
My excitement for this is mellowing after he went down with a bum leg this week in spring training, but the reasons for optimism with VMart are still the same. Last year he was bad, but it seems like that was almost entirely injury dependent. He’s definitely becoming more injury prone with age, but we don’t want to repeat the mistake we made in 2014. Coming off a meh 2013, when his ISO dropped all the way to.129, it seemed like his better days were behind him. Then he went and put up a career high.230 ISO in 2014 at age 35. The true talent likely lies somewhere in between, and I’m buying his chances at a return to near-20 HR power and.300 AVG this year. The fact that he’s 1B eligible in Yahoo is just a bonus.
2B – Josh Harrison, 173rd BB, 228th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 574 10 69 53 16.282
Josh Harrison gave us 13 HR, 18 SB, and a.315 AVG off the waiver wire in 2014, and the Pirates responded by giving him a nice four-year contract extension before 2015. The Pirates believe in him, so why don’t we? He missed time last year with a torn UCL in his thumb, and seemed to return and play injured from August onward. With Neil Walker gone, he’ll be the everyday 2B. There is a non-zero risk that he plays his way to getting replaced by prospect Alen Hanson, but I could also see a 2B/SS/3B combo of Harrison/Hanson/Kang working out if the Pirates are willing to sit defensive ace Jordy Mercer. The multi-position eligibility (2B/3B/OF) Harrison brings is a nice bonus that the Big Board value doesn’t even capture, so taking him above his ADP to be your starting 2B or MI seems like an easy call.
SS – Ketel Marte, 212th BB, 250th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 600 5 63 49 24.269
Anyone whose team flamed out in July last year has no idea who Ketel Marte is. But that’s okay, you won your league last year so of course you’ve heard of him. With the departure of Brad Miller and the bad-ness of Chris Taylor, things have opened up for Marte, who showed us a rare combo of skills in his short audition last year – high OBP with speed. Roster resource has him pegged for the #2 spot in the Mariner’s lineup, so the R projection may be very light. I (and the projections) have a feeling that the.283 AVG/.350 OBP was a bit of an overperformance, but the.269 AVG with 24 SBs seems easily attainable – and is coming super cheap in Yahoo drafts.
3B – Kyle Seager, 72nd BB, 107th ADP
PA HR R RBI SB AVG 630 22 77 80 7.264
Another Mariner, the boring-est Mariner, Kyle Seager makes this list because of just how predictable he is. For four straight years now, he has had between 20-26 HR, 6-13 SB, and a.259-.266 AVG. Boring, but boring-good, and if he can be had as late as 107th in Yahoo drafts that is a great deal. If you miss on the exciting 3B’s early (the top-4 and Franco), then Seager’s your guy on Yahoo.Jesse Howie, a UNC Charlotte junior, is an articulate, involved student with a silver nose ring and hair color that’s apt to change from week to week. Howie, whose birth certificate says female, is also a transgender student who declines to be identified as male or female, preferring the gender-neutral pronoun “they.”
Few people would call UNCC a radical hotbed. It’s no Berkeley or Oberlin, not as liberal as Chapel Hill. But Howie, who grew up in Charlotte, has found the school supportive of LGBT students. “I have never felt discriminated against for being trans,” Howie says.
While North Carolina’s House Bill 2 puts new restrictions on transgender people, requiring them to use public restrooms matching the sex on their birth certificates, an opposite trend flourishes on many college campuses: They’re broadening support for students like Howie.
On a growing number of U.S. campuses, including UNCC, students can indicate their gender identity by choosing a preferred pronoun. Many campuses, including Duke University and Davidson, Guilford and Warren Wilson colleges, offer gender-neutral bathrooms and gender-neutral housing, where students of different genders can room together.
Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Charlotte Observer
At least two national fraternities now accept transgender men, and since 2014, the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals has offered a list of best practices for supporting LGBT students that covers everything from school records to fraternities and sororities.
HB2’s bathroom provision has put N.C. campus leaders in a bind, legal experts say, because they’re supposed to follow federal nondiscrimination policies that protect transgender students. UNC System President Margaret Spellings has said the law won’t change the system’s nondiscrimination policy covering sexual orientation and gender identity and that she won’t tolerate discrimination or harassment. But it’s still unclear how the bathroom law will play out on public campuses.
One thing, however, is clear: There’s a cultural gulf – a vast one – between HB2 supporters and college communities. On many campuses, students see gender as a social construct, not a biological one. And they regard nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as a basic human right.
UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President Bradley Opere sums it up like this: “For every student who walks on this campus, we take you how you are. We’d like Carolina to be a home for everyone.”
Students believe in equality
LGBT students make up on average 10 percent of national college enrollment, according to Karen Shaffer, UNCC’s assistant vice chancellor and director of student activities. That percentage may be much higher at campuses seen as LGBT-friendly.
Campus climates for LGBT students still vary widely. In 2014, a security officer detained and questioned transgender Central Piedmont Community College student Andraya Williams, as she left a women’s restroom on campus. In March of this year, The Atlantic wrote about conservative Christian colleges with policies forbidding same-sex behavior.
Large public universities and selective private colleges, especially those outside the South, tend to be the most progressive, says Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride, a Charlotte-based national nonprofit that works to create a safer college environment for LGBT students.
Often, those schools are responding to students who already hold strong beliefs about LGBT equality when they enroll. They’ve grown up knowing people with different sexual orientations or gender identities.
At Chapel Hill, when first-year students arrive, there’s not much educating to do, UNC’s Opere says: “It’s more of a cultural thing that’s already there.”
But being a college student who’s gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgender, still comes with risks of violence and harassment. LGBT students, especially trans students and youths of color, suffer higher depression rates than straight students. And while transgender people are a small percentage of the U.S. population – only about 0.3 percent, according to some estimates – national surveys show that 41 percent of transgender or gender non-conforming adults have reported a suicide attempt, compared with 4.6 percent of the overall U.S. population.
In 2010, a University of Rutgers student killed himself after learning his roommate had used a webcam to spy on him having sex with another man. And in 2015, many at UNCC mourned the suicide of 18-year-old Blake Brockington, a transgender activist who’d been a student at the university. The tragedy “made everyone ask what more could we do,” UNCC’s Shaffer says.
Gender as continuum
North Carolina’s House Bill 2, passed by the Republican-dominated General Assembly, nullified a Charlotte ordinance that gave transgender individuals the right to use the bathroom matching their gender identity.
HB2 supporters have called Charlotte’s ordinance radical. They say HB2 is a safety measure – a common-sense privacy law, according to Gov. Pat McCrory – that keeps predatory men out of women’s restrooms. One assumption underlying their reasoning: Gender is binary. You’re either male or female, as decreed by what’s on your birth certificate.
Many experts disagree, arguing that gender is a continuum influenced by multiple factors, including hormones, anatomy, chromosomes and feelings. Even genitalia aren’t as boy-girl as most of us have been taught. The Intersex Society of America says that in 1 in 1,500 to 2,000 births, genitalia are so atypical that a sex differentiation specialist is consulted.
As co-editor of the 2010 book “Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing,” New York University sociologist Harvey Molotch has studied these gender issues and how they relate to the evolution of bathroom etiquette and regulation. Over the past century, he says, in much of society – occupations, for instance – gender has become less binary. “The last bastion is the public restroom,” Molotch says. The fight to restrict transgender restroom use, he believes, comes out of “a desperate anxiety” to preserve traditional gender definitions.
N.C. Values Coalition Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald, an HB2 supporter, declined to comment for this story.
A chill in the climate
Jesse Howie began identifying as a lesbian in ninth grade, but by the end of high school, that identity didn’t fit. After a lot of Internet research, what felt best was the term transgender, but neither male nor female. “Genders need not apply to my body,” the sociology major jokes.
UNCC has no multi-stall gender-neutral restrooms. It’s continuing to add single-stall unisex restrooms, though many buildings lack them. But implicit in UNCC’s nondiscrimination policy, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity, is that transgender people can use the restroom that matches their identity.
Howie chooses a women’s bathroom when necessary, but it doesn’t feel right. Neither does a men’s restroom. In Howie’s perfect world, all restrooms would be gender-neutral, and people would understand that “there’s not only two genders.”
Howie was distraught when HB2 was passed. Many on N.C. campuses are similarly upset. There have been protests. The UNC Association of Student Governments, which includes student leaders from every university campus, passed a resolution calling HB2 “reprehensible.”
The association’s president, Zack King, is an N.C. State senior from Louisburg. He’s also bisexual. He says the N.C. political climate might be friendlier to transgender people if legislators and the governor got know some trans people. “There’s just a lack of education on this issue,” he says.
Legal experts say HB2 conflicts with Title VII and Title IX, federal nondiscrimination rules that have been interpreted to cover transgender public employees and students. UNC law professor Maxine Eichner believes federal law preempts the state’s bathroom law. But faced with the choice between federal sanctions that could cost campuses federal money and reprisals from state legislators who control university budgets, she says, “I wouldn’t want to be in university administration making these calls.”
If transgender people use campus restrooms that match their gender identity and someone complains, it’s unclear what would happen. UNC system President Spellings has noted that the law carries no enforcement provisions.
She has also made clear her displeasure with the law, saying it sends a chill throughout the system. It’s prompting alumni to rescind donations and affecting staff and student recruitment. Legislative leaders have said they’re open to hearing the system’s concerns when they reconvene April 25. “We plan to take full advantage of that opportunity,” she says.Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican candidate for president, strained the facts when he compared his state’s economic performance with that of the United States:
Walker said his state is “doing better than America in terms of the unemployment number going down.” That’s false. Under Walker, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has fallen, but not as quickly as the U.S. rate — in part because the state’s job growth has lagged behind the U.S. average.
The governor also said Wisconsin is “doing better in terms of labor participation rate.” Actually, Wisconsin’s rate under Walker has mirrored the national trend almost exactly. The state’s rate was 4.9 percentage points higher than the U.S. rate when Walker took office, and now it is 4.8 percentage points higher.
Walker made his remarks in an Aug. 29 interview with “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd. NBC used clips from that interview for its Sunday show and posted the full interview on its website. His remarks on the economy, which were shown only on the website, came after Todd asked why Wisconsin isn’t faring as well economically as neighboring Minnesota. Walker said the question Todd posed is the wrong one.
Walker, Aug. 29: The difference should be how does America stand up with Wisconsin. I had an unemployment rate before I came in of over 8 percent, it’s down to 4.6 percent. We made up for all the jobs that were lost during the recession, and we have a labor participation rate – which you know is the rate at which people are working – it’s almost 5 points higher than it is nationally. … We’re doing better than America in terms of the unemployment number going down. We’re doing better in terms of labor participation rate.
Let’s first look at the unemployment rates.
When Walker became governor on Jan. 3, 2011, the state’s unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent, and the national rate was 9.3 percent. That was based on employment levels as of December 2010. So, Wisconsin’s rate was 1.2 percentage points lower than the U.S. average.
But the state’s advantage over the U.S. has shrunk by 0.5 percentage points under Walker. As of July, Wisconsin had an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent, and the U.S. rate was 5.3 percent, meaning Wisconsin’s rate is now only 0.7 percentage points below the national average.
Wisconsin’s jobless rate has fallen more slowly than the national rate mainly because its job growth has been slower. From January 2011 to July 2015, the U.S. added 11,245,000 jobs, an increase of 8.6 percent, while Wisconsin has added 148,300 jobs, an increase of 5.4 percent.
As for the labor participation rate — which is the percentage of the 16-and-older population that is working or seeking work — Walker is correct that the state’s rate is “almost 5 points higher than it is nationally.” But that was the case before he became governor, and little has changed.
As of July, the U.S. labor participation rate was 62.6 percent, and the Wisconsin rate was 67.4 percent, so the state rate was 4.8 points higher. In January 2011, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the Wisconsin rate was 69.1 percent, and the U.S. rate was 64.2 percent, a difference of 4.9 percentage points.
During Walker’s time in office, Wisconsin’s rate has fallen by 1.7 percentage points, while the U.S. rate declined by 1.6 points. There’s not much difference there.
— Eugene KielyFraud roils UH election
The saga, rife with accusations of judicial bias, romantic rebuffs and blackmail, has played out like a stormy soap opera.
It has featured charges and counter-charges, hearings that lasted well past midnight, allegations of journalistic vendettas and even a contentious appearance by former Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones.
At the center of the turmoil: claims of election fraud in the University of Houston's Student Government Association races.
President-elect Michael McHugh, Vice President-elect Mohammed Aijaz and senators-elect Laxmi Ramana and Brandon Balwant were accused of collecting student ID numbers, birthdays and names through a fake petition, then using that information to cast votes for McHugh and Aijaz without the students' knowledge.
Disqualified
A student government Court of Appeals on Wednesday found McHugh, Balwant and Ramana guilty of election fraud and disqualified the three from office. Aijaz, who was not found guilty, also was disqualified because he was on a joint ticket with McHugh.
"I speak for the court when I say that we delivered this judgement with heavy hearts," Chief Justice Taylor Kilroy said in an email announcing the court decision. "It is truly regrettable to discover that fellow students aspiring to represent the student body succumbed to these temptations."
McHugh and the other candidates could not be reached for comment.
Complaints about irregularities surfaced when a sophomore tried to vote online and discovered that a vote in her name had already been cast. Three weeks after the general election period, which ended March 2, a formal complaint was filed with the SGA election commission.
On March 21, the commission disqualified the four candidates, all part of the same slate, after finding evidence of election fraud. The candidates, who have denied the charges, challenged the decision in the student Court of Appeals.
That led to a five-hour-long hearing Monday that unfolded with a volley of accusations on both sides.
Romance to blame?
According to The Daily Cougar, the UH newspaper, the hearing included a confession from another candidate on the same slate, who admitted helping place fraudulent votes at the request of one of the accused students and charges from the embattled candidates, who said the whistleblower was motivated by a romantic rejection and a previous relationship with a Daily Cougar staff member looking for a "good story."
Although the students had chosen Cameron McHugh, Michael McHugh's brother and also a UH student, to represent them in the hearing, Jones tried to argue with the court, Kilroy said.
At the hearing, Cameron McHugh maintained that the election commission had filed the disqualification past the deadline for complaints, and said the charges "were both meritless, thoughtless and were in direct violation of the election code."
The court of appeals agreed the election commission had violated procedures, but still found that McHugh, Balwant and Ramana had participated in election fraud.
The second-place finishers will assume the vacant positions, the court ruled.
The disqualified students also face possible disciplinary action that could include verbal reprimands, academic probation, suspension or expulsion.
monica.rhor@chron.comThe Scottish experience of the First World War and its aftermath was different, in many ways, from that of the rest of Britain. Among other things, it was in Scotland that Britain probably came closest to having its own version of the Russian Revolution.
Red Clydeside
Billy Kenefick is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Dundee. As he points out, ‘Scotland in many ways was highly patriotic in the First World War: some 63% of eligible men in Dundee were in uniform, for example – that’s a very high proportion. And the “tank campaign” to raise money for the war effort in 1917/18, which involved battle-scarred tanks touring towns and cities to drum up sales of War Bonds and Savings Certificates, saw several Scottish cities vying to outdo each other. Dundee raised £4.5 million in one week.’
Yet several Scottish cities were also leading centres of the anti-war movement, with many of them having anti-conscription fellowships. Scottish cities also saw significant industrial and civil unrest, during and immediately after the war. The Independent Labour Party in Scotland grew from 3,000 members to 10,000 by war’s end – a rate of growth that wasn’t replicated elsewhere in Britain. And ironically perhaps it was Glasgow, seen by many as the second city of the British Empire, which became the focus of political radicalism, and effectively found itself under martial law during what became known as the Red Clydeside era.
Glasgow and the surrounding area was home to a significant amount of heavy industry, but many factory and shipyard workers lived in conditions of extreme poverty. During the war, the government introduced a number of laws that were met with hostility by the trade unions, while at the same time, living and working conditions became worse. This led to a campaign for a 40-hour week, and other improvements in working conditions.
Then on 31 January 1919, a huge rally was held in George Square in the centre of Glasgow, organised by the trade unions. The gathering turned into a riot, and the Red Flag was raised by the crowd. Barely a year after the Russian Revolution, the government in Westminster panicked: fearing a Bolshevik-style insurrection on the streets of Britain, they sent troops and tanks into the city to quell the unrest, making sure that the troops weren’t Glaswegian (the local regiment was locked inside its barracks), and that few of them were veterans of the war, lest they prove too sympathetic to the aims of the protestors.
Poetry and rare finds
Another Scottish location that is famously associated with the First World War is the Craiglockhart Military Hospital in Edinburgh, where officers suffering from shell shock were treated with ‘talking cures’ and other newly developed therapies (enlisted men were subjected to altogether less enlightened regimes, in other locations), and where the poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon first met, inspiring each other to write some of the poetry that continues to shape the view of the war that so many of us have.
Alistair McCleery is Professor of Literature and Culture at Edinburgh Napier University, which now includes the old Craiglockhart buildings, as well as housing the specialist archive of materials relating to Owen, Sassoon and others – the War Poets’ Collection. The Craiglockhart site is still home to a rare form of moss, found in Northern France, which presumably arrived on soldiers’ boots.
‘With the War Poets being an important part of the school curriculum,’ says Alistair McCleery, ‘we get a lot of school groups making visits to the campus. World War One at Home has led to the creation of learning resource packs that we can give to them: it’s a lasting legacy of the project.’
And according to Alistair McCleery, the summer roadshows that have been organised as part of the World War One at Home project, including one in Dundee, have been ‘like the TV programmes Cash in the Attic, or the Antiques Roadshow.’ Among the original material that has come to light, as members of the public have brought it in, has been a concert programme from Craiglockhart during the war: the evening’s festivities described in the programme, and put on by the patients, began with the national anthems of the Allies, including Russia’s old Tsarist anthem. Another person at the roadshow came forward with rare copies of The Hydra, the magazine produced by patients at Craiglockhart, which Wilfred Owen edited, and which features the first appearance of his poetry in print.
The real Miss Jean Brodies
According to Alistair McCleery, the World War One at Home project has helped draw attention to some Scottish writers who should be better-known, including the Dundee poet Joseph Lee, and Christine Orr, whose novel, The Glorious Thing, describes ‘ordinary lives during an extraordinary time.’ But then, ‘this was an experience that engulfed everyone. The First World War wasn’t a remote conflict, like the Boer War – no-one could escape its effects.’
The Morningside area of Edinburgh, for example, used to be famous for its spinsters – real-life Miss Jean Brodies. ‘But behind the type is a sad reality – so many women were forced to turn to the teaching profession after their fiancés were killed. You need an empathetic imagination, to picture what life must have been like for them, in the Twenties. The life that was mapped out for them, all gone.’
A diaspora in reverse
Other distinctive elements of the Scottish experience of the First World War include the sense of martial tradition. ‘The kilted soldier really was the poster boy of Empire,’ says Derek Patrick, Lecturer in History at the University of Dundee. The exploits of Scottish regiments in conflicts like the Peninsular, Crimea and Boer Wars, had cemented the place of the Scottish soldier in Britain’s consciousness. ‘National, religious and military traditions all came together. It says something about Scotland as a nation. Military achievements helped Scots identify with the imperial project – the Scots saw themselves as Empire-builders, and as defenders of the Empire in adversity.
There was also what amounted to a ‘diaspora in reverse’ during the First World War, with first or second-generation Scots returning from Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, to fight in Europe, either with Scottish divisions, or in kilted South African or Canadian regiments.
And this story of the movement of Scottish soldiers around the world led to some interesting cases of cultural cross-over. The famous Scottish regiment the Black Watch, for example, had a long association with the Indian subcontinent, and its second and fourth battalions served with Indian divisions during the War. Several Indian regiments incorporated pipe bands and tartans, while long periods stationed in India rubbed off on Scottish soldiers, affecting their language (military slang of the period is full of words of Indian origin, including ‘pukka,’ ‘cushy’ and ‘doolally’, which blended with the Franglais slang popularised by men of the New Army) and their taste in food – curry was offered by army cooks from influence of the Indian army, and introduced more widely as a result of the War. The newspapers in Dundee, a city whose jute trade was closely linked with India, used to delight in showing photos of Scottish soldiers rubbing shoulders with troops of many different nationalities, knowing that their readers would find them interesting.
Commemoration in Scotland
The Great War Dundee Commemorative Project aims to co-ordinate a city-wide approach to the centenary commemoration of the First World War, bringing the local community together with Dundee’s museums, archives, libraries, universities, schools and businesses, through a programme of activities that encourage the broadest possible public participation and collective reminiscence. These activities include the opening of a hundred-year-old time capsule, located in Royal Mail’s Dundee East Delivery Office, which is thought to contain a large number of letters from soldiers on various First World War battle fronts, and photographs of Dundee men and women, as well as stamps and coins from the time. The aim is for events in Dundee to serve as a focus for a specifically Scottish commemoration of the war.
Scotland has a particular culture of remembrance, too. According to Billy Kenefick, that can be seen in the cathedral-like Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh: ‘there was a sense that the Cenotaph in Whitehall wasn’t good enough – there was a national desire to commemorate Scottish soldiers in their own way, to see them as fighting the war for Scotland as well as for Britain. But then, Robert the Bruce had been used on recruiting posters, while others used to say “we cannot allow the sons of the rose, the leek and the shamrock to get ahead of the sons of the thistle”.’
Find out more about what research reveals about WW1 and its legacy in the AH |
signatures and was therefore put to the vote under the Swiss popular initiative system.
Critics of the measure said that disconnecting the link between work done and money earned would have been bad for society.
But Che Wagner from the campaign group Basic Income Switzerland, argued before the vote that it would not be money for nothing.
"In Switzerland over 50% of total work that is done is unpaid. It's care work, it's at home, it's in different communities, so that work would be more valued with a basic income."
The popular initiative system
Allows citizens to suggest changes to the federal constitution
All initiatives that gather 100,000 signatures in 18 months go to a public vote
A constitutional amendment by initiative not only requires a majority public vote but a majority of cantons must also approve it
Differs from the mandatory referendum, which is called by parliament and does not need public signatures
Meanwhile, Luzi Stamm, a member of parliament for the right-wing Swiss People's Party, opposed the idea.
"Theoretically, if Switzerland were an island, the answer is yes. But with open borders, it's a total impossibility, especially for Switzerland, with a high living standard," he said.
"If you would offer every individual a Swiss amount of money, you would have billions of people who would try to move into Switzerland."
The wording on the initiative was vague, asking for a constitutional change to "guarantee the introduction of an unconditional basic income" but with no mention of amounts.
The idea is also under consideration elsewhere. In Finland, the government is considering a trial to give basic income to about 8,000 people from low-income groups.
And the Dutch city of Utrecht is also developing a pilot project that will begin in January 2017.
Another four issues were on the Swiss ballot on Sunday.sweetgirlemily: “ omgcreepyasianguys1: “ sweetchinkmeat: “ I’m half Taiwanese and half white, and my mom has always taught me to be respectful and worship the great white cock. As a hapa Asian girl, I love white cock even more and I feel like my...
sweetgirlemily:
omgcreepyasianguys1:
sweetchinkmeat:
I’m half Taiwanese and half white, and my mom has always taught me to be respectful and worship the great white cock. As a hapa Asian girl, I love white cock even more and I feel like my instinct is to be with a White man, to be the semen receptacle of the great white cock. I love White cock just as much as my mother does and I love to suck big white cock and I love to worship big white cock. I wish someday I will be able to find a gorgeous big white cock to marry and give birth to pure white baby, mixed with my white father’s white genes.
All hapa girls love white men just as me. Just ask Olivia Mum or kristin kreuk
eurasian girls love white guys even more! :D
In regard to having children, as a proud feminist, I have always considered the maxim “It’s either a daughter or an abortion,” as a self-evident truism. Asian patriarchy in Asia has oppressed women for thousands of years and even today millions upon millions of baby asian girls are being killed, merciless strangled, tortured to death, robbed of their precious lives, and it is only right that asian women, given the opportunity that we have in America now, must take revenge against those asian misogynists.
So for me personally, once I marry my White god, I will obviously want to have a daughter, a beautiful Eurasian daughter like Kristen Kreuk or Olivia Mum and they will have no trouble further mixing into the white race.
However! If I were to give birth to a boy, that is the case if abortion were not an option, then I would do everything I can to castrate him as soon as he is born. I will make sure, with my tiger mom techniques, to emasculate him, feminize him, and discipline him to be ashamed of his misogynistic chink testicles, to the best of my abilities and I will personally make sure that he will never be able to breed with any woman of any race. I will make an eunuch out of him, to punish him for the sins of his asian fathers. If that is, he looks asian. But if he looks fully white then I don’t really give a fuck.
It’s not necessary to abort Eurasian boys. Unlike the X Chromosome, the Y Chromosome never mutates and stays the same, hence why you can trace a man’s lineage centuries back. So in the case of White men breeding Asian women, the superior White man’s Y-Chromosome will continue to carry on untainted while the inferior Asian male genes die out. Similar to how all future Eurasian babies will have White last names!Editor’s note: In an effort to avert Facebook censorship, today’s Caitlin Johnstone column has been replaced with a mainstream news article from the National News Conglomerate.
Breaking — Anonymous sources in various intelligence agencies have determined in a secret assessment that it is very, very, very important that you forget all your grievances against America’s political status quo right now and focus on hating Russia instead. Our sources, whose identity you needn’t worry your pretty little head about, are telling us that the importance of your Russian hatred is far more urgent than your concern regarding the content of the DNC leaks, the content of the Podesta files, the collusion of the mainstream media with powerful political parties as revealed in WikiLeaks documents, America’s soul-crushing economic disparity, or the overwhelming urge your mounting cognitive dissonance is giving you to scream “I just can’t do this anymore” and steer your vehicle into oncoming traffic.
“We really, really need people to believe us here,” one source told National News Conglomerate, speaking under conditions of total anonymity and deliberate, infuriating vagueness. “There are some very bad people in charge of a particular country, and that country is definitely not the United States of America.”
“It’s Russia,” the source added, with a self-assuredness in his or her voice that should inspire trust and confidence in everything he or she has said here.
This breaking Real News™ revelation contradicts many of the false narratives being promulgated by fake news outlets and in rumors on the internets. The fake news story that these fake news outlets fakely share, in a way that is completely wrong (and fake), is that there is no evidence that Americans should be particularly worried about Russia. We here at NNC would like to thoroughly debunk and disprove this false fake faketty fake fake fake news fakery by reminding our readers that the statements made by our anonymous sources can be verified by the other statements of anonymous sources made in other respected real news outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times.
“There is simply no disputing the fact that we all really, really want Americans to believe this particular thing that we’re having an annoyingly hard time getting them to believe,” said an anonymous authority figure from the shadows of a dark parking garage in an undisclosed location to the Washington Post. “There is total consensus in anonymous community about that.”
“Can I be an anonymous source too?” an insider known only by the pseudonym Schmoe Schmiden asked the New York Times. “Tell them Putin’s a buttmunch. You can print that, right?”
Russian President and alleged buttmunch Vladimir Putin yesterday instructed his employees at the fake news Russian propaganda network WikiLeaks to issue an unfair and undemocratic challenge to President Barack Obama, tweeting “Obama should submit any Putin documents to WikiLeaks to be authenticated to our standards if he wants them to be seen as credible.”
This scandalous challenge by WikiLeaks founder and secret Kremlin operative Julian Assange flies in the face of the fact that some people still do believe the things President Obama says. Recent surveys indicate that he remains highly trusted by Democrats with landline phones, for example, and by people with no access to the internet. His approval rating among Americans who wear suspenders remains at a near all-time high.
As always, National News Conglomerate would like to remind readers that it is in fact illegal for you to read WikiLeaks, but it is legal for us to read them for you and tell you what they say. In fact, it’s best if you avoid reading anything on the internet at all except for the things we tell you to read, and stick to reading books in the meantime. Remember books? Why, those darn millennials with their Myface and their hippitty hop music don’t remember what it’s like to curl up with a good book while mother brings you cup after cup of hot chocolate and strokes your hair and reminds you to be a good little girl and to never marry an unfaithful fornicator like your father. Those were the good old days, back when we all agreed to hate Russia and everyone who didn’t got blacklisted and censored. The world made so much more sense back then.
---
Thank you for shopping at National News Conglomerate. Caitlin Johnstone will be back to her regularly-scheduled slot when her reeducation programming is complete. To help us keep track of her, you can like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, or even support her on Patreon so she'll think you're a red commie like her. Please keep reading without thinking.Yesterday, the Mariners traded for Mark Trumbo. Of course they did. More than any other franchise in baseball, the Mariners have a history of seeing value in bat-only sluggers, often surrendering defensive value to try and build a line-up that can conquer Safeco Field. I’ve been predicting the Mariners would trade for Trumbo all year, and with the Diamondbacks finally admitting that they needed to clear up their roster logjam, this was one of the easiest deals to see coming.
Of course, the fact that the Mariners have been acquiring players exactly like Trumbo for years, and never really having much success in doing so — even though the the acquisition of Nelson Cruz has gone as well as could possibly be imagined so far, the team’s position players are still 22nd in wRC+ and 28th in runs scored — makes it easy to point out that Trumbo is more of what the Mariners already have, but not at all what they lack. The Mariners have a.298 on-base percentage as a team, and they just acquired a guy who has a.299 OBP this year (while playing in hitter-friendly Arizona) and a.298 OBP for his career. This factoid was pointed out by a litany of people on Twitter in the aftermath of the trade.
Would feel better about Mariners if they got AJ Pollock, not Trumbo. Their problem is being 14th in AL in OBP, not 9th in slugging — Peter Gammons (@pgammo) June 4, 2015
The team with the second-worst OBP (.298) in the American League just acquired a hitter with a.298 career OBP/.299 OBP this season. — keithlaw (@keithlaw) June 4, 2015
Hey, another low OBP guy! Problem solved! https://t.co/m8fNiJX4pV — David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) June 3, 2015
Schoenfield expanded on his tweet in a Sweetspot blog
Look, I don’t know who you blame for the franchise’s 15-year inability to develop hitters. But you can certainly blame Zduriencik for not understanding that you score runs by getting guys on base and not making outs. It’s about OBP.
On-Base Percentage has been a cause célèbre for statistically-inclined writers for the last three or four decades, and as analytical concepts and ideas have become adopted into the mainstream, OBP has become one of the primary tools used to evaluate a hitter’s performance. And by OBP, Mark Trumbo sucks. There’s no two ways around that; if you value out-avoidance, you probably don’t think very much of Mark Trumbo. He is exactly the kind of player who was wildly overrated by MLB teams 10 or 20 years ago, but as this trade shows, Trumbo was now acquirable for a platter of non-impact prospects having bad years. There wasn’t a huge demand from other teams to bring Trumbo into the fold, because a bat-only player who makes outs 70% of the time just isn’t all that great.
But at the same time, there’s a pretty big gap between arguing that teams should place real value on OBP and arguing that teams should either primarily or only value hitters by their OBP. OBP is significantly more valuable than SLG — which is why we use wOBA/wRC+ and not OPS/OPS+ around here, since linear weights models correct that issue — but SLG does matter, and low-OBP sluggers can be effective offensive performers even while they make a lot of outs. Even with that.299 OBP in Arizona this season, Trumbo’s running a 115 wRC+, making him a more-than-respectable offensive performer.
But the argument that Schoenfield (and others) are making isn’t a linear-weights based argument. It’s that the team already had power but lacked OBP, so if they were going to upgrade their offense, they needed to improve their OBP and not their SLG. Strengthen your weakness, in other words, rather than reinforcing the thing you’re already good at. The problem is that this idea is actually just wrong.
If you want to evaluate a player’s impact on a specific team’s offensive production given the construction of the rest of their roster, the best tool to use is called a Markov Chain. Tom Tango and John Beamer laid a lot of the groundwork for using Markov Chains as baseball run estimators about a decade ago, and then a couple of years ago, Steve Staude followed up on their work in a series of posts here on the site.
If you’re into the nuts and bolts of how Markov Chains work, I highly encourage you to read all those posts, but I know many of you are probably just here for the conclusion, and helpfully, Staude actually used Trumbo as an example of what would happen if you put either a low-OBP slugger or a high-OBP slap hitter into different types of offenses. So rather than just repeat his work, I’m just going to quote liberally from Staude’s piece “Team-Specific Hitter Values by Markov”. First, here’s a slightly cleaned up version of the table he included showing the differences in run expectancy for adding either Trumbo or Alberto Callaspo — then a high-OBP guy with minimal power — to different kinds of offenses.
Season Team or Player OBP SLG Markov (tweaked) Markov (default) BaseRuns Runs Created 2011 Mark Trumbo 0.291 0.477 4.44 4.77 4.83 5.07 2011 Alberto Callaspo 0.366 0.375 4.99 5.21 5.13 5.22 1963 Colt.45’s 0.283 0.301 2.84 2.77 2.92 2.96 1963 Colt.45’s+T 0.284 0.318 3.00 2.98 3.12 3.16 1963 Colt.45’s+C 0.292 0.308 3.02 2.98 3.11 3.16 1965 Mets 0.277 0.327 2.96 2.97 3.12 3.15 1965 Mets+T 0.278 0.342 3.19 3.14 3.29 3.33 1965 Mets+C 0.286 0.332 3.22 3.15 3.29 3.34 1968 Mets 0.281 0.315 2.95 2.85 3.04 3.11 1968 Mets+T 0.282 0.331 3.09 3.04 3.21 3.29 1968 Mets+C 0.290 0.321 3.12 3.04 3.22 3.30 2011 Mariners 0.292 0.348 3.45 3.39 3.54 3.61 2011 Mariners+T 0.292 0.361 3.55 3.53 3.67 3.75 2011 Mariners+C 0.300 0.351 3.59 3.54 3.68 3.76 1994 Yankees 0.374 0.462 5.90 6.52 6.40 6.63 1994 Yankees+T 0.364 0.464 5.66 6.23 6.16 6.43 1994 Yankees+C 0.373 0.450 5.77 6.33 6.22 6.42 1996 Mariners 0.366 0.484 6.10 6.53 6.45 6.77 1996 Mariners+T 0.360 0.483 5.91 6.33 6.28 6.60 1996 Mariners+C 0.366 0.473 5.99 6.40 6.32 6.61 1999 Indians 0.373 0.467 6.12 6.55 6.45 6.69 1999 Indians+T 0.366 0.468 5.93 6.34 6.28 6.54 1999 Indians+C 0.373 0.457 6.01 6.41 6.32 6.54
And here’s what Staude wrote after he showed that table.
So, at the top two spots on the list, we have the theoretical runs scored of teams full of clones of either Trumbo or Callaspo. This is basically the same idea as the RC27 you can find amongst ESPN.com’s sabermetric stats (which places Trumbo at 4.47 and Callaspo at 5.22, by the way). You can see right away that the Markovs favor Callaspo over Trumbo more than you might expect from their wOBAs and wRC+. Do you remember seeing the exponential growth curve of runs depending on team OBP in my last article? That explains why this is the case — it’s an important team effect that wOBA doesn’t try to account for. You’ll also notice that relative to Trumbo, Callaspo is worth a lot more to the good offenses than to the bad ones. In particular he’s worth more to the high-OBP teams, as besides the exponential impact his better OBP has on runs, his relative lack of power hurts less. That’s because the value of a single to a high-OBP team is greater than it is to a low-OBP team, especially relative to a HR (see the graphs in my second article if that confuses you).
I’m going to quote one more paragraph from another of Staude’s posts, because he lays out the issue pretty well:
When you think about it, the closer to 1.000 a team’s OBP becomes — at least past a certain point — the closer to 1 the value of any on-base event should be. If the bases are always loaded, then even a walk is always going to drive in a run, and you’re always going to be driven in by somebody behind you. Sure, a home run with the bases loaded is going to drive in 4 runs, but then you have to consider that the hitters behind the home run hitter would have driven in the runs anyway. Basically, it’s a communist utopia of hitters, where all varieties of hits, and even walks, have equal worth.
As a team’s overall OBP goes up, the relative value of SLG goes down, because you don’t need one big hit to drive in a bunch of runs when there’s a decent likelihood of stringing a bunch of smaller hits (or walks) together. And importantly, the inverse is also true; as a team’s OBP goes down, the relative value of SLG goes up, because singles and walks to a bad offensive club are less likely to score runs than a guy hitting a ball over the wall.
In other words, a team of low-OBP sluggers will actually draw a larger benefit than linear weights suggests from adding another low-OBP slugger to the mix than they would adding a high-OBP slap-hitter. If you already have a team that makes a bunch of outs, and you have to choose between two equally valuable hitters — one of whom is a low-OBP/high-SLG guy and the other a high-OBP/low-SLG guy — you’re actually better off with the high SLG guy.
If you have a great offense, you want the high-OBP, which the table shows in the rows pertaining to the 1999 Indians. Both Trumbo and Callaspo would make that offense worse, but Trumbo’s proficiency at making outs would do more harm to a team that was already stacked with sluggers. Teams that already get on base a lot can get a non-linear return from adding more OBP to the mix, so the slap-hitters are more valuable in that context, but you won’t get as much production from a guy who singles-and-walks his way on base in a line-up that is likely to fail at driving him him.
None of this is to say that Trumbo is actually what the Mariners needed, or a significant upgrade that will push them to the top of the AL West. He’s still a pretty mediocre player, especially when tasked with playing the outfield, and he’ll hurt the team’s defense almost as much as he helps the offense. Mark Trumbo’s low OBP is a legitimate weakness, and keeps him from being as good as people who just value HRs and RBIs think he might be.
But neither does his sub-.300 OBP make him worthless, and contrary to what might seem logical on the surface, the Mariners would not have benefited more by adding a comparable OBP-centric hitter instead of another all-or-nothing slugger. Sure, they would have definitely been better off had the D’Backs given them A.J. Pollock instead, but that’s because A.J. Pollock is just a far superior player to Mark Trumbo. The Mariners paid a marginal price to get a marginal player, and as Jeff said in his write-up of the trade, this isn’t actually all that significant of a move.
Just don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that Trumbo is somehow less valuable to Seattle than he would be elsewhere because he adds another low-OBP bat to a low-OBP line-up. That’s not how offense actually works.Nadiya Savchenko is testifying today in a case that has become a potent symbol in the war between Ukraine and pro-Russia separatist rebels.
Russian investigators have charged the Ukrainian air force pilot with complicity in the 2014 deaths of two Russian journalists, which she denies.
"I am a soldier," she told the court in Donetsk, Russia, Monday. "You are treating me like a murderer."
The 34-year-old lieutenant testified for more than four hours, much of it a monologue about her military history and her movements on June 17, 2014, the day of the fatal mortar attack.
"I ask that you listen to me carefully, don't interrupt me and don't shut me up, because each of my words will have significance for this court," she said, addressing the judge.
"Every single word I speak here will be the truth. I am again asking for a lie detector test that will be further proof of my truth, but you will again refuse me this."
There were few interruptions from her legal team during her testimony and almost no questions from the prosecutors. This was her stage: a glass cage with open slats that she spoke through.
Phone records key to timeline
Savchenko's lawyers are expected to introduce evidence that mobile-phone monitoring by Ukraine's special forces picked up conversations from pro-Russia separatists on the day of the attack, at 10:46 a.m., reporting that they had captured a female sniper.
Nadiya Savchenko struggles to trace her June 17, 2014, movements on a map from inside the glass witness box, as two of her lawyers, Nicholay Polozov, left, and Ilya Novikov, listen in court. (Susan Ormiston/CBC)
TV journalists Anton Voloshin and Igor Kornelyuk were killed later that morning, closer to noon, near Luhansk, eastern Ukraine. Therefore, Savchenko's lawyers argue, she couldn't have been involved in co-ordinating the mortar attack as she was already in the hands of the rebels.
Still, despite what they think is solid proof that Savchenko was not involved, her lawyers, two of whom defended the punk rock band Pussy Riot against charges stemming from their performance of a song critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, do not expect her to get a fair trial.
This Donetsk court, it has no power to acquit Savchenko. … This decision will be taken by the Kremlin. - Mark Feygin, attorney for Nadiya Savchenko
"This Donetsk court, it has no power to acquit Savchenko," said attorney Mark Feygin outside court Monday. "They don't have that power, and no one will give them that power — even in front of all the evidence that she is innocent. …
"This decision will be taken by the Kremlin, and the Kremlin will decide what is in their political interests and not for justice in their court of law and fairness, which is supposed to exists in these places."
Savchenk also strongly voiced her opposition to the judicial process that will determine her fate.
'No matter how hard the Russian Federation tries to push their propaganda, the truth will ultimately come out,' says Vera Savchenko. She travelled 900 kilometres from Kyiv to be present at her sister's trial in Donetsk, Russia. (Susan Ormiston/CBC)
"I don't believe you have a right to try me and certainly not in a Russian court. This court is criminal," she said during her testimony Monday.
The trial is taking place 1,000 kilometres from Moscow, which Savchenko's lawyers say is proof that Russian authorities want her case kept out of the public eye, even thought it will be Moscow who makes the ultimate decision, said Ilya Novikov, a member of Savchenko's legal team.
"Here in Russia, we like show trials. [It's] almost a tradition since Stalin's era," Novikov said. "This verdict is not to be written by the judges. It's already [been] written in Moscow."
'I see my sister. I don't see the cage. - Vera Savchenko
But on Monday, Russian and Ukrainian media — as well as CBC — were given access to the proceedings and were allowed to film Savchenko and her lawyers, although not the prosecutors or the judge. Four balaclava-clad, armed, Russian special forces officers kept a close eye on the media.
Throughout her various court hearings and trial appearances over the 18 months that she has been detained, Savchenko has often worn traditional Ukrainian blouses — in a gesture of defiance — and she did so again on Monday.
Her sister, Vera, drove the 900 kilometres from Kyiv to attend the trial.
Savchenko's mother, Maria, centre, rallies, demanding the liberation of her daughter near the presidential administration headquarters in Kyiv. Savchenko, who was fighting with a volunteer battalion of government troops against pro-Russia separatist rebels at the time of her arrest, faces up to 25 years in jail if she is found guilty of complicity in the killing of the journalists and of crossing into Russia illegally. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
"I see my sister. I don't see the cage," she said outside the court. "No matter how hard the Russian Federation tries to push their propaganda, the truth will ultimately come out. That brings me calm watching over Nadiya."
The families of the two Russian journalists did not attend Monday's proceedings.
7th week of 2nd hunger strike
Savchenko has been vocal in court in the past, yelling "Lies!" at the prosecutors. That fiery spirit is probably what has kept her alive. She is starving herself to protest what she believes is a trumped-up case that Russia cannot lose.
Hunger is my only weapon in the fight against the outrageous actions of the Russian authorities. - Nadiya Savchenko
In prison for a year and a half now, first in Moscow then in Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia, Savchenko is in the seventh week of a hunger strike, taking only fluids. Her first hunger strike last winter in Moscow nearly killed her.
"Hunger is my only weapon in the fight against the outrageous actions of the Russian authorities," she said in a letter released by her lawyer.
Throughout her ordeal, Savchenko has been called both a "hero of Ukraine" and a "daughter of the devil" — as well as plenty of other names.
Nicholay Polozov, one of the lawyers representing Nadiya Savchenko, speaks to his client in court on Monday. Savchenko testified for four hours, mostly describing her military history and her movements on June 17, 2014, the day of the fatal mortar attack. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)
Her controversial trial, which began last July, resumed this week and is taking place a mere 10 kilometres from Russia's border with Ukraine and about 200 kilometres east of the other Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, which has been at the centre of a nearly two-year-old war between pro-Russia separatists and the Ukrainian army.
Heated battle preceded capture
Savchenko, right, graduated from Ukraine Air Force University in Kharkiv in 2009, one of only a few women in the air force. In 2011, the Ukraine Defence Forces made a 20-minute documentary about Savchenko and her military career. (Vera Savchenko) Savchenko's journey to the courtroom in the small Russian town of Donetsk has been as twisted and loaded with claims and counterclaims as any spy novel.
She was among the protestors in Maidan, Kyiv's central square, in 2013 during the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych. In the summer of 2014, she took a week's leave from her regular job as a helicopter navigator and pilot to help train a volunteer battalion fighting along with Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine.
Fighting between Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian separatists in the region was intense that summer. According to her lawyers, on June 17, 2014, Savchenko went to the aid of some wounded fighters who had been caught in an ambush. Her sister helped transport several of the wounded to safety in her car, leaving Nadiya behind.
Savchenko's legal team speaks to reporters outside the court in Donetsk. Russian authorities provided relatively open access to the courtroom for Russian and foreign media on Monday, but Savchenko's lawyers said that the aim of holding the trial 1,000 kilometres outside of Moscow was to keep it out of the public eye. (Corinne Seminoff/CBC)
When her sister returned, Savchenko was gone. Vera made several frantic calls to Savchenko's cellphhone, fearing she had been killed. Eventually, she said, a man's voice answered and said "slaughterhouse," and it was clear to her then that Savchenko had been captured by rebels.
Later, a cellphone video, believed to be taken with Savchenko's phone, was released by the rebels. It shows her chained to a metal chair being interrogated.
"Who is targeting us?" asks one of the rebels, repeatedly.
"All of Ukraine," she replies cooly.
U.S., Canada condemn detention
The same day as her capture, three journalists from Russian state broadcaster VGTRK were caught up in shelling near Luhansk, and two of them — Voloshin and Kornelyuk — died. (Russian authorities allege it was a Ukrainian mortar that killed the two and that Savchenko provided the co-ordinates that allowed Ukrainian forces to locate the journalists.)
Throughout her 18-month detention, Savchenko has often taken to wearing traditional Ukrainian blouses during court appearances as a gesture of defiance to Russian authorities. (The Associated Press)
Savchenko's family says that two weeks later, they discovered she had been driven across the border to Russia.
"They put a stinky bag over her head and transported her in six different cars," Savchenko's mother, Maria, told media in February 2015.
Moving a prisoner of war across international borders is prohibited by international law, but Russia contends Savchenko snuck into Russia pretending to be a refugee and was arrested on Russian soil.
Igor Kornelyuk, 37, a correspondent with the state-owned Russian TV station VGTRK, died in a mortar attack in eastern Ukraine along with colleague Anton Voloshin, also of Rossiya TV. Russian authorities allege Savchenko helped Ukrainian forces target the journalists, but Western countries such as Canada and the U.S. have dismissed the allegation as baseless. (Rossiya Television/Associated Press)
In the super-charged atmosphere of 2014, with the downing of Flight MH17 in Ukraine — and the finger pointing at Russia, Savchenko became a cause célèbre for Ukrainians.
Activists started a "Free Savchenko" blog on Facebook. The Ukrainian activist group Voices of Ukraine, which grew out of the Maidan protest movement and focuses on providing news about Ukraine in English and other languages, translated Savchenko's letters from prison.
"One of the fronts of this war is words and propaganda, so the only way to counter it is getting the truth out there," said Sophia Isajiw, founding editor of Voices Ukraine, speaking from Toronto.
In a recent letter, Savchenko wrote "I'm alive and free as long as I act and I don't sit here. I keep fighting."
Savchenko as symbol
A young, female military pilot is novel enough; by 2015, Savchenko was being labelled Joan of Arc, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko awarded her the country's highest award for bravery. She was elected in absentia to Ukraine's parliament.
Sound engineer Anton Voloshin died along with Kornelyuk in the mortar attack. VGTRK cameraman Viktor Denisov survived the attack. (Rossiya Television/Associated Press)
Her case has garnered attention across Europe and North America, including in Canada.
"Canada and this house should join our American and European allies and pass a resolution demanding Nadiya's immediate return to Ukraine," said then Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland, who is now minister of international trade.
The U.S. State Department similarly called on Russia to drop what it called its "baseless case" against Savchenko.
A new ceasefire agreement between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists was signed in Minsk in February 2015. In April of last year, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, reiterated the need to fully implement the deal and said the EU expects "the urgent release of all hostages, including Nadiya Savchenko."
Nevertheless, Russia is proceeding with all charges against her. There has been talk of political negotiations to secure her release, but some Russia watchers suggest no deal could be reached until Russia has prosecuted a guilty verdict.While attempting to minimize the importance of the special access donors to the Clinton Foundation gained with the State Department under Hillary Clinton, interim-Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee may have made matters even worse: (ABC News)
“First of all, Martha, the way I look at it, I’ve been a government official. So, you know, this notion that, somehow or another, someone who is a supporter, someone who is a donor, somebody who’s an activist, saying I want access, I want to come into a room and I want to meet people, we often criminalize behavior that is normal. And it’s — I don’t — I don’t see what the smoke is.”
Not only is this a startling admission that access is granted to major donors on a “business as usual” basis over at the DNC, Brazille’s statement also illustrates a much larger problem for her candidate and her relationship with the Clinton Foundation.
You see, Brazille is describing a scenario where, she believes, it’s perfectly understandable that a major donor to a political campaign might gain some access to a candidate or an event because of their donation. She calls this “normal” and she may be right.
Here’s the problem, Ms. Brazile: The Clinton Foundation is not supposed to be a political campaign fund!
In her defense of her candidate, Ms. Brazile seems to have highlighted the exact problem — if not illegal behavior — in how the Clinton Foundation operated in connection with the State Department. The foundation is a 501(c)3, non-profit, non-partisan charity, not a political campaign apparatus.
By equating (possibly by mistake) the Clinton Foundation charity with a political campaign, Brazile has inadvertently acknowledged that within the State Department the Clinton Foundation was seen as a political organization and was treated as if it was. And that is the problem.
For a government official to grant access to an individual or organization in exchange for political donations is, in fact, against the law. I asked former US Attorney Joe DiGenova about this Monday on WMAL radio in Washington DC and he explained “Access is a thing” and when it is a violation of the law when that thing is exchanged for money.
The fact that Brazile so cavalierly suggests that this is “normal” tells you everything you need to know about the DNC.
Political campaigns are regulated by the FEC specifically so they can keep on eye on this sort of thing. A charity like the Clinton Foundation is not.
Regardless of all of these points, let’s not forget that the presumption of impropriety was on the table during Mrs. Clinton’s confirmation hearings. That’s why she went out of her way to promise the Obama Administration and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that there would be a fire wall between the Foundation and her office.
Apparently, that “fire wall” was made of gasoline soaked rags and old newspapers.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
June 3, 2016, 3:16 PM GMT / Updated June 3, 2016, 3:32 PM GMT By Corky Siemaszko
A smirk from an Ohio serial killer convicted of strangling |
. 368-484.
Mertus,Julie. 1999. “Women in Kosovo: Contested Terrains.” In Gender Politics in the Western Balkans. Ed. Sabrina P. Ramet (Philadelphia, Penn: Pennsylvania State University.
Norris, P. and J. Lovenduski (1995). Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British
Parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Offen, Karen. 2000. European Feminism 1700-1950: A Political History. Stanford University Press.
Raaum, N. C. (1999). ‘Women in Parliamentary Politics: Historical Lines of Development.” In C. Bergqvist, A Borchorst, A. Christensen, V. Ramstedt-Silén, N. C. Raaum and A. Styrkársdóttir (eds.), Equal Democracies? Gender and Politics in the Nordic Countries, Olso: Scandinavian University Press.
Ravnbol, Camilla I. 2010. “The Human Rights of Minority Women: Romani Women’s Rights from a Perspective on International Human Rights Law and Politics.” International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. 17:1. 1-45.
Ruthchild, Rochelle G. 2010. Equality & Revolution: Women’s Rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917. Pttsburgh, Penn.: Univeristy of Pittsburgh Press.State Duma passes 'homosexual propaganda' law unanimously fining people and organizations for so called 'gay propaganda' with foreigners jailed and deported
The lower house of Russia’s parliament (State Duma) has overwhelmingly passed a bill that bans so-called ‘propaganda’ of homosexuality.
The State Duma voted 434-0 with one abstention on today (11 June) to approve ban imposing hefty fines for holding gay pride rallies or providing information about LGBT issues to minors.
The bill now needs, as a formality, to be approved by Russia’s appointed upper house and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, but this is expected to follow by the end of the this month.
The Russian LGBT Network stated the final version of the bill used the ambiguous term ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’, instead of ‘propaganda of homosexuality’.
It also defined propaganda ambiguously as a ‘distorted image of equality of traditional and non-traditional sexual relationships.’
The adoption of this law by Russia would mean any person or organization mentioning sexual relationships considered as ‘non-traditional’ will be fined.
The law will endanger allows suspension of any organization’s activity and a fine up to 1 million rubles (US$ 30,790 €23,215) which, in practice, means LGBT organizations will find it impossible to operate.
Individuals breaching the law will carry a fine of up to 5,000 rubles (US$166 €124).
Foreigners will be punished more severely than Russian citizens, up to 15 days of imprisonment followed by deportation.
More than two dozen protesters were attacked by anti-gay activists and then detained by police, hours before the State Duma approved the Kremlin-backed legislation, reported the Associated Press.
Gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseev and other protestors rallied outside the State Duma of what they describe as a ‘barbaric law’.
‘The State Duma is following a trend of the government trying to appeal to the illiterate, who are very homophobic,’ Alekseev told Gay Star News.
‘Russia is isolating itself by criminalizing homosexual relations. We have seen the tip of the iceberg.’
He added: ‘It cannot get worse. People are getting killed because they are gay. No one really cares in the government.’
Alekseev further stated that this law is an incitement to genocide against LGBT people in Russia and he will apply against Putin and authors of this bill this week to the International Court Tribunal at the Hague, Holland.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association of Europe (ILGA-Europe) slammed the move, stating: ‘ILGA-Europe appeals to international and European institutions not only to condemn this law, but to consider meaningful actions again Russia demanding to repeal this law and to stop state-sponsored homophobia in the country.’
Martin K.I. Christensen, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, said: ‘This is a very sad day for the Russian LGBT community and for Russian democracy.
Today the Russian Parliament cemented its homophobic law at the federal level. Despite strong condemnation by virtually all international and European institutions and human rights organizations, …the Russian Duma demonstrated that homophobia is an official state policy.’
Gabi Calleja, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, continued: ‘We are deeply concerned by the negative impact of this law. Homophobic rhetoric which accompanied the adoption of this law at the regional and federal level for the last few years already significantly contributed toward a climate of hatred and physical violence against LGBT people which recently resulted in a number of murders.’Getty Images
The Patriots have filled a vacancy on their coaching staff from within.
The team announced it had promoted Nick Caley to tight ends coach. He had been a coaching assistant the last two years, after working a number of college jobs on the defensive side of the ball.
He has the right pedigree, having graduated from and coached at John Carroll (it’s practically the Rutgers of their coaching staff).
That’s the alma mater of Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, director of player personnel Nick Caserio (‘99) and others on staff. Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco and Jaguars G.M. Dave Caldwell also graduated from the Division III school in Ohio, along with Bill Polian’s sons Chris and Brian.
He replaces Brian Daboll, who left to become offensive coordinator at Alabama.JRuby, a veteran among languages other than Java riding atop the JVM, will be upgraded Wednesday with the release of JRuby 9000.
Available for download at the JRuby website, JRuby 9000, "is going to [have] a lot of potential to increase the performance of Ruby," said project co-lead Charles Oliver Nutter. "JRuby in general brings true threading, true parallelism to Ruby and everything the JVM has to offer for the Ruby world."
Better performance in the new version is achieved by a rewritten compiler that serves as more of a classic, optimizing compiler. "Before, it was more of a direct translation from Ruby byte code into JVM byte code without a lot of optimization," said Nutter. Subsystems like IO and process management now use the same native functionality as the C-based version of Ruby, improving compatibility with standard Posix and Unix behavior, according to a GitHub page detailing the upgrade.
JRuby 9000, the ninth major release of JRuby, is compatible with the Ruby 2.2 specification, and it requires a Java development kit compatible with Java 7 or higher. "We see JRuby being the better option for Ruby applications that get too big," said Nutter, a senior software engineer at Red Hat. "They need more threads, they need larger amounts of memory, [a] better garbage collector. Ruby apps kind of grow into JRuby eventually." The JVM is much better able to handle large applications than the standard Ruby runtime, Nutter said.
Developers already have seen reports of improved performance of JRuby 9000 compared to JRuby 1.7, the previous release, the GitHub page states, and upcoming releases will leverage compiler improvements to increase performance further. This final release of JRuby 9000 follows two previews and two release candidates. It's expected to be stable for all users, but builders of JRuby welcome bug reports. Maintenance releases are planned in upcoming months to address new issues that arise.
This story, "JRuby upgrade promises better performance" was originally published by InfoWorld.Well, here's a big step for Marvel Studios. Perhaps finally feeling the fatigue experienced by many fans and movie goers, Devin Faraci of Badass Digest revealed Marvel's current plans with themovie script, reporting that the studio is in the process of moving away from the current standard of setting up every new character's initial movie as an origin story. Instead, writer John Spaihts is working on a totally new script apart from the previous iteration that included Dr. Stephen Strange's transformation from surgeon to Sorcerer Supreme and Baron Mordo as the big bad.This new,stance (so far, no one at Marvel Studios has confirmed the changed approach to making new superhero movies) reminds me—as well as many comic fans—of Scarlet Witch's famous quote that fixed the Marvel Universe from its dystopianalternate reality in which mutants were the majority species over humanity: "No more mutants."However, this isn't the first time a Marvel Studios movie will take place. Before it became the independent powerhouse we all know after 2008's, Marvel Studios co-producedin 1998 with New Line Cinema—a film which took place mainly, or when Blade was already well into his vampire hunting career. Granted, the movie had a prologue that explained how Blade became the Daywalker, but his origin didn't comprise of the entire length of the movie, unlike Tony Stark's inor Steve Rogers' inNow, this new approach to storytelling doesn't mean that Marvel Studios is going to do away with origin stories completely. How exactly is an audience supposed to accept that Stephen Strange is now the Sorcerer Supreme if he was a surgeon beforehand? I guarantee that somewhere in the movie there will be a brief explanation of the hows and whys of Dr. Strange's rebirth.The "No more origin stories" approach will usher in a new era of superhero movies, though. After major hiccups like(which I still thoroughly enjoy more than watching Tobey Maguire lop around and mope about his girl troubles), audiences may be relieved once other studios pick up on the probable success of the new style and finally deliver the meat of the action we usually have to wait one long introductory movie for. Imagine: if and when the current Spider-Man movie franchise finally collapses (hopefullyI get mymovie!), Sony—or Marvel Studios, if many fans' dreams come true—will reboot it for a third time and perhaps skip over the twice-baked Death of Uncle Ben story and skip to maybe a year after Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man—a long year of villain after villain, building upon his experience and mastery of his powers.Obviously's out of the picture for this new storytelling approach, but what other Marvel Studios films would you like to see receive the "No more origin stories" treatment? How do you thinkwill be handled? Tell us in the comments section below, and follow Fanboys Anonymous on every conceivable social platform for more geek news!Apple's uncertain future More Videos Quick Vote What should President Obama's first priority be? Finalize a foreclosure plan
Work with Congress on economic stimulus
Fix the bank bailout program
Detail how he will cut the federal budget or View results
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of Apple Inc. jumped 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after the computer and electronics maker said its fiscal first-quarter earnings soundly beat analysts' estimates despite a difficult environment for tech sales.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported net income rose almost 2% to $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per share, in the three months ended Dec. 27, compared with $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 6% to $10.17 billion from $9.61 billion.
Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $1.39 and sales of $9.74 billion, according to consensus estimates gathered by Thomson Reuters.
"Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history," Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement.
Apple sold 2.5 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, compared with 2.3 million a year ago, while sales of iPods increased 22.7 million from 22.1 million.
Quarterly iPhone sales were 4.4 million units, nearly double year-ago levels.
Looking ahead, Apple said it expects revenue in the range of about $7.6 billion to $8 billion in its fiscal second quarter and earnings per share of 90 cents to $1. Analysts expect revenue of $8.2 billion and earnings per share of $1.13.
Apple said it recognized "adjusted sales" of $11.8 billion and "adjusted net income" of $2.3 billion in the quarter. The adjustments reflect sales of iPhone contracts, which are typically spread over two years, and are not included as part of Apple's earnings under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
Apple (APPL) shares added $7.57 to to $90.40 in after-hours trading after climbing 6% higher in the regular session.
Earlier Wednesday, reports said the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into how Apple disclosed information regarding the health of CEO Steve Jobs.
Jobs announced last week that he would be on medical leave until the end of June, as his health problems had become "more complex" than previously thought.
That caught many investors off guard, coming only nine days after Jobs said he has a "hormone imbalance" that could be remedied with a "relatively simple and straightforward" treatment.
"Steve is the CEO of Apple," Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer told analysts in a conference call. "He plans to remain involved in strategic decisions, while Tim runs day-to-day operations."
Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, who is filling in for Jobs during his absence, said the company's executives have a broad range of capabilities and that "the values of our company are extremely well entrenched."
"Frankly, we don't settle for anything less than excellence in all areas of our business, regardless of who is in what job," he said.
Speculation about Jobs' health has been widespread as his dramatic weight loss became increasingly apparent in recent months. Some analysts have criticized Apple for not disclosing more details about Jobs' condition, since he is so closely associated with the company's overall identity.
Concern over Jobs' health has been reflected in Apple's stock price, said Chris Whitmore, an analyst who covers Apple for Deutsche Bank North America.
The stock was trading near $200 just over a year ago.
But Apple is "executing well" and its first-quarter guidance is "beatable," Whitmore said. "That's allowing investors to refocus on the company's fundamentals, which are pretty darn good, given this environment."Henry Eyring (February 20, 1901 – December 26, 1981) was a Mexican-born American theoretical chemist whose primary contribution was in the study of chemical reaction rates and intermediates.
History [ edit ]
Eyring, a third-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was reared on a cattle ranch in Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua, a Mormon colony, for the first 11 years of his life. His father practiced plural marriage; he was married to two daughters of Miles Park Romney, the great-grandfather of Mitt Romney. Eyring's father treated both wives with equal respect and care and made sure to provide the children with a healthy family environment.[1] In July 1912, the Eyrings and about 4,200 other immigrants were driven out of Mexico by violent insurgents during the Mexican Revolution and moved to El Paso, Texas. After living in El Paso for approximately one year, the Eyrings relocated to Pima, Arizona, where he completed high school and showed a special aptitude for mathematics and science. He also studied at Gila Academy in Thatcher, Arizona, now Eastern Arizona College. One of the pillars at the front of the main building still bears his name, along with that of his brother-in-law, Spencer W. Kimball, later president of the LDS Church.
By 1919, Eyring had received a state fellowship to the University of Arizona, where he received degrees in mining engineering, metallurgy, and chemistry. He subsequently pursued and received his doctoral degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1927 for a thesis entitled: A Comparison of the Ionization by, and Stopping Power for, Alpha Particles of Elements and Compounds.
After a review of his dissertation, Princeton University recruited Eyring as an instructor in 1931. He would continue his work at Princeton until 1946[2] when he was offered a position as dean of the graduate school at the University of Utah. The chemistry building on the University of Utah campus is now named in his honor.
A prolific writer, he authored more than 600 scientific articles, ten scientific books, and a few books on the subject of science and religion. He received the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1980 and the National Medal of Science in 1966 for developing the Absolute Rate Theory or Transition state theory of chemical reactions, one of the most important developments of 20th-century chemistry. Several other chemists later received the Nobel Prize for work based on it, and his failure to receive the Nobel was a matter of surprise to many.[3] The Nobel Prize organization admitted that "Strangely, Eyring never received a Nobel Prize"; the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences apparently did not understand Eyring's theory until it was too late to award him the Nobel. The academy awarded him the Berzelius Medal in 1977 as partial compensation.[4] Sterling M. McMurrin believed Eyring should have received the Nobel Prize but was not awarded it because of his religion.[5]
Eyring was elected president of the American Chemical Society in 1963 and the Association for the Advancement of Science in 1965.
Personal life [ edit ]
Eyring married Mildred Bennion. She was a native of Granger, Utah, who had a degree from the University of Utah and served as head of the physical education department there. She met Eyring while pursuing a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin.[6] They had three sons together. The oldest, Edward M. "Ted" Eyring is an emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Utah. Henry B. Eyring is a general authority of the LDS Church. Harden B. Eyring is a higher education administrator for the State of Utah. His wife, Mildred, died June 25, 1969, in Salt Lake City, Utah. On August 13, 1971, he married Winifred Brennan in the LDS Church's Salt Lake Temple.
Eyring was a member of the LDS Church throughout his life. His views of science and religion were captured in this quote: "Is there any conflict between science and religion? There is no conflict in the mind of God, but often there is conflict in the minds of men."[7] Eyring also feared overeager defenders of faith would discard new scientific findings because of apparent contradictions. He encouraged parents and teachers to distinguish between "what they know to be true and what they think may be true," to avoid clumping them together and "throwing the baby out with the bath."[8]:245–247
As a member of the LDS Church, Eyring served as a branch president, district president, and, for over twenty years, a member of the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union. His son, Henry B. Eyring, is currently an apostle and member of the church's First Presidency.
Awards [ edit ]
Scientific publications: books [ edit ]
Henry Eyring authored, co-authored, or edited the following books or journals:
A generalized theory of plasticity involving the virial theorem
The activated complex in chemisorption and catalysis
An examination into the origin, possible synthesis, and physical properties of diamonds
Annual Review of Physical Chemistry
Basic chemical kinetics
Deformation Kinetics with Alexander Stephen Krausz
with Alexander Stephen Krausz Electrochemistry
Kinetic evidence of phase structure
Modern Chemical Kinetics
Non-classical reaction kinetics
Physical Chemistry, an Advanced Treatise (1970)
(1970) Quantum Chemistry
Reactions in condensed phases
The significance of isotopic reactions in rate theory
Significant Liquid Structures
Some aspects of catalytic hydrogenation
Statistical Mechanics
Statistical Mechanics and Dynamics
Theoretical Chemistry: Advances and Perspectives. Volume 2
The Theory of Rate Processes in Biology and Medicine with Frank H. Johnson and Betsy Jones Stover
with Frank H. Johnson and Betsy Jones Stover Theory of Optical Activity ( Monographs on Chemistry series) with D.J. Caldwell
( series) with D.J. Caldwell Time and Change
Valency
Religious publications: books [ edit ]
Reflections of a Scientist (1983) [7]
(1983) The Faith of a Scientist. Bookcraft, Inc. (1967)
. Bookcraft, Inc. (1967) Science and your Faith in God. Bookcraft, Inc. (1958)
See also [ edit ]Please enable Javascript to watch this video
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- He was found guilty due to mental disease when he killed a teen and cut up her body more than a decade ago. Now, 38-year-old Keith Addy wants back into society.
On Friday, February 20th, Addy joined a Milwaukee County court hearing from the Mendota Mental Health Institute -- his choice. But he is hoping to leave the facility on conditional release -- and possibly move to Madison.
Addy murdered 19-year-old Anna Marie Lewandowski and dismembered her body in 2003. He put the body parts in several trash bags in a dumpster behind his West Allis apartment.
Now more than ten years later, Addy wants out of the mental health facility -- and Dr. Robert Rawski agrees that he should be released.
"From a psychiatric standpoint, this is a very easy case to treat. And I'm not terribly frightened by the original crime," said Rawski. "It's very important to know that he has a very serious illness with very severe consequences if not treated. But his illness fortunately is rather easy to treat."
But just as adamant is the doctor who says Addy should stay put -- even though Addy is doing quite well at Mendota.
"With Mr. Addy, there are a number of historical factors that raise his risk for potential re-offense," said Dr. Brooke Lundbohn. "Those include his prior history of violence, his history of non-violent offenses, which would include the sexual assaults."
Dr. Lundbohn says Addy's early employment and relationship instability as well as his mental illness played a role in her assessment that Addy should not be granted the conditional release.
We are awaiting the judge's ruling on Addy's request.Anonymous' image for its operations against IS. Image: Twitter
As the Islamic State continues its push for a larger presence online, whether through social media or gruesome propaganda videos, Anonymous groups now claim to be ramping up their own online attacks on the jihadist organization.
Anonymous, the multi-factioned hacktivist force, has made it clear that it is no friend of the Islamic State, having declared cyberwar on IS back in June. Since then, Anonymous's offensive has been picked up by teams of self-identifying Anons the world over.
The attacks have gone both ways. One Anonymous account, @TheAnonMessage, was taken over by hackers who claimed allegiance to IS in June. Other Anonymous Twitter accounts, like @OpIceISIS, are regularly tweeting anti-IS messages, and the hashtag #No2ISIS was created to organize many of these disparate Anonymous efforts into one.
Anonymous, being a massive operation involving numerous hacktivist entities, is prone to infighting and confusion. And as the International Business Times reported on recently, after Anonymous declared it would further attack IS, it was criticized internally by rival members.
Read More: Anonymous Declared War On the Islamic State
Motherboard spoke to one Anon under the condition of anonymity about the hacktivists' mission against the Islamic State. While this Anon could not confirm or deny that the group is specifically involved in the strike against IS, he or she danced around the issue by telling us, "I would be opening myself to vulnerability and prosecution to say that I was [involved]."
Even still, this Anon had some very interesting things to say about Anonymous's battle with IS, which he or she claims is pooling from hackers all over the world. And according to this person, the battle against IS has already had some successes.
"Many social media accounts have been eliminated, websites destroyed, and other such things," the source said. "The win comes in tearing down their ability to spread their fear and hate. When we can nip them in the bud all day everyday, that is our win."
"I find it truly ironic that a bunch of animals seeking to return to the 12th century are using a 21st century medium with no issues," the Anon added. "Clearly they are full of shit."
Obviously this Anon is referring to IS's well documented use of social media to organize its war efforts and spread the news about its latest military operations.
The fight is far from over, we need to kick these psychopaths off of our Internet.
Beyond its distaste for IS and its use of the internet, the Anonymous source and his or her compatriots have built up an overall ideological distaste for the rules and methods of the Islamic State.
"It is obvious that these are not people seeking to preserve their way of life, they are seeking to subjugate every man, woman, and child on earth, in all countries and cultures. They are playing the role of tyrant. All people should work together to throw them off and destroy them," the source said.
With the world only now getting its head around what IS is exactly, our Anonymous source recognizes that their battle is only beginning. "The fight is far from over, we need to kick these psychopaths off of our Internet," said the source. "We will continue to hunt them down and remove them."
And according to our source, IS has already retaliated with attacks on Anonymous servers, which hasn't been effective. "They are goat herders, not hackers. So... fail," the source said.
Motherboard was also able to look at a list of websites and social media accounts that Anonymous is targeting to damage IS. Among its stated targets are Twitter accounts, Facebook profiles, the websites of Islamic extremist groups in Afghanistan and Indonesia, and even social media profiles belonging to manufacturers of IS's apparel.
One of the Twitter accounts targeted by Anonymous.
In the document, the group also includes information on IS's internet footprint in general.
"ISIS do not generally own websites but however operate through social media and recruit by spreading their message through Twitter, Facebook, Youtube," the document reads. "[T]hey also sell merchandise to their supporters. Not only does this fund their cause but even spreads their message further publicly in any country where someone is to wear one."
One of the colorful websites Anonymous lists as an IS target.
The document shows the primary weapon Anonymous is using against IS is DDoS attacks, which are a fixture in the Anon playbook, to temporarily disable online targets. The group is also known for hacking and disabling Twitter accounts they dislike.
But one look at the target list Anonymous has created and it's clear the vigilante hacker group has a thin set of social media accounts amassed for attacks. On Twitter, where IS has been particularly prolific, there were only six potential accounts singled out on this Anon list for operations at the time of publication, when a wealth of other influential online fighters is only a click away.
Those psychopaths hate everytHing anonymous stands for, we were already enemies, they are already attacking us
Western jihadists, the types of characters we've made a habit of communicating with on social media platforms, are the most prolific online fighters when it comes to posting and distributing images of beheadings and kittens with assault rifles.
It was @mujahid4life, a British IS fighter, who first spread the infamous James Foley video, with Twitter coming down hard on any jihadists for disseminating those images. Yet the documents the source showed us don't seem to be targeting any high profile accounts.
At the same time, as we've reported, Anonymous defaming or destroying an IS-linked Twitter account could mean very little: fighters just make new accounts and keep living online.
As one Canadian who was fighting for IS told us—after being banned from Twitter, likely for posting pictures of "severed heads"—Twitter bans achieved very little (and so would Anonymous attacks).
"It's whatever. I made a new one," the IS member said.
Screenshot of part of the Anonymous target list.
The document also says the vigilante hacktivists plan attacks against another hacking collective it points to as affiliated with jihadists and IS, known as The Lizard Squad. These hackers have their own strong social media presence, which landed them on Anonymous's target list and are suspected of recently hacking PlayStation.
The group cites the Lizard Squad's Twitter handle and websites as possible targets, while warning, "Keep in mind these guys can play dirty too." Anonymous may not be the the Lizard Squad's only enemy, as American authorities are currently hunting members, and the group may be disbanding.
As for what IS thinks about all of this, an online source connected to IS told us in July that he considered the original batch of Anonymous threats as one entity: attacks from the West.
Regardless of IS, at this point, Anonymous's offensive appears to be in the planning stages, with its scattered list of targets and plans to deface and takedown sites in the IS wheelhouse. Not much has been accomplished so far, besides claimed defacement of one IS linked Twitter account and "destroyed sites," which cannot be independently confirmed by Motherboard.
Even so, there's no denying that Anonymous hacktivists are capable of more sophisticated operations if their track record is to be trusted. We'll be waiting to see if that actually happens here.
@BMakuch
@patrickmcguireDouble IPA
We are so excited to bring Cosmik Debris back to the Tasting Room starting today, March 21st!
Cosmik Debris comes in at 8%ABV and this year features Simcoe, Idaho 7, Mosaic, Cascade and Chinook hops, that together develop a bursting aroma of citrus zest, melon and subtle pine. The beer delivers a beautiful balance between firm bitterness and malt with notes of starfruit and orange marmalade on the palate.
Cosmik Debris is released in March because the newest and freshest hops are available to brewers at that time. In total, the double IPA uses five pounds of hops per barrel and is intended to be enjoyed when fresh.
“Cosmik Debris should always be kept cold and consumed as fresh as possible,” says our Co-Founder and Brewmaster Adam Beauchamp. “Allowing it to age would lessen the brilliant, fresh aroma that we worked to infuse into the beer.”
Creature Comforts collaborates with local artists on the can designs for its seasonal and limited releases. The label artwork for Cosmik Debris depicts a galactic scene that was designed by Athens artist Kim Deakins.
Cans will be available as souvenirs on March 30th in the Tasting Room and will be available in Atlanta and Athens markets soon after.
8% ABV.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and some fellow Democrats want to slash tax benefits now enjoyed by large oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp to raise up to $40 billion over a decade in government revenues.
That effort hit a roadblock on Thursday when the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate voted to hold back legislation backed by most Democrats to repeal some of the biggest tax benefits for the five biggest oil companies, in a 51-to-47 vote.
Four Democrats sided with Republicans in the vote against moving forward on the legislation.
With gasoline prices rising past $4 a gallon in some parts of the United States, energy and the companies that produce it are hot topics in the Republican race to take on Obama in November.
Below are major provisions of the tax code used by oil and gas companies. Revenue estimates are over a decade.
INTANGIBLE DRILLING COSTS
When Exxon Mobil wants to drill a well to look for oil, it can under present law “expense,” or quickly deduct, the costs for labor, drilling and rig time. These are known in the tax code as “intangible drilling costs.”
Oil companies say these costs are the equivalent of their research and development costs, like the effort and resources Apple Inc engineers expend to create their next big gadget.
Critics say this tax break, dating to the beginning of the code, is unjustifiable. As a general rule, though there are other exceptions, expenses incurred by a business for the intent of producing future income must be written off over time, not right away.
The code now allows independent oil companies — mid-sized competitors such as Marathon Petroleum Corp and Occidental Petroleum Corp — to recover 100 percent of intangible drilling costs in the first year.
The largest oil companies — including the “Big Five” players Exxon, Chevron, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc — can recover 70 percent of these costs in the first year.
DUAL CAPACITY RULES
The United States taxes companies on profits earned both inside the United States and abroad in a system known as worldwide taxation. To prevent companies from being taxed twice on the same income, they can claim a tax credit for taxes paid to a foreign country. The credit reduces their U.S. taxes.
Oil companies are known as “dual capacity” taxpayers because they pay taxes to foreign countries and they also get an economic benefit from those countries. Energy companies are often subject to higher corporate tax rates than other corporations doing business in a given country.
Obama and other critics say this higher rate amounts to a royalty or economic benefit for access to the country, not an income tax to be credited against U.S. taxes.
The industry says there is no evidence that companies are using royalties as foreign tax credits.
PERCENTAGE DEPLETION
The percentage depletion provision does not apply to the Big 5 oil producers, but independent firms can claim it.
The provision lets companies take a tax deduction of 15 percent a year for the depletion of oil and gas resources in the ground, instead of deducting the decline in the value over time.
The Obama administration wants to repeal this, citing its Pittsburgh G20 pledge to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels.
The administration argues that the provision causes market distortion, skewing investments toward oil and gas that might go elsewhere under neutral tax rules.
The industry says the deduction is a vital part of the economics of their cost recovery, and says the rules only allow the smallest producers to benefit because of quantity limits.
DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES DEDUCTION
Many big U.S. companies are entitled to a 9 percent tax deduction from their income from property manufactured, grown, extracted or produced in the United States.
Oil companies can claim a 6 percent deduction for this.
Critics say oil production is not manufacturing, and the oil industry does not need the deduction with oil prices so high.
The oil industry counters that taking the benefit away from it alone puts the government in the business of picking winners and losers.Illustration and NUA
Illustration graduates’ accounts and criticisms of studying at Norwich University of the Arts
Anon Art Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 11, 2017
Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is a small university in the centre of Norwich with courses focused on arts, design and media. It has a long history as an art school, having opened as Norwich School of Design in 1845. It became Norwich University College of the Arts (NUCA) in 2007, re-branding itself as an an art college. Finally, NUCA became NUA in 2012 following the introduction of tuition fees and student loans.
I applied for universities when I was doing my A-Levels, so I went for Falmouth University, Edinburgh University and Norwich University of the Arts. I only got into NUA, which wasn’t my first choice of the three. I was impressed by the facilities I’d seen at NUA’s open day, such as the student bar, iMac suites and facilities for borrowing equipment. The friendly staff and students I met probably cemented the idea that NUA was an institution worth a lifetime of student debt and three years of my life. In the end, I had a choice between NUA and an art foundation course in my local college, so NUA was a no-brainer for a naive sixth-former eager to leave home (and pressured into going to uni by school). I started in the autumn of 2014.
I chose Illustration because I wanted to become an illustrator, having been told I’d learn skills essential to telling stories and communicating ideas visually. This might be considered a more “traditional” view of illustration — book illustration, for example. I wasn’t interested in art forms such as performance art and conceptual art, which I would have expected of a Fine Art degree.
I should add, as a kind of disclaimer, that I’m not against abstract art, conceptual art, and experimental art forms in general. I’ve seen many examples of abstraction and conceptualism being explored in progressive and interesting ways. However, I think the course represented these poorly within an outdated and limiting framework.
In this write-up, “illustration” is capitalised when referring to the Illustration course and written in lower case when referring to the discipline of illustration. Quotes shown in bold are the accounts of anonymous Illustration students.
BA Hons Illustration
In this section I’ll discuss the course, my time on it and the issues people came across while there.
‘“Everything can be criticized, even “resisted,” as long as the political consensus is not disturbed.”
— Wikiworld, Juha Suoranta & Tere Vaden (2009)
We performed a role-play of a university education rather than receiving an actual education. What was described as education actually involved copying or parroting the practice and mannerism of different fields, such as conceptual theory in fine art, or workshop practice in corporate industry.
For example, we were involved in an “illustration festival”, but in reality it was a single day event that the course constructed. It made the students feel as though they were involved in an illustrative practice, however, it was all a simulation. NUA Illustration’s festival was not like a real illustration festival at all. One such actual illustration festival even took place in Norwich at approximately the same time called On Paper. It was seemingly actively withheld from the students knowledge, as there was little publicity and oddly no involvement of the university at the event. On Paper brought commercial illustrators from around the UK and abroad to Norwich, and they sold printed versions of their work that held public appeal.
Meanwhile at the course festival, on display were various table top activities and workshops, such as flour and glitter goo that you can play with using your hands, or make-shift instruments that the students had made using litter. The students all had intellectual themes tied to their tabletops. It was a way of adding a light conceptualism to everything, which gave us the feeling of being academic and |
driving and a red light violation.
She told the officer that she served on the City Council. She said she understood the officer and a supervisor called to the scene were doing their jobs.
Winslow, a member of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, was booked into the Atlanta Pretrial Detention Center and has been released on $3,355 bond, a jail spokeswoman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
—Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this report.By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor
The two-hour finale to “Ultima Lucha Dos” increased by eight percent in TV viewership, but fell short of the previous high-mark on June 29. Demographically, Lucha drew in a young, broad audience.
Lucha Underground Viewership Tracking
– July 20: Lucha Underground drew a total audience of 180,000 viewers on Wednesday night, up from 164,000 last week.
The finale was unable to reach the recent high-mark of 219,000 Wed. night viewers on June 29, which benefited from a big replay audience.
– The original two-hour airing at 8:00 p.m. EST drew 137,000 viewers, up from 108,000 last week.
It was the most viewers in the timeslot in three months going back to April 20.
The two-hour replay then drew 43,000 viewers from 10:00 p.m. to midnight EST, down from 56,000 last week.
However, each installment of the three-episode series grew in total audience…
Ultima Lucha Progression
July 6: 143,000 total Wed. viewers
July 13: 164,000 total Wed. viewers
July 20: 180,000 total Wed. viewers
– DEMOGRAPHICS: Wednesday’s original airing drew a very young audience for a wrestling show of 40.7 years-old.
It was by far the youngest audience this year. The next-youngest was 44.1 on February 24 and again on June 8.
Lucha also drew a big female audience. The first airing drew 43,000 male 18-49 viewers and 21,000 female 18-49 viewers. It was the second-most f18-49 viewers this year, trailing the February 17 episode.
The resulting split was 67 percent m18-49 and 33 percent f18-49, the broadest audience since Feb. 17.
This was a big shift in Lucha’s audience after struggling to draw in female viewers throughout the season.The leader of the military wing of an Islamist insurgent organisation in Somalia has been killed in an overnight air strike. Aden Hashi Ayro, al-Shabab's military commander, died when his home in the central town of Dusamareb was bombed. Ten other people, including a senior militant, are also reported dead. A US military spokesman told the BBC that it had attacked what he called a known al-Qaeda target in Somalia, but refused to give further details. Al-Shabab, considered a terrorist group by the US, is the military wing of the Somali Sharia courts movement, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), until Ethiopian troops ousted them in 2006. The group has since regrouped and is in effect in control of large parts of central and southern Somalia. 'Scorched earth' An al-Shabab spokesman, Mukhtar Robow Adumansur, told the BBC that Ayro was killed along with another militant commander in the attack. Locals said it happened at about 0300 (0000 GMT).
Profile: Somalia's Islamic 'lads' Q&A: Somali conflict "We heard a huge explosion and when we ran out of our house we saw balls of smoke and flames coming out of house," Dusamareb resident Nur Geele told the BBC. "The house was totally destroyed to the ground, also other houses nearby," local elder Ahmed Mumin Jama said. Dr Ahmed Mahdi at Dusamareb Hospital told the BBC's Somali Service that he was treating eight civilians, including women and children, for burns and shrapnel wounds. One of the women has since died, bringing the death toll so far to 11. He said identifying the dead would prove difficult as the al-Shabab villa and surrounding mud houses and trees were now scorched earth. Ayro received training in Afghanistan in the 1990s and was an instrumental military figure as the UIC took control of Mogadishu in the second half of 2006, says the head of the BBC's Somali Service Yusuf Garaad. The US says al-Shabab is part of the al-Qaeda network, although correspondents say it is impossible to accurately establish those links. Al-Shabab leaders say it is a purely Somali movement and they deny any involvement with al-Qaeda. 'No longer safe' Mr Robow warned that there would now be revenge attacks by the al-Shabab. "This incident will cause a lot problems to US interests in the region and the governments who support the US, by that I mean its allies who are puppets," he said, referring to Ethiopia which backs Somalia's interim government. "I am letting the citizens of the US and the allies know they are not going to be safe in this area." In its annual report on terrorism published on Wednesday, the US said al-Shabab militants in Somalia, along with al-Qaeda militants in east Africa, posed "the most serious threat to American and allied interests in the region". Al-Shabab has been at the forefront of a guerrilla insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian allies since early 2007. In recent weeks, they have briefly captured several towns in central and southern Somalia before withdrawing. The US has launched several air strikes against suspected extremist targets in Somalia in recent months. It has an anti-terror task force based in neighbouring Djibouti, and has accused Somali Islamists of harbouring those responsible for the 1998 attacks on its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The Islamists denied this. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991.
E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bookmark with: Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon What are these?Good news: it might finally be safe to walk around the city of Chicago. Officials announced this week that the murder rate has reached its lowest levels since 1958.
Citing newly-released police data, the Sun-Times reports Chicago's first quarter of 2014 tallied the lowest number of homicides since 1958. The numbers reflect six fewer homicides than the same period in 2013, and 55 fewer homicides since the same time in 2012. "This is now the sixth consecutive quarter that we've had significant reductions of murder and violence in the city," Chicago's Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told ABC Chicago in an interview Tuesday. "We're pleased, but of course we have a lot of work to do."
Illinois and Chicago first legalized concealed carry last year, and murder rates have been on a steady decline since. While it is far too early to tell if this is a coincidence or a direct correlation, a variety of studies have pointed to a link between an increased number of firearms in society and a reduction of violent crime.
I hope the murder rate continues this downward trend.Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said Tuesday there could be room to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement.
He was speaking after a speech in which he praised free trade, foreign investment, and immigration as cornerstones of the Canadian economy throughout history.
"There are things in NAFTA that are incomplete," said Poloz, responding to an audience question after the speech.
"Softwood lumber is not in NAFTA, the rules of origin are pretty complicated, and so on. So there may be things to be done to improve NAFTA, so I welcome a dust-off, if you like, of NAFTA in that basic sense."
Although Poloz didn't explicitly refer to U.S. President Donald Trump's protectionist vows to renegotiate the free trade agreement, he argued in favour of NAFTA and free trade in his prepared remarks.
"Many Canadians resisted continental free trade, fearing job losses, the possible loss of our health care system, and a general loss of Canadian economic or even political sovereignty," said Poloz, according to the text of his speech, which is available online.
"None of these concerns have come to pass, although heightened competition did result in job losses in some sectors. But these losses were more than offset by gains in other areas, and consumers have continued to benefit from lower prices and increased purchasing power as most tariffs were eliminated."
Poloz argues against protectionism
In response to another audience question, Poloz argued that people may be losing sight of the benefits of free trade as protectionism gains political traction around the world.
"Certainly, I think that whenever there is a tendency towards protectionism, it's often the case that people just forget the benefits of openness. The fact that we have free trade agreements in place may mean you pay, say, 30 per cent less for a garment than you would if there wasn't a free trade agreement in place," said Poloz.
"But that was a long time ago, and it's just become part of your baseline, and you don't really think about it much. But if we were to reverse that tomorrow, it would be a huge impact on your well-being. Say you had to pay 20 per cent more for every article of clothing that you bought. Well, that would be a significant hit to your spending power."
"History tells us that [trade protectionism] is not a recipe for progress," said Poloz.
Openness and economic progress
In his speech, delivered to university students and alumni at Durham College in Poloz's hometown of Oshawa, Ont., the Bank of Canada governor argued that free trade, foreign investment and immigration all played critical roles in building Canada's economy throughout history.
"When trade barriers are falling, when people are coming to our shores and when investment is rising, Canadians prosper. We saw this before Confederation, in the early 1900s and after the Second World War," said Poloz.
"The flip side is that responding to tough economic times by turning inward rarely succeeds. We saw this after Confederation and during the Great Depression," he said.
"The bottom line of our history is that openness and economic progress go hand in hand."Agile Facilitation & Neuroscience: Transforming Information into Action
Cara Turner, http://facilitatingagility.com/
Khanyisa Real Systems, http://www.krs.co.za/
The face of meetings has changed fundamentally since agile coaches and ScrumMasters started including facilitation techniques into agile meeting structures. Many of us have experienced the productivity benefits of these collaborative practices first hand, so they’re hard to deny. Yet it’s difficult to put our finger on why they should make so much difference to our software development process.
At the same time neuroscience research has become increasingly popular as we try to make sense of the mysterious process of creating ideas and knowledge. As more information becomes available, there seems to be enough overlap in the research to suggest that agile facilitation really does help us make better decisions faster.
"Snake oil!" I hear you cry, but it’s all got to do with how we process information, and a lot to do with a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex.
This article takes a look at how neuroscience supports facilitation methods, how we transform information into action, and which facilitation activities we can use to do so.
Facilitation and agile thinking
From the mid 2000’s a group of agile thinkers began to focus on collaborative practices that support self-organizing teams, with authors Jean Tabaka, Esther Derby and Diana Larsen leading the way. The facilitation field boasts a number of collaboration practices, and these have been increasingly applied to running agile meetings and Scrum ‘events’, with facilitation now being a recognized Scrum master role.
These practices include time-boxing meetings and each section within them, keeping the agenda visible, silent writing, consensus techniques, and structured collaborative methods which ensure a high level of participation throughout the meeting. Thanks to the specific agile focus on continuous improvement, a variety of activities have evolved to examine our processes and products from different perspectives.
The benefits we see
Complexity theory, Lean Thinking, Systems Thinking and even Improv Theatre all bear out the benefits of agile facilitation practices, which allow:
In-depth exploration of all factors affecting our current situation
Collective knowledge of and input into product decisions as they need to be made
Early identification of high-benefit activities
Frequent re-assessments to identify changes in our systems, and
Increasing flexibility to respond to unexpected change
Dan North’s work on Deliberate Discovery also provides insight into the agile meeting flow. North describes software development as a process of overcoming a current state of ignorance by discovering new information about our product as we need it – whether that’s the feature set or how we’ll store data [1].
From this perspective we can see how the agile meeting flow supports the process of just-in-time decision-making. We explore the product needs and our available options through the various grooming activities, planning for releases and sprints, reviewing sprints, retrospecting and re-planning, to uncover the right amount of detail at the right time.
But none of this explains why facilitation methods work so well. The key seems to lie in the physical details of how we process information internally.
Agile Facilitation and Neuroscience
It’s about how we learn
Prof. James Zull is a biologist and educator who became intrigued with the process by which we learn. Through exploring various theories of learning, he encountered David Kolb’s work on Experiential Learning [2], and had the remarkable insight that from a biologist’s viewpoint, the process described by Kolb maps directly to the physical makeup of the brain. [3]
In The Art of Changing the Brain Zull describes the major activities of experiential learning as they take place in various areas of the cortex (the soft grey outer layer of the brain), and their correlation to Experiential Learning (see Figure 1).
Information is received through the sensory and post-sensory areas of the cortex at the back of the brain (Kolb’s Concrete Experience) which we process via the temporal integrative cortex by comparing it with knowledge we have previously acquired. We search our memories for associations or patterns that match our new data, and adjust our existing neural networks to accommodate this data (Reflective Observation).
Once we’ve sifted through the data to understand it, our prefrontal cortex formulates an idea about the information we’ve received, why it’s there, and what we can do with it (Abstract Hypotheses).
We then use our pre-motor and motor cortex to put our ideas into action (Active Testing). Zull makes the surprisingly obvious observation that eye movements, speech and writing are all motor activities and hence action. ‘Progress’ as we understand it is also deeply connected with moving – we move ahead or fall behind; we reach for new goals.
Having acted on our hypothesis, we follow this by sensing again, sifting the data we get back through our temporal integrative cortex filters, and make sense of it all anew.
The correlations between this cycle and Deming’s PDCA cycle of Plan, Do, Check, Act are noteworthy, fundamentally supporting the continuous improvement cycle baked into agile via regular sprintly retrospectives.
The term ‘experiential learning’ is also consistently applied to the way we learn agile practices and processes. We can’t ‘become agile’ by reading books: we have to experience, assimilate, experiment and review in order to ‘get it’.
But what about that prefrontal cortex?
In Your Brain at Work neuroscientist David Rock describes in detail the process of cognitive thought: the activities governed by the prefrontal cortex. This is the region we use when we’re consciously thinking about anything, and its main functions are: Understanding, Deciding, Recalling, Memorizing and Inhibiting.[4]
The prefrontal cortex seems like our brain’s equivalent of a computer’s CPU: we use it to hold a thought in mind, to call up memories, to make comparisons and to make decisions. Like a CPU, the prefrontal cortex has a very limited processing capacity – but unlike a computer, we can’t just add hardware to make it go faster. So we have to change the way we work to make it more effective.
Conceptual Challenges
One of the well-known constraints of our short-term memory is that we can recall around 7 simple concepts at one time. However, most of the concepts we deal with are complex, particularly in IT. Ideas map to further ideas and associations, and yet further memories and connections.
Calling up the idea of a smart phone could bring to mind: social connectivity, apps, mobile design, platform, compatibility, email, appointments, plans… not to mention phone calls.
According to Rock, when we’re actively thinking about complex concepts, we can only hold one in mind without any degradation in quality. For comparisons, two are optimal, and for decision-making we can hold no more than four, but at this point the quality of recall has degraded sufficiently that we aren’t able to focus on a whole picture.
If we think about agile planning, with systems made up of architectural layers and interconnecting applications, we can see that attempts to model new feature sets in our mind alone poses a significant challenge.
Another constraint of our internal CPU is that conscious work burns metabolic fuel fast. Because of all the connected associations, working with just one concept depletes our processing capacity, and activities like planning and prioritizing which require all of the prefrontal cortex activities, exhaust us quickly.
This may have something to do with why we tend to want to avoid them. Long and exhausting or frequently rescheduled grooming sessions are a sign that the deeper level system planning is missing. Keeping grooming at the ‘appropriately detailed’ level allows us to get the depth of knowledge we need as we need it, without wasting precious CPU capacity.
Focus!
We’re more easily distracted when we’re tired – which makes sense now that we know that inhibiting other thoughts is part of the prefrontal cortex’s role. When everything is competing for our attention and we aren’t able to filter and focus on the important connections, we lose the ability to hold all the relevant data in mind. We tend to make poor decisions not only about the work we’re doing but also where to place our attention.
As a short-term fix we can replenish the sugars our mental activities deplete, but this is not sustainable and also has other health implications, so we need to schedule frequent breaks. Another way to recharge is simply to change our activities to give different areas of the brain a rest.
Moving from active thinking to more energy-efficient activities served by long-term memory (anything that we can run on ‘autopilot’ for a while) allows us to come back to the heavier work a bit later with more clarity.
These insights together explain why it helps to time-box activities, particularly intensive exercises such as grooming and prioritizing. Scheduling them early or after a short break when we’re more alert will also help here.
Our ability to inhibit other thoughts is also what allows us to place deep attention on one thing. So doing things like setting aside specific time for planning and integrating activities such as grooming, sprint planning and retrospectives is another way we can improve the quality of our attention – ideally away from our desks and day-to-day distractions so that we don’t have to inhibit these as well.
What we’re good at
Fortunately, our prefrontal cortex has lots of strengths too, that help reduce load on the limited CPU.
Use our senses
To start with, molecular biologist John Medina explains that "Our senses evolved to work together – vision influencing hearing, for example – which means that we learn best if we stimulate several senses at once." Since each sensory input is recorded in different parts of the brain, by incorporating physical / spatial, visual, sound and even taste and smell elements, we create much more vivid associations, and hence have better memory recall. [5]
Medina also emphasizes the importance of movement in its own right. Exercise improves the flow of blood to our brains, bringing glucose for thinking, and oxygen to clean up the chemical waste produced by thinking (the brain uses the most glucose of any organ in the body). It also helps keep our neurons able to connect to each other. While a bit of movement in Sprint Planning is hardly a workout, experiments indicate that even a small amount of exertion shows improved results over no movement.
This helps to explain why interaction in meetings – even the simple steps of collaborative writing and getting up to stick post-its on a flipchart – makes a difference.
Get graphic
Zull, Rock and Medina all emphasize that we have an excellent capacity for processing visual imagery. Images and sketches are highly efficient means for communicating detailed information; it’s much easier to convey a concept in a graphical representation showing relationships between people and objects than it is to explain it using language - as witnessed by the rise of the infographic.
Going metaphorical
Combined with our pattern matching ability, our visual processing gives us the capacity to create and interpret metaphors and associations powerfully. Just as it’s easier to communicate ideas via images than words, we find it easier to integrate information by creating connections with things we already know and understand.
Although our associations are often spoken or written, the effect is to create a mental image. Metaphors work by applying the range of connotations and associations we have with a familiar item to a different item or process to deepen our understanding.
Metaphors are particularly useful in agile facilitation to get us out of our jargon use, which is notoriously easy to misunderstand.
This process generates new connections that may be unconscious, hidden or surprising, which extend or strengthen our existing neural networks. This in turn helps us to remember, visualize and think creatively about an issue.
While it may seem counter-intuitive at first, thinking in metaphors is a communication skill we all utilize naturally, and one that teams become increasingly fluent with over time.
So apologies to the skeptics: there’s good neuroscience for comparing your last sprint to a fruit …
Mental mapping
Pattern matching also gives us the ability to build up ‘template’ patterns when we’ve seen and done something many times. These templates seem to represent a specific state of a concept, building up our own shorthand for complex concepts.
The main advantage is to be able to visualize different routes to and from a current state, for better decision-making, but it also helps us to do another energy-saving tactic for thinking, which is to ‘chunk’ information. This is a form of mental mapping in which we consciously identify 3 - 4 key associations with each idea, and use this summary form for decision-making. This keeps the information level rich and our active-memory effort low.
Write it down
Another efficiency that Rock describes is to get the ideas and concepts out of our head by writing them down so that we don’t have to use energy remembering them.
If we think of planning and retrospective activities when we do this as a group, the notes that others make also prompt our own memories, which helps to flesh out a fuller picture. Instead of trying to recall all the relevant associations and retain focus on each item while making decisions, this process frees up our CPU to sort, theme, compare, weight and select without the concern of overlooking important data.
I sometimes wonder where agile methodologies would be without the humble post-it note...
Think deeply
One disadvantage of our pattern matching ability is that we are quick to draw connections using only short-term memory and easy-to-access information. Thinking through an issue thoroughly requires us to search through longer term memories. This takes a fair amount more energy for our brains. When we’re rushed or tired we don’t go to the effort of finding the deeper associations, and end up working from incomplete data which leads to poorer quality conclusions.
In terms of problem solving in agile, this explains the value of longer exercises that are intended to jog our memories - the ‘Gathering Data’ section in retrospectives, as well as root cause analyses such as ‘5 Whys’ and Cause and Effect diagrams. Taking time to think more clearly about what we know leads to much higher quality of information – and now we know why.
Acting on our knowledge
Now that we understand more about how we think, let’s look at turning information into active knowledge.
Coming back to the physicality of our brain, James Zull refers to this process as a "Transformation Line" – bridging the Reflective Observation function and Active Testing area of our brains.
Although his focus is university students, Zull’s words echo almost exactly the purpose of retrospectives:
"Data enters learners through concrete experience where it is organized and rearranged through reflection. But it is still just data until learners begin to work with it. When learners convert this data into ideas, plans, and actions, they experience the transformation I have described. Things are now under their control, and they are free of the tyranny of information. They have created and are free to continually test their own knowledge." [3]
Agile retrospectives are our tool to make sure we truly do make this transformation: take our information and turn it into meaningful ways in which we can act to improve our world.
A range of Retrospective choices
There are many retrospective activities we can use to explore of our products and processes for improvements. But different formats will give us very different outcomes. Which game should we use, and why?
It helps that most retrospective activities fit into one of four categories:
Visual activities work at the idea level, helping us to get thoughts out of our head, to study them and make collaborative decisions.
Immersive games work at the experiential level and provide much deeper learning by engaging all our senses and bringing awareness to the interactions and decisions we make instinctively. This is the space of rapid learning.
Analytical games investigate our current situation, while imaginative games work to generate new insights and ideas.
The games mentioned below are all listed in the reference section.
Visual Activities
Collaborative Sorting
At the most accessible level, we have "games" that are simply collaborative sorting activities. These explore the relationships between events and facts about the sprint, and while they may make use of metaphor to create related sorting categories, they don’t challenge our imagination.
Games such as Liked, Lacked, Learned, Longed For and learning matrixes create a framework that makes it is easier to identify the specific details that we can act on to improve right now, from the multitude of things we think and know.
Root cause formats like Cause and Effect diagram help us get beyond surface thinking by applying deep questioning; while Speed Boat type games start to bring in metaphor.
From what we know about brain science, this format trumps a Meeting to Discuss Improvements primarily by creating a visual focus – it’s much easier to give valuable input when we are literally focused on it. The Gamestorming authors call this "meaningful space" – somewhere where we can juxtapose and contemplate the issues that require our attention.[6]
Generating Ideas
Visual imagination exercises help us capture ideas from new perspectives.
Brainstorming activities such as Random Input use association to drive new connections, while ‘futurespecting’ exercises such as Pre-Mortem look from a future date to imagine what could happen in our projects, as if they already have.
Drawing exercises such as Draw the Problem and Poster Session connect with different processes in our brains (thinking visually is different from communicating visually), leading to rich and frequently surprising insights.
Resistance to these games now makes sense. We may have concerns about our creative ability, but also thinking back to our brain functions, this kind of work can be very taxing. We need to change our frame of reference, inhibit distractions, generate concepts, and try to interpret them – all at the same time.
David Rock also notes that we need a certain amount of stress to reach an optimal state of creative flow. With too little stress we’re unmotivated to exert ourselves, but too much shuts down our imagination as we go into survival mode. So it helps to have working agreements that create a sense of comfort while maintaining creative tension.
Quantity trumps quality here, so there are no bad questions and no ideas rejected. This helps us to get existing ideas out of our heads quickly, to free up space to search deeper for different ideas. ‘Bad’ ideas often spark conversation that produces excellent ones. Silly, funny ideas are welcome too, as humor has a relaxing effect, which eases our creative concerns and frees up our associative abilities.
Teams new to imaginative work may want to end by clarifying concrete steps to take further, so that the input feels channeled somewhere. As teams become more experienced, this becomes less important. Ideas can be left to surface organically which helps avoid ‘anchoring’ our thinking too soon, leading to far more profound insights.
Immersive activities
Immersive activities take us more deeply into the realm of play – the practice of learning by doing.
Simulations
Simulations like the Kanban pamphlet game and Jenga testing game allow us to learn behaviors relevant to a process, encounter tricks and traps, and discover solutions. The internalized experience of falling into a trap and finding our way out is the most powerful learning here – this is a true safe to fail environment.
Games have set objectives, repeated cycles with small variations, and of course twists that interrupt our carefully constructed plans. These help participants understand our behaviors under different systems. By incorporating the realities of software development, they also teach us the value of resilience.
Lego simulations take this further. The activity of building in a safe-to-fail environment teaches us the mechanics of collaborative projects. Being able to tear down structures easily, to share insights and work together to build new ones quickly, models the kind of ways we can interact while building software together.
This can also be taken into creative innovation sessions using activities like Gamestorming’s Make a World. Design company IDEO’s CEO Tim Brown calls it as playful building, or thinking with our hands.
Experience Prototyping
Experience Prototyping is the name IDEO gave to activities such as role playing and Bodystorming, which they and Nordström’s Innovation Lab use to get out of traditional thinking.
The idea behind these is to ‘act out’ a service situation or application, with people taking the ‘roles’ of both interfaces and the users of the system, to unearth the unexpected behaviors and expectations consumers actually have.
In his TEDTalk "Tales of Creativity and Play" Brown emphasizes that, aside from embarrassment, our ‘adult’ distrust of play seems to be that we don’t believe the insights generated from play will be valid in the ‘real world’. [7]
IDEO’s research into play challenges this: kids’ play is not the unstructured free-for-all we imagine with our ‘serious’ workday minds. Instead, kids follow set scripts learnt from adults in order to create life-like situations in which they can ‘try on’ and practice future roles. Children are quick to note when the rules of the play have been broken.
In the same way, when we ‘try on’ an experience we also set up clear conditions so that it’s easy to spot when we’re not being authentic. In fact, we act with as much authenticity as our embarrassment will let us, and consequently the quality of the discoveries and insights is significant.
It’s no surprise that the area in which these activities have found most traction is in the design phase, generating new and deeper insights into our products and customers, paving the way to better customer experiences as well as product innovation.
An Empathy Tool
Actual role-playing focuses more deeply on human interaction – Brown describes role-play as both a tool for prototyping experiences and an empathy tool.
You know how often you look back on a bad conversation and think "if only I had done that instead of this"? At one level our brains can’t distinguish between fiction and reality – sections of our brain are dedicated to "theory of mind" where we seem to model in our own mind the things we see others doing, to try to understand their motivation. This is not only a mental process but also has a physiological effect so that we almost are experiencing what others are doing.
When we play another character, we become acutely more aware of the needs and incentives driving others, as well as highlighting our personal behaviors and biases. And simply by trying out different behaviors in a situation, we discover new ways to respond to them in our ‘real life’ scenarios.
While these lessons may not help resolve a past situation, they may well help to understand it better, and create new possibilities for when we encounter similar scenarios.
It’s not ‘All or Nothing’
We still need to balance play and serious activities – Brown notes that kids naturally move between these two states, but as adults we tend to fear that they are absolute, we’re either playful or serious.
Thinking about retrospectives, it makes sense that we include different kinds of kinds of activities for generating ideas than for acting on them. Divergent, exploratory activities are where we most need creative and playful input, to give us the widest possible set of options. We then bring our serious attention back for the convergent activities of selecting ideas and acting on them.
Putting it all together
As we have seen, our minds are powerful tools, but our active thinking capacity is limited, so we need to use it wisely, particularly when working with complex concepts.
Neuroscience sheds some light on how agile facilitation supports our thinking process:
Working with the right amount of detail at the right time keeps our focus clear
Moving to a separate space away from our normal details helps to create a mental break and focus on the work for each meeting
Planning an agenda to include movement and variety improves our ability to think and focus
Understanding our processes and looking for improvements needs particularly deep attention, for which collaborative facilitation activities are most beneficial
Creative and playful exploration generates profoundly new insights, to create those innovative ideas that are really the same thing looked at from a different angle
All of which really do help us to reach the best decisions, fast.
References for: Agile Facilitation & Neuroscience
Agile and Scrum Team and People Articles
Fear of Intervention - How Subordinates Grow to be Entrepreneurs
The Core Protocols, an Experience Report - Part 1
The Core Protocols, an Experience Report - Part 2
Agile Coaching Tips
Scrum and Project Management Knowledge
Scrum Expert
Agile Videos and Tutorials
Project Management Planet
Click here to view the complete list of archived articles
This article was originally published in the Winter 2012 issue of Methods & ToolsGM CEO Mary Barra this morning officially took the wraps off of what's become the least well-guarded secret in the auto biz: a $30,000 plug-in electric car aimed at middle America, with a range, she said, that would hit 200 miles.
While just a concept at this point, Barra said "this is no stripped down science experiment," and signaled that GM plans to move towards production of the vehicle, though she did not say when. The company is aiming to become a leader in electric vehicles, and has been producing its Volt model since 2010. They introduced an updated version of that car this morning as well, with up to 50 miles of on a single charge, a 30% increase, and 400 when combined with a gas-powered range extender.
The Bolt is a clear shot at upstart rival Tesla, which has said it is working on a less-expensive version of its $70,000+ Model S. Dubbed the "Model 3," it would cost somewhere between $30,000-$40,000, a clear attack on the most popular segment of the automobile market.
Barra is clearly looking to meet the challenge. The Bolt, she said, would be an "all electric vehicle for the real world." Tesla CEO Elon Musk is scheduled to appear at a related auto industry conference in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon.'Lifetime' ticket holder sues A&M over changes to Kyle Field
With lawsuits underway in five counties over Texas A&M University's proposed price increases for certain football season ticket holders, another has been filed in Jefferson County.
Mary Jane Zummo, who filed suit Aug. 2 against the university's 12th Man Foundation, claims an announced "reseating process" for Kyle Field football games beginning in 2015 will cost her about $124,000 to keep seats promised to her for life.
At least 18 other plaintiffs have filed similar lawsuits.
Zummo and her late husband, John F. Zummo, agreed in 1982 to contribute $40,000 to the 12th Man Foundation's endowed scholarship program, in exchange for four season tickets to home football games and other lifetime benefits, according to court documents.
"In 1982, plaintiff's husband personally picked out their seat locations in Kyle Field: west side, second deck, between the south 40 and 45 yard lines," her petition states.
The Zummos' names were put on the chosen seats, showing that the seats were for them, the suit states. In addition, the foundation promised the best available game-day parking for life, the petition states.
This year, however, the defendant unilaterally changed the deal by instituting a "Priority Point Program" requiring donors like the Zummos to bid against other contributors to retain certain benefits, the suit states.
In July, the foundation announced the reseating process and set a deadline of July 31, 2013, for donors to designate sections in which they want seats in the redeveloped Kyle Field, the suit states.
"If this plan is permitted to move forward, the seat locations to which plaintiff is entitled under her agreement will be auctioned off, and plaintiff will forever lose the benefits for which she and her husband paid defendant," the petition states.
The suit asks the court to issue a permanent injunction ordering the defendant to continue to provide four tickets to each home football game in Zummo's designated seat for the rest of her life, along with other benefits under the contract, the petition states.
She also is seeking monetary damages of up to $1 million.
The suit was filed in Jefferson County because at the time of the 1982 agreement, the Zummos lived there, the suit states.
Zummo is represented by Randall O. Sorrels and Clyde J. "Jay" Jackson of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend in Houston and Claude M. McQuarrie III of McQuarrie Law Office in Porter.
A&M announced May 1 that when construction is finished in August 2015, Kyle Field will seat 102,500, making it the largest stadium in the state as well as in the Southeastern Conference for college athletics.Sebastian “Seb” Hines was born May 29, 1988 in Wetherby, England, a small market town near Leeds. For young Seb, playing soccer was never a question. “It was the main sport growing up. All my friends played it and I just jumped on it.”
Hines’ father, a North Carolina native, was a novice when it came to the sport of soccer but nonetheless supported his English-born son. “With my dad being American and all it obviously wasn’t his first sport but he encouraged me to buckle down and have a hobby to focus on.” Hines’ hobby would soon become his profession.
Hines began his soccer playing career with Sunday league side Kirk Deighton Rangers in nearby Harrogate. In 2003, Hines was scouted by Middlesb |
clude freezing. The water will not be stopped or frozen solid except when the flow of water is significantly restricted by nature or man. Unlike the Horseshoe Falls (which has never frozen over), the American Falls are susceptible to freezing because of the small amount of water flow. Normally the American Falls has a peak mean flow of 10,000 cubic feet of water per second. The winter mean water flow is reduced to less than 8,000 cubic feet of water per second. This minimal flow is barely sufficient to cover the rock face of the Falls. During harsh winters, ice frequently builds up at eastern end of Goat Island causing an ice dam to reduce the water flow to the American channel which feeds water to the American Falls. As a result water flow is restricted sufficiently that any remaining waters quickly freeze over. As an example, the American Falls have frozen over on six occasions since the keeping of records began. Each were attributed to ice jams that have actually curtailed the flow of the American Falls to mere trickles. The American Falls water flow was reduced to such an extent in 1909, 1936, 1938 and 1949 that it froze over.
The frozen American Falls
The frozen American Falls There have been several occasions when the water flowing over the Falls has been redirected by man. They are as follows: During the 1950's, the water over a portion of the Horseshoe Falls nearest the Table Rock Pavilion and Terrapin Point was redirected by the building of a series of coffer dams to allow for remedial work to be done to the edge of the Falls. This was done to allow a more even water flow and to slow the rate of erosion. In 1969, the US Army Corps of Engineers built a cofferdam which stopped the water flow over the American Falls to a mere trickle. This was done to allow a study of the rock formations at the crest of the Falls and to study the feasibility of whether there was any possible way to remove the rock (talus) at the base of the American Falls. In the end, the engineers decided to let mother nature take its course. Today, man has the ability and technology to redirect, divert and dam the waters of the Niagara River. The dam option was considered once in the last 100 years and was quickly abandoned because of the consequences. Currently a minimum of 50% of all the water in the Niagara River is being diverted for hydro generation, municipal and industrial purposes. Nature is unpredictable. Unless it ever repeats itself to cause Niagara Falls to fall silent, the waters will continue to flow. NIAGARA FALLS THUNDER ALLEY NAVIGATOR
INFORMATION INDEX
Information Index Accidents & Rescues Aero Car American Falls Attractions Attractions Price List Aviary of Niagara Barge (Scow) Books & Authors Botanical Gardens Boundary Waters Treaty Bridges History Butterfly Conservatory Carillon Tower Casino Niagara Cave of the Winds Clifton Hill Climate Customs Regulations Daredevils Dewatered Falls Directions & Parking Dufferin Islands Environmental Issues EVENTS & NEWS Falls Facts & History Festival of Lights Fireworks Over Falls Floral Clock Floral Showhouse Frequently Asked Questions Geology Greenhouses Horseshoe Falls Hydro Diversion Ice Bridges / Ice Boom Illumination Lights Links to Educational Sites Maid of the Mist Municipalities of Niagara NEWS & EVENTS Niagara Glen Niagara Gorge Niagara Parks Niagara River Niagara River Treaty Niagara Tunnel Project Oakes Garden Theatre Parking & Directions Power History Rankine Power Station Rescues & Accidents Scow (Stranded Barge) SITE MAP Spanish Aero Car Towers of Niagara Falls Urban Developments Weather Whirlpool Whirlpool Aero Car Whirlpool Rapids
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
History Index Barge (Scow) Accidents & Rescues Accounts Historic American Falls Dry 1969 American Revolution Barnett, Thomas Bender, Phillip Birth of the Cities: a history Bridges: a History British in Niagara Burning Springs Caroline, the Steamboat Center, the Chippawa - a History City of the Falls Project Clifton, Town & Village of Commerce (Early) Crysler, Harmanus Daredevils Hall of Fame Devil's Hole & Massacre Dewatered Falls Drummond Hill Early Settlers Explorers Accounts Forsyth, James Freedom Trail of Niagara French in Niagara Frontier Amusement Park Geology - a History Great Gorge Route Historic Accounts Honeymoon Bridge Collapse Hotels & Campgrounds Ice Bridges Ice Bridge Deaths Incline Railway Crash (1907) Indian Nations Islands of Upper Niagara Lorreto Academy MacKenzie Rebellion Michigan, the Schooner Mill District of New York Mowat Gates Muddy Run Creek New York, Western Niagara Falls 1800's Niagara Parks - a History Oakes, Harry Pioneer Families Post American Revolution Portage Road Power - a History Powerhouse at Queenston 1954 Prospect Point Rockfall Railroads - a History Rankine Power Station Schoellkopf Power Collapse Scow(stranded barge) SITE MAP Skyview Airlines Streetcars & Trolleys Subchaser Superior, the steamboat Table Rock - a History Terrapin Point - a History Toll Roads - a History Tower Terminal Inn Towers - a History Townships: a history War of 1812, Rumours of War of 1812 Battle of Queenston Battle of Newark Battle of Beaverdams Battle of Chippawa Battle of Lundy's Lane Battle of Cooks Mills War of 1812- Ending Post War Development Water Works Yesterday 1909 Zimmerman, Samuel
PICTURES & SLIDESHOWS
Photo Index American Memories (link) Fireworks Over Falls Historical Pictures Page #1 Historical Pictures Page #2 Honeymoon Bridge Collapse NF Library Collection (link) Panoramic Pictures Powerhouse at Queenston 1954 Small Town America (link) Yesterday 1909
SITE MAP Date last updated: February 13, 2012
If you have questions of a current or historical nature about the Niagara Falls area or suggestions feel free to e-mail Rick at niagarahistory@gmail.com
THANK YOU FOR VISITING Niagara Falls
THE DAY NIAGARA FALLS STOOD STILL a historyNajam Sethi, the PCB's interim chairman, met with CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat in Abu Dhabi © AFP
The PCB and CSA have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding that will increase cricketing ties between the two countries. Pakistan will tour South Africa later this month, filling a void left by India's truncated visit, and the boards have now signalled their intention to cooperate further after a meeting between Najam Sethi, the interim PCB chairman, and the CSA chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, in Abu Dhabi.
The arrangement could see more Pakistani players taking part in South Africa's domestic competitions. Sethi said that it was time for the PCB "to stand with CSA", while Lorgat welcomed Pakistan's decision to come to South Africa for three ODIs and two T20s in November, following the ongoing meeting between the two teams in the UAE.
"[The] ideal thing would be for us is to play a series at home but unfortunately for various reasons that is not possible," Sethi said. "It's important for our players at the national and Under-19 levels to play internationally and I am very keen to support that, so when the opportunity came along, although it's a tight time frame, it was time for us to stand with CSA. We don't end up making too much money but we don't lose anything and our boys get to play South Africa in South Africa, which is very exciting."
Pakistan have already toured South Africa once this year and their players could gain further experience of the conditions by turning out for the franchises. Sohail Tanvir has been a successful recruit for the Lions over the past two seasons and his international team-mates may now follow in his footsteps.
Pakistan has not hosted a series since terrorist attacks on a Sri Lanka team bus in 2009, limiting the team's game time, although they have been successful playing in the Emirates. Pakistan players have also been excluded from the IPL in that period, after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, but Sethi expressed a hope that this situation may be reversed.
Lorgat 'distressed' by ICC investigation Haroon Lorgat has described the ongoing ICC investigation into his conduct as "very distressing". Lorgat has withdrawn from aspects of his role as CSA chief executive, including dealing with the BCCI and ICC, in relation to a statement made by David Becker, the ICC's former head of legal. It is understood that there has been no progress on arranging an independent hearing. "It is personally very distressing but I offered to be investigated because there was an allegation," Lorgat said. "The less I said about that the better because the matter is sub judice."
"Our players will also play in South African domestic cricket and that will give them more cricket," he said. "I have talked to Lorgat, he has promised me to encourage our players to play in their local leagues. My concern is that our players should play in India in the IPL and in county cricket, we want to do that. If they let our players in the local leagues then it will give them good outing and good education."
The visit of Pakistan was hastily arranged after India cut their South Africa tour to two Tests and three ODIs. Such was CSA's desire to arrange the fixtures, it is prepared to make a financial loss. Lorgat has been a supporter of cricket in Pakistan, travelling there as a consultant to the proposed Pakistan Super League after finishing his tenure as ICC chief executive last year. He denied, however, that a tightening of relations between the two countries would stoke the ire of the BCCI.
"We are excited and happy with that great engagement with Pakistan and it's pretty obvious that it fills a gap that has risen out of a curtailed tour," Lorgat said. Asked whether the Indian board would be unhappy with the arrangement, he replied: "I don't see why it should, Pakistan was available and it's a bilateral arrangement between the two and we are simply delighted that we can get Pakistan to South Africa."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.Renault insists its engine partnership with Red Bull can last long-term despite rumours Audi is in talks with the drinks company about an F1 project.
Red Bull and Renault won four titles together under the previous set of regulations, but have struggled for performance and reliability since the current V6 turbo engines were introduced last year. Red Bull has put the blame firmly on Renault and after the Spanish Grand Prix said Helmut Marko said he is looking to Audi as a potential engine partner in the future.
However, speaking during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul said the "marriage" with Red Bull is salvageable.
"We are here for the long-term but we are living through a tough moment," he told Formula One's official website. "Is there a better wife for Red Bull and Toro Rosso out there? I don't know. Is there a better husband - if it is in this direction - for Renault? I don't think so.
"This marriage has all the reason in the world to last. So we have to do a better job on-track, but we also have to a better job off-track... and maybe in bed also."
Abiteboul said the Renault power unit is showing potential on the dynos back at the factory, but something is preventing that translating into on-track performance at races.
"On the dyno the engines are reliable, but when we come on track they are not. Obviously there is something wrong in our validation process, from dyno to track in terms of testing. There is something we need to investigate. It's just like aerodynamics, when the wind tunnel is not telling the truth; it's exactly the same in the engine world.
"Maybe we flattered ourselves on the back of very good results with Red Bull for years, to think that we are controlling everything. But maybe there was some form of beast in the shadows, hiding. And we need to hide that beast now.
"We need to set ourselves realistic objectives. We know sometimes our customers will not like it ant that's one of the difficulties of operating as a supplier to customers, and I'm pretty sure if we were one team we would be capable of managing this crises, including at a human level in a better way."KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Members of a city council in Iowa voted Monday to remove a veterans memorial that included a cross from a local park, and in turn, members of the community voted on Tuesday to remove the council members from office.
”We warned them multiple times if they let our town down they would be voted out,” Allison Schmitz of Stop the Insanity posted online this week. “They didn’t listen, and look, the people have spoken!”
As previously reported, the display features the silhouette of a soldier bending down on one knee before a cross-shaped grave marker, and was reportedly placed in Young’s Park by a local veteran. The individual had not sought permission from the city, but the city saw no issue with the memorial since it was understood to honor veterans.
In August, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) sent a letter to officials with the Iowa Department of Parks and Recreation to seek the removal of the memorial after it said that it received a complaint about its presence on government property.
“The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits government bodies from promoting religion on public land, including through the display of Latin crosses—‘the preeminent symbol of Christianity,’” the letter read. “Please remove the Latin cross from government property.”
The demand resulted in an uprising within the community, including a rally in support of the monument. But on Monday, council members voted 3-2 to have the memorial relocated to private property across the street and replaced with another display. April Verwers, Carolyn Formanek and David Roozeboom all voted against the memorial, while Dawn Allspach-Kline and Tim Pitt voted in favor of it.
In turn, on Election Day Tuesday, residents voted for Verwers and Formanek’s opponents, booting them from office. Roozeboom did not seek re-election.
Connect with Christian News
Follow @4christiannews
“I think they needed to listen to the constituents along with the rallies,” newly-elected council member Rick Kingery told local television station KCCI. “The people put out 2,000 wooden crosses across town. That is a huge number. People wanted their voices heard, and they were not listened to.”
Mayor Brian Hatch defended the city council to reporters, stating that none really wanted to move the memorial, but that in the best interest of the city, some voted to do so in order to avoid a lawsuit.
“I hope it brings some closure to it,” he said. “I hope we can kind of achieve the best of both worlds. We avoid a costly lawsuit and at the same time we still have the silhouette memorial up honoring the veterans, right across the road hopefully, on private property.”
But the Liberty Institute, which is representing the veteran who initially placed the monument, is now considering the available legal options, as it believes removal of the monument is unconstitutional.Reading failed to gain promotion through the play-offs for a sixth time
Reading manager Jaap Stam dismissed talk of him moving on from the club following their Championship play-off final heartbreak against Huddersfield.
The Royals missed out on promotion to the Premier League when they were beaten 4-3 on penalties at Wembley.
"I'm still happy to be here, to work here, to live in the area," the Dutchman said afterwards.
"I still have a contract at Reading, there's nothing that's going to take me away from the club."
Stam guided Reading to third place in the Championship table in his first campaign in charge and his impressive start to management has seen him linked with a potential job in the Premier League.
But the former Manchester United defender refused to entertain questions about him leaving behind Reading's ambitions of reaching the top flight.
"Of course you want to work at the highest level," he said. "You want to work at the absolute top eventually as I've played there myself as well.
"But it doesn't mean, 'OK we've achieved this, so next season I need to go away'. We just need to have a look at what's going to happen in the summer."
They led 3-1 in the shootout at one stage before Liam Moore's miss and Huddersfield keeper Danny Ward's save from Jordan Obita gave the Yorkshire club the advantage.
Media playback is not supported on this device Jaap Stam tells BBC Radio Berkshire he doesn't want to think about his future yet.
However, Stam believes Reading have what it takes to be in promotion contention again next term.
"Before I came here last season, we spoke about what the club wants to do, the ambition that we eventually want to end up in the Premier League," he said.
"How long does it take? Is it two or is it three seasons? Normally you don't succeed straightaway to get into the play-offs and the final in the first season.
"We did it because we've got a great bunch of lads and I'm very proud of them and what they've done this season."
Stam 'under the spotlight'
Speaking after the final, Reading co-chairman Sir John Madejski admitted rumours of Stam being tempted away from the club were inevitable after his first-season success.
"Every manager that's successful is always under the spotlight," he told BBC South Today.
"I hope he will stay, he's very happily ensconced in Berkshire, so it would be a pretty big tempting offer in my estimation to take him away from Reading.
"I would expect to see him back here next season.
"He's done a fantastic job as has his support crew. Nobody for one moment at the start of the season thought we'd be here in a play-off final, so there's an awful lot to be proud of and to build on."
'We'll grow from this'
Liam Moore missed his penalty in the shootout at Wembley
Stam's disappointment was shared by his players at full-time, including goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, who had saved a penalty from Huddersfield's Michael Hefele in the shootout.
"We've had such a great season," the Oman international told BBC Radio Berkshire.
"It's difficult to take, but we did a fantastic job in a great game where we dug in for 120 minutes, but that's the way of penalties."
Defender Tyler Blackett urged his team-mates to pick themselves up and go again for next season.
"Hopefully we'll learn from what we could've done better this season," he said. "We're a strong team and we'll grow from it."One has to wonder though, since CO2 residence time has been said to be anywhere from five year to hundreds, or even thousands of years, with no solid agreement yet, how they can be so sure of themselves?
From the University of Cambridge
4 degree rise will end vegetation ‘carbon sink’
Latest climate and biosphere modelling suggests that the length of time carbon remains in vegetation during the global carbon cycle – known as ‘residence time’ – is the key “uncertainty” in predicting how Earth’s terrestrial plant life – and consequently almost all life – will respond to higher CO2 levels and global warming, say researchers.
Carbon will spend increasingly less time in vegetation as the negative impacts of climate change take their toll through factors such as increased drought levels – with carbon rapidly released back into the atmosphere where it will continue to add to global warming.
Researchers say that extensive modelling shows a four degree temperature rise will be the threshold beyond which CO2 will start to increase more rapidly, as natural carbon ‘sinks’ of global vegetation become “saturated” and unable to sequester any more CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere.
They call for a “change in research priorities” away from the broad-stroke production of plants and towards carbon ‘residence time’ – which is little understood – and the interaction of different kinds of vegetation in ecosystems such as carbon sinks.
Carbon sinks are natural systems that drain and store CO2 from the atmosphere, with vegetation providing many of the key sinks that help chemically balance the world – such as the Amazon rainforest and the vast, circumpolar Boreal forest.
As the world continues to warm, consequent events such as Boreal forest fires and mid-latitude droughts will release increasing amounts of carbon into the atmosphere – pushing temperatures ever higher.
Initially, higher atmospheric CO2 will encourage plant growth as more CO2 stimulates photosynthesis, say researchers. But the impact of a warmer world through drought will start to negate this natural balance until it reaches a saturation point.
The modelling shows that global warming of four degrees will result in Earth’s vegetation becoming “dominated” by negative impacts – such as ‘moisture stress’, when plant cells have too little water – on a global scale.
Carbon-filled vegetation ‘sinks’ will likely become saturated at this point, they say, flat-lining further absorption of atmospheric CO2. Without such major natural CO2 drains, atmospheric carbon will start to increase more rapidly – driving further climate change.
The researchers say that, in light of the new evidence, scientific focus must shift away from productivity outputs – the generation of biological material – and towards the “mechanistic levels” of vegetation function, such as how plant populations interact and how different types of photosyntheses will react to temperature escalation.
Particular attention needs to be paid to the varying rates of carbon ‘residence time’ across the spectrum of flora in major carbon sinks – and how this impacts the “carbon turnover”, they say.
The Cambridge research, led by Dr Andrew Friend from the University’s Department of Geography, is part of the ‘Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project’ (ISI-MIP) – a unique community-driven effort to bring research on climate change impacts to a new level, with the first wave of research published today in a special issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Global vegetation contains large carbon reserves that are vulnerable to climate change, and so will determine future atmospheric CO2,” said Friend, lead author of this paper. “The impacts of climate on vegetation will affect biodiversity and ecosystem status around the world.”
“This work pulls together all the latest understanding of climate change and its impacts on global vegetation – it really captures our understanding at the global level.”
The ISI-MIP team used seven global vegetation models, including Hybrid – the model that Friend has been honing for fifteen years – and the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) modelling. These were run exhaustively using supercomputers – including Cambridge’s own Darwin computer, which can easily accomplish overnight what would take a PC months – to create simulations of future scenarios:
“We use data to work out the mathematics of how the plant grows – how it photosynthesises, takes-up carbon and nitrogen, competes with other plants, and is affected by soil nutrients and water – and we do this for different vegetation types,” explained Friend.
“The whole of the land surface is understood in 2,500 km2 portions. We then input real climate data up to the present and look at what might happen every 30 minutes right up until 2099.”
While there are differences in the outcomes of some of the models, most concur that the amount of time carbon lingers in vegetation is the key issue, and that global warming of four degrees or more – currently predicted by the end of this century – marks the point at which carbon in vegetation reaches capacity.
“In heatwaves, ecosystems can emit more CO2 than they absorb from the atmosphere,” said Friend. “We saw this in the 2003 European heatwave when temperatures rose six degrees above average – and the amount of CO2 produced was sufficient to reverse the effect of four years of net ecosystem carbon sequestration.”
For Friend, this research should feed into policy: “To make policy you need to understand the impact of decisions.
“The idea here is to understand at what point the increase in global temperature starts to have serious effects across all the sectors, so that policy makers can weigh up impacts of allowing emissions to go above a certain level, and what mitigation strategies are necessary.”
###
The ISI-MIP team is coordinated by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria, and involves two-dozen research groups from eight countries.
Advertisements
Share this: Print
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
LinkedIn
RedditWe need your art for our Minecraft Calendar!
Imagine getting your art in our 2014 Minecraft calendar, winning a heap of prizes, and helping raise money for Block by Block - our collaboration with UN Habitat - in the process. It’s a massive win-win for everyone.
Art submitted by you will feature in our 2014 Wall Calendar, which is getting created with the help of Jinx. All you need to do is draw something inspired and submit it by February the 8th. The community will help choose the winning entries later in the year, and all proceeds from calendar sales will go towards Block by Block.
We’re supplying a theme to keep things light-hearted, but there’s still room to show off your creativity. Here’s the idea we want you to illustrate:
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you in Minecraft?
12 winners will be picked from the submissions and each of those will get:
A glow in the Dark Creeper Vinyl autographed by Notch and Jens
$500 Cash!
A $500 J!NX Gift Certificate
Their art featured in the official Minecraft 2014 Wall Calendar!
Not too shabby. Visit this link for a template, small print, and submission details. We can’t wait to see what you get up to! Good luck!This is the Fourth PICO-8 ZINE!
Special ROGUELIKE
Enter the marvelous world of PICO-8!
PICO-8 is a fantasy console to make, share and play tiny games and other computer programs.
PICO-8 Zine is a 40-page fanzine made by and for PICO-8 users.
Learn how to make a game (from the code, sprite, music point of view) and discover the history of PICO-8.
Articles and authors :
DON'T WAIT by @smestorp
AI MOVE SPECIAL ROGUELIKE by @benjamin_soule_
A* pathfinding in PICO-8 by @richy486
Traps For Absolutely Every Imaginable Occasion by @mooonmagic
The Roguelike*shiny*game-feel by @TRASEVOL_DOG
Dungeon walls by @caffo
Sharing music between carts by @RobbyDuguay
DONUT MAZE by @lexaloffle
and the front cover has been done by @pietepiet
and the back cover by @castpixel
For more information: www.pico-8.com
contact: @arnaud_debock
You can order the paper version here (all proceed go to the making of the Fanzine!) :
http://pico8fanzine.bigcartel.com
PICO-ZINE #1 : http://sectordub.itch.io/pico-8-fanzine-1
PICO-ZINE #2 : http://sectordub.itch.io/pico-8-fanzine-2
PICO-ZINE #3 : https://sectordub.itch.io/pico-8-fanzine-3Warzer Jaff for BuzzFeed News Col. Arkan communicates with coalition forces to coordinate air strikes.
MOSUL, Iraq — Col. Arkan turned to the French military officer beside him as another ISIS mortar bomb exploded outside. “They found us,” he said. “Those fuckers.” The Iraqi special forces commander had spent the day calling in US-led airstrikes on the militants from the roof of an abandoned house on Mosul’s edge — and then moved downstairs with his team when the mortar rounds began to hit. The Frenchman, who was there to collect intelligence, mirrored Arkan with a moustache, an Iraqi military patch on one shoulder, and brown fatigues. “In our last position we stayed for two days, and on the second day they found us,” he said in accented English. “We have stayed two days here, and they found us again.” Soldiers like Arkan are the unseen hands directing the most important asset the US-backed campaign for Mosul has: air power. Battling ISIS in and around the city over the last month, Iraqi and Kurdish forces have been backed by daily airstrikes from US and its coalition of allies, which are called in by local and Western soldiers known as Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, or JTACs. Commanders on the ground say the strikes — from drones, helicopters and jets — have been decisive in the difficult fight. “We’re dropping bombs on their heads from the sky, and they’re driving bombs at us,” Arkan said, referring to the suicide car and truck bombs that have been ISIS’s most effective defense. For security reasons, he asked to withhold his last name. His team left the house without incident that day — the ISIS mortar team was unable to hit its mark — and were back on the rooftop the next morning. They let two journalists from BuzzFeed News observe them in action, providing a rare window into their work. American voices crackled on Arkan’s radio as two US choppers hovered overhead and a drone and fighter jet patrolled the sky. His call sign is Archangel, a fitting handle for someone who brings down heavy firepower from above.
Warzer Jaff for BuzzFeed News A mortar fired by ISIS lands close to where a JTAC team is based.
The 35-year-old colonel has spent more than a decade in the country’s most elite special forces unit, conducting raids alongside US troops during the Iraq War. Over the course of several trips to America, he also received extensive training from the US military. He paced the rooftop wearing wraparound sunglasses, with a touch of swagger in his step, as he plotted coordinates on laminated maps laid on a plastic table and taped to concrete walls. Arkan’s role is unique because he has the authority to call in airstrikes himself, a task normally handled by Western special operations troops. He said a US commando, for instance, was calling in strikes for another JTAC team nearby. This means Arkan and his men do their work without the secretive Western troops among their ranks, though French officers from a separate intelligence liaison unit sometimes join them. JTAC teams can accompany soldiers in the field — Arkan’s team has an antennae-equipped armored vehicle for that — or set up outposts like the one on the rooftop. Gunfire and explosions sounded deeper in the city as the Iraqi forces Arkan was supporting advanced on ISIS in a convoy of armored Humvees. For soldiers on the ground, the greatest threat is suicide vehicle bombs, and JTAC teams spend much of their time trying to stop them before they strike. At around 11 a.m. last Wednesday, a call came in from an Iraqi commander on the ground saying that an explosive-laden dump truck was headed the convoy’s way. Arkan found the area where it had been spotted on a map and called in the coordinates to coalition officers in an operations center set far from the front lines. “Be advised, we’re going to continue scanning those areas looking for a possible VBIED,” an American voice replied, calling the truck bomb by the military acronym for vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
Warzer Jaff Iraqi forces call in airstrikes from a rooftop in Mosul.
Before the coalition’s aircraft could spot the truck bomb, it made a beeline on the convoy, which opened fire with its heavy weapons. A massive blast sounded as the truck detonated without doing any harm. Arkan provided an update on his radio. “Glad to hear it,” the American said. Then soldiers on the front spotted another truck bomb stalking the convoy through the city streets. Arkan believed it would use the same route to attack them — so he requested a “terrain-denial attack,” or an airstrike to destroy the road. “ASAP. ASAP, baby. I just need it right now,” he said. Soon another explosion pulsed the air. Arkan, who hadn’t flinched all morning, now jumped up from his chair. He stared out toward the battlefield, worried for a moment that the truck had hit the convoy, but a radio call to its commander informed him that the truck had yet to approach. Gunfire sounded around the rooftop, and Arkan ducked his head below the concrete walls. Civilians fleeing through the streets outside paused in apprehension, trying to determine where the bullets were coming from. An Iraqi officer was meanwhile staring quietly at five walkie-talkies on the plastic table, trying to stay focused. “You see all these radios? They might start talking at the same time. I don’t want to miss any number,” he said, referring to the coordinates that commanders on the ground call in. “Because you know, if you miss one number, you can shift the whole direction of the airstrike. And you don’t want to do that.” The pace for the Mosul offensive has slowed with Iraqi forces inside the city — and a big part of the reason is their concern about casualties among the more than one million civilians still trapped inside. This has limited airstrikes, but it’s a concession Iraqi commanders say they’re happy to make. Arkan ended up canceling his terrain-denial request after learning that an airstrike there would likely hurt civilians, saying the soldiers in the convoy had decided to risk defending against the truck bomb on their own. “These are our own people,” he said. “You can’t just bomb everything, you know?” He said the threat to civilians was part of a long list of concerns he had to weigh for each strike, from the damage it would cause to the city to the potential threat to Iraqi forces nearby. “You hold responsibility for everything that you are [calling in],” he said. Another request for an airstrike came in on the radio. “Hang on, we have a target,” Arkan said. Iraqi forces had seen seven ISIS fighters in a defensive position in the convoy’s path. Arkan grabbed a tablet, swiped his finger to zoom in on a map of the area, and called in the strike. Then he received word that a coalition missile had hit his target. “Seven dead,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Just like that.”
Warzer Jaff for BuzzFeed News General Sami Al-Aridhi, left, one of top commanders of Isof while Colonel Arkan is on the radio with the coalition regarding air strike.This was posted on Friday, December 30, 2016 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
In honor of legendary film actress Debbie Reynolds, who passed away December 28 a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher, Atlanta-based Turner Classic Movies has scheduled a 24-hour marathon of her movies on Friday, January 27.
The network will include two of her most notable movies: her breakthrough "Singin' in the Rain" with Gene Kelly from 1952 and 1964's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," where she received her only Oscar nomination.
Additionally fans can see "Singin' in the Rain" on the big screen January 15 and 18 as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series in partnership with Fathom events. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.FathomEvents.com
Here is the schedule:
TCM Remembers Debbie Reynolds – Friday, Jan. 27
6:00 a.m. It Started With A Kiss (1959) - After a whirlwind courtship, an Army officer and his wacky wife try to make their marriage work
7:45 a.m. Bundle Of Joy (1956) - A shop girl is mistaken for the mother of a foundling
9:30 a.m. How The West Was Won (1963) - Three generations of pioneers take part in the forging of the American West
12:30 p.m. The Tender Trap (1955) - A swinging bachelor finds love when he meets a girl immune to his line
2:30 p.m Hit The Deck (1955) - Sailors on leave in San Francisco get mixed up in love and show business
4:30 p.m. I Love Melvin (1953) - A photographer's assistant promises to turn a chorus girl into a cover girl
6:00 p.m. Singin’ In The Rain (1952) - A silent-screen swashbuckler finds love while trying to adjust to the coming of sound
8:00 p.m. The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) – A musical biography of the backwoods girl who struck it rich in Colorado and survived the Titanic
10:30 p.m. The Mating Game (1959) - A tax agent falls for a farm girl whose father he's investigating
12:30 a.m. The Catered Affair (1956) - A working-class mother fights to give her daughter a big wedding whether the girl wants it or not
2:15 a.m. The Singing Nun (1965) - Fanciful biography of the Belgian nun who briefly made the hit parade
4:00 a.m. How Sweet It Is! (1968) - A married couple's working vacation in Paris turns into a battle to stay faithful
(All times Eastern)(CNN) It didn't take long for candidates hoping to replace President Barack Obama to weigh in on his plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Tuesday he "profoundly disagrees" with the proposal.
"These are people, some of them are the worst of the worst. Why would we send them into our country?" Kasich told Fox News Tuesday. "I profoundly disagree."
The President's plan, submitted to Congress on Tuesday, would move the majority of detainees to other countries, while moving those who are deemed too dangerous to an undetermined detention facility in the United States.
Ben Carson, speaking to CNN's Poppy Harlow on Tuesday afternoon, said he wouldn't close Guantanamo until a better location was found to interrogate detainees.
"Where do we have that can take these prisoners of war?" Carson asked. "I'm not seeing what the alternative is, quite frankly."
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio conflated Obama's proposal to shut the facility with turning over the Guantanamo military base, where the prison is located, to the Cuban government.
"We are not giving back an important naval base to an anti-American, Communist dictatorship," Rubio said.
"We are not going to close Guantanamo," he said Tuesday while on the campaign trail in Las Vegas. "In fact, we shouldn't be releasing people there now. These are enemy combatants... Not only are we not going to close Guantanamo, if we capture a terrorist alive, they are going to Guantanamo and we are going to find out everything they know."
Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, said last week the administration is not planning to return Guantanamo to Cuba, saying it "is not on the table as a part of our discussions."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, also on the presidential campaign trail, also weighed in on the closing of Guantanamo, comparing the situation to when former President Jimmy Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaty, laying the groundwork for Panamanian control of the canal.
"Four decades ago Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal, we built it, we paid for it and then a feckless left-wing president gave it away. Well Mr |
galleries are prevented from discussing pricing and the reservation process. This includes any discussion on financing, leasing, or purchasing options. Also, galleries cannot offer test drives. The store’s interactive kiosks are also amended to remove pricing. Lastly, we are unable to refer the customer to another store out of state. This puts Tesla at a serious disadvantage and inhibits our ability to reduce misconceptions and educate people about Electric Vehicles and the technology. Furthermore, people are forced to leave the gallery frustrated, lacking sufficient information about the car and the brand.
There may be a political element to the kerfuffle as well: the Register notes franchise auto dealers in states around the country have worked with dealers associations to keep Tesla out, presumably threatened by Tesla’s unconventional sales model. In fact, it was Iowa’s Automobile Dealers Association that tipped the DOT off to Tesla’s test drives in West Des Moines, says the Register.
But not allowing auto manufacturers to sell directly to the public may be harming consumers, argues a 2009 competition-related advocacy report on the U.S. Department of Justice’s website. The paper advocates “eliminating state bans on direct manufacturer sales in order to provide automakers with an opportunity to reduce inventories and distribution costs by better matching production with consumer preferences,” and notes that economic arguments for states’ bans on direct auto sales that cite holdup or free-rider issues “are not persuasive because competition among auto manufacturers gives each manufacturer the incentive to refrain from opportunistic behavior and to work with its dealers to resolve any free-rider problems.”
Write to Matt Peckham at matt.peckham@time.com.On March 4, 2013 Kenya elected the first Maasai woman to parliament. Peris Pesi Tobiko, a 42-year-old mother of four was elected as a member of Parliament Kajiado East constituency.
Early marriage vs education.
Tobiko grew up in the village of Mashuru in Kajiado county. She revealed that her community does not value the education of girls and that families try to marry off their daughters at a young age. Her father wanted to educate all his children, but gave in to public pressure when he attempted to pull her out of school and marry her off to an older man.
“My elder sisters were pulled out of school and married off, but I was lucky that teachers intervened in my case,” said Tobiko. “I was performing well, so teachers wanted to keep me in school.”
When high school fees became too expensive Tobiko earned a scholarship from the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, an organization that publishes educational books and provides scholarships.
At the University of Nairobi, she studied political science at the undergraduate level before pursuing a master’s degree in international relations.
The road to Parliament.
Immediately after graduating, Tobiko worked for the government, first as a district officer and later as a benefits manager at the National Social Security Fund, the agency that oversees pensions.
Tobiko made her first run for Parliament in 2007 to represent the Kajiado East constituency. She did not win the seat but said that the votes she garnered strengthened her resolve to seek political office.
“I think the idea of a woman leader was still new to my people,” she said of her 2007 loss. “But the votes I got gave me the confidence to try again.”
Upon returning to the public sector as chairwoman of Tanathi Water Services Board – a government entity that provides clean water to the community, she was able to maintain contact with voters.
Tobiko initiated development projects in Kajiado, including a project that drilled boreholes to provide water for residents of the semi-arid area, and said these initiatives gave her an edge over her opponents during the recent election.
The power of youth and women.
The majority of Tobiko’s supporters are youth and women.
Richard Pasha, a young Maasai man from her constituency, said he voted for Tobiko because he wanted change.
“We’ve never had a woman MP,” Pasha said. “I want to see whether she will bring change in our community. She has leadership qualities, and I also like her policies.”
Following her historic win, Tobiko said she will focus her policies on empowering women and youth. “Economic empowerment will enable women to compete with men politically.” Her plans are to start income-generating projects for women and introduce adult education.
“Women have been boxed to a corner,” she said. “When they offer themselves for leadership, men tell them to run for that special seat, as though they do not qualify for other positions. I believe if women are empowered economically, men will be the ones calling for affirmative action.”
Tobiko has received numerous death threats which were reported but no arrests have been made.
Source: http://globalpressinstitute.org/Homer Simpson once said that the two sweetest words in the English language are “de-fault,” and the New England Patriots might soon feel the same way. Rob Gronkowski is out for the season, Tom Brady is hobbled, and the defense is mediocre. And yet, if you rack your brain for teams likely to beat the Pats in the playoffs, you might wind up thinking that New England looks like the default AFC pick anyway.
The Patriots have a lot of problems. But they picked a great year to have them, because the AFC is so weak that they would need to suffer a few more setbacks before abdicating favorite status. Sometimes The Artist wins the Oscar for Best Picture. Sometimes Mike Weir wins the Masters. Hell, someone has to win the Heisman this year. And guess what? Some deeply flawed team will win the AFC this season, and New England is still better positioned than its fellow hopefuls.
Consider: The Raiders are giving up 6.2 yards per play, tied for worst in the league with the Colts (who, for the sake of credibility, will not be listed here as a contender). Oakland’s quarterback has played as well as anyone in the league, but has a grossly dislocated finger. They’re also outscoring opponents by fewer points than the 6–5 Steelers. The Raiders are a great team, but they’re far from a no-brainer to supplant the Gronk-less Patriots as AFC favorites. The Broncos, meanwhile, may be without Trevor Siemian this week because of a foot injury. Even when they have him, though, their offense seems to require one or two sublime, huge plays downfield to function. We saw the Broncos win the Super Bowl last season with bad QB play, but their overall offensive output — 19th in rushing, 23rd in passing — is down across the board. The margin for error is so slim when a team can’t score points. Von Miller mauling quarterbacks is enough to keep the Broncos in the hunt, but they’ll need some turnover luck and some Siemian miracles to get any further. And the Chiefs, despite being 8–3, have been punching above their weight statistically all season, ranking 27th in yards gained and 28th in yards allowed.
And then there’s Houston (awful quarterback), Miami (feasting on some easy opponents), Pittsburgh (blah everywhere), Baltimore (employs Joe Flacco), and Tennessee (is Tennessee).
With the Pats compromised, the AFC race is shaping up to be a bit like the NCAA tournament: When there are no perfect teams, it comes down to coaching, luck, and experience. The Patriots may have lost out on the luck part due to their injuries, but they have everything else. They’re slightly less flawed in almost all areas than their competitors are, they have the best coach of the modern era, and Gronk or not, they’re still the damn Patriots. I’ll pick against them when they’re no longer the default option.
And now, on to the picks. (Home team in CAPS.)
San Francisco (+1) over CHICAGO
Colin Kaepernick and Matt Barkley are better than we thought. The expectations for Kaepernick were higher, of course, since the Barkley bar was “don’t throw an interception on every play.” But he hasn’t: Jay Cutler’s replacement managed 316 yards and three touchdowns (to two interceptions) last week, almost beating the Titans despite playing with a ludicrously bad receiving corps. Kaepernick, meanwhile, is using his legs again, rushing for 113 yards against the Dolphins in Week 12 while passing for 296 yards and three touchdowns. Chip Kelly’s system lends itself to Kaepernick’s skills, and it’s tantalizing to wonder what the future could hold if the quarterback keeps improving in this offense. Kaepernick made a similar observation this week, saying Kelly’s three-receiver sets create space for him. That trend will likely continue against the Bears.
Related Breaking Up With Jay Cutler
Los Angeles (+13) over NEW ENGLAND
When these two teams get together, the talk naturally centers on the coaches, one of whom is famous for winning, and one of whom is unclear which positions his opponents play. Jeff Fisher name-checked Patriots running backs “Brandon” and “Danny” — neither of whom are Patriots running backs. (Brandon might be Brandon Bolden, a former back who’s now exclusively a special teamer, while the Rams clarified that Danny meant Danny Amendola, who is decidedly not a running back.)
But let’s not lose sight of the real news: Belichick is totally in love with a punter. He called Rams punter Johnny Hekker a “tremendous weapon,” which, considering Belichick’s love of touchback rules and special teams, is basically the nicest thing he could say about anyone or anything. With Gronk out, Brady ailing, and the defense struggling, expect a low-scoring win for the Pats, meaning they won’t cover. Expect lots of punts as well. Belichick will love it. So will Brandon and Danny.
Detroit (+5.5) over NEW ORLEANS
Officials should stop this game after Matthew Stafford’s third touchdown so that Drew Brees can ceremonially pass the “guy who puts up huge numbers, makes a ton of money, and prays the supporting cast is sorta good each year” torch to the Detroit QB. Brees will be that guy for two more years, max; Stafford’s looking at about 10. That reality is not deterring Stafford’s coach, Jim Caldwell, who called Stafford a future Hall of Famer. Brees will assuredly get the Canton nod because he excelled before 2009, when passing numbers became absurd. Stafford will likely have to win a Super Bowl to put himself above any number of great-stats-average-wins guys trying to get into the Hall of Fame in 2031. It’ll help if he can continue his almost impossible string of comebacks, which had a 40,000-to-1 chance of happening this season, according to a website. This game will be something like 31–31 late, at which point someone will get a turnover and win it. I’m giving the edge to the Lions, who are slightly less bad on defense than the Saints.
Denver (-5.5) over JACKSONVILLE
CINCINNATI (-1) over Philadelphia
If you think Doug Pederson might have committed one of the dumbest challenges of the year by arguing a 2-yard Packers completion on Monday night, you’re wrong. It was definitely the dumbest challenge of the year. The Eagles won it, but as Pederson explained, throwing the red flag was a mistake because he hadn’t properly weighed the prospect of losing the challenge against … the value of gaining 2 yards. He said he wouldn’t do it again.
He didn’t escape criticism. After a hot start, Pederson has fallen out of favor with the Philadelphia media, seemingly struggling to explain why his team has lost four of five. Pederson defended his defensive line’s play by saying: “If you’ve never played that position or played this level of football, I think it’s easy to speculate …” a well-worn trope for coaches who have no real answers. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane wrote this week that Pederson is essentially a puppet for his GM and owner and was brought in because he’s (a) generally social and (b) is definitely not Chip Kelly. McLane also stressed that the only thing on which Pederson can be judged is in-game decisions, and those, like the 2-yard challenge, have been bad.
So the Eagles, heading for a meaningless December, are playing a Bengals team that has been playing meaningless football for a while now. I’ll take Cincinnati at home — even though I’ve never played the game.
Related The Duality of Andy Dalton
BALTIMORE (-3.5) over Miami
Mike Wallace, who’s putting together a surprisingly nice season as Baltimore’s speed threat, had a heartwarming message about facing his former team: “I have no regrets,” Wallace said. “They gave me a lot of money in two years.”
While that may be true, Wallace and the Ravens now find themselves in a tricky spot. They play the talented Dolphins and Patriots in consecutive weeks, then in three weeks face the Steelers, with whom they’re currently tied for the division lead. That slate makes winning this game crucial if they hope to prevail in the AFC North, which I think they just might. The Dolphins defense showed a few cracks late last week against the 49ers, and we already know the Ravens’ great rushing defense will likely shut down the Dolphins’ solid rushing game.
That means this will come down to Ryan Tannehill, the quarterback that rapper Uncle Luke was ripping at a Miami bar last winter before being interrupted by a Tannehill defender: Adam Gase. That’s the best anecdote of the season, but it’s not going to get the Dolphins the win.
Houston (+7) over GREEN BAY
Aaron Rodgers put together his best win of the season last week, thanks in part to breakout star Davante Adams. Before that win, Rodgers was already talking about running the table to snag an unlikely playoff spot, and now Green Bay seems to have momentum after breaking a four-game losing streak. Still, those playoff hopes rest entirely on whether their defense is a complete disaster on a given week. Performing in Week 12 against a fading Eagles team was a good start, but doesn’t necessarily mean that the Packers have solved all of the problems that contributed to the losing streak in which the defense gave up 30 points in four straight games for the first time since 1953.
Sunday’s matchup will be a big test, not because they will be facing a good offense — heavens no — but because if the Packers allow Brock Osweiler to have any success, we’ll know that they haven’t improved at all. Four teams have allowed multiple passing touchdowns to Osweiler this season: the Bears, Colts, Titans, and Jaguars. If the Packers join that list, they’ll remain who we thought they were.
ATLANTA (-4.5) over Kansas City
Albert Breer’s piece on Dan Quinn featured an interesting detail: When one Atlanta player’s tenure concluded last season, that player exchanged phone numbers with another. Quinn was upset to discover that they hadn’t been contacting each other to that point, which led him to try to change the organizational culture to create stronger bonds. Whether or not the key has been swapping phone numbers or Julio Jones destroying defenders, something has bettered the Falcons, who have avoided the kind of midseason collapse that took them from 5–0 to 8–8 last year. They’ll beat a tired Kansas City team that’s coming off an emotional Sunday night win — although Andy Reid does have a pretty good game plan for beating Jones:
Washington (+2.5) over ARIZONA
I cannot recommend anything more highly than this Washington Post story detailing Kirk Cousins’s love of musical theater. “I would love to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat again,” Cousins said, while also noting that he really wants to see Hamilton, for which he’s only seen Rob Riggle’s spoof.
Even more surprising than Cousins’s Broadway affinity has been his emergence as a legitimately good quarterback. In his past five games, Cousins has shed the one-year-wonder label, hitting the 300-yard mark four times and the 400-yard mark twice. He’s emerging as an extreme dark horse MVP candidate and could soon become one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league: As former Browns and Eagles executive Joe Banner points out, he could command around $25 million per year, and if he’s franchised again, he’ll make more money than all but three quarterbacks next season.
Despite his run of success, Sunday will be a massive test, because the Cardinals allow the second-fewest passing yards per game in the league. But the Washington D has an edge here, too: It forced five total turnovers in the three games before facing the Cowboys, who never make mistakes. For a team trying to get back into the habit of creating turnovers, playing Arizona is a great place to start, and Washington will win this late by forcing Carson Palmer to make mistakes.
It won’t be as exciting as Jersey Boys, another Cousins favorite, but he’ll try to provide some entertainment.
OAKLAND (-3.5) over Buffalo
So much of the season has centered on the idea that the Raiders’ return to prominence is good for football. That’s true, but don’t sleep on how fun it would also be if a Rex Ryan team remained in the hunt. It’s easy to forget how fun this can be, because Ryan hasn’t been relevant in December since about 2010. But at 6–5, the Bills can still make the playoffs if they catch a few breaks. And because they’re still alive, the Bills have started talking shit, Ryan style, with corner Stephon Gilmore accusing Michael Crabtree of pushing off all the time without getting flagged. Almost everyone on these teams is brash: Kelechi Osemele, whose name Ryan cannot pronounce, tweeted this video of him absolutely destroying the Panthers last week:
If this game were in Buffalo, I’d pick the Bills, but I love a glove-wearing Derek Carr riding a loud Oakland crowd to a touchdown win.
Unrelated nugget: Former Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas, now a tight end, signed with the Bills this week. Earlier in the week, he spent about a day on the Lions, and compared learning the position to Billy Madison graduating from multiple grades in a short period of time. It remains to be seen if Thomas is any good at tight end, but he’s got some great analogies.
Finally, here’s a supercut that begins with Jack Del Rio just yelling different variations of “Go!”
NY Giants (+6) over PITTSBURGH
The Steelers will win this in a close one, but before we talk about that, I’d like to direct your attention to the weird narrative that’s stemmed from Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger being high picks in the 2004 draft: The media keep asking the two if they’re friends. They are decidedly not, but because the media seem so invested, Roethlisberger tried to let them down gently:
“I don’t have his number, we don’t text or call, but I have the utmost respect for him,’’ Roethlisberger said this week. “If I saw him on a golf course or on the street, we obviously would talk and I would have no problem having dinner with him.”
“No problem having dinner with him!” What a bond. Roethlisberger described the relationship as “cordial’’ and respectful. No matter what they eat before the game, there’s no way the Giants, who’ve won six in a row, should be underdogs by this much. The Steelers are ranked 23rd in yards in yards allowed through the air, meaning Manning, Roethlisberger’s best friend, will find Odell Beckham Jr. on at least two huge plays to keep this tight.
Tampa Bay (+3.5) over SAN DIEGO
This week, Jameis Winston revealed that he studies all quarterbacks — all of them! — saying: “I’m just in a universal competition, not just with NFL quarterbacks, but with college quarterbacks as well.” Winston also discussed a letter he wrote to inspire teammates last month. He isn’t the only quarterback doing things like this — Russell Wilson writes inspirational messages to teammates all the time — and Winston’s over-the-top leadership style might be slightly corny, but it’s somehow working. The Bucs have won three straight and are a few Falcons slipups away from making the playoffs. And Winston is good under pressure, minimizing the Chargers’ biggest defensive asset:
The Bucs are also 4–1 on the road. Jameis’s universal competition against quarterbacks at all levels rolls on!
Carolina (+7) over SEATTLE
Ron Rivera called his offensive line “as catastrophe as you can get” this week, because the unit is playing nearly all backups at this point. Unfortunately, Rivera’s wrong.
The real matchup here is not Seattle vs. Carolina (I think Seattle wins close) but rather Russell Wilson and Cam Newton vs. their own offensive lines. Wilson was sacked six times against Tampa Bay last week, and his offense scored five points. Even though the number of sacks he’s taken is down this season — he’s gone down on 6.6 percent of his dropbacks this year compared to 8.5 percent last season — the line has bottomed out in recent weeks, allowing 14 sacks in the past four games. Newton, meanwhile, has been sacked at least twice in each of the past four games, suffering 11 total in that span. Oh, and Seattle’s pass-rushing ace Michael Bennett returns this week.
Anyone who thought this modern, pass-happy era would make offensive line play irrelevant is seeing ample evidence to the contrary this year: Oakland and Dallas are keeping their young quarterbacks upright and are winning big. Meanwhile, O-line injuries sunk Carolina’s season, Sam Bradford can’t get a pass off in Minnesota, and Seattle is going to get Wilson killed.
Indianapolis (-2) over NY JETS
A Darrelle Revis “confidant” told the New York Daily News that the former star “doesn’t want to play anymore.” The Colts should be familiar with this sensation, because it seems like most of their team feels the same way. But Todd Bowles is under serious heat in New York, where he’s having to defend basically everything. Why is the defensive line bad? Because the ball is coming out quicker. If you’re confused by that, you’re not alone: The New York Post wants you to know that “Todd Bowles is refreshingly deaf to everything you say.”
Oh, and the Jets are still starting Ryan Fitzpatrick:
Last week: 7–8–1
Overall: 85–81–9HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Anti-abortion activists working to shut down North Alabama's lone abortion clinic will get their day in court Thursday.
Madison County Circuit Judge Alan Mann has scheduled a 9 a.m. hearing on a civil lawsuit filed in early September against the Huntsville Board of Zoning Adjustment.
James Henderson, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Alabama. speaks during a July 2014 "memorial service" to mark the closing of Alabama Women's Center for Reproductive Alternatives on Madison Street. (Bob Gathany | bgathany@al.com)
The suit, brought by Christian Coalition of Alabama Executive Director James Henderson and 18 other plaintiffs, contends the zoning board "erroneously determined" that Alabama Women's Center for Reproductive Alternatives could operate within a residential district.
In 1998, the zoning board granted Huntsville Hospital a use variance to open an outpatient medical facility at 4831 Sparkman Drive.
Huntsville Manager of Planning Services Jim McGuffey ruled in May - and a majority of zoning board members later agreed - that the variance should carry over to Alabama Women's Center, which now owns the building.
The lawsuit argues the variance was exclusively for the Huntsville Hospital-managed outpatient facility, which closed in 2013. Henderson and the other plaintiffs also contend the abortion clinic is a distraction for students going to school nearby.
The clinic is almost directly across Sparkman Drive from the former Ed White Middle School, which is being remodeled to house the Academy for Academics & Arts magnet school.
The Napa, Calif.-based Life Legal Defense Foundation is representing Alabama anti-abortion activists in the lawsuit.
Alabama Women's Center surrendered its state abortion provider license in late June because its cramped Madison Street location could not be retrofitted to comply with the Alabama Women's Health and Safety Act of 2013. The act placed tougher building standards on abortion clinics, including overhead sprinkler systems and doors and hallways wide enough to accommodate ambulance gurneys.
Clinic owner Dalton Johnson bought the former Huntsville Hospital space at 4831 Sparkman Drive; inspectors from the Alabama Department of Public Health recently certified that the building complies with state law.
The clinic re-opened Oct. 13.If you are looking to get out this summer, why not head to Toronto to see some of your favorite musical acts live in concert? If you are going to head out, don’t forget to book your limo ahead of time. This can make it much easier to get to and from your event without having to find a parking spot or worry about having had too much to drink during the show.
July 9 Jay-Z and Beyonce
On July 9, Jay-Z and Beyonce will be performing at the Rogers Centre. Jay-Z is considered to be one of the best rappers ever while Beyonce is a top R$B/pop act. Together, they give fans of all ages and genres something to look forward to.
Lady Gaga Plays the Same Night as Jay-Z and Beyonce
Also on July 9, Lady Gaga is going to be performing at the Air Canada Centre. She is best know for her outlandish costumes and lyrics that are meant to both shock and make you think at the same time.
Katy Perry Comes to the Air Canada Center on July 18
Those who enjoy Beyonce will most likely want to come back for more as Katy Perry lights it up with several of her hit songs. The singer is best known for songs such as Firework, Roar and Birthday.
Guns and Roses Is Sure to Be a Wild Show
You will be in the jungle when Guns n’ Roses comes to town. They were popular in the 1980s with songs such as Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child of Mine, and they will be playing at the Sound Academy on July 15.
5 Seconds of Summer Offers a More Traditional Sound
For those who prefer that the instruments are played by real people as opposed to being piped in through a sound system, you can watch 5 Seconds of Summer at the Toronto Opera House on July 11. In addition to the 5 Seconds of Summer show, other classical music acts will come to town at the Danforth Music Centre such as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
There are going to be many great concerts in the Toronto area this summer. Now is the time to get your tickets, book your limo and enjoy your vacation. from FindLaw
Shirley Sherrod's story was big news this week. If you missed it, the story went like this: Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a video clip of Sherrod -- a kindly African-American woman who was the Georgia State Director for Rural Development of the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- giving what appeared to be a racist, anti-white speech to an NAACP audience in March.
In the speech, Sherrod appeared to be openly discriminating against a white farmer. Fox News ran large with the story, with prime-time hosts O'Reilly >and Hannity in red-faced rage over Sherrod's remarks, calling for her head. The Obama Administration quickly, and thoughtlessly, fired Sherrod, and the NAACP foolishly embraced her firing.
Turns out everyone except Sherrod got it wrong. Now, many are asking, Should Sherrod sue Breitbart, Fox News, or both?
With a Video Clip Distorting the Truth, Should Sherrod Sue for False-Light Invasion of Privacy?
Breitbart's video clip (which was 2:38 minutes long) totally distorted Sherrod's redemption talk (which was 43:15 minutes long). Breitbart's blog post characterized Sherrod's point as the exact opposite of what she was, in fact, sharing with her audience. CNN, which refused to run the initial story, talked with both Sherrod and the farmer, and they explained that, in fact, Sherrod had helped him save his farm.
By mid-week, and with the full forty-three-minute speech available online, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs apologized to Sherrod on behalf of the Administration, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who had earlier demanded her resignation, was trying to persuade the wronged Sherrod to take a new position with his department. The NAACP announced that it had been "snookered" by Breitbart and Fox News, and apologized to Sherrod as well.
Clearly, a great injustice was done to Shirley Sherrod. So it is not surprising that she is considering -- and many have urged her to file -- a lawsuit to right the wrongs she has suffered. By week's end, Sherrod told the CBS Morning Show that she "would definitely consider" legal action.
There have been posts all over the Internet encouraging such action. Here is a small sampling. At CNN: " I'm thrilled that the NAACP has owned up to its mistake and come to her defense. I would hope that this includes legal assistance, and that she files a very loud, very messy lawsuit against all parties involved in this despicable episode," said commenter Julieann Wozniak. A newsvine.com poll on the question "Should Shirley Sherrod sue Andrew Breitbart over edited video tape or simply move on?" was running eighty-nine percent favoring the suit when I last checked. And George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote an extended blog post asking a more fundamental question: "Can Sherrod Sue Over the NAACP Tape?"
Setting aside the race-baiting politics of Breitbart, and the remarkably inept handling of this matter by the Obama Administration and the NAACP, since there has been no shortage of commentary on both subjects, I would like to examine the potential of such litigation if Sherrod were to file it, as well as its likely impact.
Sherrod's Most Viable Lawsuit -- Based on a "False Light" Claim -- Is Problematic
Professor Turley zeroes in on the most viable lawsuit Sherrod appears to have based on the known facts: a suit for what is called false-light invasion of privacy. Such a claim is separate from a defamation claim, and in some states, depending on the facts alleged, courts see the two types of action as duplicative and dismiss the false-light claim in order to proceed with the defamation claim. What is interesting here, however, is that the false-light claim seems to more accurately describe what was done to Sherrod than a defamation claim -- which requires a specific, false factual statement -- would.
To explain the nature of the action, Turley cites and quotes the Restatement of Law definition of the tort known as Publicly Placing a Person in a False Light: " One who gives publicity to a matter concerning another that places the other before the public in a false light is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if (a) the false light in which the other was placed would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and (b) the actor had knowledge of or acted in reckless disregard as to the falsity of the publicized matter and the false light in which the other would be placed."
Of course, the Restatement is merely a model, without its own legal force. But Georgia, where Sherrod was injured by the false attack, and California, where Breitbart lives, both have laws recognizing a false-light tort along the lines the Restatement describes.
Professor Turley points out the difficulty with respect to Sherrod's succeeding in such a suit: Plaintiffs who are public officials are considered public figures, and held to a different standard. Sherrod appears to be both a public official and a public figure, as an USGA official who has been forced to thrust herself into the spotlight in her own defense.
To be more specific, the U.S. Supreme Court has imposed a First-Amendment standard on all state laws (as well as on federal law) through its interpretation of the Constitution. To protect freedom of speech and the press, the High Court has required extremely high levels of proof and evidence before anyone making a public statement will be held accountable for it.
Thus, the offending statement must have been made with "actual malice," a state of mind which, ironically, need not be actually malicious. (This is not the best label the Court has ever selected, as it can thus be very misleading.) Rather, this Supreme-Court- created constitutional requirement has come to mean that for a defendant to be liable when sued by a public person, the statement at issue must have been made with the knowledge that it was false, or with reckless disregard to whether it was true or false. Furthermore, this knowledge -- amounting to "actual malice" -- must be established by clear and convincing evidence.
The Court made this the law in order to give public commentary ample breathing room, for it assumed (incorrectly, for many, I believe) that because public people have access to the media, they can often easily correct false information concerning them, when it makes its way into the marketplace of ideas, by simply entering into the public debate themselves.
If Sherrod Were to Sue, Her Problem Would Not Just Be Proving "Actual Malice" But Also Proving Damages
In truth, the Court has created a wonderful refuge for scoundrels, the kind of place from which a Fox News or Andrew Breitbart can safely attack others with impunity. Here, in the Sherrod situtation, it would be all but impossible to prove that Fox News acted with actual malice.
Let's start with the possibility of a suit against Fox News. Here is how things will likely go: Fox News will claim that it had no reason to suspect that there was more to the video clip than it was given -- notwithstanding that Fox News surely knew that Breitbart, generally, was less than a reliable source. Other news organizations ran the clip as well, which would help Fox News's suggestion that its action in running it was reasonable. There is nothing better than a lawsuit (or a charge of recklessness) to bring out claims of innocence by news organizations.
What about a suit against Breitbart himself? As for proving that Breitbart released this clip with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity, I think a case might be made, although he has said he did no editing of the clip; rather, it was given to him by his unnamed source, which he is unwilling to reveal. (When and if that source is revealed, his or her identity will be very interesting to learn.) Nonetheless, Breitbart surely knew there was more to Sherrod's speech than the small clip he was given, and he never bothered to find out what Sherrod had actually said. So he may well have acted with reckless disregard. But there is another problem with a lawsuit against Breitbart, as well.
No doubt Jon Turley wrote his blog posting before Secretary Vilsack offered Sherrod an apology and reinstatement at USAD in a "unique" position to work on civil rights. This offer has largely removed any financial damages that would otherwise have arisen from her forced resignation forty-eight hours earlier. Moreover, the intense media coverage has further ameliorated the damage -- for it is now well-understood by anyone who follows the news at all that Sherrod is not a racist, but rather the victim of Andrew Breitbart's ugly politics. It is clear that she was unfairly and falsely charged.
With only nominal damages at issue now, no attorney is going to take on this case on a contingency basis; even if a jury (or judge) were to award punitive damages to punish Breitbart, it does not appear he has very deep pockets, and libel-law-related verdicts are often dramatically reduced on appeal. In short, filing the action would not be financially rewarding, and it certainly would be (as with all lawsuits) very expensive, easily costing over a million dollars.
Overall, Shirley Sherrod Would Be Wise Not to Sue Anyone Over The Incident
Frankly, if I found myself in Shirley Sherrod's situation, I would file a lawsuit next week. But I could represent myself in court, and would take delight in going after a jackass like Breitbart, not to mention Fox News, to expose what they are doing. For me, the reward would be holding them accountable for even nominal damages and making their lives miserable.
There is little doubt that such a legal action could proceed beyond any initial motions seeking immediate dismissal. And after that crucial threshold, I would have subpoena power and the ability to question those involved under oath. This would make it possible to fully uncover how this fraud was actually perpetrated. While I might enjoy doing this, I cannot recommend that anyone without legal training and litigation experience get into what might nicely be described as a brawl with skunks.
Sherrod should be advised (and I say this based on a lot of personal experience) that conservatives like Breitbart will not play nicely merely because they have been taken to court. These authoritarian personalities, and those who share their thinking, go ballistic when confronted with legal actions. They resist being held accountable, and feel particularly threatened by legal actions. What Breitbart will do if Sherrod files a lawsuit against him is to quickly create a legal defense fund, with the support and financing of like-thinking conservatives, and he will hire as nasty an attorney as is available in his tribe. Soon, he will be using the legal process to harass Sherrod by digging into every inch of her life, and perhaps even countersuing Sherrod for claims as to which she has no knowledge. It will be ugly, and she must plan on several years of intense unpleasantness.
Breitbart, it is clear, is not backing down. Authoritarians never do. He refuses to explain where he got the edited video clip of Sherrod, and he is not apologizing. This is standard authoritarian behavior. To the contrary, he is continuing to attack Sherrod, along with his larger target, the NAACP. He claims that he is sorry that she got messed over by the Obama Administration and the NAACP, but he is not letting up on his race- baiting. He would no doubt celebrate a lawsuit -- until he lost it, and then would claim, in fact, that he had won. Andrew Breitbart doubtless loves all the publicity he is getting, for authoritarians feel no shame, and they become so swept up in their self-righteousness, that they believe they are doing the world a favor.
Hopefully, Sherrod will not proceed with a lawsuit for it will involve much more unpleasantness, and much of her time, with little reward. On the other hand, Andrew Breitbart, the Obama Administration, and the NAACP have given her a meaningful public presence. She has an important and timely message to send, and now, she also has a commanding presence on the public stage through which to share it. She should write a book and lecture, and share her experiences. Even thinking conservatives must acknowledge that Breitbart made himself look more the jerk, so I would hope that Sherrod gives her malevolent detractor no more of the negative attention he so craves.
_______
About author John W. Dean is a columnist for FindLaw and a former counsel to the President.Making better use of dice in games
Game designer Stefan Feld has designed eight published |
Walt Disney Imagineering Theme Finding Nemo Music Ed Kalnins
(Inspired by the film score by Thomas Newman Vehicle type Submarines Riders per vehicle 40 Duration 13:45 Audio-Animatronics 126 Total Water 6,300,000 US gallons (24,000 m3)
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is an attraction located in the Tomorrowland area of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, which opened on June 11, 2007. Based on the characters and settings of the 2003 Disney·Pixar film, Finding Nemo, it is a re-theming of the classic Submarine Voyage attraction that operated from 1959 to 1998.
History [ edit ]
Hidden Mickey on the construction fence around the drained lagoon while the attraction was under construction
The Submarine lagoon drained while Finding Nemo was under construction. Matterhorn Bobsleds can be seen in the background.
The original Submarine Voyage was built in 1959 as part of the "new" Tomorrowland. The attraction was loosely based on the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, and its voyage to the North Pole in 1958.[1] It closed on September 9, 1998. At the time, it was reported that the attraction would reopen with a new theme by 2003.[2] On the attraction's final day of operation, Imagineer Tony Baxter told then-Disneyland president Paul Pressler "This is one of the worst days of my life." Baxter was one of many Imagineers who championed to bring the attraction back with a new theme. One of the first attempts to resurrect the subs was to create an attraction based on Disney's 2001 animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and a mock-up was built to test the concept. However, when the film under-performed at the box office, plans for an Atlantis re-theming were shelved. The next year, an attempt was made to re-theme the attraction based on Disney's animated film Treasure Planet, but it too under-performed. In addition, a theme based on Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid was briefly considered. During this period of uncertainty, the lagoon languished as scenery. At one point, Disneyland executives considered getting rid of the submarines, feeling that they took up too much storage space. In response to this, then-Imagineering creative chief Marty Sklar hired a naval engineering firm to inspect the subs, and it was discovered that they had forty to fifty years of life left in them, thus saving the submarines from destruction.
Eventually, the special effects team at Walt Disney Imagineering developed new projection technology, and around the same time the Pixar animated film Finding Nemo was in development, which had potential for a Submarine Voyage re-theme. Matt Ouimet became the President of Disneyland Resort in 2003, and in 2004 there was new activity in the Submarine lagoon. One of the original eight submarines in the fleet was moored at the old Submarine Voyage dock for inspection by Imagineering. Rumors quickly spread over the Internet that an attraction based on Finding Nemo would replace Submarine Voyage. The submarines were tested to see if new animated show scenes would be visible from the portholes. A mock-up of the new technology was created and a presentation was staged for Ouimet. In spite of the enormous price tag, Ouimet was impressed and the Finding Nemo theme for the Submarine Voyage was given the green light. This was the first major theme park project for Bob Iger, who became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, as well as the first major project for John Lasseter (executive producer of Finding Nemo, and then-chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation) in his role as Principal Creative Advisor for Imagineering.[3][4]
On July 15, 2005, two days before the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was officially announced at the new Turtle Talk with Crush attraction at Disney California Adventure by then-Walt Disney Parks and Resorts President, Jay Rasulo.[5]
For the attraction the Imagineers used more than thirty tons of recycled crushed glass to "paint" the coral and rockwork in the lagoon. Imagineers also created more than forty colors for the lagoon area such as Yamber (a cross between yam and amber), Mango Mud, Toast, Blue Feint (barely blue), Aqua Jazz, Swamp (dark green/amber), Danger Red, Burning Coal, Split Pea, Earth, Phantom and Peritwinkle.[6][7]
In 2008, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage received an award for outstanding achievement from the Themed Entertainment Association.[8]
Aerial photo of the drained Submarine Lagoon during the 2014 refurbishment
On January 6, 2014, the attraction closed for an extended refurbishment to make improvements to the rockwork and coral. During this time the lagoon was drained. The attraction reopened on September 27, 2014 with many of the scenes and coral refreshed and repainted.[9][10][11]
Voice cast [ edit ]
Voyage [ edit ]
View of the lagoon from inside one of the submarines
At the attraction's entrance, guests enter the institute of Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation (NEMO). Three seagulls, perched on a nearby buoy, cry out "Mine! Mine! Mine!" every few moments. Guests board one of NEMO's eight yellow research submarines and set out in search of an active underwater volcano. Through their portholes, guests view a colorful underwater environment. One of the first things guests see is Darla, the fish-killing niece of the dentist in Finding Nemo, freediving amid the coral, holding a plastic bag with fish she has captured.
As the journey continues, guests see a giant sea bass swimming through a seaweed forest. The submarines then enter the ruins of an ancient civilization, which are being explored by the dentist scuba diver P. Sherman. Among the ruins lies a gigantic tiki head, embedded in the ocean floor. The subs then enter a coral reef with many bright reflective colors. Giant clams slowly open and close as the submarines pass. The captain commands the sub to dive much deeper to avoid a surface storm ahead.
At this point the submarine travels through a waterfall and enters the hidden ride building, where guests find themselves apparently moving through underwater caverns. The captain announces that, due to advancements in marine technology, they can use "sonar hydrophones" (an homage to the original attraction), to hear the fish talk. The sub passes through a dark cavern where huge eels lunge toward the submarine, and lobsters can be seen as well. The sub passes Marlin, a clownfish, and Dory, a regal blue tang, as they discover that Nemo has gotten lost again. Farther along the reef, guests encounter Mr. Ray and his class swimming through the coral looking for Nemo as well. The first mate announces that the sub is approaching the East Australian Current, and the submarine enters the current along with Nemo, Squirt, Crush and other green sea turtles.
The sub then exits the current and enters a graveyard of sunken ships, Jacques, a cleaner shrimp can be seen nearby while Marlin and Dory continue their search for Nemo. Bruce, a great white shark, and Chum, a mako shark, swim inside a sunken submarine surrounded by World War II mines. (Anchor, a hammerhead shark is not included in the ride.) The submarine "hits" a mine, causing the mine to explode, resulting in the sub shaking and temporarily losing power. As the sub goes dark, Marlin and Dory are surrounded by small glowing lights, which turn out to be phosphorescent lights on several huge deep-sea anglerfish. After Marlin and Dory escape the creatures, they make their way through a forest of jellyfish.
The submarine reaches the active deep-sea volcano. Gill, a moorish idol, Bloat, a pufferfish, Gurgle, a royal gramma, Bubbles, a yellow tang and Squirt chant as lava flows down the volcano's sides, while Marlin and Dory finally reunite with Nemo. (Deb, a four stripe damselfish is not included in the ride.) The volcano erupts just as the sub escapes and returns to the reef. The fish gather around and celebrate finding Nemo once again. Suddenly, a pod of humpback whales appears, and one of them swallows both Dory and the submarine. Dory swims about trying to understand the whale's vocalizations. After a few moments, the whale shoots the submarine and Dory out through its blowhole. Dory then mistakes the sub for a "big yellow whale" and speaks whale; saying goodbye.
The captain tells the first mate not to enter anything that has happened in the ship's log because "nobody would believe it anyway." He then says, "We'd better take her up before we have a run-in with a sea serpent or an encounter with a mermaid" (references to the original attraction, which included mermaids and a sea serpent). Two rock formations can be seen, one shaped like a sea serpent's head, and the other shaped like a mermaid. The sub then surfaces and reenters the harbor, where a pair of king crabs snap at air bubbles coming from a sewage pipe. An instrumental version of "Beyond the Sea" plays as the submarine docks and the captain thanks the passengers for riding.
Submarines [ edit ]
The attraction reuses the eight original 1959 Submarine Voyage thru Liquid Space attraction vehicle hulls built at the Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California. Vertical rollers attached at each end of the keel roll within a submerged guide channel. The original diesel engines were replaced by electric battery-powered propulsion units which are charged at the loading dock by contact-less inductive coils, increasing efficiency and eliminating fuel spills. Guests board through a hatch at either end by crossing hinged loading ramps and descending spiral stairs. Twenty aft-boarding guests are seated facing the starboard side and fore-boarding guests are seated facing port. Each submarine originally seated 38 guests, but removal of the diesel engines increased seating to 40 spring-loaded fiberglass seats. Lap sitting of small children is permitted. 46 on-board flotation devices limit maximum capacity to 45 guests and one helmsman. When the boarding ramps are raised the hatches are sealed watertight (but not airtight) and mooring lines released. Although their viewports are below water level, the "submarines" do not actually submerge when "diving". Descent and submersion is simulated with bubbles that rise across the viewports when the vehicles pass through compressed air released under the hull and waterfalls. Each viewport blows fresh dehumidified air across its glass to prevent fogging. Each cabin interior has 40 viewports framed with dark blue mesh, and a wavy blue stripe painted across the ceiling. The original subs's exteriors were painted navy gray; the new livery colors are bright yellow above water, a light blue 'boot stripe' at the waterline, and a reflection-reducing matte blue-black below the waterline.
The sail of each submarine (from which the helmsman operates) has a control console and a board of indicator lights displaying the submarine's operation status if anything abnormal were to happen on the ride's cycle. Cast members on this ride are trained on how to respond to each abnormality, and are always in contact with other operating positions of the ride. Although the submarine is on a guideway, the helmsman controls its forward and backward movement via a small joystick to regulate these speeds (shown in RPMs, in lieu of the actual propeller which moves the boat) which vary in different sections of the ride. Cast members operating the submarines must guide the submarine through a series of laser sensors, each which activate a different scene for the show. Guiding timers and block-lights are placed throughout the ride to help the cast member properly time each scene. Helmsmen cast members are also able to unlock the watertight hatches via levers in the sail, which is done each time the boat arrives to dock. Each sail also carries a flashlight, opening/closing checklists for the ride's opening/closing crew, and a radio to communicate with other boats and stations in the attraction.
The queue, docks, subs and scenes were all re-themed to represent the movie's Australian harbor, and the captain and his first mate speak with Australian accents.
Marine Observation Outpost (M.O.O.) – Guests see a show on a high definition LCD screen which is similar to the underwater attraction. This alternative experience is provided to accommodate guests with conditions preventing them from boarding the subs.[12] This "virtual" version was filmed from aboard the submarines before the attraction opened to the public, and includes a few minor features that were subsequently removed from the actual attraction.[citation needed]
Nemo submarine names (2007–) [ edit ]
107 Nautilus
207 Scout, formerly Neptune, formerly Seawolf
, formerly, formerly 307 Voyager, formerly Sea Star, formerly Skate
, formerly, formerly 407 Mariner, formerly Explorer, formerly Skipjack
, formerly, formerly 507 Seafarer, formerly Seeker, formerly Triton
, formerly, formerly 607 Explorer, formerly Argonaut, formerly George Washington
, formerly, formerly 707 Neptune, formerly Triton, formerly Patrick Henry
, formerly, formerly 807 Argonaut, formerly Sea Wolf, formerly Ethan Allen
Show scenes [ edit ]
Attraction entrance in 2007
Ancient Ruins of Atlantis (Lagoon)
Coral Reef (Lagoon)
Coral Reef, Enter Caverns (Lobsters and eels)
Cavern Entrance (Mr. Ray's Class)
Finding Nemo (Nemo gets lost)
EAC (East Australian Current)
Graveyard of Ships (Shipwreck)
Mine Field
Distant Lights/Anglerfish
School of Jellyfish
The Erupting Volcano
Transitional Scene, Nemo Reunited
The Whale's Mouth
Hidden Sea Serpent and Mermaid (Tribute to Submarine Voyage)
Harbor Scene w/ Fighting Crabs (Rear Lagoon)
"Beyond the Sea", found on the Finding Nemo soundtrack, instrumental version plays as the submarine docks into port.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Coordinates:Just uploaded to the Ubuntu Lucid repository for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (and we imagine it will appear shortly in Maverick too for Ubuntu 10.10) is a new package called canonical-census, which marks its initial release. Curious about what this package provides, we did some digging and found it's for tracking Ubuntu installations by sending an "I am alive" ping to Canonical on a daily basis.
The canonical-census v0.1 description is simply "canonical-census -- send "I am alive" ping to Canonical." When looking at the Debian package source to this Python program, "Send an "I am alive" ping to Canonical. This is used for surveying how many original OEM installs are still existing on real machines. Note that this does not send any user specific data; it only transmits the operating system version (/var/lib/ubuntu_dist_channel), the machine product name, and a counter how many pings were sent."
When the canonical-census package is installed, the program is to be added to the daily Cron jobs to be executed so that each day it will report to Canonical over HTTP the number of times this system previously sent to Canonical (this counter is stored locally and with it running on a daily basis it's thereby indicating how many days the Ubuntu installation has been active), the Ubuntu distributor channel, the product name as acquired by the system's DMI information, and which Ubuntu release is being used. That's all that canonical-census does, at least for now. Previously there haven't been such Ubuntu tracking measures attempted by Canonical.
The good news for those concerned about privacy is that it appears for now Canonical is just interested in tracking the users of OEM installations --- those PCs that ship with Ubuntu by default such as from ZaReason, System76, and Dell. This information will obviously be valuable to both companies to see whether customers are keeping around their Ubuntu installations or just wiping them and just how often Ubuntu is being used on these systems (judging by the number of times that system reported to Canonical's server previously). For those not wanting to participate in this anonymous data gathering process, they could always sudo apt-get remove canonical-census
The Canonical Census package can be found on Launchpad.net for those interested.
Source from here
Sponsored Link
Related postsThe animals were always in an enclosure, so the children could only look at them and not physically touch them. One obvious difference between animals and toys is that the animals move. It would be very difficult to control for this, so for the purposes of this research animals were chosen that did not move much. For example, since hamsters are nocturnal the hamster mostly slept through the interactions.
The first study was an exploratory one involving children aged between 11 and 40 months. The animals were a blue and red Betta fish and a tan Sentinel hamster. They were positioned in containers on opposite walls. In the middle of the room was a selection of toys, including a doll, an airplane, fire trucks, building blocks and rattles. The children were given 5-10 minutes to play whilst their parent sat in a corner of the room, engaged in paperwork. The parent and experimenter didn’t initiate interaction with the child, but answered questions if asked. Sessions were videotaped and then analyzed.
The results showed that children interacted more frequently with the animals than the toys, and spent more time interacting with the animals than the two most popular toys. The nature of the interactions was also different; they gestured towards the animals more, talked about them more and asked more questions.
The second study was similar, but this time as well as the fish and hamster there was a black Tarantula and an orange and black California Mountain King snake. These two animals were chosen because they might be seen as harmful or scary, although again they were safely in containers. There were four toys, so there was an equal number of toys and animals this time. The children, aged 18 – 36 months, were given five minutes to play on their own as before, and then the parent joined them for a further five minutes.
The results showed that children interacted with the animals more often than the toys (as did their parents), and were as interested in the snake and spider as the hamster and fish. In total the children spent less time with the animals but the opposite was the case for the parents. Both adults and children were more likely to gesture towards animals than toys, but there were no significant effects for children for mentions or questions about the animals. However, the adults were significantly more likely to talk about or ask questions about the animals, showing that they directed their child’s attention towards them.
The final study utilized a more controlled design. The animals that took part in this study were the hamster and fish, as well as a green gecko. Similar soft toys were found, and were paired in separate displays (e.g. live hamster and stuffed toy hamster). In this study, it wasn’t possible to physically touch either the animal or the toy.
Infants aged 18 – 33 months took part. The experimenter first showed the child one display, then after a short delay they invited them to show it to their parent. They then moved on to the second display, and then the third one. The children spent more time interacting with the real animals than with the toys, especially when their parent was there too.
In the first experiment, the paperwork completed by the parents included a questionnaire that revealed all the children had experience with fish but not necessarily with hamsters. There was no difference between how children responded to the fish and hamster, so the authors assume the results are not due to novelty. However it would be useful if future studies controlled for novelty, since fish differ in ways that may be salient for children. The researchers obviously couldn't control for animacy, but they did a good job of controlling for movement, since the animals hardly moved at all.
Taken together, these results suggest that young children are very interested in live animals, compared to toys, even when the animals are not moving and cannot be touched. In addition, their parents help to direct interactions towards the animals more, by talking about them, gesturing towards them and asking questions. And, as the authors put it, people “may find these results surprising, as they suggest that children prefer snakes and spiders to a group of highly attractive toys.”
Although children of various ages took part in the study, these results suggest that children’s interest in animals begins at an early age, and is encouraged by their parents.
Did you have any pets as a child, and if so, what?
Reference
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 31 (1), 57-69 DOI: LoBue, V., Bloom Pickard, M., Sherman, K., Axford, C., & DeLoache, J. (2013). Young children's interest in live animals(1), 57-69 DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-835X.2012.02078.x
At what age do children develop a fascination with animals? A brand new paper by Vanessa LoBue et al investigates young children’s interest in live animals. A set of three studies looked at young children in a naturalistic play environment in which they could choose to interact with animals or toys.I took some time today to view the petition to fire/no-platform Meghan Murphy. I was interested in what these people who are calling for the burning of the witch had to say. Their petition tantrum has about 900 signatures.
Canadian feminism can do far, far better than someone who is capitalizing on hatred of sex-workers and trans*persons.
A racist, transphobe and anti-sex work rad fem should not have a platform on a “progressive” publication. She actually causes damage and in some cases death to trans women with her hate.
My feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit.
I’m signing because I am a feminist who believes in and respects all women, including those that Meghan Murphy would malign.
Meghan Murphy and all the other TERFs need to go… this is not what a real feminist looks like.
Meghan Murphy publishes intensely transphobic and sex-worker phobic material that has no place in a feminist publication. You have to do better, Rabble.
I’m signing because as a sex worker, I am disgusted that Rabble publishes her garbage. I refuse to even read Rabble anymore because of it.
The name calling is rife in these comments, as I predicted. Neoliberals are notorious for screaming bad words without an ounce of analysis. I find it odd they think she’s alone in her analysis, as if there aren’t any women who agree with her critiques of the global sex industry, sexual objectification, and transpolitics. I suppose it’s wishful thinking on their part. It should’ve been so easy to take Murphy down, just like MRA’s do.
Currently there are over 1500 signatures on the petition I started to support her. What about the women all over the world who signed in support of her? Are they intersectional enough for you? To think there are no aboriginal, black and Asian women that have signed my petition and stand against the sex industry is very naive. It’s almost as if these people who started this ruckus are more concerned with their own navels.
I can name the organizations right here in Vancouver that represent WoC against the sex industry. Do these fascists live under a rock?
It’s not OK to advocate in opposition to the factual basis of the lived experiences of other people. It’s time for ALL WOMEN to be accepted, respected, and honored. Period. Feminism includes all women, not just the women you morally approve of. All women count, not just your favourites.
This is precious. What about my lived experience as a former prostituted woman? What about my experience as a Canadian immigrant? It’s as if these people don’t even think about what’s coming out of their mouths.
Let’s look at some of the comments from men.
I’m signing because exclusionary radical feminism, from which Ms. Murphy not only gets her beliefs but also makes her trade, is a corruption of a social movement which is meant to be powerful and uplifting, especially for those who have been most challenged by our unjust society.
So this dude isn’t happy because he doesn’t feel powerful and uplifted in radical feminism. Oh boohoo, welcome to the women’s movement dude. You’re not supposed to be comfortable. Women aren’t living and breathing to uplift you.
Dehumanization and discrimination against women solely due to their gender status, race, and/or individual consensual sexual preferences, have absolutely NO PLACE on the Left or in feminism.
Except when you’re doing it to her, right dude?
Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Except her, right dude?
These people want their own echo chamber. They’re not willing to respond with research and data. It reminds me of what MRA’s did when they found out they couldn’t put just any old bullshit on Wikipedia. They stomped off in a tantrum and started their own wiki called ‘Wikimannia.’
Let’s also remember what happened when MRA’s in Gamergate got upset with Wikipedia. They attacked a bunch of long standing editors and had them silenced.
This is fascism. Feminism is not about cutting women down who disagree with you. Judging by the hashtag these fascists started on Twitter, they haven’t learned a damn thing. It’s ok to burn the witch if she doesn’t march to your drum beat.
These people could be actually doing something constructive rather than trying to cut a woman down. Since they can’t honestly approach the arguments this is the juvenile tactics they employ. I know all about it. It was done to me for almost 2 years.
In 2009-11 I was bullied by the pro-prostitution lobby, which still happens to me today just on a lesser scale. These people stooped so low as to make up false personas to get the personal information of the handful of feminists who didn’t agree with them. Some of them posted images of me they scoured the net with. They made endless videos. One of them even accused me of making a false rape accusation against a man. They made fun of my body, specifically my vagina. They false flagged my work and took down 2 of my channels. Anything they found of mine online they twisted to suit their needs. I was called every nasty name in the book while they went totally about their bullying. This went on for two years straight.
It drove some of us away. Some of us couldn’t tolerate the constant personal attacks. They used whatever strategy necessary to silence others while holding up the banner of feminism and equality.
I’m a very hearty, determined person but I must say, it got to me. Nobody can be that thick skinned. I was banned from two reddit sites, labeled a transphobe for knowing that males are not females. I was called a racist, a bigot, and all the other labels they could find.
One time I stood up for a woman-only pharmacy here in Vancouver. Women in my community desperately needed it since our reproductive health is a huge issue for us. As soon as the pharmacy opened, it was attacked by transactivists. I wrote a comment to one of these transactivists that politely stated the reasons for women’s health needs. Women who need specialized care due to our biology? TRANSPHOBE!!!!!
Women’s spaces have been few and far between and bitterly gained. The erosion of our voices, spaces and our specific needs are considered ‘transmisogyny’ by those who haven’t lived a day of our experience. This is, in my view, criminal. It’s criminal to dismiss our unique oppression as women.
Lesbians and our allies have had to fight kicking and screaming for a single woman only event, Michfest. Women trying to come together in groups are being no-platformed, gatherings cancelled, our sparse female culture and arts are being destroyed daily. This cannot stand.
The neoliberal insistence upon intersectionality doesn’t apply to women or lesbians. Like good women are supposed to, we are supposed to give up our spaces and voices in order to appease and validate others who have no idea, no conception of our lives. We’re supposed to shrink and get as small as possible in public.
The bottom line is this. Men are not women. If you are born a male you are a male. You are not a female. You do not, and never will experience life as a woman. You can spend money on hormones, surgeries and a huge wardrobe of dresses and makeup but you will never be female. This is a fact. Instead of trying to force a falsehood down our throats like a dick in porn, instead of penetrating our space, make your own. We fought hard for what little we have and you’re not entitled to it.
You’ve shown you don’t respect us at all. You insist we be available to validate you but you constantly erase us. We are different. Intersectionality you say? Oh, it’s only intersectionality for you.
Would you demand to be included in Aboriginal space? African American space?
So why the hell is it ok to demand access to WOMEN ONLY space? Tell me. Why is it ok? Why is it ok to murder female culture?
We will not yield. Women have been yielding since the day we were born. Women aren’t even allowed to be born in some countries.
Your threats of violence only make us more determined. Our voices are growing. Like the men you are you want to kill us off cuz let’s face it, that’s what men have been doing for centuries.
Now, let’s address the fact that A Voice for Men, the largest men’s rights misogynist wank fest, is in bed with y’all.
AVFM published a piece today agreeing that Murphy is a ‘TERF’ witch who should be burned. Male support from all over huh? This is the same AVFM that published a piece today titled ‘Why Is Gynocentrism So Hard to Kill?’ Yes, why are women so hard to kill? A petition and a bunch of accusations should kill any woman.
He encourages his fellow MRA’s to join in bashing her on the hashtag. He’s completely lock step in line with the neoliberal term ‘agency’ even though that argument can be used against MRA’sHouse approves sanctuary city bill after long debate Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved Protester removed during debate on sanctuary city bill (KXAN Photo) [ + - ] Video
KXAN staff - AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas House approved a hard-line immigration bill early Thursday morning after a long debate. The House vote was 93 to 54. It was taken at 2:58 a.m.
If Senate Bill 4 is signed by the governor, police officers would be able to ask the immigration status of a person before they make an arrest. The original intent was to force Texas county jails to hold alleged criminals here illegally for immigration officials to pick them up for deportation.
"All it does is scare people, create terror in the Hispanic community and it feels like discrimination against our community," said Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas.
Senate Bill 4, the so-called sanctuary city bill, would ban local rules that prevent authorities from enforcing immigration laws or asking about someone's immigration status. It became an issue after Travis County sheriff Sally Hernandez would let accused criminals here illegally bond out of jail, including several people accused of sexual assault of a child.
House lawmakers have made some changes to SB4 since it cleared the upper chamber in February. They took out a provision that would cut funding to local programs if an official violates the law.
"There's some changes," State Senator Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said. "Some for the better, some are neutral, some that you know we probably need to have a discussion about, but all in all it is a pretty stout bill, still." Perry, who authored SB4, says his bill would reinforce the existing rule of law and provide consistency among the state's law enforcement agencies.
Within the 30 minutes of the item being up for discussion, there was a tense exchange between Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, and Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas.
"It is suggested that Latino countries don't send their best here, well, I'm the son of immigrants," said Rep. Anchia. "And I love my country. And when my mother came here, Mexico sent her best." In response, Villalba said, "Chairman Anchia, Why do we have this bill? We have this bill because there are people in our communities who we care about feel unsafe."
Several lawmakers are participating in a hunger strike in opposition to the bill. State Rep. Victoria Neave, D-Dallas, started fasting on Sunday and says she will continue fasting until the House adjourns on Wednesday.
"We don't have enough votes to defeat it," Neave said. "I just don't think people realize the impact that this legislation is going to have on our state and our communities."
Earlier in the day, Immigrant families gathered at the Texas State Capitol with lawmakers against the bill to discuss, what they're saying is, the disastrous impact the bill's passing could have on Texas families and the economy.
On Tuesday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler left a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions believing that the Texas capital isn't a sanctuary city in the eyes of the federal government.
Gov. Greg Abbott has already vowed to sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.
Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez released a statement about the vote Thursday morning:Tillopar n00bie
Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 8 Reputation: 10
Rep Power: 38
Points: 1,274, Level: 2 Level up: 75%, 126 Points needed Activity: 1.1% Last Achievements
Obsolete/Tools not Up to Date
The issue with trying to modify the textures is that when you load a texture using UABE2.1d to the dif, it doesn't include any mipmapping. Without mipmaps, the game just crashes whenever you try to load a texture that requires those mipmaps.
Even if you export then immediately import the same.tga without modifying it, you still lose those mipmaps. That's why I believe it's UABE that doesn't support mipmapping. It has checkbox under info that says "has mipmaps," but it's always unclickable.
I pasted the bottom of the text dump from the original texture onto the modified texture and got results you probably expected - only when you're close, does the modified texture render.
I've included pictures in an imgur album of that, alongside filesize differences. The smaller numbers(filesizes) are the loaded texture, while the larger is the original, mipmapped one.
https://imgur.com/a/tOqTq
Is there a tool that supports mipmapping on imported textures? This method doesn't work properly, because the game now uses mipmapping, which uses scaled-down textures for further textures. This is a good thing in that it can give some performance increase as well as making textures looks better at a distance.The issue with trying to modify the textures is that when you load a texture using UABE2.1d to the dif, it doesn't include any mipmapping. Without mipmaps, the game just crashes whenever you try to load a texture that requires those mipmaps.Even if you export then immediately import the same.tga without modifying it, you still lose those mipmaps. That's why I believe it's UABE that doesn't support mipmapping. It has checkbox under info that says "has mipmaps," but it's always unclickable.I pasted the bottom of the text dump from the original texture onto the modified texture and got results you probably expected - only when you're close, does the modified texture render.I've included pictures in an imgur album of that, alongside filesize differences. The smaller numbers(filesizes) are the loaded texture, while the larger is the original, mipmapped one.Is there a tool that supports mipmapping on imported textures?Just-released independent water sampling data from the Tennessee coal ash disaster has shown alarmingly high levels of arsenic and seven other heavy metals, including cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and thallium.
"I've never seen levels this high," said Dr. Shea Tuberty, Assistant Professor of Biology at the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Lab at Appalachian State University. "These levels would knock out fish reproduction... the ecosystems around Kingston and Harriman are going to be in trouble... maybe for generations."
"Although these results are preliminary, we want to release them because of the public health concern and because we believe the TVA [Tennessee Valley Authority] and EPA aren't being candid," said Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., chair of the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Arsenic levels were especially worrisome. "From the water samples you gave us, we had anywhere from 35 to 300 times that [EPA] level" of 10 parts per billion for drinking water, said Tuberty to Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby, who floated a kayak around the "ashbergs" on Decmber 27, five days after the disaster.
After testing for presence of 17 elements that are regulated by the EPA for drinking water, the Appalachian State University team of Tuberty and Dr. Carol Baybak found that the three water samples and one sediment sample provided by volunteers from the Waterkeeper Alliance and Appalachian Voices showed that "eight of them popped out as significantly higher than they should have been for drinking water."
The test data can be found here.
Meanwhile, the TVA continues to stall and delay releasing their water sampling data. TVA, which continues to refer to the disaster as a mere "ash slide," states that "information regarding air quality and water quality has already been published." Clicking the link provided by TVA for "water sample data" directs readers to data that was taken at the city of Kingston Water intake on Dec 22 and 23, the day of the disaster, and before the material started to migrate downstream. TVA does not provide any updated water sampling data on their website.
Chris Irwin, attorney for United Mountain Defense (UMD), a Knoxville-based non-profit that has been at the site since the day of the disaster writes on Jan 2:
"As I type TVA is trying to conduct their press conference - but they are having a small problem: volunteers from United Mountain Defense have handed out the latest [water] test results to all of the press there and are refusing to stop. I just got off the phone with one of our volunteers. He said at first TVA threatened to arrest him if he did not leave. He said he would not--and all the cameras turned on him."
"Gil Francis--TVA's Public relations guy apparently nearly had a heart attack. If UMD can get this data, why can't TVA?" |
iers
But now the kids there love math and they say, "Hoops is for losers!"
Took his talents to Provo over Stanford & MIT
His range of integers goes to infinity
Dropping derivatives like threes, makin' Cougar fans forget
Ballers with no math like—what's-his-name? Fredette?
Laid down his calculator for two years in Albania
Now he's back doin' work, get loud, it's Dittmer mania!
CHORUS:
The BYU Mathletes are coming after ya
When they walk by don't do the wave do the parabolaOn 22 October I wrote the blog post ‘What transnational couples really need‘. In it, I highlighted the obstacles in the way of young transnational couples seeking to settle down in Singapore. The article generated some interest, thanks to the helpful sharing and retweeting of some friends. I also did a short radio interview with 938 LIVE on Saturday to talk about the issue.
This morning I found this letter in TODAY’s Voices section: ‘Help foreign spouses get PR to better overcome hurdles‘. I’ve screencapped the article, because I expect that TODAY will remove the letter.
Chunks of the article are word-for-word lifts from my blog post. This is the relevant section of what I wrote in my blog last week:
“What we, and I suspect many other transnational couples, need from the government is an acknowledgement of family migration that transcends the fear of sham marriages and people abusing the system and trying to get social welfare. According to the National Population and Talent Division, four in ten marriages registered in Singapore last year were transnational. This doesn’t include couples who, like Calum and I, were married overseas before coming to Singapore. Transnational families are not a tiny minority who can be ignored for much longer.
Transnational families need foreign spouses to be allowed to work, so that he/she can choose to work rather than be financially dependent. Transnational couples need to be eligible for affordable housing from the beginning of the marriage, and not just when the Singaporean is over 35. If the PR process could be expedited for family migrants, that would probably solve those two issues, as well as give transnational couples peace of mind.“
I alerted TODAY to the plagiarism at about noon today. The editor thanked me for my email and requested permission to forward my email to the letter-writer Eunice Li to get her response. I agreed.
I haven’t heard back from TODAY yet, and at the time of the writing of this blog post the letter is still up on their website.
Then I received a comment from Ms Li on my blog:
I wasn’t angry when I first saw the plagiarised article this morning. I was more curious as to why someone would bother plagiarising a letter to a newspaper’s forum pages. I would have been satisfied with an apology from the plagiarist and the newspaper removing the article.
What angers me now is that Ms Li is not only not sorry for having copied my writing word-for-word, but characterises it as having “helped me raise awareness”. Not only is she unrepentant, she appears to expect me to be grateful!
Apart from the fact that I don’t require any unsolicited “help” to raise awareness of an issue I am perfectly capable of speaking out on myself, as a freelance journalist my words are how I earn a living. I might not have earned any money from my blog post, but that was my choice.
So do I mind that my words were stolen from me? Yes. And what I mind most of all is that the writer does not seem to understand what she’s done wrong: she has even updated her blog to share the plagiarised piece.
I’m assuming that Ms Li only decided to leave a comment on my blog after receiving an email from TODAY. Even if that’s not the case, a person who has a blog to catalogue her “writing achievements”, who was identified by The Straits Times as Writer of the Week last year, and who says that she is “still thinking” about compiling her writing into a book, should be more aware about the importance of ownership and respect for other writers.
Update @ 6:42pm: Ms Li’s next comment on my blog post…
Update @ 6:54pm: Upon seeing the below comment from Ms Li I feel like I should make it super clear – I have to be especially sensitive about my writing because it is how I earn a living, but one should just not plagiarise, period. Like, NEVER EVER.
Update @ 1:20am, Wednesday: TODAY has amended Ms Li’s letter. The new version can be found here; she has rewritten the parts of the letter that were previously plagiarised. TODAY has also added a note below the letter to acknowledge the plagiarism and to link to my blog post.
Although I would have done things very differently if I were TODAY, I don’t really want to drag the matter out and am choosing to move on.Quakecon in 2017 was the seat of the major Quake World Championship tournament. This time centered around Quake Champions, the new multiplayer game from Bethesda.
For the first time this year after a long time, the location had been moved from the Hilton Anatole in Downtown Dallas to the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine, Texas.
Large gathering of computers at the BYOC LAN party of Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Nyx with Blue Hair at Quakecon 2017
Winner of an Alienware case at Quakecon 2017
Cosplay with me was presenting their work at the Cosplay Photography panel at Quakecon 2017
Bastion inspired computer case mod at BYOC of Quakecon 2017
This is a cosplay of Tae Takemi of the Persona Five game at Quakecon 2017
Silhouettes in the blue light of the e-sport arena of Quakecon 2017
Bunny Variant of D-VA from Overwatch at Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Yazawa Nico in dancer costume from Love Live! at Quakecon 2017
Camera standing in front of e-sport arena of Quakecon 2017
Bethesda VR banner on the Showfloor of Quakecon 2017
Green sunglasses and cat hat costume on Showfloor of Quakecon 2017
Computer case mod as the Half Life 2 Citadel of City 17 at Quakecon 2017
Clan banners hovering over lit computer screens in BYOC area of Quakecon 2017
Nightsister and Inquisitor concepts from Starwars at Quakecon 2017
Ground illuminated booth of MSI at Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Orson Krennic of Starwars Rogue One at Quakecon 2017
Attendee filming with his phone on the showfloor of Quakecon 2017
Intense competition on the computer screens of the BYOC of Quakecon 2017
Lara Croft as seen in the latest Tomb Raider game at Quakecon 2017
Computer lit alley of the BYOC area of Quakecon 2017
Fallout inspired costume on the showfloor at the Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Bendy and the Ink Machine at Quakecon 2017
Orange light lit Customer Service booth at Quakecon 2017
Demonstrating VR at the Razer booth at Quakecon 2017
Elf hunting around the Gaylord hotel at Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Harley Quinn and Joker from the Suicide Squad movie at Quakecon 2017
Dishonored Death of the Outsider booth and demo at Quakecon 2017
Ruby Rose from RWBY cosplay at Quakecon 2017
Bright lights shining on the chairs of the e-sport arena at Quakecon 2017
Lup from Adventure Zone Cosplay aims to collect at Quakecon 2017
Winner of the cosplay competition Morgan Yu from Prey at Quakecon 2017
E-sport arena and its orange background at Quakecon 2017
A Tie Pilot cosplay from Starwars at Quakecon 2017
Group picture at the end of the Quake World Championship at Quakecon 2017
Extra life for charity play booth at Quakecon 2017
Fallout guy being interviewed at Cosplay competition event at Quakecon 2017
Father and son attendees at Quakecon 2017
Slash costume with metallic wounds at Quakecon 2017
The fountain in the hotel corridor leading to the Quakecon 2017 main area
Friends and family group pictures at Quakecon 2017
See through computer case with a green led lighting and fallout stickers at Quakecon 2017
Duo of cosplayers inspired by Grand Theft Auto and Payday at Quakecon 2017
Hanzo themed cosplay from Overwatch at Quakecon 2017
Green Ghoul computer case mod lit from inside
Hodor hodor hodor at Hodor 2017
Hula Hoop twirl in the corridors of the Gaylord Texan at Quakecon 2017
Demonic inspired cosplay of Mercy from Overwatch at Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Kravitz from The Adventure Zone at Quakecon 2017
Attendee with Purple hair in the Gaylord Lobby at Quakecon 2017
Bathrobe costume modeled after Link from the Legend of Zelda Series at Quakecon 2017
Couple of attendees on the showfloor sporting the Lucky Red Dragon hat at Quakecon 2017
Giant poster for Quake Champions on Bethesda Booth at Quakecon 2017
Attendees are watching the competition on the event stage in purple lighting at Quakecon 2017
Red hair and armor of Red Sonja at the Cosplay Photography Panel of Quakecon 2017
Registration queue in the main corridor leading to Quakecon 2017
Full armor cosplay of Reinhardt from Overwatch at Quakecon 2017
Robert Duffy and Shale Williams from id Software at Quakecon 2017
Scientist and Mimic cosplay at Quakecon 2017
Sea of computer screens with orange background at BYOC of Quakecon 2017
Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad or D-VA from Overwatch at Quakecon 2017
BYOC and showfloor entrance at Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Slash of Quake Champions at Quakecon 2017
Sloth head costume at Quakecon 2017
Staff at BYOC entrance of Quakecon 2017
Cosplay of Taako a character from The Adventure Zone Podcast at Quakecon 2017
Yorha 2B cosplay from Nier Automata at Quakecon 2017
Team bob clan and their banner are computer lit during BYOC at Quakecon 2017
Impersonating Joseph Oda of Evil Within at Quakecon 2017
Team liquid are duelling during the Quake World Championship finals at Quakecon 2017
Titanfall 2 pilot cosplay during Quakecon 2017
Twitch Prime booth silhouettes on the showfloor at Quakecon 2017
Demo of Bethesda VR titles using a HTC Vive at Quakecon 2017
Waifus 4 lifu banner at the BYOC in Quakecon 2017
More photos from
Quakecon 2016 in Dallas
Quakecon 2015 in Dallas
Quakecon 2013 in Dallas
Pax South 2016 in San Antonio
Gearbox Community Day 2013 in DallasWhen North Carolina voters head to the polls on May 8, they will be asked to decide on a constitutional amendment - known as "Amendment One" - that prohibits marriages between same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage is already illegal by statute, but N.C. is the only state left in the Southeast without a constitutional ban.
So this is quite a showdown. There’s much talk of liberty, lifestyle and family -- and a whole lot of talk about God. As opponents and supporters target churches all the way from Appalachia to the Outer Banks, religious leaders are flooding the airwaves to share their views on a hot button issue that throws core values into stark relief.
Advertisement:
Growing up, I attended a church in Raleigh that is deeply involved in the current debate. And I can tell you that the fault lines are deep – and often surprising – to folks in other parts of the country.
A Tale of Two Churches
The Upper Room Church of God in Christ, located in south Raleigh, is presided over by the Rev. Patrick Wooden, who describes homosexuality a “deathstyle” and presents himself as a zealous defender of traditional marriage. Rev. Wooden, an African American, launched his ministry career with a tent revival in a small rural town. Bringing a message infused with miracles and warnings of the devil’s influence, the pastor came to Raleigh to lead the Upper Room in 1987, where his congregation, by the reckoning of the church website, today numbers 3,000. Proudly describing himself as a businessman and his church as one of the largest employers of blacks in Raleigh, Rev. Wooden's teachings carry a whiff of prosperity gospel that appeals to those striving for economic salvation as well as spiritual. And he champions social views that have made him a rising right-wing media star, complete with spots on "The O’Reilly Factor."
A passage in Genesis forms the basis for Rev. Wooden’s view that God’s definition of marriage is strictly a male-and-female union. He rattled it off in a recent TV appearance: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Rev. Wooden is particularly incensed with those who equate the battle for gay rights with the struggle for civil rights. His comments on homosexuality, sometimes graphic, push the notion that gays are aberrant both culturally and physically. Who, he demands, could support a practice that forces men “to wear a diaper or a butt plug just to be able to contain their bowels?” For him, comparing gays to blacks is denigrating.
Just a few miles away from Rev. Wooden’s church, just at the edge of the North Carolina State University, stands Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, where a different strain of righteousness prevails. The church is led by Rev. Jack McKinney and co-pastor Rev. Nancy Petty, a lesbian who has made history as the first openly gay minister to lead a Baptist church in the South. Pullen, with roots in the late 19th century, evolved a brand of progressive Christianity under the leadership of poet and scholar E. McNeill Poteat, Jr., whose preaching emphasized an inclusive spirit uncommon in Baptist churches. In 1956, the liberal firebrand W.W. Finlator was called to Pullen, and under his guidance, the church opened its doors to worshippers of all races in 1958. In the late 60s, it was this focus on inclusiveness and social justice that attracted my father and mother (an Episcopalian and a Methodist respectively) who both taught at local colleges.
Advertisement:
Finlator’s legacy of tolerance continued after his retirement in 1982, when the issue of gay rights began to emerge on the national scene. In 1992 the Southern Baptist Convention cast Pullen out for blessing a same-sex union. Today the church serves as the headquarters for the North Carolina Religious Coalition for Marriage Equality, an interfaith same-sex marriage advocacy group composed of state religious leaders. Last year, Rev. Petty declared that until gay unions are legislatively permitted, she would no longer sign marriage licenses, stating her view that “every time I sign a marriage license for a heterosexual couple and act as an agent of the state, I am reminded of those couples who I marry that are denied the basic human right to legally marry the person of their choice.”
Squaring off against the Rev. Wooden in a recent forum on the same-sex marriage amendment, Rev. Petty expressed her view that the Bible doesn't prescribe a single form of marriage. She has condemned Amendment One as "anti-family" and calls upon North Carolinians to stand together to "protect all people's rights."
Varieties of Religious Experience
That two churches of such dramatically divergent views could occupy a 10-mile radius underscores the complexity of religion in North Carolina, where clashes in the public square date all the way back to the 17th century, when Quakers and Anglicans struggled for control of the colony’s political leadership.
Advertisement:
Allegiances break down along racial and class lines in ways that have long confounded and intrigued social scientists, who offer a variety of theories on why you'd have a predominately black church’s leader defending traditional marriage against gays while the head of a nearby, mostly white church frames the issue as an urgent question of civil rights.
Over the last century, the tradition of southern progressive Christianity, with its intellectual strain, was deeply entwined with the national political battle to secure support for Roosevelt’s New Deal. Aligned with northeastern churches like New York’s Riverside Church (built in 1930 with Rockefeller money as a cathedral to progressive Protestantism), congregations like Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial and Chapel Hill’s Binkley Baptist Church, along with divinity programs at institutions of learning like UNC, Chapel Hill, tended to foster openness to others’ beliefs, a tradition of combining faith and reason, and an emphasis on questioning dogma and viewing the Bible in historical context.
Meanwhile, the rise of fundamentalism and the so-called “newer sect” faiths like the Pentecostals tended to attract more rural, working-class Christians. Historian Ken Fones-Wolf of the University of West Virginia has pointed out that hard times of the Depression tended to reinforce rural-born Southerners' strong beliefs in the importance of God's grace, salvation through faith, the necessity of bearing witness, and the Bible as the sole religious authority. Ministers at these pulpits, along with those of most of the fast-rising Baptists, were suspicious of outsiders and reminded their flocks to be wary of associating with those – like labor unions, for example – who did not share their faith.
Advertisement:
Which Side Are You On?
The primary election takes place Tuesday, May 8, but early voting is already underway. In addition to voting up or down on the gay marriage amendment, N.C. voters will make political party selections in a crowded race for governor. The hot button gay marriage issue appears to be driving people to the polls early.
The timing of the vote is thought by many to boost the chance of passage because of the Republican presidential primary -- though Romney's annointment may throw off that calculation. Over the past decade, the Democratic-controlled legislature successfully successfully blocked efforts by social conservatives to alter the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. But now, Republicans control both houses, and last September they found enough support to put the question to voters.
Advertisement:
Polls and denominational stances reveal demographic trends that resist easy categories. In January, the Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling found that 56 percent of respondents to a poll favored the amendment, while 36 percent would vote against it. Ten percent were undecided. The most prominent Catholic leaders in the state, Bishops Peter Jugis of Charlotte and Michael Burbidge of Raleigh, support the amendment. On the other hand, the state’s Episcopal Diocese opposes it. Black Christians, among the most opposed to homosexuality, make up 13 percent of the state population (nearly twice as high as the national average). Yet the North Carolina NAACP, which includes thousands of African-American pastors across the state, is against the amendment.
When my dad was a kid in the small town of Winton, N.C., his Episcopalian family frowned on the idea of his bringing home a Presbyterian. The notion that the state's churches are now divided on the issue of whether partners of the same sex can marry attests to an astonishing transformation in just one generation. The values voters express on May 8 will say a lot about the direction of southern Christianity. In a state where religion plays a central role, questions about inclusiveness, tradition and openness to change will send a powerful signal throughout the nation. There is an awful lot at stake -- maybe even the soul of the South.More than three months after the Senate Intelligence Committee launched its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — including allegations of collusion by associates of President Trump — the panel has made little progress and is increasingly stymied by partisan divisions that are jeopardizing the future of the inquiry, according to multiple sources involved in the probe.
The committee has yet to issue a single subpoena for documents or interview any key witnesses who are central to the probe, the sources said. It also hasn’t requested potentially crucial evidence — such as the emails, memos and phone records of the Trump campaign — in part because the panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has so far failed to respond to requests from the panel’s Democrats to sign letters doing so, the sources said.
“The wheels seem to be turning more slowly than the importance of the inquiry would indicate,” said Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the 9/11 commission and former Watergate prosecutor, one of a number of veteran Washington investigators who have begun to question the lack of movement in the probe.
As Congress returns from its spring recess this week and Trump approaches his 100th day in office, the panel has no further public hearings scheduled, even as the House Intelligence Committee — torn by its own partisan wrangling and internal turmoil — shows some flickering new signs of life. The result has caused growing frustration among the Senate committee’s Democrats, who are privately complaining the probe is underfunded, understaffed and too timid in pushing to get to the bottom of one of the most explosive political stories in years.
“I would like to see this moving more quickly,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the panel, said in an interview with Yahoo News.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking minority member on the panel, has repeatedly said the Russia investigation “may very well be the most important thing I do in my public life.” And until now, Warner has sought to project an appearance of bipartisan unity with Burr, portraying the probe as a methodical inquiry that will follow the facts wherever they lead.
But Warner’s handling of the probe has led to grumbling among some of his Democratic colleagues that he has been too reluctant to challenge Burr and press for more aggressive action — for fear of undercutting the perception that he and the Republican chairman are working cooperatively together. “He’s been afraid to even bring up the S-word,” said one source familiar with the details of the investigation, referring to the panel’s authority to issue subpoenas for documents.
There are signs Warner’s patience is starting to wear thin. Warner “is not satisfied with the pace of the investigation and he doesn’t think it’s moving fast enough,” a committee source tells Yahoo News. “He would like to have seen more hearings and more interviews with witnesses.”
Asked for comment, Rebecca Watkins, chief spokesperson for Burr, emailed: “We won’t have any comment on internal committee processes.”
In January: President Trump speaks by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) More
The state of the Senate probe is considered especially significant because in the view of many observers it holds the only hope for a public resolution of the swirl of allegations about Russian interference in the election and its aftermath that have dominated the headlines for months. Those allegations led to the dismissal of Trump’s first national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions from campaign-related investigations and the sidelining of House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (now being investigated himself by the House Ethics Committee over accusations that he improperly disclosed classified information in an effort to give credibility to Trump’s tweets accusing former President Barack Obama of “wiretapping” him, without evidence).Actor Go Kyung Pyo had an interview with OSEN and discussed some of his hopes and jealousies.
The actor answered questions about variety show appearances and said, “I like going on them but I’m not good at it. I think ‘SNL Korea’ is a bit different from regular variety shoes. When I was on the show it felt like a performance. Since we have to collaborate and practice, I thought of it as more of a performance rather than a variety show.”
He continued, “I’m not a fun person when I go on variety shows. I am awkward and don’t have diverse experiences, so I don’t have much to say. I get nauseous and it’s hard. That’s why I really respect people who do variety shows.”
Despite his worries, Go Kyung Pyo reveals that he really wants to appear on “Running Man.” He said, “I have been on various variety shows like ‘Happy Together,’ ‘Strong Heart,’ ‘Infinite Challenge,’ and more thus far. However, I haven’t been able to go on ‘Running Man.’ I wanted to guest on ‘Running Man’ because you can just work hard and run according to the mission, but I didn’t get a call. I was envious because Jo Jung Suk appeared on ‘Running Man.'”
When asked about who he would like to appear on “Running Man” with, Go Kyung Po picked his hiking buddies Joo Won, Min Jin Woong, and Shin Joo Hwan. He explained, “Since I have personal chemistry with them I think it would be good to appear on the show together. I know Yoo Jae Suk and I go to the same gym as Kim Jong Kook, so I really want to appear on ‘Running Man’ someday.”
Go Kyung Pyo recently acted in SBS’s “Don’t Dare to Dream” (Jealousy Incarnate).
Watch the drama below!
Link to video: www.viki.com/videos/1108945v-dont-dare-to-dream-jealousy-incarnate-episode-1
Source (1)Call me cold, but lots of people seem to be having relationships with me that I don't feel I am having with them. Cold might not be the right word. But definitely uptight with a fear of intimacy. Yeah, read that – and would have got the T-shirt, but didn't want to go that far. And it's getting worse, for I am increasingly at sea in a world of rampant overfamiliarity.
Only yesterday, some kind of leaflet popped through the door promising to turn me on. From an energy company? Yuck! This was as good as the glossy Valentine's card from a lettings agency that just couldn't wait to get its hands on my property … oooer missus.
Even well-established companies have taken to addressing me as though we were in a serious relationship in which have I been neglectful. Ocado (yes, I get stuff from them delivered to my Islington-upon-Hampstead castle) sends me creepy emails about our "anniversary". "Hasn't time flown? It's time to celebrate." Jeez, I had forgotten the incredible day when I discovered a supermarket delivered. Next time I see the van, I guess I should just propose to it.
The thing is, I haven't paid this anniversary much attention as I am tied up with giving constant feedback to my mobile phone company. Every time I query a bill, I get 27 texts asking me to rate the performance of the person I spoke to. Trouble is, I am still in the middle of rating the venue and bar facilities of a fringe theatre I went to at the weekend.
This constant loop of marketing, consumption and feedback means I rarely have time to talk to my children or anyone else in my stupid offline life. It's pretty exhausting telling everyone exactly how their service can be improved. You can't just say you didn't like an ad on Facebook, you have to explain why. Which reminds me: I must tell TripAdvisor that the hotel in Paris didn't have very good body lotion.
This creeping interactive culture exists partly because of less face-to-face communication. But it is taking the form of intrusive and fake missives that appear to assume we are in a state of quasi-sexual excitement over that most mundane transaction, paying a gas bill.
In publications such as Forbes you can see all sorts of crappy business waffle about "intimate marketing". The key relationship is between customers and brands, and those emotional fires have to keep being stoked. Yikes! Clearly, I have a problem with commitment and sometimes just want to buy something and move on … This, apparently, is shallow and short-lived – exactly what I seek, but then I am a bad person with a transaction mindset when I, and whoever I am buying from, should be thinking about long-term goals.
Such relationships are acted out when you are chatting to someone on the phone who is involving you in a new contract, finding you a special deal, bonding. Building rapport is part of their script. It's not their fault: this is how business is done.
Essentially, this is the globalisation of etiquette premised on the American model. When I waitressed in the US, I soon had to learn that it was about more than getting the food to the table but also providing a one-woman show. In my case, a show that did not resemble being a decent waitress in any way. Americans expect a certain level of service and do not find friendliness suspect.
What we appear to have imported is overfamiliarity without good service: thus, we have to wait in all day to get a boiler repaired while at the same time being bombarded with these strangely personal love notes. My internet provider is emailing me daily about date night at the movies and telling me to get the popcorn in? Obviously I am going to chuck them soon, as another broadband company is promising so much more.
Does any of this stuff work? I only know one person for whom it does and she is having a relationship with a wine club. Aren't most of us flummoxed by this gropetastic marketing?
Spike Jonze's film Her is clever because it is not about the future but about now, and it simply takes personalised intimate marketing to its logical conclusion. The central character falls in love with an operating system that has been tailored to meet his every need and has rifled though all his personal information. It makes him happy, so perhaps I need to loosen up and understand that my value can only be measured by those who sell me stuff, that the bonds I make with companies and supermarkets are deeply important, that the most excitement I can ever crave will come in the form of a discount from someone I never met. Perhaps I just need to work harder on my part of the relationship: you shall know me by my purchases and my purchases alone.
Or I could hope for a let up in this kind of harassment-marketing, and yearn for the days when the nearest I got to a personal message was the annual Christmas card from the Chinese take away: "Happy Christmas Moore."All I have ever wanted and strived to be is, a grubby little hacker. Those three words written indelibly in my mind:
grubby little hacker
Always lower case. In fiction they were smart, they were generally physically weaker than their antagonists, but clever won the day. I became enamored with the idea after the advent of getting my first computer, an IBM PS/1 486 25 Mhz, Both types of floppy drives. Machines do not experience emotion, they do not get mad. You can work on it, and not get yelled at. As long as you don’t get angry you can keep trying any solution until it’s fixed. Lack of persistance is the mind killer.
My first experience, fiction withstanding, with anything even “hacking” related, was when I was young probably mid 90s. I needed a fresh install of Windows 95, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t have an install disk from my current computer. And I was telling my friends about my woes and he said no problem he had a copy. His dad had a copy of Windows 95 on diskette. I don’t remember the actual number of disks but at like 12 years old, I think I believed there was about 90 of them. But seriously installing windows 95 from diskette was an all day experience. It took as much as 8 hours because the disks were slow and every so often you would have to change one out. I wouldn’t see a windows disk with a holograph on it for another 10 years(legitimate windows disk). I think once we got installed we hooked up a null modem and played doom or something. Cause you know, there ain’t no party like a null modem lan party. *
About this same time I had my first dip into programming, thanks to a seriously outdated computer lab. It was the 90s, but they had a complete lab of full working Apple IIe’s. They were awesome. I learned how to type in 6th grade and Basic(Programming) in 7th. By 8th they replaced the entire lab with the multicolored mac’s. But I knew after watching the cheesy videos about “Don’t copy that floppy” and various other warnings of hackerly things in the class. That’s what I waned. To own the machine.
We had the internet briefly at my home for a while, but my dad decided he didn’t want to pay for it anymore. I ended up shoulder surfing dial up account usernames and passwords, from anyone’s house that would let me near there computer. So I still had internet. At the time there was a free service called Juno(eventually NetZero) that allowed you to connect to there service and download email then immediately disconnect. I used this as a cover for my parents if they ever picked up the phone and heard the modem cranking away.
In 1999 I installed my first linux install. I stole the cd out of the back of a book, from booksamillion…you know cause it’s difficult to download an OS over dialup. I didn’t know how much different my life would be, or that this would be my calling, and future career. My mentor and friend at the time had told me about linux and though he had some enthusiasm at first, he would eventually move to Windows 2000, “‘cause games.” I would as well but I always kept a frankenbox (Box made of old parts) with linux on it. And whenever II was working on it, or trying to learn my first scripting language (perl), my friends would call it “fake work.”
“
In high school, I was a decent student, but I never did homework. I kept a more or less A/B average :). At night I was sleeping 3 maybe 4 hours a night either reading novels, tech manuals or working with the computer. In High School, I got in trouble a bit more than I care to admit. One day I had written something the school administration didn’t like, and they informed me they were going to call my parents, so for the remainder of the week I tied up the phone with the modem. My principle asked me if I told my parents about it, I said I had and nothing else came of it.
2001, the towers came down, while I was in programming class. In the very same programming a class a group of friends and I shoulder surfed the Teacher’s password. They all got in trouble for using the password at their desks. My machine showed no such usage. I had also been switching up desks.
High school ended. There was a break up with a girl, and a partion magic accident. I decided I wasn’t using computers anymore. My personal life got dark. A theme of things to come. Mostly the partition magic incident had ruined like….all of my goddamned MP3s, and Warez.
Two years after that decision, my dad told me to “get my shit together” or else. And suggested I start going to school somewhere. I briefly looked into medical assisting. Ultimately deciding maybe I have to get back into computers again. There was a computer networking and security program at the school where I had thought about the medical classes….
grubby little hacker
…echoed in my head again. During and after school my career would take off. In my downtime I wrote a piece of malware that I distributed as a credit card number generator(I still can’t believe people downloaded and installed this thing). And created a small bot net, I mostly used to harass the installers of the program with the vbscript voice on windows.
I can remember the first time I used metasploit to solve an actual real problem at a job. And I can remember in between jobs being poor and cracking wifi networks just for internet access, “‘cause poor”. Shortly after I would write webscrapers, for a semi-reputable company wanting to fill there databases with other peoples data. And then managing cloud servers for high availability sites, in the mid to late aughts. And then doing various dev and linux admin roles. Still toiling away after hours on various projects including shells, or what not.
And on, and on. Working for higher profile companies, inteviewing with the highest profile ones. Mostly just making things work, in a way they weren’t designed.
Am I hacker, did I become what I wanted? It doesn’t really matter what anyone says I don’t think I’ll ever believe it, I either have the worst case of impostor’s syndrome ever, or I will just keep striving for the unobtainable.
You know what, I don’t think I’ve ever written an exploit…I think I’ll go do that.
Who am I?
I am @bsdpunk and you should buy the best book I ever read on computer history.
Amendments
* To be honest I don’t think we got doom working, but we did get a file transfer going, much to the regret of FM radio listeners in a block radius.By By Paul Wallis Dec 24, 2016 in World Washington - Nothing like a little Christmas Cold War to really warm things up. A new Russian missile test has exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. satellite net, a critical part of U.S. military infrastructure. Russia claims the new missiles are anti-missiles. China The GPS system is one of the cornerstones of this network. A combination of terrestrial jamming systems and missile strikes could crash the system, making navigation a lot harder for U.S. military responses. Despite the years of dithering, the U.S. does have a few tricks up its sleeve. It does have some “discreet” and direct ways to combat hostile satellites and it’s not like modern technology doesn’t give other options for basic targeting, or That said, there are no positives to a serious satellite system breakdown. Space is a natural dimension in any future war, whether anyone likes it or not. Russia may or may not develop a significant anti-satellite capability, depending on which way the Kremlin is blowing. More credibly, China’s increasing space capabilities, combined with apparently unilateralist regional moves, do not inspire confidence in a rickety, |
headquarters in Bethpage, now Altice USA (formerly Cablevision) headquarters
For much of the Cold War period, Grumman was the largest corporate employer on Long Island.[4] Grumman's products were considered so reliable and ruggedly built that the company was often referred to as the "Grumman Iron Works".[5]
As the company grew, it moved to Valley Stream, New York, then Farmingdale, New York, finally to Bethpage, New York, with the testing and final assembly at the 6,000-acre (24 km2) Naval Weapons Station in Calverton, New York, all located on Long Island. At its peak in 1986 it employed 23,000 people on Long Island[6] and occupied 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) in structures on 105 acres (0.42 km2) it leased from the U.S. Navy in Bethpage.[7]
The end of the Cold War at the beginning of the 1990s reduced defense spending and led to a wave of mergers as aerospace companies shrank in number; in 1994 Northrop bought Grumman for $2.1 billion to form Northrop Grumman,[7] after Northrop topped a $1.9 billion offer from Martin Marietta.[8]
The new company closed almost all of its facilities on Long Island and converted the Bethpage plant to a residential and office complex, with its headquarters becoming the corporate headquarters for Cablevision and the Calverton plant being turned into a business/industrial complex. Former aircraft hangars have become Grumman Studios, a film and television production center. A portion of the airport property has been used for the Grumman Memorial Park. Northrop Grumman's remaining business at the Bethpage campus is the "Battle Management and Engagement Systems Division", which employs around 2,000 people.[when?][citation needed]
Products [ edit ]
An A-6E Intruder flying over Spain during Exercise Matador
Navy Grumman US-2C Tracker
E-2C Hawkeye
F4F-3 Wildcat Bu12297
F9F-7 Cougar Bu130763
Aircraft [ edit ]
Spacecraft [ edit ]
Other products [ edit ]
Grumman Olson built aluminum truck bodies, known as stepvans. Under the Grumman Olson brand it made the P-600 and P-6800 step vans for UPS.
Grumman manufactured fire engines under the name Firecat and aerial tower trucks under the Aerialcat name. The company entered the fire apparatus business in 1976 with its purchase of Howe Fire Apparatus and ended operations in 1992.
Grumman canoes were developed in 1944 as World War II was winding down. Company executive William Hoffman used the company's aircraft aluminum to replace the traditional wood design. The canoes had a reputation for being sturdier, lighter and stronger than their wood counterparts and had a considerable market share. Grumman moved its boat making division to Marathon, New York in 1952.
Outboard Marine Corp. bought the division in 1990 and produced the last Grumman-brand canoe in 1996. Shortly thereafter former Grumman executives formed the Marathon Boat Group to produce the canoes. In 2000 the Group worked out an agreement with Northrop Grumman to sell the canoes using Grumman name and logo.[11][12] The Grumman canoes with its logo are used in the film Deliverance.
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]Image caption Sir Tom Stoppard flanked by Rufus Sewell, Iwan Rheon, Amaka Okafor and Bill Nighy
The 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's 1973 Dark Side of the Moon album is to be marked on BBC Radio 2 by an hour-long audio drama by Sir Tom Stoppard.
Dark Side, to air on 26 August, will incorporate music from the album as part of its "fantastical and psychedelic" story.
Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell will be in a "stellar cast" headed by Misfits star Iwan Rheon and Amaka Okafor.
Floyd member David Gilmour said he had found Sir Tom's script "fascinating".
Image caption Pink Floyd's David Gilmour said he could not "wait to hear" the play "come to life"
"I can't think of a better way to celebrate The Dark Side of the Moon's 40-year anniversary," said the guitarist and vocalist.
According to the BBC, Floyd fan Sir Tom was first approached with the suggestion of writing a play based on the album in 1973.
The 75-year-old welcomed the suggestion but had "no idea" how to approach it until recently.
Jeff Smith, Radio 2's head of music, said the play would be a "dramatic examination" of the album's themes, "conflict, greed and madness" among them.
The Dark Side of the Moon has sold an estimated 50 million copies and was recently admitted into the US Library of Congress as part of its National Recording Registry.
Sir Tom's many stage plays include The Real Thing, Arcadia and the Hamlet-inspired Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
He shared an Oscar in 1999 for the screenplay he co-wrote for Shakespeare in Love and penned BBC Two's 2012 drama Parade's End.(REYKJAVIK) - The EU's ambassador in Reykjavik said Wednesday that Iceland could put its EU membership bid on hold instead of retracting it, publicly contradicting the Icelandic prime minister.
Matthias Brinkmann, a German diplomat, mentioned during an interview with Icelandic public broadcaster RUV the "precedent" of Malta, which joined the EU in 2004, after putting its bid on hold while a Euro-sceptic government was in office.
"So in a way that is possible, but of course not for an unlimited period of time, that I think is evident," Brinkmann said.
"The people in Brussels are politicians and they understand how a democratic country works, that there can be changes of government."
The day before, Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson told RUV that his government only had two options: resuming the accession talks, which he rules out, or dropping the bid the country presented in 2010, which he intends to do through a vote in parliament.
"We have been told clearly again and again by all concerned parties, the Commissioner for Enlargement and leaders and spokespeople of the European Union, that there is no option to keep these things up in the air, we have to say on or off," Gunnlaugsson said.
Iceland's Euro-sceptic centre-right government announced on February 21 a draft bill to retract the EU membership application without holding a referendum that the coalition parties had promised during the election campaign last year.
An opinon poll published a week later showed that 80 percent of Icelanders wanted to decide in a referendum and thousands of demonstrators took to Reykjavik's streets several days in a row.
Nevertheless, a debate on the bill began in parliament after nearly a week of political wrangling.
It was later suspended for a scheduled parliamentary recess, and is expected to continue on Monday.None of this is supposed to be happening at all. Better Together is supported by every major media outlet in Scotland as well as in London. It has the full research resources of the British government and the backing of big business. Yet there now seems to be an irresistible momentum towards yes.
This week saw polls showing a massive eight-point swing to yes in the last month alone, with women and Labour voters leading the way. Photos of people queueing up to register to vote in Glasgow have been circulating. Maybe they were people queueing up to defend the union? Aye, right.
Here are five reasons why yes is winning.
1. It is a movement, not a campaign
This has several consequences. It is broad and deep and richly textured. It is motivated by core principles. In contrast, the no campaign doesn't seem to know what it's about. This week Conservative MSP Ruth Davidson defended the need for a British nuclear deterrent using an analogy of Russia invading Ukraine. It was an idea so laughable that someone tweeted: "Help the Ruskies are coming to steal our Tunnocks Tea Cakes".
Famously the no campaign has to pay volunteers' expenses. No such problem affects yes. Yet grassroots movements are more agile, it seems. When Better Together unveiled dreadfully crude posters declaring that if you loved your children you'd vote no, yes, which owns social media, was able to destroy the opposition's ad aimed at women with a hashtag.
On a purely practical level yes is just better organised. As the New Statesman points out: "The yes campaign is winning on almost every front. It has delivered more leaflets, put up more posters, set up more stalls and knocked on more doors."
2. It reaches disaffected voters
Yes knows that it has to reach beyond traditional engaged voters to win. This isn't a campaign strategy though, it's a political aspiration. This work has been going on for months.
Jonathon Shafi, co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign, which has focused its activities over the past week on registering unemployed people to vote in the referendum at jobcentres, has said: "We think across Scotland at jobcentres over the past week we've registered at least 1,500 people. In three hours on Saturday at our Glasgow Takeover in the city centre, we had 300 people register to vote. That's people giving their full details to someone who they have most likely never met before, because they want to make sure they can vote yes on 18 September. And that's just a snapshot of what's going on across the country – we believe there's a political earthquake happening."
3. The no campaign presumes victory
We were told it was all a write-off. Charmingly, Labour MP Ian Davidson argued months ago that all that was required was to "bayonet the wounded". But the ingrained sense of entitlement that the no campaign's key staff and supporters exhibit is a crucial weakness. For some in the media elite, and for many of the political classes, this is just so absurd as to be given any real consideration at all. Tories in Dumfries were exposed as having organised a champagne celebration party for 19 September. As someone said, they were "counting their pheasants before they hatched".
They live in such well-established network of self-reinforcing mythology that the idea of independence hadn't quite struck them as being feasible until a few days ago. Befuddled by anger, they want to believe its all an SNP plot. If your prejudices make you think that Alex Salmond is Mugabe, you are so detached from reality you can't possibly create a winning campaign strategy.
4. It has passion
There's a feeling that the yes movement is defending the fabric of society against the austerity union, while the no campaign is defending a right to live in the 1950s. It makes a difference.
5. It has multiple points of leadership
The yes movement has hubs which in turn have their own network. This breeds trust and unity but also allows spontaneity and diversity. While the no campaign has a few outliers it would prefer not to mention, yes has outliers that bring strength and fresh clout, not a sense of shame.
While David Cameron lurks about in the background of the no campaign, and Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling nurture a historic visceral hatred, yes is filled with unlikely new voices, many of them young, bright and articulate. No doesn't know who its leader is and it craves leadership. Yes doesn't know who its leader is and it loves it.
But beyond all of this there is the now clear realisation that the no campaign represents entrenched interests and values. Every ruddy-faced landowner that puts up a no sign in their field tells you this. Every blustering lord that preaches about democracy reinforces it.
As the slogan goes: "Britain is for the rich. Scotland can be ours." It almost is.Infowars.com
May 20, 2013
A 64-year old Akron man was shot to death by a University of Akron police officer on Thursday, May 16, 2013. The victim, James Genda, had been pulled over for a routine traffic stop and was trying to turn a BB gun over to the officer when the officer mistook it for a.45-caliber handgun.
Genda was on his cell phone with his sister, Debbie Genda, when he was pulled over by a University of Akron police officer for improper vehicle registration. Genda was stopped just outside the local post office where his sister works and she witnessed the entire event from her office window.
The officer approached Genda’s vehicle and told him to get off the phone, so Genda placed the phone on his dashboard but did not disconnect the call. The officer then went to his patrol car to check Genda’s registration and when he returned to Genda’s car, Genda had the BB gun in his hand.
The officer said the BB gun “looks exactly like a.45-caliber handgun. Black metal. No plastic tip”
The officer fired five shots through the open driver-side window and another five into the open driver-side door.
Debbie Genda could not be reached for comment, but she saw and heard the entire event. She told Genda’s daughter, Michelle Harbaugh, 44, of Erie, pa., that Genda was not threatening the officer in any way. He was merely pulling the BB gun out to hand it to the officer.
Genda kept the BB gun in his car for protection while he worked on cars in his back yard. University police and Akron city police are conducting a joint investigation of the shooting.Media playback is not supported on this device Benitez questioned on Mourinho
Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez has added to the speculation surrounding Jose Mourinho's possible return to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Mourinho, 50, has been widely tipped to leave his post with Spanish giants Real Madrid at the end of the season and return to the club where he was manager between 2004 and 2007.
Speaking on Tuesday, Benitez, who will leave Chelsea when the current campaign ends, said: "The next year there will be another manager. I think everybody knows who will be here."
Mourinho at Chelsea 2 June 2004: Appointed manager
Appointed manager 27 February 2005: Wins Carling Cup, beating Liverpool 3-2
Wins Carling Cup, beating Liverpool 3-2 30 April 2005: Beats Bolton 2-0 to win Premiership title
Beats Bolton 2-0 to win Premiership title 4 May 2005: Signs new five-year contract
Signs new five-year contract 29 April 2006: Beats Man Utd 3-0 to win Premiership again
Beats Man Utd 3-0 to win Premiership again 27 February 2007: Beats Arsenal 2-1 to win Carling Cup again
Beats Arsenal 2-1 to win Carling Cup again 19 May 2007: Wins FA Cup by beating Man Utd 1-0
Wins FA Cup by beating Man Utd 1-0 19 September 2007: Leaves Stamford Bridge
When pressed directly on whether he will be replaced by Mourinho, the former Liverpool boss said: "It's not my concern what will happen here next season, I'm just concentrating on doing my job."
At a Real press conference on Tuesday, Mourinho denied he was trying to provoke the La Liga club into sacking him so he could receive a substantial pay-off.
"I've considered staying," said the former Porto and Inter Milan boss, who took over at the Bernabeu on 31 May, 2010.
He added that he felt the media were responsible for a lot of the stories surrounding his future.
"The fans think what you - the press - sell them," he said. "To make things clear, I'll tell you that I'll be paid until my last working day here. I don't want even one euro more the day I decide that I'm not going to continue."
Mourinho gave a strong indication that he wants to return to England - and to Stamford Bridge in particular - after Real's Champions League exit to Borussia Dortmund last week.
"I know in England I am loved," said Mourinho. "I know I am loved by some clubs, especially one."
His agent, Jorge Mendes, has also told Italy's Radio Mana Mana that there is an "80%" chance the Portuguese will return to Chelsea.
Mourinho, who is contracted until 2016 at the Bernabeu, remains Chelsea's most successful manager with two Premier League titles and three domestic cup wins during his spell at the London club.
Before Real's 4-3 win against Real Valladolid on Saturday, Mourinho was whistled at by some Real fans keen to show their support for out-of-favour goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas.
Benitez, who has been linked with German side Schalke, would not be drawn on his own future when facing the media on Tuesday.
Instead, he preferred to focus on Wednesday's Premier League match against fellow Champions League hopefuls Spurs.
"My future is Tottenham, after we will see," said the 53-year-old former Valencia and Inter Milan manager. "At the moment, I'm just thinking about Tottenham and what we could do.
"I have to keep doing my job, that is trying to prepare the team properly for every game, and the agents, they have to do their jobs."
Benitez, who replaced Roberto Di Matteo in November, has guided Chelsea to the Europa League final but has said that securing Champions League football is his priority.Clinton explicitly dismissed the idea that the federal government will indict her, calling Republican hopes to the contrary both "false" and "ridiculous."
But the Democratic frontrunner laughed off those views in an interview on NBC's Today Show that aired Friday morning, saying that Republicans who believe that she will be indicted over her email scandal "live in that world of fantasy and hope because they have a mess on their hands" in the Republican presidential primary.
Trump himself has also repeatedly implied the possibility that Clinton won't make it to November. "I find it hard to believe she's going to be allowed to run," Trump told Fox News earlier this year. "What she has done is so criminal."
As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton get closer to earning their party's respective nominations, Republicans concerned about the fate of their party and whether they can defeat the former secretary of state often come back to a central hope: That they'll see Clinton in handcuffs before the year is over.
Read more
As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton get closer to earning their party's respective nominations, Republicans concerned about the fate of their party and whether they can defeat the former secretary of state often come back to a central hope: That they'll see Clinton in handcuffs before the year is over.
Trump himself has also repeatedly implied the possibility that Clinton won't make it to November. "I find it hard to believe she's going to be allowed to run," Trump told Fox News earlier this year. "What she has done is so criminal."
But the Democratic frontrunner laughed off those views in an interview on NBC's Today Show that aired Friday morning, saying that Republicans who believe that she will be indicted over her email scandal "live in that world of fantasy and hope because they have a mess on their hands" in the Republican presidential primary.
Clinton explicitly dismissed the idea that the federal government will indict her, calling Republican hopes to the contrary both "false" and "ridiculous."
Related: State Department Review of Hillary Clinton's Emails on Hold While FBI Investigates
"That's not going to happen. There is not even the remotest chance that's going to happen," she said.
Clinton downplayed the significance of the FBI's investigation into her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state, calling it merely "a security review."
"It is a security review and there are lots of those that are conducted in our government all the time and you don't hear about most of them. You'll hear about this one because it does involve me," Clinton said. "So that's why it gets so much attention."
Clinton said that the Republican promotion of this idea that she could soon be arrested was just another attack from the opposing party, of the kind she has endured over her 25-year career in politics.
"We're moving forward. The Republicans' fondest wishes will not be fulfilled," she said.
Related: FBI Reveals New Details About Its Probe Into Hillary Clinton's Use of Private Email Server
Follow Sarah Mimms on Twitter: @SarahMMimmsby
Only a few days ago, the Old Guard, elitist leaders of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), began showing their teeth to the thousands of Berniecrats they once signaled might fill cavities in a rotting party. Add thousands more Bernie Sanders diehards in dozens of grassroots movements—Our Revolution to BerniePDX—or the thousands joining party affiliates such as the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Their official dismissal as anything but worker-bees came at the DNC’s recent annual meeting when new party chair Tom Perez began purging four Sanders’ supporters from its executive committee. Official reason? To “diversify” party leadership and bring “new people “into the fold,” as if “Bernie’s Army” were chopped liver. Yet kept as an at-large committee member was former interim chair Donna Brazile, a black made infamous as a CNN staffer for slipping presidential candidate Hillary Clinton drafts of questions for its primary debates.
Brazile’s forthcoming book on DNC operations reveals that 15 months before the presidential election, when it had to be neutral on primary candidates, Clinton’s operation paid $10 million of Obama’s $24 million campaign debt. That permitted them to take total control of a destitute DNC and “ throw the [primaries] to Hillary…”
And so at its recent meeting, seemingly to quash any chances Bernie would run again in 2020, a resolution failed that demanded he be a registered Democrat. It was a strong indicator that in the Establishment’s eyes he was still an interloper, or a “junkyard dog,” as Clinton considered him. This, despite his being regarded even in mid-October as America’s most popular politician (71% of 255,120 voters, Morning Consult Poll)
Further, the hotly disputed DNC super-delegate ploy never came up for a vote. These delegates are key party leaders appointed by the DNC to provide 714 votes of 4,765 delegates at the presidential convention. Designed in 1982, it keeps popular grassroots candidate from winning—and helped defeat Sanders in 2016 with a 2,842-1,865 vote.
However, the worst blow to Bernie and his campaign army had to be the leaders’ quiet decision to ensure single-payer health insurance is never enacted because the healthcare-pharmaceutical industries have ferociously opposed it with million-dollar campaign donations—and threats. They’ve been doing that since Harry Truman was president and show few signs of changing.
One major recipient of their benevolence, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, was rewarded with $437,945 during 2015-16 and $185,954 so far this year. Small wonder she provided The New York Times with the DNC’s view of single-payer coverage:
At a briefing with reporters last month [May], the House minority leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, replied with a flat “no” when asked if Democrats should make single-payer a central theme in 2018. She said state-level action was more appropriate…. “The comfort level with the broader base of the American people is not there yet,” Ms. Pelosi said.
But her “base” is the 1% because the current percentage of American voters favoring single-payer is 60%; for Democrats, it’s 80%.
To reinforce their tactics, the DNC seems to have mandated that Bernie and progressive groups pushing single-payer do so in 2020, not the 2018 midterm elections. They know the nation and Congressional candidates—incumbents and challengers—will be totally focused on presidential primaries and election, not single-payer.
Nor is it unreasonable to suspect the reason Sanders kept postponing his single-payer bill from March to September was because DNC approval was being stalled or had insisted it contain a public option section as a poison pill blocking Senate passage. Else why not hopper a replica of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) all-encompassing HR 676 (Expanded and Improved Medicare For All Act) replete with its five critical funding sources?
In the meantime, a Republican Congress and President were trying to kill Obamacare, Medicaid, and sunset the Children’s Health Insurance Program so no healthcare would be available at all and the tax savings would go to the 1%. That sharp Congressional incumbents or challengers recognized single-payer should be their No. 1 campaign plank was amply demonstrated this past year. Hundreds of enraged recipients (and family and friends)—even Republicans—stormed town halls demanding single-payer coverage immediately, not 2020 or 2024 or 2034.
These explosive coast-to-coast public objections about those bills played a major role in their defeat and warned Congressional delegations and national party strategists that it would be a third-rail factor in the 2018 midterms.
By contrast, the potential size of a constituency voting for single-payer candidates is staggering, considering the usual low-turnout midterm election. In 2014, only 83.3 million out of 227.2 million eligibles bothered to vote. Weigh that against the 2018 potential of most of the 183.5 million angry eligibles enrolled in federal healthcare programs:
Add to this mix millions of their riled-up families and friends. Or the frantic millions fearing loss of health coverage because of downsizing or being priced out of it in the next few months. The Congressional Budget Office’s estimate for 2023 is that those 28 million uninsured will increase to 31 million if things don’t change.
Let’s not forget the 12,029,699 impassioned Bernie voters in the 2016 primaries and the millions picked up since then in big rallies around the country like the more than 2,000 cheering nurses recently in San Francisco.
If voters have driven miles to show up at town halls to confront Congressional delegations about losing federal healthcare benefits, they’ll have plenty of reason in 2018 to get to the polls and vote for candidates making single-payer their No. 1 priority both on the campaign trail or in casting a floor vote for it.
In short, four winning elements exist for America to get single-payer now, as Bernie has urged, by launching a multi-partisan
“Single-Payer Army” for the 2018 midterm elections:
+ More than 200 million voters demanding it + 435 seats in the House, 34 in the Senate open for conquest by single-payer candidates + Thousands of Bernie’s campaign veterans and fund-raisers eager to find and support single-payer candidates + Bernie as the “Single-Payer Army’s” general—as of now
Yes, it’s true that the average House challenger is usually significantly underfunded—typically at around $111,000—compared to an incumbent and lacks name-recognition. But in the 2018 midterms, neither factor may count. What will count is that challengers such as Portland’s Marc Koller have talked-up single-payer to householders desperate for adequate and affordable coverage.
And yes, it’s also true that the midterms are only a year away, but that means less expense, less campaigning, and making the single-payer issue look low-budget to the desperate healthcare have-nots: homemade literature, a stint at the local radio station during morning “drive time.” It’s also well to remember that it took only three months to launch Bernie’s campaign in that summer of 2015.
Moreover, single-payer practically sells itself in canvassing or phone-banking whether in the city and especially out in rural America where healthcare is getting rare and is miles away.
We early-bird canvassers in Portland have learned that just a mention of Medicare for everyone under 65 usually puts householders on board. As for those opposed to single-payer’s small increase in income taxes, we’ve successfully countered that knotty point by asking questions about their current and expected stratospheric increases in monthly premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. Those bills outweigh the small tax increases and can be deducted as health expenses.
The stopper is telling householders what Medicare recipients have been paying—monthly premiums: $134; deductibles: $183 deductibles for incomes under $85,000. So is explaining Medicare’s 1.5% administrative costs, compared to private carriers’ 18% to cover CEO and upper-management salaries, stockholder dividends, advertising, and lobbying costs to reach state and federal lawmakers.
A “Single-Payer Army” would involve millions of volunteers who have commitment to this vital cause for the 99%, plus energy, organizational skills, and astounding fundraising abilities ($27 contributions?).
Their mighty efforts have centered around implanting Bernie’s new political and social culture in every state—especially single-payer. Few may want to be part of a Democratic pool of obedient foot-soldiers to re-elect elitist incumbents opposed to that cause. If volunteers in DNC-controlled movements ordered to push single-payer in 2020, it shouldn’t take much to change that date to 2018 and to withstand the party’s slings, arrows—and subsidies.
As for that “General” of a Single-Payer Army, he’s still on the road and still chiefly promoting single-payer to his usual sizable and enthusiastic crowds and declaring at one “After decades of talk, now is the time to get it done!”
Fresh from dozens of post-nomination/election meetings, large and small, most recently in Puerto Rico, Bernie still found time in late October for an op-ed in The Boston Globe to pitch for rural health care centers that serve 27 million people—yet another constituency urgently needing single-payer coverage:
Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their access to health care because Congress did not renew funding for the community health center program at the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. Unless we renew funding immediately, 70 percent of funding will be cut, the doors of 2,800 community health centers will close, and 9 million patients will lose access to quality health care. That is unacceptable.
Our nation’s community health centers provide affordable, high-quality health care to more than 27 million people. This includes not only primary health care, but also dentistry, counseling, and low-cost prescription drugs. For the 13 million rural patients served, community health centers often are the only health care provider for hundreds of miles. And they provide good jobs in communities that need them the most.
Sanders’ speeches almost always emphasize single-payer’s—high quality, low cost. That “constant” indicates it is perhaps the issue is worth every drop of energy he has. Indeed, he may be at the crossroads of his life in deciding whether to battle the DNC again on another presidential run or to spend his remaining years ensuring single-payer coverage—Medicare-for-All—is available to every American from the first breath to the last.
At one recent rally sponsored by what could be the vanguard of a Single-Pay Army, a huge banner behind him proclaimed:
“IT’S TIME TO ACT! MEDICARE FOR ALL! So did the sign hanging from the podium. That can only mean a national, heavy public lobbying—emails, calls, canvassing, letters, local office visits—by all those who want the single-payer program to contact their Congressional incumbents or challengers seeking votes in the 2018 midterms. And to start right now!3. The complete take-over of a cell, where 'who the cell originally was' becomes non-existent and becomes an incubator for little virus babies
Specific points of fear I identified in relation to watching an episode of 'Curiosity' on what happens on a cellular level when a virus attacks the human body:3. The complete take-over of a cell, where 'who the cell originally was' becomes non-existent and becomes an incubator for little virus babies4. The manipulation of 'innocent' proteins5. The ruthlessness/mercilessness in instant destruction6. The singlemindedness of having one singular goal of destructionI forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to react in fear in seeing how a virus infiltrates and takes over the controls of a cell through tricking it into carrying out the orders that the virus carries within its DNA, where 'who the cell originally was' becomes non-existent and the cell becomes an incubator for little virus babies.I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to fear a foreign entity taking over control of me to such an extent that'who I am'no longer exists and I merely become a feeding ground for this entity.I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that this is exactly what has happened within me - where the mind, as a foreign entity to my as my body has infused itself within my flesh and taken over absolute control, to the point where who I am as the body is completely non-existent and all that exists is a mind consciousness system that feeds off the energy generated by the physical body - torturing and consuming it.I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to - when being in a relationship, try to change the other person by attempting to impose my ideas/views/values/ thoughts /beliefs unto the other being, attempting to destroy the parts of them that don't support my views/ideas/values/thoughts and beliefs, so that the other person can become a better instrument in my world to feed my own ego and self-delusions.I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to fear losing myself, instead of realising that who I am doesn't yet exist in the first place.I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to fear something/someone outside of me influencing who I am and determining who I am.I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to define'me' within and as the mind consciousness systems as my own fears, ideas, perceptions, definitions, beliefs, opinions, judgments - and attempt to protect this construction of mind-patterns that I accept as'me' from any 'foreign' intervention and influence as I think/believe that if any of these fears, ideas, perceptions, definitions, beliefs, opinions, thoughts and judgments are altered or removed - that it diminishes me.I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that fears, ideas, perceptions, definitions, beliefs, opinions, judgments and thoughts are themselves foreign entities and thus, are nothing that require'my protection' - but instead my scrutiny in investigating each and every single one to dispose of everything that in some way is deceptive.As unlikely as it would seem against this backdrop, manufacturers who want to expand find that hiring is not always easy. During the recession, domestic manufacturers appear to have accelerated the long-term move toward greater automation, laying off more of their lowest-skilled workers and replacing them with cheaper labor abroad.
Now they are looking to hire people who can operate sophisticated computerized machinery, follow complex blueprints and demonstrate higher math proficiency than was previously required of the typical assembly line worker.
Makers of innovative products like advanced medical devices and wind turbines are among those growing quickly and looking to hire, and they too need higher skills.
“That’s where you’re seeing the pain point,” said Baiju R. Shah, chief executive of BioEnterprise, a nonprofit group in Cleveland trying to turn the region into a center for medical innovation. “The people that are out of work just don’t match the types of jobs that are here, open and growing.”
The increasing emphasis on more advanced skills raises policy questions about how to help low-skilled job seekers who are being turned away at the factory door and increasingly becoming the long-term unemployed. This week, the Senate reconsidered but declined to extend unemployment benefits, after earlier extensions raised the maximum to 99 weeks.
The Obama administration has advocated further stimulus measures, which the Senate rejected, and has allocated more money for training. Still, officials say more robust job creation is the real solution.
But a number of manufacturers say that even if demand surges, they will never bring back many of the lower-skilled jobs, and that training is not yet delivering the skilled employees they need.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Here in this suburb of Cleveland, supervisors at Ben Venue Laboratories, a contract drug maker for pharmaceutical companies, have reviewed 3,600 job applications this year and found only 47 people to hire at $13 to $15 an hour, or about $31,000 a year.
The going rate for entry-level manufacturing workers in the area, according to Cleveland State University, is $10 to $12 an hour, but more skilled workers earn $15 to $20 an hour.
All candidates at Ben Venue must pass a basic skills test showing they can read and understand math at a ninth-grade level. A significant portion of recent applicants failed, and the company has been disappointed by the quality of graduates from local training programs. It is now struggling to fill 100 positions.
“You would think in tough economic times that you would have your pick of people,” said Thomas J. Murphy, chief executive of Ben Venue.
How many more people would be hired if manufacturers could find qualified candidates is hard to say. Since January, they have added 126,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of those slashed during the recession. The number may understate activity somewhat, as many factories have turned to temporary workers.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Christina D. Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said the skills shortages reported by employers stem largely from a long-term structural shift in manufacturing, which should not be confused with the recent downturn. “I do think that manufacturing can come back to what it was before the recession,” she said.
Automakers, for example, have been ramping up and mainly filling slots with people laid off a year or two ago.
Manufacturers who profess to being shorthanded say they have retooled the way they make products, calling for higher-skilled employees. “It’s not just what is being made,” said David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “but to the degree that you make it at all, you make it differently.”
In a survey last year of 779 industrial companies by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, the accounting and consulting firm, 32 percent of companies reported “moderate to serious” skills shortages. Sixty-three percent of life science companies, and 45 percent of energy firms cited |
Enforcement authorities last month launched a probe into the Kuala Lumpur chapter of Atheists Republic, a Canada-based organization. A minister in Najib’s cabinet said later that Muslim apostates should be “hunted down vehemently”.
Malaysia has already made international headlines this year for barring the screening of the 2017 edition of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” due to a “gay moment” in one scene. The film was eventually released after local distributors asked the censor board to review the decision.
Shortly after, the catchy summer dance song ‘Despacito’ was taken off state radio and television stations after complaints that the lyrics were obscene.
COSTUME CONCERNS
For some years it has been getting more difficult for international pop stars who wish to make appearances in Malaysia. In 2013, a concert set to be performed by musical artist, Kesha, was banned. In the past, artists such as Beyonce have canceled performances in Malaysia due to restrictions over costumes and dancing.
A concert by American pop star Selena Gomez was only allowed in July 2016 after assurances that she would cover herself up. But fear of trouble at the concert - PAS youth leaders protested outside the venue - kept many fans away and thousands of tickets were left unsold.
There have been no big Western acts so far this year, though British singer Ed Sheeran is expected to perform in Kuala Lumpur in November.
This weekend’s Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix does not include major international pop stars as has usually been the case in recent years. Organizers denied this was due to recent controversies.
“You have to be very careful about the type of acts you book and make sure you comply with all the rules and even then, there’s no guarantee it will be approved by the authorities,” said Qisthina Razin, representative of Malaysian events organization, Freeform.
Rizal Kamal, vice president of the arts, live festivals and the arts association (ALIFE), a body representing event organizers, said Malaysian show producers have started moving out.
“Malaysian producers are going to Singapore and Indonesia due to problems in Malaysia,” he said.
Choy said the bans are “denting the perception of Malaysia being a moderate and tolerant Islamic country.”
GROWING ISLAMISATION
The impact of religious fundamentalism isn’t just about Malaysia’s image to the outside world. It also gnaws away at the country’s multicultural and pluralistic fabric.
About 40 percent of Malaysia’s population is non-Muslim, including Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.
Najib’s approach risks empowering and legitimizing conservative parties and organizations once only classified as extreme fringe groups. Such religious organizations are also in an increasingly strong position to influence the government and its policies.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune in her report last week expressed deep concern at the level of involvement of religious authorities in policy decisions.
She said some Malaysians have expressed concern about a growing Islamisation, which represented a “significant break with the past”.
Bennoune expressed particular concern over bans regarding traditional Malay arts and restrictions on women performing in public in the northeastern state of Kelantan, which is governed by PAS.
DOUBLE SPEAK
Prime Minister Najib has projected a global image of a moderate Muslim leader and has widely promoted himself as a key player in the fight against Islamic extremism.
In a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last month, Najib said Malaysia is a partner in America’s fight against the Islamic State, and it will be a key player in promoting moderate Islam.
He has been largely silent during a series of recent religion-related incidents in Malaysia.
He did, though, comment this week after the owner of a laundromat in southern Malaysia apologized for barring non-Muslim users, a ban that had gone viral on social media and triggered condemnations by community leaders, including the Sultan of Johor.
FILE PHOTO: Girls make their way home after school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Olivia Harris/File Photo
“The government will remain committed to upholding the true Islamic teachings while protecting the interests of the other communities as demanded of Islam,” Najib said in a statement late on Wednesday, state news agency Bernama reported.
Cynthia Gabriel, executive director for a Kuala Lumpur based welfare group C4, said there is an urgent need to accept multi-culturalism again.
“It is bad for society, so it is bad for business, when two sets of laws and policies operate in one country,” she said.Two weeks after Nielsen announced that it will measure Netflix viewership, the company is out with some interesting numbers about just who is watching Stranger Things 2 on their TV sets.
It said a “significant viewing event occurred” when the buzzy creepshow returned October 27 for its second installment. Within the first three days, Episode 1 averaged an eye-popping 15.8 million U.S. viewers and nearly 11 million in the demo viewing on the TV. Nielsen also said all of the nine new episodes averaged 4 million viewers and 3 million in the demo.
The binge-watching crowd also was out in force to see Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Eleven and the rest battle the forces of the Upside Down: Nielsen says 361,000 people watched all nine episodes on the first day.
Nielsen said last month that its new SVOD metrics would include not just ratings but data points such as reach, frequency and segmentation reporting — elements common for years in the world of linear TV. It launched with streaming leader Netflix and expects to expand to Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Nielsen, however, is tracking on TV viewing, not on mobile devices.Authorities said they were unaware of a motive, but Gerald L. Pickering, the police chief in Webster, suggested that “there were certainly mental health issues involved.”
The episode comes a little over a week after the Newtown, Conn., attack, and with the country engaged in an intense debate over gun control and care of the mentally ill. Grieving, Chief Pickering said in an interview: “We know that people are slipping through the cracks, not getting the help they need. And I suspect that this gentleman slipped through the cracks. Maybe he should have been under more intense supervision, maybe he should not have been in the public, maybe he should have been institutionalized, having his problems dealt with.”
The ambush shook residents of Webster, a town 12 miles northeast of Rochester.
“These people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires,” Chief Pickering said of his lost firefighters. “They don’t expect to be shot and killed.”
At a news conference, he choked up repeatedly when giving the names of the crew members. The two men killed were Michael J. Chiapperini, 43, a local police lieutenant who owned a window-tinting business, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, a 911 dispatcher for Monroe County.
The two wounded firefighters, Theodore Scardino and Joseph Hofstetter, were listed in guarded to stable condition at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Mr. Hofstetter suffered an injury to his pelvis. Mr. Scardino was shot twice and had shoulder and lung wounds. The wounded off-duty officer, John Ritter, was treated and released from another hospital.
Photo
The firefighters belonged to the West Webster Fire Department, a volunteer force whose firehouse is around four miles from where the presumed ambush occurred on Lake Road. By afternoon, people had left bouquets and a wreath at the firehouse, and candles burned in memory of the dead crew members. Purple and black bunting hung over each of the garage bays.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
It was just over a year since another shocking crime in Webster involving a house fire. On Dec. 7, 2011, the police said, a 15-year-old named Michael Pilato deliberately set fire to his home, killing his father and two brothers. His mother and sister survived. Mr. Pilato’s trial on charges of murder and arson is to begin in a few weeks.
Webster is a middle-class community of around 43,000 named after the statesman Daniel Webster. The area where the shooting took place perches on a skinny strip sandwiched between Irondequoit Bay and Lake Ontario. Most of the tightly packed wood-frame houses are summer residences, though there are some full-time occupants.
Chief Pickering called it a “little vacation nest” and said calls for help from there were rare.
After receiving a 911 call from a resident of the neighborhood, firefighters responded to the fire at 191 Lake Road shortly after 5:30 a.m. When the gunfire began, they retreated to safety. One of the wounded firefighters fled in his car to seek help, while the others were pinned.
Police SWAT teams arrived and, according to the local police, some three dozen neighbors were evacuated in an armored vehicle.
“We heard gunshots before 6 o’clock, but we thought it was duck hunters,” said Connie Gisel, who lives across the bay from the shooting. Shortly afterward, she said, she received an automated phone call from authorities urging residents to stay indoors and away from windows.
Photo
The police said they suspected that Mr. Spengler had started the fire to draw first responders, whom he meant to kill.
The first Webster officer on the scene chased Mr. Spengler and exchanged fire with him briefly. Chief Pickering praised the officer for potentially saving many lives. The police then flooded the area and hunted for the gunman for hours before he was found dead around 11 a.m., the authorities said.
Not until the police deemed the area secure did firefighters resume putting out the blaze. By then, it had spread to neighboring houses. Ultimately, authorities said, seven houses were destroyed. As of Monday evening, firefighters had not been able to enter the burned homes to check for victims of the fire. The police said, however, that Mr. Spengler’s sister was unaccounted for.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the State Police and the Office of Emergency Management were collaborating with local officials on the case.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
“New York’s first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe,” the governor said in a statement.
Chief Pickering said that in his small force, he always had a left-hand and a right-hand lieutenant, and Lieutenant Chiapperini was his left hand. “When he wasn’t working as a police officer, he was always on the first truck at any scene,” he said. “We kidded him all the time: Which hat are you wearing today, Lieutenant?”
Photo
He said the lieutenant had been to New York to help in the recovery after Hurricane Sandy. Just weeks ago, he was named firefighter of the year. His son, Nicholas, 19, is a volunteer firefighter as well, though he was not part of the crew that responded. Mr. Kaczowka’s best friend was the lieutenant’s son.
Lieutenant Chiapperini also had two young daughters.
Mr. Kaczowka joined the volunteer force only a year ago. Roberta Gammons, 52, a neighbor, said he was the youngest of three boys from a “lovely nice Catholic family.”
“He absolutely loved his job,” she said. “It didn’t surprise me in the least bit to know that he was one of the first ones on the scene.”
Ms. Gisel, who lives near Mr. Scardino, described him as a “dedicated son, dedicated husband, dedicated father,” for whom volunteering at the fire department was a kind of passion.
Mr. Hofstetter was a full-time Rochester firefighter who also belonged to the West Webster department. His mother teaches in the Webster school district, and his father is a retired teacher.
Vince DiPrima, an assistant manager at Bill Gray’s, a diner across the bridge from the fires, was overwhelmed by the morning’s tragedy. “The stuff that happened in Connecticut the other day, and then this — it’s a weird feeling,” he said. “It’s Christmas Eve.”
As evening drew close, the vigil at the West Webster firehouse grew. Mike Auger, 60, knew Lieutenant Chiapperini for 20 years.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
“How ironic that as a policeman he faces this stuff all the time and he gets shot answering a fire call,” Mr. Auger said. “If it had been a police call he would have had the body armor on. A fire call, you think you’re helping people and saving their house.”Designed from scratch for flexibility and maintainability
Amid the fanfare of last week's Chrome OS announcement, Google quietly released an open source NX server, dubbed Neatx, for remote desktop display.
NX technology was developed by NoMachine to handle remote X Window connections and make a graphical desktop display usable over the Internet.
By its own admission, Google has been looking at remote desktop technologies for “quite a while” and decided to develop Neatx as existing NX server products are either proprietary or difficult to maintain.
“The good old X Window system can be used over the network, but it has issues with network latency and bandwidth. Neatx remedies some of these issues,” Google engineers wrote on the company's open source blog.
NoMachine had released parts of the source code to its NX product under the GPL, but the NX server remained proprietary.
There is a free implementation of an NX server based on NoMachine's libraries named FreeNX, but this did not appeal to Google.
“FreeNX's primary target is to replace the one closed component and is written in a mix of several thousand lines of Bash, Expect and C, making FreeNX difficult to maintain,” according to Google.
“Designed from scratch with flexibility and maintainability in mind, Neatx minimizes the number of involved processes and all code is split into several libraries.”
Neatx is written in Python, with a few wrapper scripts in Bash and one program written in C “for performance reasons”.
“Neatx was also able to reuse some code from another Google open source project, Ganeti. The code still has some issues, but we're confident interested developers will be able to fix them.”
Google also claims Neatx implements features not found in FreeNX, like a drop-down menu for session control in rootless sessions. However, not all of FreeNX's features are implemented in Neatx.
There has already been some speculation that Neatx will be the default display server for the upcoming Chrome OS. Google insists the release date was just a coincidence.
Neatx features include session creation, suspension, resumption, and shutdown; support for Gnome, KDE, application, and console sessions; floating window/virtual desktop sessions; full screen, resolution, and keyboard preferences; and session shadowing (only sessions belonging to you).
Features not supported yet include terminating a session from the session list; Windows/VNC sessions; and sound, printer and Samba tunneling.
Neatx can be downloaded from Google's code repository.Cairo - An Egyptian Shiite leader will soon stand trial over charges of attempting to spread Shia Islam in Egypt, as members of the minority community claim that discrimination against them is increasing.
On 18 May, state security police stormed the flat of Al-Taher Al-Hashimy in Cairo, arresting him and confiscating books that allegedly aim to promote Shia Islam in the Sunni-dominated country.
The prosecutor accused him of running a covert organisation, printing books about Shia Islam without authorisation, violating the principles of the Sunni Al-Azhar religious institution and breaching intellectual property law. He was also accused of performing covert activities aimed at treatening social peace and national security.
Al-Hashimy told Middle East Eye that during interrogation he denied the charges against him. He was released on Wednesday and ordered by prosecutors to pay a bail of 1000 Egyptian pounds ($131), pending trial. The date of the trial has not yet been scheduled.
“The situation I have faced shows the kind of maltreatment Egyptian Shia suffer from,” said Al-Hashimy.
Al-Hashimy is a member in the World Assembly of Al-Beit (the family of Prophet Muhammad), an international Shia organisation.
He is known for being outspoken and has criticised the Saudi-led Decisive Storm operation against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen.
He has frequently called for the right of Shiite Egyptians to practice their creed freely and publicly.
Egyptian Salafists have accused al-Hashimy of having ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, allegations he has denied.
Double discrimination
The community leader said that Shia Muslims face discrimination by authorities in Egypt, but also from ultra-conservative members of the Sunni community.
“Salafists have been fiercely criticising Shia and their beliefs in public and in media outlets, vowing to combat them by all possible means,” Al-Hashimy said.
“Extremist Salafists have been targeting us, cooperating with the authorities as well as inciting the public against us by all means… and they have frequently announced that in public,” he added.
Local news reports said that Walid Ismail, a Sunni Salafi leader and a member in an anti-Shiite association that works on countering the spread of Shia Islam in Egypt, was behind the detention of Al-Hashimy.
Al-Bawaba News, an independent online newspaper, quoted Ismail as saying that he and other fellow Salafists were recently communicating with the authorities to help them detain Al-Hashimy for spreading Shia Islam in Egypt.
Next month, a criminal court will issue a verdict against 31 Salafists accused of killing four Shia Muslims, including top Sheikh Hassan Shehata, in attack from 2013 in Giza province.
The arrest of Al-Hashimy is the latest in a string of incidents that have seen Shia Muslims seemingly targeted for their beliefs.
There are no accurate statistics as to the number of Shia Muslims in Egypt, however, some unofficial reports have claimed they constitute around one percent of the population.
Shia convert jailed
Earlier in May a physician was sentenced to six months in prison for adopting Shia Islam, human rights groups reported. He was found guilty of blasphemy and threatening national security.
In April, a nursery in Sharkia province was shut down by the Ministry of Social Solidarity for allegedly attempting to teach preschoolers Shia beliefs and practices, news reports said.
Videos were posted on YouTube of the nursery children slapping their faces, which reports said represented a Shia practice associated with commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein (the grandson of Prophet Mohamed and a figure revered by Shia Muslims).
Lawyers made allegations to Middle East Eye that despite there being no legislation banning Shia Islam, the authorities and judiciary have used existing laws related to blasphemy and community harmony when dealing with cases relating to Egypt's Shia community.
“Neither does the law or the constitution include any article that has to do with promoting Shia ideologies,” said Youssef Kandil, a lawyer representing Al-Hashimy.
“The constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the state and since Shiism is an Islamic sect; in turn, it is not prohibited legally,” he added.
Shia leaders and human rights groups claim that Egyptian Shiites are banned by the authorities from practising their rituals freely and publically. They allege that they are not allowed to build mosques of their own or Husseinya (a hall allocated for commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein).
Shia Muslims believe that in the seventh century Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb had the right to succeed Prophet Muhammad in leading the Islamic world rather than his companion Abu Bakr Al-Sedik, a belief that constitutes a major dispute between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.IN 2003 Peter Morley-Souter, a British teenager whose hobby was drawing comic strips with his sister Rose, was sent a parody of “Calvin and Hobbes”, a strip about a six-year-old boy and his stuffed tiger, by a friend. It showed the titular pair having sex with Calvin’s mother. Mr Morley-Souter posted his response online: a cartoon showing his anguished expression as he stared at his screen (not shown), captioned “Rule 34: There is porn of it. No exceptions.”
Back then Rule 34 seemed an exaggeration, though one that held enough truth about the variety of smut to be found online that the phrase quickly caught on. Now it seems pretty close to reality. Images and videos on commercial pornography sites and fast-growing “tubes”—aggregators that host free amateur and professional content, making their money from advertising—are searchable by hundreds of terms, including the performers’ attributes, the acts depicted and the body parts featured. No kink or “squick” (an “icky” kink) is too obscure to have its own website, from adult-baby minding to zoophilia.
Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks.
“The internet is for porn,” as the lyrics of a song from “Avenue Q”, a Broadway musical, put it—another exaggeration with a kernel of truth. Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam, two neuroscientists, have used a variety of sources to estimate how much of the web is dedicated to porn and how often that material is accessed. Their findings are presented in a book, “A Billion Wicked Thoughts”. They calculate that of the million most-visited websites, listed by Alexa, a web-analytics firm, 4% are dedicated to pornography. Many big non-specialist sites, such as Tumblr, where users curate images, show erotic content too.
Mr Ogas and Mr Gaddam also analysed all 434m searches entered into Dogpile, a site that returns results from all the biggest search engines, between July 2009 and February 2011. Almost 49m, or 11%, were of an obviously sexual nature. Another dataset containing three months’ worth of searches by 660,000 customers of AOL, which the internet service provider (ISP) released in 2006, allowed them to establish that some seemingly innocent terms were more often searched for in strings of searches for sexual material—“college cheerleaders”, for example. The sex of about a tenth of the AOL customers could be inferred from their other searches, which, together with data from PornHub, the biggest commercial porn site, allowed the pair to compare the proclivities of men and women. Women seem less keen on porn than men: PornHub says that a quarter of its visitors are women. But those women who do like porn mostly view the same stuff as men; far more visit PornHub and the like than sites aimed at women.
Ever since Palaeolithic humans worked out how to paint and carve, new media have been used for sexually explicit representations. Some of the earliest photographs and films depicted disrobing or nude women. But they were pricey: in the mid-1800s, before the advent of negatives and half-tone printing, a photo of a naked prostitute cost more than engaging her for sex. Not until 1953, when Hugh Hefner launched Playboy with a nude photograph of Marilyn Monroe, did porn go mass-market. By the 1980s video had made it possible to watch X-rated films at home. Some attribute the victory of VHS over Betamax to Sony’s refusal to allow pornographers to use its technology for mass production.
Brown paper ripper
The growth of smut unleashed a moral panic. Influenced by a left-right alliance of feminists and religious conservatives, a federal commission in 1986 concluded that pornography demeaned women, caused sexual violence and lasting damage to adolescents, and presented a “clear and present danger to American public health”. But as time passed, those conclusions appeared alarmist. Women’s status rose and rates of rape, domestic abuse and teenage pregnancy fell across the developed world. Several studies exploiting variations in the timing of more liberal pornography laws in different countries conclude that the greater availability of pornography could even have played a part in falling violence.
But, as Rule 34 and “Avenue Q” suggest, porn has now escaped the confines of girlie mags and skin flicks. The result is a new porn panic. Free material on tube sites and amateur blogs has led commercial pornographers to produce ever more extreme content to survive (see article). Many porn sites are hosted in Russia and other lawless places, leaving countries with age ratings and rules against ultra-violent and scatological images unable to enforce them. Portable devices make it easy to view porn in the privacy of a bedroom—or in the workplace or playground. Tech-minded teenagers can easily bypass content filters with the help of a VPN (virtual private network).
Some anti-porn campaigners reprise old arguments: in Iceland, which recently considered an (unworkable) ban on online porn, activists cited supposed links with sexual violence, harm to children and the degradation of women. Others, though, cite fresh concerns. On the NoFap Reddit forum (“fapping” is slang for masturbating), comments cite not moral objections or potential harms to others, but the effects on viewers themselves. Many members say they have watched pornography since their early teens and that they are addicted to it. Some say that without it they can no longer get an erection or reach orgasm.
The sharpest fears concern teenagers, now likely to see a vast amount of pornography long before becoming sexually active. Will they fail to understand how unrealistic it is? What are the pneumatic female stars and ever-ready, freakishly endowed male ones doing to their viewers’ body images and self-esteem? Some who work with adolescents, including Meg Kaplan, a psychologist at Columbia University who treats those convicted of sex offences, think it likely that some sexual tastes are formed around puberty. That means ill-timed exposure to unpleasant or bizarre material could cause a lifelong problem.
A huge social shift raising profound concerns: you might think it would have triggered an avalanche of high-quality, well-funded research. You would be wrong. In 2013 the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in England assessed the effects of porn on young people. On balance, it concluded, pornography did appear to influence them in negative ways, in particular by creating unrealistic beliefs about sex. The team used titles and abstracts to identify 2,304 papers, but on reading them discarded all but 276. It concluded that only 79 offered high-quality evidence.
Research funders in Britain and elsewhere are often reluctant to touch sexual topics, let alone porn. Programme officers at America’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) advise applicants to avoid using the word “sexual” in funding requests, says Nicole Prause, a neuroscientist at UCLA—even when the topic is sexual functioning. No computer purchased with NIH funding may contain sexual images or films, raising the question of how sex researchers are supposed to go about their work. Dr Kaplan says she has been struggling for years to get funding from any source to study young sex offenders. Even research into normal sexual functioning is lacking, she laments. What hope is there of understanding how things can go wrong?
The best way to study the effects of porn would be to show it to a randomly selected set of people, with a control group watching other exciting stuff, such as car chases or sport. Subsequent differences in actions and attitudes could be tracked over time. In 1986 Neil Malamuth of UCLA used this approach to demonstrate that exposure to violent pornography hardened misogynistic attitudes, perhaps by normalising them—though only in men who already held them. But since then, ethics committees have clamped down on such studies. If even one rape defendant were to blame his crime on porn provided by a researcher—however unfairly—it would be a financial and public-relations disaster.
So most studies of pornography go no further than establishing correlations between how much people say they watch and their other characteristics. Various researchers have found that reported porn use is higher among those with relationship difficulties, erectile dysfunction and many other social and medical problems. Heavy users are more likely to have become sexually active early, to regard sex as a mere physiological function, like eating or drinking, and to have tried to coerce others into sex. But no one knows which came first: the porn or the problem.
Young people are particularly hard to study. Showing pornography to the under-age is illegal in most places, meaning that researchers must rely on self-reporting. But teenagers rarely talk openly to adults about anything, let alone embarrassing habits that they know are frowned on. And asking only about direct exposure misses those who have not viewed porn themselves, but have heard about it from classmates. So the results of surveys, such as a pan-European one in 2010 which found that 14% of 9- to 16-year-olds had seen porn during the previous year, are likely to be underestimates. That survey also predated smartphones and iPads, which have made porn much easier to access, and the explosive increase in free material. Other researchers have asked university students when they first saw porn, but that relies on accurate recall and the results are guaranteed to be out of date.
Why do you think the net was born?
One of the most alarming assertions is that users can become dependent on porn in the same way that others are on drugs. In March ChildLine and NSPCC, two big children’s charities, published a survey claiming that one in ten British 12- to 13-year-olds feared they were “addicted to porn”. It soon became clear that it had been carried out by a market-research firm better known for brand-building exercises. Dozens of academics and sex educators signed an open letter saying it was not “indicative of actual harm but rather, provides evidence that some young people are fearful that pornography is harming them”.
Better evidence suggests that porn addiction, if it exists, is very rare. Valerie Voon of Cambridge University studied 23 men whose use of porn had caused them serious problems: some had lost jobs or partners because of their inability to control their viewing, and others had spent enormous sums on porn sites or said they were unable to achieve an erection without pornography. Scans of their brains as they viewed pornography showed patterns typical of drug-takers looking at drug cues. Some displayed a classic sign of addiction: despite craving pornography, they seemed no longer to enjoy it. In another study of “attentional bias” they responded abnormally quickly to pornographic images—also typical of addiction. Similar patterns were not seen in controls. But even within this severely affected group, Dr Voon saw a wide variation in brain response.
Ms Prause has also scanned the brains of men and women who describe themselves as viewing too much porn. She found no connection between the number and severity of the problems they reported and the “drug-like” nature of their responses to pornographic images. Conservative attitudes or a religious family background may be the factors that increase the likelihood of reporting problematic use of pornography, she says. “With porn, people say they are addicted when they just like it.”
“Clients are more alarmist than I am,” says Ian Kerner, a sex therapist and author of “She Comes First: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pleasuring a Woman”. Many view a lot of online porn, report low libido and erectile or orgasmic difficulties, and conclude that they are addicted to the stuff. But often their problems can be solved rather simply. Dr Kerner asked a dozen clients with erectile issues to abstain from online porn for a few weeks. They masturbated less: it took too much work to fantasise unaided, put on a DVD or buy a magazine. Several found that their libidos returned.
The most common effect of a porn habit, says Geoffrey Miller, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico, is a tendency to watch a bit less television. But some callers to “The Mating Grounds”, his podcast about sex, are young men who have opted out of relationships and much else: working in low-stress jobs, smoking a lot of pot and watching a great deal of pornography. They ask how to turn their lives around and get a girlfriend. Mr Miller recommends some simple steps, starting with exercise and a better diet, and progressing to mindfulness exercises and brushing up on general knowledge, all of which “raises their mate value”. Easy substitutes for real pleasures do not cause their problems, he says, but make it easier to stay stuck in a rut.
You’ll know it when you see it
Some fear that users of online porn who start with vanilla fare will click through to more outré stuff and develop a taste for it. This could, conceivably, be a danger for adolescents. But adults’ tastes seem to be pretty fixed—and quite mundane. Mr Ogas and Mr Gaddam discovered that most of those searching for pornography have just one or two stable interests (body parts, sexual practices, performers’ characteristics and so on). During the three months covered by the AOL data, 56% of those who searched for porn used terms in just one category. The average number of categories was two. Less than 1% searched for terms in ten categories or more. The top four categories were words relating to youth, breasts, vaginas and buttocks. The modal online sexual interest of a heterosexual male is “busty teen” or a variant, says Mr Ogas. “Men don’t start searching for big breasts and work up to bestiality.”
That is reassuring, as far as it goes. But even if porn usage does not change viewers’ tastes, could it be affecting bedroom etiquette? In a study published last year, researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine sought to find out whether porn played a part in young people’s decisions to have anal sex. They interviewed 130 16- to 18-year-olds, some in groups and some alone. Both sexes regarded it as likely to be pleasurable for men but painful for women, at least if they were “uptight” or “naive”. Many of the young men described pressing girlfriends to consent; young women said they continued to be asked, sometimes forcefully, even after repeated refusals.
The participants said that porn “made” men want anal sex—an explanation Cicely Marston, one of the researchers, describes as “partial, at best”. The desire evinced by many young men to boast of sexual conquests seemed to be at least as influential. But porn’s influence was evident in their understanding of sex more generally. The researchers asked them to name all the sexual practices they knew of. They listed many porn tropes, such as threesomes and gang bangs, and some scatological and extremely violent acts made notorious by particular clips and films.
Without longitudinal studies, though, it is hard to know whether there has been a broad shift in sexual practices, and if so, whether porn played a part. Cindy Gallop, an advertising executive, offers an intriguing, and disturbing, insight. In 2003, aged 43, she was pitching for an online-dating agency’s account. To study the market, she signed up with several of its competitors. E-mails from men in their 20s flooded in.
Since Ms Gallop, too, was interested in no-strings sex, she found herself in a position to sample changing sexual mores up close. In 2009 she created a website, makelovenotporn.com, to debunk ten “myths from porn world” that seemed to have become common currency among young men, such as the idea that calling women filthy names during sex is a sure-fire way to turn them on. A four-minute TED talk she gave about her experiences was one of the most discussed that year, and has since been watched on YouTube more than a million times.
Ms Gallop is still receiving e-mails from all over the world. They suggest that young women, too, have had their sexual sensibilities shaped by porn. Young couples thank her for sparking a conversation in which they discovered that neither had been enjoying things they had been doing in bed only because each thought the other expected them. She has since created makelovenotporn.tv, a video-sharing site aimed at making real-world sex “socially acceptable and socially shareable”, and hopes to set up another for sex-education materials, if she can find funding.
Some are responding to the flood of online porn by trying to dam it. In 2013 Britain’s government forced ISPs to block adult content from new customers’ computers unless they turned filters off. Since most customers did so, the government now plans to shut down adult websites that do not force users to prove that they are over 18, perhaps via an anonymised ID check with the electoral roll or credit-reference agencies. Since most porn sites are based outside Britain, it intends to make ISPs block websites that do not comply.
Filters at least stop children from seeing unsavoury stuff by accident. But anyone seeking porn can easily bypass them with a VPN, and wholesale blocking of legal material may break European rules that forbid ISPs from treating one sort of traffic differently from others. Denmark, where sex education has been compulsory since 1970, is taking a different approach. Rather than trying to pretend porn does not exist, or stop young people from seeing it, some Danish teachers are starting to discuss it in the classroom. “It’s not a question of introducing pupils to porn,” says Christian Graugaard, a professor of sexology at Aalborg University who would like such lessons to go nationwide. “The overwhelming majority of both girls and boys have already encountered pornographic images in their early teens.” Porn can be used to talk about gender equality, safe sex and the meaning of consent, he says—and about how to have a happy sex life in the future. Since porn is all around them, he thinks, “it’s important young people learn to be critical consumers.”A crowd estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 gathered outside Hungary's parliament on Sunday, calling for Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government to respect its Western ties. Many waved European Union flags, urging Hungary's government to remain in the EU fold and to keep its distance from Russia.
Orban's government is waning in popularity, despite its massive parliamentary majority
Their protests were timed to precede German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit for talks with Orban on Monday, itself coming just two weeks before a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Frau Merkel, save Hungary!," said one sign written in German at the Budapest rally. Another, also in German, paraphrased a popular prayer: "Our Angela, deliver us from evil, we want to remain EU citizens."
Smaller, parallel rallies were held simultaneously in 11 other Hungarian towns, as well as six European cities, including London and Amsterdam.
Rights groups, including Germany's Amnesty International office and Reporters Without Borders, issued appeals to Merkel prior to her departure. Amnesty warned of "indications of a witch hunt" against NGOs operating in Hungary, while Reporters Without Borders urged Merkel to raise freedom of expression concerns with Orban.
Don't speak Hungarian? No problem! The protesters prepared for some international attention
It's Merkel's first visit to Budapest since Orban's contentious government took office in 2010.
Important relationship, but not without friction
Ahead of the visit, a spokesman for the German foreign ministry said simply that Germany |
Mediterranean, joining Doctors Without Borders, because they felt threatened by the Libyan coastguard.
Save the Children and Germany’s Sea Eye said on Sunday their crews could no longer work safely because of the hostile stance of the Libyan authorities. Doctors Without Borders - or Medecins sans Frontieres - cited the same concern when it said on Saturday it would halt Mediterranean operations.
“We leave a deadly gap in the Mediterranean,” Sea Eye’s founder Michael Busch Heuer warned on Facebook, adding that Libya had issued an “explicit threat” against non-government organisations operating in the area around its coast.
Libyan coastguard boats have repeatedly clashed with NGO vessels on the edge of Libyan waters, sometimes opening fire. The coastguard has defended such actions, saying the shooting was to assert control over rescue operations.
“In general, we do not reject (NGO) presence, but we demand from them more cooperation with the state of Libya... they should show more respect to the Libyan sovereignty,” coastguard spokesman Ayoub Qassem told Reuters on Sunday.
Tension has also been growing for weeks between aid groups and the Italian government, which has suggested some NGOs are facilitating people smuggling, while Italy is trying to enhance the role of the Libyan coastguard in blocking migrant departures.
This month, Italy began a naval mission in Libyan waters to provide technical and operational support to its coastguard, despite opposition from factions in eastern Libya that oppose the U.N.-backed government based in Tripoli.
Immigration is dominating Italy’s political agenda before elections early next year, with public opinion increasingly hostile to migrants. Almost 600,000 migrants have arrived in Italy over the past four years.
Lifeguards from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms aboard the former fishing trawler Golf Azzurro watch the C Star vessel run by a group of anti-immigration activists in the Western Mediterranean Sea August 15, 2017. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
Most sailed from lawless Libya in flimsy vessels operated by people smugglers. More than 13,000 migrants have died trying to make the crossing.
Ships manned by charities have played a growing role in rescues, picking up more than a third of all migrants brought ashore so far this year, compared with less than one percent in 2014.
Aid groups and some Italian politicians warn that migrants intercepted by the Libyan coast guard are taken back to inhuman conditions in detention camps on the Libyan mainland.
However, prosecutors in Sicily have opened investigations against some NGOs, which they suspect of collaborating with people smugglers, and Rome has proposed a Code of Conduct setting stricter rules on how the groups can operate.
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said in a newspaper interview on Sunday that Libya’s growing role in controlling its waters was curbing people trafficking and producing a welcome “readjustment” in the Mediterranean.
MSF’s decision to halt its rescue operations was part of this positive process, he told the newspaper La Stampa.
Save the Children said its rescue ship, the Vos Hestia, would dock in Malta until it received assurances about the intentions of the Libyan authorities.
Libya was trying to increase the range of the waters its ships controlled from 12 nautical miles around its coast to 70 nautical miles, the humanitarian organisation said.
Slideshow (2 Images)
“The necessary pause in operations from charity rescue ships likes ours and others will undoubtedly put lives at risk,” its operations director, Rob MacGillivray, warned.
Libyan coastguard officials have previously said they have rights over operations dozens of miles beyond the territorial limit of 12 nautical miles, without clearly detailing the claims to such rights or how they could be enforced.
(This version of the article corrects name of German group to Sea Eye.)Baby Covered in White Powder Dies After Being Found Naked Alongside Woman, Child in South L.A. Parking Lot
A 2-month-old girl was pronounced dead after she was found naked alongside another young girl and a woman – all of them covered in white powder – behind a market in the Historic South-Central neighborhood of Los Angeles early Thursday morning.
About 1:44 a.m., police responded to the rear parking lot of Numero Uno Market near the intersection of East 23rd and South San Pedro streets after someone reported hearing screaming, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Mike Rimkunas said.
Officers found a 26-year-old woman, an 8-year-old girl, and the 2-month-old down in the parking lot with a white powdery substance around and on their bodies, Rimkunas said.
All three were unclothed, and the baby wasn’t breathing.
They were all taken to a local hospital, where the youngest girl was pronounced dead, Rimkunas said. The cause of death is unknown.
A hazmat crew determined the white substance was some type of baby product, police said.
The older girl was in critical condition and the woman is in stable condition, authorities said. Police initially said the woman and older girl were both in stable condition, but later updated the information.
There were no signs of injury on any of the victims, Rimkunas said.
The operator of a nearby liquor store told the Los Angeles Times the trio were seen outside the store on Wednesday night. They were naked and covered in the powder, and the woman was breastfeeding the baby, the store owner said.
Security footage from the store also captured the woman trying to open car doors in the parking lot.
LAPD Lt. Chris Ramirez confirmed to the Times that the woman and children had been seen wandering around the neighborhood, naked.
"It is an unusual case. It doesn't happen a lot and it's very unfortunate because here we lost an innocent life. A child was taken at such a young age who had a whole life ahead of her," Ramirez told KTLA.
A second investigation is taking place about three blocks from the market, in the 1100 block of East 22nd Street, where the same powdery substance was found, Ramirez said. He told the Times an assault with a deadly weapon complaint was made on Wednesday night to a home where the woman is believed to live, but investigators found no sign of a crime.
Police are trying to determine the relationship between the woman and the two girls, but believe she could be their mother.
There were no suspects and no one was in custody, Rimkunas said.
KTLA's Melissa Pamer contributed to this article.Paleo Diet Echoes Physical Culture Movement Of Yesteryear
Hide caption Eugen Sandow, photographed circa 1885, was a German-Russian bodybuilder credited with founding the physical culture movement in Europe. He opened several Institutes for Physical Culture to teach healthy eating and physical fitness throughout Europe. Previous Next Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture
Hide caption A health food ad in The Naturopath from 1910. According to Hamilton Stapell, a historian at the State University of New York, New Paltz, the physical culture movement advocated a scientific approach to nutrition, with an emphasis on eliminating processed foods. Previous Next The Naturopath
Hide caption Bernarr Macfadden, a bodybuilder and publisher, brought the ideas of physical culture from Europe to the U.S. Previous Next Published with the permission of The Wolfsonian-Florida International University (Miami)
Hide caption In 1899, Macfadden published the first edition of Physical Culture, a magazine devoted to bodybuilding, health and nutrition that ran until 1952. At its peak in the 1910s, it had sales of more than 100,000 issues per month. Previous Next Etsy
Hide caption An editorial cartoon from the April 1905 edition of Physical Culture magazine denounced the trappings of modern civilization, including smoking, alcohol, overconsumption of food, patent medicines and ill-fitting clothing. Previous Next Physical Culture
Hide caption "Marvelous feats performed by physical culture girl" reads the caption on this photo of Mrs. Minnie T. Wells. Previous Next Macfadden Physical Development
Hide caption "The same pair of trousers before and after reduction of weight" from a Bernarr Macfadden publication in 1909. Previous Next Macfadden Physical Development
Hide caption Bernarr Macfadden, who brought the physical culture movement to the U.S., leads six members of the Senate in exercise in 1924. Previous Next Corbis
Hide caption Macfadden leveraged his wealth into multiple properties, including the Jackson Sanitarium in Dansville, N.Y. Refurbished as the Physical Culture Hotel, it was a luxury resort that lasted until 1971. Previous Next Boston Public Library/via Flickr
Hide caption The Physical Culture Hotel has long since closed operation, but many aspects of the lifestyle Macfadden emphasized are echoed in the paleo movement. Previous Next TunnelBug/via Flickr 1 of 10 i View slideshow
The paleo diet is sometimes ridiculed as a fad that relies on an overly rosy view of our primitive past.
But it turns out that popular health movements that advocate going back to a more natural way of living are nothing new.
Consider this quote: "It is reasonably certain that man was originally made to live and exercise in the open air, bathe in rivers, and expose his body to the healthful action of the sun."
And this one:
"Civilized man is manufacturing and eating many substances that slowly but surely lead to degeneration, disease and premature death."
These nuggets could easily come from a paleo lifestyle blog, the kind that argues our modern diet and way of life are making us sick.
Except that the first one is from an 1894 book called Athletics for Physical Culture. And the second is from a 1926 book called Natural Foods: The Safe Way to Health.
Both were written by proponents of physical culture, a fringy movement of health enthusiasts, which lasted from the 1880s to 1920s in the U.S. and Europe.
As Hamilton Stapell, a historian at the State University of New York, New Paltz, found when he went digging into the archives of physical culture, there are striking resemblances to the paleo movement today. And, he argues, this shows that people seem to romanticize a healthier past in the midst of great societal upheaval: the Industrial Revolution, in the case of physical culture; and the digital revolution, in the case of paleo.
"The problem, according to physical culture and paleo, is modern civilization," Stapell tells Shots. "With so much change, people reject overconsumption of food, alcohol and mainstream medicine, and look for ways to get back to nature. Both movements have a clear sense of going back to the past to fix the present, and a willingness to throw out what's normal and acceptable to try an alternative."
The paleo movement, also known in scholarly circles as the "ancestral lifestyle," looks at modern health from an evolutionary perspective, and finds inspiration for what to eat and how to exercise from the past — the distant, preagricultural past, in some cases. Followers adhere to a simple diet of meat, fruit and vegetables, and exercise in ways that mimic the movements of our ancestors — like lifting heavy objects.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Physical Culture Physical Culture
Rewind to the 1880s in England when Eugen Sandow, a Russian-German, was pioneering the sport of bodybuilding. Over the years, Sandow fine-tuned his ideas about "natural" dietary habits and weight training, sowing the seeds of the physical culture movement. Rather than the preagricultural era, he drew inspiration from the Greeks and their ideas of the perfect physical form — he even modeled his own body after Greek sculpture. He would eventually open the first of many Institutes of Physical Culture to teach diet and exercise to the masses.
As Stapell notes, weightlifting was at first seen as a peculiar activity 100 years ago in the same way that CrossFit and Vibram FiveFinger shoes — staples of the paleo community — seemed extreme when they first appeared a few years ago.
Bernarr Macfadden, who lived from 1868 to 1955, brought physical culture to the U.S. He was also a bodybuilder and a self-made millionaire, who used the publications he founded to promote ideals of a healthful diet and physical fitness, and to rail against medical quackery.
Just as the paleo community has evolved largely through the Internet, with hundreds of paleo bloggers offering dietary and exercise advice to newbies, the physical culture movement spread through magazines and books. Both media rely heavily on success stories — photos and stories from people who try the alternative diet and exercise, and lose weight and feel better.
But although some paleo adherents take advantage of conferences to connect today, people in the physical culture movement had designated places of retreat, such as Dansville, N.Y.
The diet recommended by physical culturists emphasized natural and pure foods, and took a scientific approach to nutrition. White sugar and processed foods were no-nos, while raw milk and cod liver oil were encouraged. But even then there was a lot of disagreement about the ideal diet.
"And we're still having the same debates 100 years later — vegetarian vs. meat-eating, raw vs. cooked, endurance exercise vs. pumping iron," Stapell says.
Stapell says the physical culture movement was eventually discredited in the 1930s because of its ties to fascism: Mussolini contributed to Physical Culture magazine.
But the ideals seem to be making a comeback of sorts: Ethos Health Company in San Francisco offers corporate wellness services that apply "the principles and best practices of the [physical culture] movement to the modern-day workplace."
For more, you can watch Stapell's talk on paleo and the physical culture movement from last year's Ancestral Health Symposium here.GERLACH, Nev. — Here in the desert, the Earth boils and stars fill the sky. By day, you can see plumes of geothermal steam rising in every direction, pouring from vents in the ground and disappearing into the crisp, dry air. At night, you can see distant galaxies with the naked eye, their light much older than our species.
Five years ago, NASA launched a satellite that’s roughly the size of a minivan and that circles our planet 14 times a day. Its largest instrument collects information from across the electromagnetic spectrum over land, ice and ocean. Scientists analyzed its data and combined that with measurements taken on the ground to map our planet’s light pollution. Only a few small areas in the U.S. remain mostly untouched.
“As you see, the largest dark area is in northwest Nevada. Maybe at the center of this area we can have the darkest places,” said Fabio Falchi, a researcher at the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute and author of “The World Atlas of Light Pollution.” Over 100 miles from Reno, 240 miles from Sacramento, and hundreds of miles from anywhere else I’d ever been lies one of the darkest places in the country, tucked away from the bleeding glow of civilization.
So that’s where I went. I wanted to feel what it was like in the dark. The human population is somewhere north of 7 billion, and light tends to follow our species wherever it goes. I wanted, in a way, to go back in time.
I was swimming in a desert hot spring, the water warmed by radioactive decay deep in the Earth’s crust, when the storm rolled in. It barreled down on me as fast as a truck, over the mountains and into the flat where the hot spring lay. And then there was nothing but the storm — the cold rain and the hot pool and the dark-gray clouds. The steam melted into the fog as the gale kicked up miniature waves that raced across the water. I wondered if I would ever see the stars.
In 2008, an assistant principal in Hambleton, West Virginia, arrived at work one morning to discover hundreds of birds — mostly yellow warblers but also thrushes, cuckoos and sparrows — dead in his school’s parking lot. They’d been swarming the school during the night, crashing into its windows. In 2011, 27 hatchling sea turtles were scraped off the pavement of A1A Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, yards from the beach. Firefighters were able to save four others from a nearby storm drain. And in 2015, in Columbia, Pennsylvania, the state’s department of transportation cleared two-foot-high piles of countless dead mayflies from a bridge above the Susquehanna River. The swarming insects caused three motorcycle accidents before their demise, and their putrid corpses forced pedestrians to walk in the street.
It was light killed the beasts, they say.
The school’s lights had been left on overnight and the birds, possibly disoriented by foggy conditions, flew toward the light source, smashing into the windows. The turtles mistook the glow from a bar and an ice cream shop for the light of the moon glistening off the ocean. The mayflies hatched on the river and couldn’t resist the streetlights’ inviting glow.
In an 1887 letter to the editor of Science, one G. Thompson observed that “some disadvantage or evil appears to be attendant upon every invention, and the electric light is not an exception in this respect.” His hometown, Washington, D.C., had recently installed outdoor electric lighting — and spiders followed. Their prey was plentiful in the new light, Thompson reasoned, but their webs blocked views and dirtied surroundings. And, he noticed, the spiders seemed to “take possession of the portion of the ceiling of any room which receives the illumination.”
That letter may be the earliest public acknowledgement of what we now call light pollution. As human civilization has advanced, one of its innocuous-seeming byproducts — light — has seeped into the natural nocturnal world. And some humans have come to believe that light is wreaking havoc.
It began with the astronomers. The effect of light pollution on their field is obvious enough: Astronomers need darkness to collect and examine the unfathomably distant light of deep-space objects. Going into space to do that work is very expensive, after all.
The astronomers were joined by others in what can collectively be called the dark-sky movement. The ecologically-minded resent the effects light may have on our flora and fauna. Those more focused on humans are concerned about what they worry could be carcinogenic effects. And then there are those whose concerns center on a lost heritage: the notion that if we look up at night and see no stars, we are poorer for it, missing out on some nourishing, mystical, ancestral connection.
Those concerns have led to attempts to beat back the light. In 1958, the city of Flagstaff, Arizona, passed the country’s first dark-sky ordinance. To protect the darkness for research at its Lowell Observatory, the city banned the use of commercial searchlights. Scofflaws could be punished with a $300 fine, 90 days in the city jail, or both.
The struggle has continued ever since, in city halls, in state assemblies, on op-ed pages and on the internet. The dark-sky movement is quick to tell you that they are not Luddites who want to turn off the world’s lights. Rather, they advocate for well-considered lighting that serves its purpose without excess illumination. Too often, they say, lights are too bright, point too far up, are on too often, or are the wrong color. (Blue, they say, is especially bad.)
At noon on a bright fall day, I met Susan Harder, the New York state representative for the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) and an outspoken apostle for the movement, at a cafe on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. In and around one of the brightest megalopolises in the world, she’s taken this fight to the New York State Assembly; the New York City Council and the city’s Department of Transportation; the towns of East Hampton and Riverhead; and the village of Sagaponack. The IDA she represents is one of the most prominent activist groups in the movement, employing full-time staff, educating the public and lawmakers, and bestowing its certified blessing on what it calls “dark sky places.” (Flagstaff and Borrego Springs, California, for example, have made the list.)
Harder had just arrived in the city from the Hamptons; she splits her time between the beach community and Manhattan. Bad luck drove her to join this crusade. Church lights across the street from her East Village apartment tortured her, despite painted-over windows and blackout curtains. Her house in East Hampton is “lit up” at night by a neighboring home, despite the fact that her house sits on a “fairly sizeable property.”
She works full time for the cause these days, giving lectures, lobbying policymakers and meeting with people like me. “Creatures, great and small, are negatively affected,” she told me, citing reading she had done about the issue. “Humans are dramatically affected by night lighting.” Ever vigilant, she has a blue-light-blocking screen on her cellphone. Going dark is also more fiscally responsible, she said — excess lighting wastes billions of dollars worth of energy each year. And the mystical element motivates her advocacy too. “The emotional, spiritual connection with the universe,” Harder said. “If it’s gone, what else do we have? We just have our Earth-borne environment. I think it also could cut off our feeling of curiosity. It’s hard to measure these things, but psychically, I think they’re quite dramatic.”
The evidence of that connection is all around us — in the star-heavy designs in jewelry, in clothing, in children’s bedsheets, Harder said. The design house Valentino even put out a collection of high-fashion clothes depicting celestial objects, she explained, and she regretted not wearing a piece from it to our interview. She was, however, sporting a sparkling star-shaped brooch.
In her experience, a combination of these arguments can appeal to folks across the spectrum. “Rabid, crazy Trump supporters are into this, and then my most ardent environmentalists are very seriously into it,” she said.
But convincing laypeople that light pollution is harmful to humans is one thing; convincing scientists of it is quite another.
On some fronts, the IDA’s concerns are in line with the evidence. In June, the American Medical Association adopted guidelines for streetlights meant “to minimize potential harmful human and environmental effects” from LED lighting, especially the blue-heavy varieties. There are two big problems with blue light, according to the AMA. First, it produces glare and discomfort for drivers, creating a “road hazard.” Second, blue light is on the “wavelength that most adversely suppresses melatonin during night” — it’s a sleep hazard.
All those lights could have effects that ripple far beyond bedtime, but this is where the science gets more complicated. We know that older, nonelectric light isn’t that bad for us, said Richard Stevens, a professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Connecticut. But what of the new variety? “We evolved for billions of years as life on the planet with the reliable cycle of bright sunlight and dark,” Stevens said. “Humans figured out fire a long time ago, and we started making candles about 5,000 years ago, but that kind of light does not affect our physiology much at all.”
Modern electric lighting might. Circadian disruption can alter not only sleep cycles but also core body temperature, hormone levels and gene expression — scientists have observed this in animal studies and Stevens has argued that the same disruption affects humans. He has explored the links between electric light and some of the so-called diseases of modern life: obesity, diabetes, depression and cancer. “The disruption to our circadian rhythmicity is a very big deal,” he said.
Stevens hypothesized a link between electric light and breast cancer as early as 1987. The genesis of his idea, and the reason it remains intriguing, is that while scientists understand some of the common causes of many types of cancer fairly well (lung cancer and smoking, liver cancer and hepatitis viruses, cervical cancer and human papillomavirus) the causes of breast cancer remain mysterious. A 2010 paper by Stevens and three Israeli scientists — “Nighttime light level co-distributes with breast cancer incidence worldwide” — was cited by nearly every dark-sky advocate I spoke with.
But even the author admits that these claims are debatable. “If you took 100 researchers who know this area, there would be no consensus on a cause for breast cancer,” Stevens said.
One such researcher, Karla Kerlikowske, studies risk-prediction models for breast cancer at the University of California San Francisco. “I have not heard of this theory before,” she told me. “So I would say it is not mainstream.” Another, Lisa Schwartz, is a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute, where she researches the quality of medical communication to the public. She pointed out that neither the Physician Data Query nor the International Agency for Research on Cancer, two major organizations that assess cancer risks, consider light a standard risk factor. “They do mention other environmental factors with ‘inadequate evidence,’ but this one isn’t even on their lists,” Schwartz said. “I think this is a fringe idea.”
Thus far, there’s not much research showing any widespread negative ecological or health effects related to light pollution, as John Barentine, the program manager for the IDA, admits. (Barentine has a Ph.D. in astronomy and an asteroid named after him.) In its list of “five appalling facts about light pollution,” the IDA devotes a spot to the claim that “artificial light at night disrupts the seasonal cycle of trees.” In an envelope of news clippings and documents Harder gave me at the cafe (“I’ve got billions of articles,” she said), there was a handout that showed a photo of a tree in Amagansett, New York. It still had about a third of its autumn leaves in winter thanks, the document said, to a streetlight above it, which the handout claimed caused the tree stress.
Members of the movement remain convinced that urgent action is needed. “Wasteful artificial light has to be the most toxic and damaging pollutant that humankind knows!” reads one prominent website devoted to chronicling its ill effects. The site also hosts a photo of that very same tree in the Hamptons that’s sporting, supposedly, too many golden fall leaves.
There’s no research suggesting that light is a public health crisis, Barentine said. “It’s interesting, and it appears to be suggestive, but it’s not conclusive.” Nevertheless, he made grand comparisons, hoping that the dark-sky movement could create and benefit from sweeping changes in public opinion, much like the same-sex marriage movement or antismoking campaigns. (The research gets even more conflicted when you consider the benefits of light, which, in big cities especially, is often thought to deter crime.)
At times, though, Barentine sounded more like an evangelical darkness missionary, invoking the importance of our dimming heritage. “Human beings could use a little bit of humility now and then,” he said. “Does it add something, like art or literature or music? I’m convinced it does.”
Gerlach, Nevada, was settled in 1906 and named for the Gerlach Land and Cattle Company. The company was one of the biggest operations in the Black Rock Desert basin, and Louis Gerlach, its founder, was one of the richest cattlemen in the West. In the early 1900s, the story goes, on a visit to survey a ranch he’d acquired, Louis was bitten by a tick. Tick fever was going around that year, and he was rushed by stagecoach to a doctor 110 miles south, in Reno. Louis Gerlach never returned to the town that bears his name.
Over a century later, I traveled those same 110 miles, in the opposite direction, in a rented Jeep, to see what life is like in what may be the darkest town in the United States.
You don’t need directions to get to Gerlach from Reno; there’s really just one way to go. Nevada state Route 447 is a two-lane blacktop ribbon unfurling up the state, through the sagebrush, past Pyramid Lake, around and through the mountains. Travellers who follow Gerlach’s Main Street out of town will find that the pavement quickly gives way to gravel.
You could be forgiven for driving right through the town without noticing it. For darkness seekers, though, Gerlach is perfect — it’s five hours from Redding, California; five from Medford, Oregon; seven and a half from Twin Falls, Idaho; eight from Boise, Idaho; and eight from Salt Lake City — hundreds of miles removed from trespassing city light in any direction.
I pulled into Gerlach with a Unihedron sky-quality meter in my pocket. It’s a chunky black plastic box about the size of a pack of cigarettes. When I point its lens toward the sky’s zenith (that is, straight up) and press a button, the meter displays the darkness of the night sky, measured in something called magnitudes per square arcsecond (mag/arcsec²). The higher the number, the darker the sky. The night before I left for Nevada, outside my apartment in the arcadian (by Brooklyn standards) neighborhood of Ditmas Park, my meter was getting readings of around 15.9 — not good, and close to the bottom of the range shown on the meter’s pictorial legend, which starts with a streetlight and depicts skies getting darker further from the lamp’s glow. From my apartment windows, I can occasionally see a single star — a dim Polaris. My hopes for a more rewarding stargazing experience in the desert were running high.
Gerlach’s welcome sign reads both “Center of the Known Universe” and “Population Wanted.” It was a mining town and a railroad town. Gerlach “can be rough and tough on a Saturday pay night,” read a Desert Magazine feature in 1960, and “every passing train jiggles it like a bowl of tapioca.” In 1909, the Western Pacific Railroad began operating in the town. In 1970, the original California Zephyr ran its final trip, and passenger rail service to Gerlach came to an end. In 1975, the residents bought the town from the railroad for $18,000. With the railroad gone, the railroad workers left too, and today the town is home to fewer than 200 people.
There is one motel in Gerlach — Bruno’s — located behind Gerlach’s one restaurant — also Bruno’s. At the restaurant, you can book a room, sip a beer and order a meal, all at the bar. But to get even further into the nighttime darkness, I stayed 25 miles north at the Iveson Ranch. Jeff Barker, who goes by JB, is the owner, but he prefers to be called “activity director.” “The owner is God and all the people who are here,” he told me. A sign at the ranch entrance warns: “No county official beyond this point without a warrant and sheriff.”
Even before Barker showed up, there was a ranch here, owned by the Ivesons. “Those people were lyin’, cheatin’, cattle-thievin’ motherfuckers,” Barker recalled Gerlachers saying. Barker thought they sounded cool. So, not one for vanity, he called his new property Iveson Ranch.
The ranch, about 350 acres, lies snug between the Granite Range and the Calico Mountains, in the shadow of mountaintop cairns that the “ancient people,” as Barker called them, once used to drive antelope into the Hualapai Flat for the hunt. This topography, with vast rises on either side, evokes the slitted opening of a telescope dome. Wind turbines, along with a solar array of Barker’s construction, help shoulder the burden of being off the grid. When I arrived around midafternoon, the ranch was full of life. Magpies and quails, chickens and wild horses, deer, and a succession of dirty, friendly dogs — one of which, I later learned, was called Little Trump — seemed to be in charge.
Barker, 55, has a baby face that conceals a rancher’s hard-won know-how. He was well aware that he lived under extraordinarily dark skies, and he said so when we first exchanged emails. In fact, he’d built a runway — 3,300 feet by 60 feet, perfectly flat — meant to accommodate both planes and the RVs and sensitive equipment of serious stargazers. It was empty when we drove by, but past visitors had influenced Barker’s outlook.
“We’re just a little dot in what exists,” he told me. “Whether humanity lives or dies doesn’t matter. We better start taking care of ourselves and our planet.” The stargazers and their five-figure telescopes had brought a perspective that reinforced his own sustainable, leave-no-trace view. All very rural Nevada. “We’re gonna have to quit being so damn greedy — about money, about the way we use our resources,” he said.
Late that afternoon, I met Will Roger Peterson at his home back in Gerlach. It was the nicest house I’d seen in town, sitting on two acres and boasting a wraparound deck, a sauna and a bat house.
Peterson, 68, is the vice president of Friends of Black Rock-High Rock, a conservation and education group devoted to 1.2 million acres of “northwestern Nevada’s extraordinary landscapes.” He’s also a co-founder of the company that now runs the annual Burning Man festival, which is held on the playa. A white beard softened his handsome, desert-battered face. Peterson first came up to Gerlach in 1994, but in the winters he stays at his home in Oakland. “I didn’t think I’d like the desert, but it ended up mesmerizing me,” he told me.
“Gerlach is kind of unique considering dark skies because there’s very few streetlights here, so there’s very few lights shining upward,” he said. I asked him if that was on purpose, the result of some local, grassroots dark-sky movement. Peterson laughed. “No. As you can see, this is a poor, unincorporated town. There’s not a lot of money spent in Gerlach on things like streetlights.”
“It’s a challenge to live here,” he said. “So most people who live here are dealing with that challenge. They’re not out looking at the sky much.”
But Peterson is. Each night, he performs his own stargazing ritual on his second-floor balcony: He won’t go to bed until he sees three shooting stars. He said he usually sees them within 15 minutes.
To describe the significance of dark skies, Peterson invoked Carl Jung. “The things that are repeated — the symbols, the signs, the rituals that we’ve repeated for 2 million years as humans — are the things that are most collective in our unconscious. Looking at fire instead of television. Looking at the sky. Every culture known to us throughout our history has created constellations and has read the sky as a way to deal with the mystical.”
I asked Peterson if he thought there was any hope for a dark-sky movement in a place like New York City. He skipped right over the question, telling me to get out of the city as often as I could in search of a “mystical moment.” (There was also some talk of my being a sheep and a slave to contemporary culture.) Even being at the ranch for a couple of days would be good for me; he said he could see it in my eyes.
Outside the house, in an adjoining lot, is his home’s pièce de résistance, a testament to Peterson’s devotion to ritual: the labyrinth. Two-thirds of a mile long and constructed of thousands of rocks arrayed along the ground, it’s modeled after the one in the 12th-century Chartres Cathedral in France. Most walk that labyrinth praying to a Christian God, but when Peterson walks his each night at sunset, his focus is on more mystical forces. “There’s a lot of energy in there,” he said.
I walked it. The winding path took about 20 minutes to complete. For the first 15 minutes, I was too busy thinking about the weird desert insects that were biting me to notice any energy in the labyrinth. But for the last five, as the clouds lifted and each rock cast a sharp sundial shadow on the desert ground, I thought about the light, and the dark, and all I wanted to do was see the stars.
On my way out, Peterson handed me a packet of information about the Fly Geyser, which sits on Fly Ranch, which Burning Man had just bought for $6.5 million. The geyser is about midway between Gerlach and the Iveson Ranch and it’s not to be missed, Peterson told me, so we made vague plans to meet there the next day and swim in the hot spring next to the geyser. What Peterson’s packet didn’t mention was that Burning Man’s acquisition of Fly Ranch was funded in part by a co-founder of Airbnb, and by the CEO of Cirque du Soleil. “The future of Gerlach looks bright,” Peterson said. For selfish reasons, I hoped that wasn’t literally true — at least for the next couple of days.
When I showed up at Fly Ranch the next day, there was no sign of Peterson or his motorcycle. In fact, there was no sign of another human for miles in any direction. I hopped the roadside gate, passed a Burning Man “No Trespassing” sign, and walked a half-mile or so into the ranch to the geyser. It’s a spewing, alien structure, shimmering red, green and gold, five feet high and rising, built up over decades by mineral deposits from an uncapped well. Nearby is the natural pool it has created, where the water is around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. I swam back and forth a few times, both exhilarated and relaxed, trying to etch the surreal experience into my brain.
And then, over the mountain, the storm rolled in. Needles of cold rain sliced sideways into my top half, while my bottom half was comfortably submerged in the natural hot tub. My gear — phone, notepad, digital voice recorder — was perched precariously on the side of the pool, barely protected from the weather, and I could think only two things: There go my interviews, and I’m never going to see the stars. Gusts that day at a weather station in nearby (by the standards of northwest Nevada) Lovelock were measured at 53 miles per hour, on the high end of the “severe gale” category. As I drove back to the ranch, desert crows flew backwards.
Back in the tack room where I was staying, as my soaked clothes hung on hooks and the whipping wind carried trash cans and tree limbs past my small window, the power went out. And yes, it was dark in the tack room. Left with little to do and anxious that I might have come all this way to look at nothing but murky nighttime clouds, I lit a candle and opened the leather-bound guest book sitting in the corner. Years ago, one guest, Julie, had written: “So peaceful, and so many stars!”
“Fucking hip |
of Vanity Fair. The report, by VF national editor Todd S. Purdum, calls Palin, “at once the sexiest and the riskiest brand in the Republican Party,” citing her deep appeal to those who share her convictions and resentments.
Senior members of Senator John McCain's campaign team talked extensively with Purdum for the article.
“Most made it clear that they suffer a kind of survivor’s guilt: They can’t quite believe that for two frantic months last fall, caught in a Bermuda Triangle of a campaign, they worked their tails off to try to elect as vice-president of the United States someone who, by mid-October, they believed for certain was nowhere near ready for the job and might never be,” Purdum writes.
Obama: not enough time for Palin to prepare
Candidate Barack Obama told aides he did not think Palin would have time after she was selected as McCain's running mate to get up to speed as a national candidate. “I don’t care how talented she is, this is really a leap,” Vanity Fair quotes Obama as saying.
After spending time reporting in Alaska, Purdum writes that “the brutal reality is that many people who have worked closely with Palin have found themselves disillusioned.” Former Governor Walter Hickel, who was co-chair of her 2006 gubernatorial campaign, said “I helped her out, she got elected… She never called me once in her life after that.”
Can't count her out
The lengthy report on Governor Palin offers a heavy dose of criticism for alleged political missteps from a variety of sources. But Purdum does not count Palin out of the political game, regardless of whether she runs for re-election.
“Palin has shown herself to have remarkable gut instincts about raw politics, and she has seen openings where others did not,” Purdum writes. “And she has the good fortune to have traction within a political party that is bereft of strong leadership, and whose rank and file often demands qualities other than knowledge, experience, and an understanding that facts are, as John Adams said, stubborn things.... She may decide that she does not need office in order to have great influence—any more than Rush Limbaugh does.”An Illinois mom is desperate for answers in the disappearance of her daughter, a mother of two who vanished after leaving home for work last week.
"It's a nightmare," Cindy Lowe told The Huffington Post on Wednesday. "I don't know where she is or if she's hurt. I just want her to come home. She has kids and she needs to come home."
Lowe's daughter, 34-year-old Darcey Cottrell, was last seen leaving her Danville home on June 1 at about 2:30 p.m. Cottrell, who is employed as a sales clerk at Discount Tobacco Warehouse in Danville, was heading to work for the start of her 3 p.m. shift. She was reported missing when employees notified family members she failed to arrive.
Darcey Cottrell goes missing in Indiana https://t.co/NFSCyiHoDB pic.twitter.com/iPpDsj2QVN — Jerrie Dean (@JerrieDean) June 5, 2016
According to Lowe, her daughter, who is the mother of two boys, ages 6 and 17, was last seen by her eldest son.
"My oldest grandson was home with her and he said everything was normal," Lowe said. "Before she left she got him some food and said she would do the laundry when she got home."
What happened to Cottrell after she left home remains a mystery. She has not been seen since, and the vehicle she was driving -- her dad's green Ford Ranger with Indiana veteran license plate AN3826 -- is also missing.
Lowe said she is growing increasingly concerned for her daughter's safety.
"This is not like her to disappear and not let someone know if she is OK," Lowe said. "She's not missed a day of work in two years. She is a very trusting, friendly, outgoing and dependable person."
Danville police did not return a call for comment from HuffPost on Wednesday.
Cindy Lowe Darcey Cottrell, of Danville, Illinois, has not been seen since June 1.
Commander Jane McFadden told NBC News on Monday that authorities have to consider the possibility of foul play in Cottrell's disappearance.
"We have to look at it first as the worst-case scenario," McFadden said. "You never know what could have happened."
Volunteer searchers scoured the streets of Danville over the weekend and posted flyers throughout the community. Additional searches are scheduled for the coming weekend.
"We're doing everything we can to get it out there," Lowe told HuffPost. "I'm trying to stay focused on that. I can't let my imagination go wild or I'm going to drive myself crazy. We just want her back. That's all. We just want her back."
Cottrell is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a burgundy shirt and jeans.Image copyright Warner Bros Image caption Jared Leto stars as the Joker in Suicide Squad
Reddit has rejected a request to hand over the personal details of an alleged music leaker to Atlantic Records.
The record label claims the user uploaded the track Heathens, by band Twenty One Pilots, from Suicide Squad: The Album, months ahead of its planned commercial release.
Atlantic Records started legal action demanding Reddit hand over the user's details and net address.
The website refused, saying the claimant was on a "fishing expedition".
Details of the case were first reported by the news site TorrentFreak.
The unreleased track, on the soundtrack album to the film Suicide Squad, had been issued to:
a number of workers at Atlantic
employees at its subsidiary label Fuelled by Ramen
the two members of Twenty One Pilots
the band's manager.
All were "contractually obligated and/or under a fiduciary obligation" not to reveal the song's existence, Atlantic said.
The file was initially uploaded to anonymous Slovakian file-hosting service Dropfile.to, before a Reddit user posted the same file on the forum under the name twentyoneheathens on 15 June.
Atlantic attempted to get the files removed from the internet, but conceded it could not prevent their wider distribution.
Image copyright Warner Bros / AP Image caption Suicide Squad has been critically panned, but has now made more than $465m (£360m) worldwide
The individual track was released officially the next day, nearly two months ahead of plan.
The record label then sued, claiming the leak had caused it substantial harm in terms of lost sales.
It demanded Reddit hand over the internet protocol (IP) address and other relevant information to help identify the reported leaker.
Reddit refused, saying Atlantic had not outlined what steps it would take if the IP address was linked to somebody who was not one of its own employees.
Image copyright Reddit Image caption Reddit is refusing to hand over the user twentyoneheathens' IP address
For its part, Dropfile says it does not store users' IP addresses and that files expire within 24 hours on its homepage.
A Dropfile representative told the BBC the site had not been contacted by Atlantic at any point.
Chart success
Suicide Squad: The Album was released on 5 August and sold about 182,000 copies within its first week shooting to number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The cast of Suicide Squad talk about getting into character
The court's decision is pending.Towards the end of the season in May 2016, the new PR012 CEO Martin Anayi gave several media interviews on his proposals for where the PRO12 needs to go to cope with changes in rugby within the Six Nations and globally.
The PRO12 is a international league involving 12 teams drawn from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy.
Anayi identified and acknowledged a number of the issues raised by PRO12 clubs’ CEOs and fans. These included the need for increase in TV money, improved match-day attendances, league marketing and branding, the standard of refereeing, season structure and Test window matches, scheduling of season matches/kick-off times including Sunday games, European competitions, player welfare and creating more ‘event’ weekends to generate crowds.
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share
Anayi has met with all of the PRO12 CEOs over the last season to discuss issues and get feedback on a number of proposals that would mark out the future for the PRO 12 and its member unions.
From various media interviews and reports it would appear a number of key decisions are being considered by PRO 12 and its 12 member clubs along with their representative organisations and unions.
In summary, these would appear to include the following.
– Changes to season scheduling to make it more accessible, consistent, and appealing to fans across the four unions territories starting from next season 2016/17. (The new schedule was published two days ago).
– Further investment in a referee development programme to deal with issues/perceptions of bias and neutrality for league fixtures
– Stronger and more localised marketing and promotion of league games by the PRO12 and by the individual clubs to attract fans to games and make it more appealing to broadcasters.
– More promotion and stronger branding/marketing of games by TV partners
– Changing the structure of the league from a home and away 22 games, to a shorter conference/pool structure that can accommodate more teams in the future from other unions/territories e.g. North America and South Africa. The East Coast of America is the first target to develop a franchise with operational and coaching expertise being provided by the four unions.
– Development of Big Event Weekends to drive crowd numbers, create a more appealing product for TV companies/sponsors, and generate more revenues for the PRO12
– Reduce number of games played during season and re-structure so that no “league” games are played during the Test windows in November and Feb/March
– Consequently, this would allow a greater proportion of league games to have Test players involved and increase quality of product.
– During Test windows, the PRO CEOs want rugby to continue, and a revised development competition is being proposed for these periods for development of academy and young players within squads not involved in Test rugby. This may involve changes to the British and Irish Cup and the Anglo-Wlesh Cup.
One report indicates that English Premier Rugby may be interested in discussing the creation of a British and Irish development cup to replace the current AW Cup that would attract increased sponsorship and TV money than currently.
It’s clear that changes need to occur for the PRO12. The current structure and set-up is neither sufficient nor sustainable. The most recent comments on this came this week from the CEO of the IRFU, Phillip Browne, in publishing their annual report.
Advertisement
Advertisement
In the Report, Browne made a number of comments on the changes occurring in the European game due to the massive increases in TV deals in England and France that will place greater focus for the IRFU on development pathways to nurture domestic talent, changes needed for the PRO12, and the curtailing of the provinces buying foreign players in the future.
“There is no question that the Provinces should continue to aspire to European success but expectations may need to be tempered in the new financial reality that has emerged, driven by the huge television rights fees generated in the Aviva Premiership and the Top 14 tournaments, along with the increasing levels of private investment in professional clubs in those leagues.”
“The attendant risks to the Irish professional game are potentially profound and one of the key mitigation strategies is to invest in our pathway to develop better quality players more quickly through a more effective pathway – a key element of the new High Performance strategy. There is no doubt that we have the athletic potential in Ireland, the key is to be more effective in how we “mine” and develop that potential.
“An extension of this new European order is the difficulty that faces the PRO12 as a competition operating in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales – three rugby markets which are a fraction the size of those in England and France.
“The Italian market has not really delivered, not helped by the poor performances of the Italian teams and what appears to be a lack of investment in those teams. Change is required if the PRO12 is to remain a meaningful tournament. The revenues generated by the tournament need to double or treble if the participating clubs/provinces are to remain competitive with the clubs in the English and French leagues.
“Such an increase in values will require some radical change to the tournament and how it is structured. The expansion of the tournament into new territories is probably a prerequisite and the first steps are being taken now in relation to a new strategic plan for the tournament.
“Alongside the theme of change sits finance. Much of the IRFU revenue generated around the international game is contracted out for the next number of years, the IRFU sponsorship portfolio has little scope for growth, attendances at the Aviva Stadium are – by and large- at capacity.
“A similar situation pertains in most of the Provinces, albeit there is still some scope for uplift in attendances. New sources of income continue to be explored along with innovative ways of repackaging our commercial portfolio to generate increased revenues.
Advertisement
Advertisement
“However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the professional game in Ireland can no longer rely on the IRFU being the “lender of last resort” as the IRFU no longer has the capacity to absorb the increasing cost of the professional game as the Provinces struggle to respond to the inflating player market in England and France.
“This means that the IRFU and the Provinces will have to be more clever and effective in the use of available resources and financial prudence will require that Irish rugby must live within its means.”
Browne went on to indicate the days of bringing in players such as Rocky Elson, Isa Nacewa, Doug Howlett, or more recently, Charles Piutau, are effectively over. “The provinces simply can’t go out into the global market place and expect to pick up world-class players with the budgets they have. It is better value for us to invest in the pathway. To produce our own players. We simply can’t compete with what is happening in France.”
Due to the Rugby World Cup, the IRFU reported a surplus of €5m for the year which allows them to give a €2m grant divided equally to the four provincial teams over two years to help them compete on player salaries.
Even though the PRO12 is expected to make an announcement in the next few weeks about its long-term strategy to develop the league, Browne gave a detailed response when asked about possible expansion to other countries. “The East coast of the US, why not?… the one thing we can bring to bear, as four unions, is if you operate a franchise model we can provide the coaches, we can provide the administrative expertise. We can do what is needed to get a franchise up and running pretty quickly. So that’s what we are looking at.”
Alongside the US, reports also indicate there is potential to involved one or more teams from South Africa, possibly containing players who may wish to move to Europe anyway. This would form part of Anayi’s plans to develop more conferences for the PRO12 as they build from 2018 onwards.
Martin Anayi seems to have got his feet under the table in pretty short order and so far seems to be walking the walk in his vision for the future.
Let’s see what happens next.
AdvertisementNordic politicians want to reinstate passport-free travel between their countries, but rather than proposing regional solutions, most argue that nothing can be done until the EU solves the migrant crisis.
Whether they voyaged to the Swedish fells, Norwegian fjords or Santa’s village in Finnish Lapland, Nordic people have enjoyed passport-free travel between their respective countries since the 1950s, decades before the EU's Schengen area was established.
”The costs have been huge”, said Henrik Dam Kristensen, a Danish Social Democrat and chairman of the Nordic Council. (Photo: Morten Brakestad, norden.org)
This changed on 4 January this year.
Sweden, struggling to accommodate a large number of asylum seekers, announced identity checks and border controls concentrating on the bridge to Denmark. It ended 60 years of free movement in the Nordic region.
Shortly afterwards, Denmark authorised checks on all of its borders and Norway followed suit.
“The costs have been huge,” said Henrik Dam Kristensen, a Danish Social Democrat MP.
He chairs the Nordic Council, an inter-parliamentary forum for MPs from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as well as the Faroe, Greenland and Aaland islands.
On Tuesday, (19 April) the council convened in Oslo’s parliament for a special session on border controls and how it affects Nordic cooperation. The discussion was calm, but short on solutions. It was supposed to last for an hour but ended after only 35 minutes.
The crisis has revealed some cracks in Nordic cooperation.
“Solutions to the migration crisis are at the European and global level, not at the Nordic level,” said Finnish transport minister Anne Berner. She spoke on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, another inter-governmental forum.
Searching the toolbox
Norwegian conservative MP Michael Tetzschner told journalists afterwards that the Nordic Passport Union – the 1950s agreement allowing free movement – could not function if the EU's system for handling asylum seekers was failing.
“Nordic problems won’t be solved until the situation on the EU’s outer borders has been normalised,” he said.
Many other politicians agreed that the controls were necessary until the EU’s outer borders were sealed.
Danish MP Dam Kristensen was hopeful that this would take place in the wake of EU’s recent deal with Turkey.
“We will see when the weather becomes better if it is a stable agreement. I hope it is, because the EU border is the most important protection we have," he told this website
Swedish moderate party MP Hans Wallmark had a different solution. Speaking before the assembly, he expressed support for a common Nordic border, a concept first proposed by Denmark’s prime minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen who suggested border checks should take place at Denmark’s frontier with Germany.
“We need to try anything in the toolbox”, Wallmark later told the EUobserver. “There has been a lack of creativity when it comes to proposing solutions.”
'Dysfunctional'
Wallmark criticised other politicians for urging more cooperation and integration without making any practical plans.
“It’s a good idea to share experiences, but we also need concrete proposals for what to do together,” he said.
“For instance, how can controls be implemented with the least possible burden on commuters.”
He referred to a recent proposal of Danish and Swedish justice ministers to carry out checks in Copenhagen rather than on both sides of the Oresund bridge, which links the Danish capital to the Swedish city of Malmo.
“It’s a concrete proposal. But it should have been discussed earlier, not four months after the checks were introduced,” he said.
“The Nordic countries could find solutions and set examples. Unfortunately, we have shown to be just as dysfunctional as the EU when it comes to dealing with large movements of people.”
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Southern Sweden recently calculated that Oresund bridge controls cost at least €325,000 a day.
Critics also say the checks have damaged Sweden’s relations with Denmark.
“No doubt it had a negative effect, also on a political level,” said Danish politician Dam Kristensen.
In the past, Denmark’s minister of migration Inger Stojberg has accused Sweden of creating problems for itself with its “expansionist” migration policy.
Danish conservative MP Rasmus Jarlov recently called for additional checks on people coming from Sweden. He feared Sweden’s more restrictive policies would drive what he called illegal migrants back over the bridge.
This is despite the number of asylum applications in Sweden in the first quarter of this year dropping by 30 percent from the same period last year.
And the number of people travelling from Germany to Denmark without valid documents is about 100 a week, according to Wallmark.
Lawmakers continue to stand by border controls even as the number of refugees keeps falling.Despite intense official efforts at denial, the European public is beginning to understand that widespread sexual assault and rape are the corollary of mass immigration of young Muslim males. Rotherham, where 1,400 children were abused by organized Muslim gangs as police conspired to deny the horror for a decade and a half, is finally sinking in. Sweden, which welcomed Muslim “refugees” with extraordinary social benefits, is now the rape capital of Europe.
January 1 signifies new beginnings, while December 31 signifies the end of old things. Multicultural fantasies are long overdue for discarding, and the wave of sexual assaults across Europe may be the beginning of the end for the illusions that have gripped Europe’s political elites, media, and progressives.
Carol Brown writes:
The New Year’s Eve attacks by Muslim “migrants” in Cologne were originally covered up by the police and the media. But then news began to leak out about the devastating chaos that unfolded in and around the Cologne Cathedral. (See here, here, here, and here for prior coverage.) New information continues to emerge, as Pamela Geller reports on cell phones stolen from women who were attacked in Cologne showing up at refugee centers. Meanwhile, women continue to come forward to report rapes (often gang rape), and a handful of Syrians were arrested, including Syrian males as young as 14 who raped adolescent girls.
Daniel Greenfield also reports:
… Muslim refugees prowled, assaulting and robbing any woman they could find. A police officer described seeing crying women stumble toward him after midnight. He managed to rescue one woman whose clothes had been torn off her body from a group of her attackers, but could not save her friends because the mob had begun hurling fireworks at him. (snip) Desperate efforts were made to suppress the crimes that had been committed, but too many women had been assaulted. More than 90 complaints had been filed. There was no telling how many more women had been too ashamed to go to the police. Or how many thought that there was no point because the authorities would not be on their side, but on the side of the Muslim refugee rapists. A man spoke of being unable to protect his wife or teenage daughter from the mob. A British tourist fought against being forced into a car. A 17-year-old girl described being brutally violated and seeing other girls in the police station in the same condition. A 22-year-old woman recalled, “When I called for help, they laughed.” Even a volunteer policewoman had been molested. Katia remembered walking through a “tunnel” made up only of “foreign men” who assaulted her on all sides[.]
That the cathedral would be the site of this war zone is likely not a coincidence, but it certainly is an irony, as Greenfield writes: “[w]hen the anti-Islamist group Pegida came out to protest last year, the Cologne cathedral turned out its lights to condemn them while pro-migrant activists smugly held up signs reading, ‘Refugees welcome’.”
After news of the violence in Cologne began to leak out, it became clear that rapes and robberies were committed in several cities throughout Germany on New Year’s Eve, including Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Weil am Rhein, Frankfurt, Bielefeld, and Freiburg (here and here).
And now we are learning that this barbarity unfolded not just in Germany, but across Europe. As Pamela Geller writes, this appears to have been coordinated New Year’s Eve jihad terror attacks.
Zurich, Switzerland: As of this writing, six women have come forward to report being surrounded by “several dark-skinned men” who groped, molested, and robbed them. The police notedthat this is an unusually high number of sexual assaults for Switzerland (here and here).
Helsinki, Finland: Per News.com:
… Finnish police have revealed an unusually high level of sexual harassment in Helsinki on New Year’s Eve and said they had been tipped off about plans by groups of asylum seekers to sexually harass women. (snip) Helsinki deputy police chief Ilkka Koskimaki told AFP: “There hasn’t been this kind of harassment on previous New Year’s Eves or other occasions for that matter... This is a completely new phenomenon in Helsinki.” Security guards hired to patrol the city on New Year’s Eve told police there had been “widespread sexual harassment” at a central square where around 20,000 people had gathered for celebrations. Three sexual assaults allegedly took place at Helsinki’s central railway station on New Year’s Eve, where around 1000 mostly Iraqi asylum seekers had converged. (snip) “The suspects were asylum seekers. The three were caught and taken into custody on the spot,” Koskimaki told AFP. (snip) “Ahead of New Year’s Eve, the police caught wind of information that asylum seekers in the capital region possibly had similar plans to what the men gathered in Cologne’s railway station have been reported to have had,” police said in a statement.
Salzburg, Austria: Per News.com:
…similar sex attacks were carried out in Austria, but police didn’t publicise the incidents “to protect the privacy of the victims”. The incidents only came to light after several females came forward to complain to local media. One identified as Sabrina S (not her real name) told Austrian newspaper Osterreich that she and her friends were attacked by a group of 10-15 men while walking home from a new club in the historic district of Salzburg. “A friend was grabbed by one of the men and put into a headlock. Her face was in his jacket. He cuddled her and licked her face. She then said that she had no strength to free herself, she was completely at his mercy,” Sabrina said. It was only after she managed to hit and kick the attacker that her group was able to flee. She claimed to be aware of many other incidents after posting a warning on Facebook. “Some wrote me that they were greatly distressed at the state bridge, the Makartsteg or the railway station. A girl has even reported it to have been abducted almost New Year’s Eve at the Town Hall by a group,” Sabrina said.
As Daniel Greenfield writes:
… The horrifying scene in Cologne is commonplace in the Muslim world. While many remember the horrifying sexual assaults of the Arab Spring in Tahrir Square, including the attack on Lara Logan, such incidents are actually commonplace in Egypt, especially around Eid Al-Fitr. It doesn’t matter how the women are dressed. A 2006 story describes mass attacks on “any and every girl in sight, whether a Niqabi, a Hijabi or uncovered. Whether Egyptian or foreigner. Even pregnant ones.” 99% of Egyptian women report being sexually harassed. This behavior has [sic] is common in Muslim lands. In Iraq, it’s eight out of ten women. In Afghanistan, rape and honor killings are routine. And this is the population that Germany’s mostly Muslim migrants are drawn from. What happened is inevitable and it will go on happening. More surveillance cameras and patrols won’t stop it. Instead, as in the UK, it will go underground. Muslim men will groom and abuse troubled girls. The authorities will turn a blind eye until a decade later the story gets too big to be covered up. And by then thousands of lives will be ruined. The only way to stop it is to keep it out of Europe and America. (snip) Due to Germany’s asylum laws, it’s unlikely that any of the foreign attackers will be deported for their crimes…Muslim men who assaulted women know that they have nothing to fear because nothing will happen to them. … The only way for women in Europe to have a future is to fight the migration mob. Otherwise what happened outside the Cologne cathedral, what happens to the 99% of women in Egypt and what happens in the Islamic State will be their future.
And ours as well. Ours as well.
Huge hat tip to Atlas Shrugs for providing exceptional coverage of this story. Additional hat tips: Front Page Magazine, Breitbart, Bare Naked Islam, Counterjihad Report, The TelegraphFor most of the past five years, Apple has been the world's most valuable company, with oil giant ExxonMobil a close second and other companies far behind. But recently, Apple's earnings growth has slowed, while Alphabet — the company most of us know as Google — has seen its profits continue to grow. The result: Alphabet briefly passed Apple on Thursday to become the world's most valuable company — though it ended the day worth $488.7 billion, slightly less than Apple's $489.9 billion.
The remarkable thing about this is that Apple's 2015 operating income (that's profits, basically) of $71 billion was more than three times Google's operating income of $20 billion. So you might expect Apple's market value would be a lot higher than Google's. The fact that Wall Street is valuing them about the same is a signal that the market is a lot more optimistic about Google's growth prospects. Investors expect Google's profits to continue going up, whereas Wall Street thinks Apple's massive iPhone profits have nowhere to go but down.
Google makes most of its money from ads
Google does a lot of different things. It has a browser called Chrome, a smartphone OS called Android, and a wide variety of online services such as Google Maps, Gmail, and Google Docs. Google's parent company, Alphabet, is working on self-driving cars, residential broadband networks in several cities, and a lot more.
But Google's revenues overwhelmingly come from one thing: advertising.
In 2015, ads accounted for about 90 percent of Google's overall revenues, and of this ad revenue three-quarters came from ads on Google's own websites — including a large share for Google's market-leading search engine. The remaining quarter came from Google's ad networks, which sell ads that appear on other people's websites.
Ads account for about 90 percent of Google's revenues
Some high-profile Google products aren't directly ad-supported, but most of them indirectly support Google's ads business — and especially its flagship search engine. For example, creating Android and giving it away to smartphone companies helps ensure that Google's search engine and other online services remain popular with mobile users. Similarly, owning the leading web browser, Chrome, helps Google steer users toward its search engine.
This is worth a lot of money: Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 to ensure that Google was the default search engine on iPhones. And until 2014, Google paid hundreds of millions of dollars every year to ensure Google is the default search engine for the Firefox web browser (more recently, Yahoo has outbid Google to be the default).
The ad business keeps getting more lucrative for Google:
Apple makes most of its money from the iPhone
While Google makes most of its money from ads, Apple makes most of its money from selling iPhones. The iPhone is a lot more lucrative than any of Apple's other products. Apple sold 231 million iPhones in 2015, generating $154 billion in revenue. In its most recent quarter, Apple generated almost twice as much revenue from the iPhone as all of its other products — iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and so forth — put together.
Like Google, Apple has seen its revenue soar over the past few years as the iPhone has gotten more popular. But unlike Google, it looks like Apple is seeing a slowdown in its previously rapid growth. In April, Apple reported its first down quarter in over a decade, with revenues falling 13 percent from a year earlier.
The issue seems to be that the iPhone is close to saturating its market. Apple dominates the market for high-end smartphones so completely that most of the people around the world who can afford to buy an iPhone already have one. Apple will be able to continue selling tens of millions of iPhones every quarter as their existing users upgrade, of course. But there doesn't seem to be much room for further growth in iPhone sales.
To continue growing, then, Apple needs to come up with another massive hit. And it hasn't been able to do that. The iPad is pretty popular, but it's nowhere near as popular as the iPhone, and its sales are actually declining. The Apple Watch seems to be a pretty successful product by conventional measures, but, again, it's nothing like the iPhone.
Wall Street is more optimistic about Google's growth than Apple's
Of course, Apple could always surprise us. The company has a talented staff and tens of billions of dollars to invest in new products.
But Apple's stock price suggests that Wall Street, at least, isn't optimistic about Apple's chances of coming up with anything new that will match the iPhone's success. A key statistic to watch here is the price-to-earnings ratio — that is, the company's stock price divided by its annual profits.
If the P/E ratio is high, that means Wall Street is paying a premium in hopes that profits will rise over time. A low P/E ratio signals that Wall Street expects profits to stagnate or even decline in the future.
Fast-growing technology companies have share prices that are 20, 50, or even 100 times their earnings. Alphabet's P/E ratio, for example, is about 30.
In contrast, Apple's P/E ratio is about 10. That means Wall Street is valuing Apple like a sleepy utility company — still highly profitable, but with little prospect for future growth.
Apple's charismatic founder is dead, while Google's are still around
There are lots of technology companies that have one big hit and then stop growing once that initial product matures. Yahoo, Twitter, and eBay are all examples of companies that seem to have hit a wall.
What makes Apple and Google remarkable is that they were able to follow up an initial hit — early PCs in Apple's case, a search engine in Google's — with many other successful products. Apple had the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. Google has had Gmail, Google Maps, Android, Chrome, and so forth.
It's impossible to say exactly why some companies continue to thrive while others turn out to be one-hit wonders, but one common theme seems to be that the most successful companies still have their charismatic founders at the helm. Apple struggled during Steve Jobs's absence between 1985 and 1997, then enjoyed an amazing resurgence between 1997 and Jobs's death in 2011. Google has been under the control of its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, since the beginning.
Founders have an unmatched level of respect among rank-and-file employees. Because they've been at the company since the beginning, founders have relationships with people all across the country.
This is particularly important when a company needs to make a big change. Employees at once-great but now-struggling companies have a tendency to romanticize a company's early days and resist necessary changes. In these moments, no one has more credibility than a company's founders to put these concerns into perspective and make the case that the company needs to change if it wants to survive.
Founders' greater credibility also allows them more leeway to take big risks. Ordinary CEOs serve at the pleasure of the board, so they constantly have to worry that they'll lose their jobs if they go too far out on a limb. Founders tend to be more secure in their jobs, which makes them more able to take big risks and push through necessary changes.
Apple, of course, lost its visionary founder to cancer in 2011. It's now run by Tim Cook, a man who is by all accounts an able manager but doesn't seem to have Jobs's vision. Prior to Jobs's death, Cook's focus was on optimizing Apple's operations, not creating new products. Alphabet, on the other hand, is still run by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They've made big bets on everything from Android to self-driving cars. Some of those bets have failed, but others have been big hits.
That might be one reason Wall Street is bullish on Alphabet but bearish on Apple. The iPhone is a great product, but there's little reason to think Cook will be able to create more products like it. On the other hand, the market seems to be hoping that Page and Brin are just getting started.
Disclosure: My brother is an executive at Google.
Correction: I stated that Google pays Firefox to be the default search engine, but Firefox switched to Yahoo in 2014.Daniel Filmus, Buenos Aires’s minister for the Malvinas, confirms lawsuit against UK companies, insisting oil resources around the Falklands belong to Argentina
Argentina’s minister for the Falklands has claimed his country “harbours not the least desire to use force” to regain the islands as it started legal action against companies drilling for oil and gas nearby.
Daniel Filmus, Buenos Aires’s minister for the Malvinas, as Argentina refers to the British overseas territory, gave a speech in London in which he said the country was “forced to resort to defensive measures” to protect its natural resources.
He confirmed that three British firms – Premier Oil, Rockhopper Exploration and Falkland Oil & Gas – as well as Edison International and Noble Energy were being targeted by the legal action.
Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, responded to news of the legal claim by accusing Argentina of bullying.
Speaking at Canning House in central London, Filmus insisted the natural resources around the Falklands “belong to 44 million Argentinians”.
He said: “Argentina has been forced to resort to defensive measures making use of the law and political action as its main tools in order to protect the natural resources in the area under dispute.
“The existence of large-scale renewable and non-renewable natural resources in the area can produce an obstacle to dialogue by triggering growing tensions, or it could also be an incentive to return to the negotiating table.
“It is not only economic development that is at stake but also the conservation of the rich and fragile ecosystems of the zone.”
Hammond told Sky News: “It is an outrageous piece of bullying and threatening against the Falkland islanders’ perfect right to develop their own economic resources and Argentina needs to stop this kind of behaviour and start acting like a responsible member of the international community.”
Last week, Argentinian ambassador Alicia Castro was summoned to the Foreign Office after she and the country’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, launched new criticism of the British government’s plan to boost defences on the South Atlantic islands.
Michael Fallon, the UK defence secretary, announced recently that Britain was to deploy two RAF Chinook transport helicopters to bolster the defence of the islands, helping its garrison to mount a swift and decisive response to any incidents, against a background of renewed fears of a fresh Argentinian invasion of the islands, 33 years after the Falklands war.
Falkland Islands will always be defended by UK, says David Cameron Read more
Responding to Fallon’s comments, Filmus said: “The recent declaration by the British minister of defence Michael Fallon, who described Argentina as a very live threat, is in the context I have just mentioned, particularly incomprehensible.
“The Argentina republic, as you all know, is a peace-loving country. We do not have any conflict situations with our neighbours.
“In the particular case of the Malvinas, our own constitution puts down a mandate to pursue recovery of the full exercise of sovereignty only in accordance with international law.”
Before Friday’s announcement, Ian Hansen, chairman of the Falklands Legislative Assembly, dismissed Argentina’s actions, saying: “The Falkland Islands government (FIG) fails to see how drilling is in any way a provocation.
“We have |
but he’s not that and there just might be a chance something good will come out of that situation because he terrifies politicians.
“This is a joy to behold for me. Dare I say, [he could be] a possible friend.”The urbanization of Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be the fastest population shift from rural to urban centers in history. Though huts and remote villages remain prevalent fixtures of the African landscape, the continent is redefining itself with bustling economies, technological enterprise, and fast-paced lifestyles.
By 2030, over half of Africa’s population will live in cities.
Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of Africa’s largest, most thriving cities. People from all over the continent move here for work, education, and safety. Like many other African cities—Nairobi, Kinshasa, Dakar, Kampala—Johannesburg is full of stories of everyday people searching for a better life.
Meet five Johannesburg residents who represent the realities of urban life in Africa—the hardships, the hustle, and the hope.
Africa’s Urban Growth is a Missions Game Changer
Sub-Saharan Africa’s cities will exert enormous influence in the coming years. The gospel they export will shape the next generation of church both in Africa and around the world. Christian workers have a great opportunity to train and partner with urban African believers to ensure the gospel proclaimed in cities is the true, biblical gospel. Read More…Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Dec. 22, 2017, 11:01 AM GMT / Updated Dec. 22, 2017, 11:01 AM GMT / Source: NBC News By Mike Memoli
The House Intelligence Committee will question longtime Donald Trump associate Rhona Graff on Friday, the latest in a string of key interviews as the panel looks to conclude its probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The committee’s closed-door meeting with Graff, who for over three decades was Trump’s gatekeeper at Trump Tower in Manhattan and ultimately a senior vice president at the Trump Organization, will be the second this week to take place at an undisclosed location in New York — over the objection of Democrats.
Most of the panel’s interviews have occurred at a secure location inside the U.S. Capitol and been led by the elected members of the committee. Though the House finished legislative business for the calendar year on Thursday, only a handful of lawmakers are expected to travel to New York for the closed-door meeting.
Rhona Graff during Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park on February 10, 2005, in New York. Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images file
Democrats left Washington for the holiday recess Thursday after a new round of urgent warnings about what they portray as Republicans’ stepped-up efforts to undermine the Department of Justice investigation into potential collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russians.
Adding to existing concerns that Republicans were seeking to rush the Intelligence Committee's Russia probe, Democrats say expanding House investigations into the conduct of FBI and DOJ personnel risk undermining public confidence in federal law enforcement and come at the expense of steps to address Russian attempts to interfere in past elections and likely future ones.
Reflecting the party’s concerns at the highest levels, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Thursday urging him to “take urgent action” to ensure that congressional investigations into Russia’s “assault on our election systems” continue.
“Political haste must not cut short valid investigatory threats,” Pelosi wrote in a letter obtained by NBC News. “Key questions about foreign interference in our elections remain, and must be thoroughly investigated. Nothing less than America’s democracy and national security at stake.”
Related: Public split on extent of the Russia probe, NBC/WSJ poll finds
Meanwhile, a House Democratic leadership aide accused Ryan of being complicit in GOP efforts to stifle meaningful investigation into Russia’s campaign of interference. The aide noted there has not been a full committee hearing on Russia’s hacking into U.S. elections or power grids, or on combating foreign disinformation campaigns on social media.
“Ryan is shielding President Trump from the Russia investigation by rejecting repeated calls for an independent commission and investigation — and enabling the House Intel committee to conduct a partisan investigation,” the aide said.
Senior Republicans on the Intelligence Committee have told NBC News that they see the panel’s Russia probe nearing a conclusion. This week the panel again held a battery of interviews with witnesses — including three in one day — in both New York and Washington.
On Wednesday in New York, committee staff interviewed Felix Sater, a Russian-born former Trump business associate who sought in 2016 to broker a deal for a new Trump Tower in Moscow.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, questioned the need to schedule so many interviews in such a short period of time and hold out-of-state interviews with witnesses who were willing to appear in Washington next month, saying these were just the latest indications “that there’s going to be an effort to shut us down.”
“In several cases we’ve only received hundreds of pages of documents the day of the interview, or the majority has received hundreds of pages of documents without informing the minority,” he said. “It’s no way to conduct an investigation. Not if you’re serious about getting to the truth. It is a way to conduct an investigation if you want to give the appearance of legitimacy or you want to bring things to an end.”
Related: Sen. Warner warns Trump against ‘firing’ Mueller, pardons
Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who is leading the Intel probe, said this week that the committee has already completed sections of a final report that could be issued in the coming months. But he also indicated that more witnesses could be called when lawmakers return to Washington in January.
“The quicker we get the answers that we believe get to the truth of what happened, who did what where and when, the quicker we can get out the better it is for the American people,” he told reporters.
On Thursday, deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe sat for a second marathon interrogation before lawmakers, this time at an “emergency” meeting called by the chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. The closed-door session was narrowly focused on the bureau’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, members said.
He spent more than nine hours on Capitol Hill on Thursday after a nearly eight-hour interview with the Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks at an open hearing in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on June 21, 2017. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
A source familiar with McCabe’s testimony before the Intelligence committee told NBC News that McCabe confirmed that then-FBI Director James Comey told him that Trump had asked for a loyalty pledge from him.
Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that McCabe showed in his answers that he “is a man of great patriotism, integrity and honor.”
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., another member of the Oversight Committee, said during a break in the interview that the GOP’s decision to focus on the actions of FBI personnel rather than the Russians represented a “dereliction of duty” and “a disgrace.”
“The [democratic] process has been hacked and undermined by the Russians. And we don’t want to go near it, because the president doesn’t want them to,” he said. “I think there’s an easy way for us to look at the Russian hacking issue and not implicate the outcome of the president’s election. I think he’s very sensitive to that. But that should not deter us from doing our job.”
The situation in the House stands in stark contrast to the Senate, whose own Intelligence Committee is shifting its investigation into a new phase that includes plans to hold open hearings and bring back certain witnesses for additional interviews with senators.
The panel is also moving toward issuing an interim report as soon as early January that would include initial findings about Russia’s attempts to influence the political debate here.
“I think we have to get the election part done pretty early if we hope to have the kind of protections and assistance in the system we’d like to have,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. “Remember, people start casting votes in like March.”
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel’s top Democrat who this week issued a stark warning to Trump against firing special counsel Robert Mueller, said there was no move to end the committee’s broader probe.
“I think we’d all like to see it go quicker," Warner said, but adding "to a degree it sets its own pace."I should probably give this book a 2 star rating. I skimmed a lot of the essays and was pretty glad to be done with it, but it's hard to do so because I get the feeling I would really like talking to Kluwe at a gathering. He seems thoughtful, well educated, funny, compassionate and we have similar values both politically and religiously. I really appreciate his commitment to marriage equality and his general goal of being a voice for the under represented.
And I wouldn't know any of this if it we
I should probably give this book a 2 star rating. I skimmed a lot of the essays and was pretty glad to be done with it, but it's hard to do so because I get the feeling I would really like talking to Kluwe at a gathering. He seems thoughtful, well educated, funny, compassionate and we have similar values both politically and religiously. I really appreciate his commitment to marriage equality and his general goal of being a voice for the under represented.
And I wouldn't know any of this if it weren't for his book. I don't watch sports, and I had never read his open letter to Emmett C. Burns, so I really had no idea who Kluwe was until I read the Big Idea post about this book on John Scalzi's blog. This also meant I really didn't know what to expect when I bought the book.
This is a collection of original and reprinted essays and poems, on a range of topics. Because there are quite a few reprints, the book has a tendency to feel repetitive. I'm am a strong supporter of marriage equality but there are only so many times I want to read another explanation of why Kluwe is also a supporter. It's an important and worthwhile topic but I'm already sold on it. Reading another essay, written by the same person, hasn't done anything to expand my understanding of the topic.
The book also tends towards the self congratulatory. I think Kluwe is aware of this. He admits, repeatedly, that he's competitive and intends to be the best at what he does, and in one essay he explains that he doesn't have heroes, not because of some philosophical aversion to placing people on pedestals, but because he wants to be the hero. I don't think he walks around talking about himself in such glowing terms all the time, I just think that left to talk about anything, without any real directions, he's chosen to talk about what a great person he is and I maxed out on my threshold for that, pretty early on in the book.
There were also a few points in the book when I felt Kluwe said some things he'll probably look back on as ill advised. I would gladly have a lively debate with him about his portrayal of what atheism, (he's agnostic). He offers up a tired, well refuted argument, but it mostly made me chuckle. What did bother me was his essay that painted individuals in abusive relationships or those in dead-end jobs as responsible for their own unhappiness. If they weren't "lying to themselves" they'd be in a better place, he argues. As a wealthy, white, able bodied man raised in a loving home, who got a great education, and is doing something he loves for loads of money and surrounded by supported loving people, it may seem impossible for him to imagine that other people might be in a situation they cannot easily leave, but his reality is not everyone's reality.
When he argues that people who get mortgages are financially irresponsible, akin to chronic gamblers, one has to wonder if he's ever struggled to even pay bills, to say nothing of saving up enough money to pay for a home with cash while also paying rent. Sure, in a perfect world, we'd pay for everything with cash and yes, people make bad financial choices sometimes, but I'm not sure someone making his salary right out of college, is in a position to explain what it's like to make ends meet on a modest salary. Rich people have the luxury of being able to make better financial choices than those who live paycheck to paycheck.
None of this feels malicious but it does feel sophomoric and I imagine that in a decade, he'll look back on the things he once proclaimed with certainty, and realize he might not have understood as much of the world as he thought he did.For months, there have been assertions that the mechanisms embedded in Obamacare, designed to offset losses that insurance companies will take this year on their exchange business, amount to a bailout of the insurance industry.
At the same time, it wasn’t clear where the money to pay for these “risk adjustments” would come from in the first place.
One scheme had the Obama Administration using money that it clawed away from profitable health plans to offset the losses incurred by the less fortunate insurers.
This, at least, was the way the so-called “risk corridors” were supposed to work, according to the original legislation. Problem is, it’s not clear that there will be enough health plans this year (or any at all) with excess profits that could be used to offset the losses incurred by insurers who were less fortunate.
Another scheme -- the one that gave influence to the specter of a bailout-- had the Obama team using taxpayer funds to directly offset the losses taken by exchange health plans. This approach had obstacles as well. Chief among them is that the money for the bailout doesn’t exist. It was never set aside.
Even if the Obama team tried to re-program slush funds that it surfaced inside the Department of Health and Human Services, a recent analysis by the Congressional Research Service makes clear that first, Congress would have to separately appropriate the funds in order for any money to be spent on the Obamacare plans. That was never likely to happen.
Now we know where the “bailout” money is going to come from. It will be paid for by a new tax levied on the insurance companies.
Mandy Cohen, the Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Service’s Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, delivered that message yesterday. Cohen was testifying before the House Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs.
She said that if funding for the risk corridors can’t be financed off the money that gets clawed away from profitable insurers (therefore allowing the entire scheme to remain budget neutral) then CMS has the authority, if not the intention to impose additional “user fees” on all health insurers to cover the higher losses experienced by the Obamacare plans.
See the entire video here -- the specific discussion on the user fees starts at 19:40 (and runs for about 8 minutes).
At issue is what’s being referred to as the “three R’s.” These are Obamacare policy constructs that are designed to offset losses that insurers will take as a result of the mostly older, and less healthy mix of patients that enrolled in the exchanges.
These three R’s include: A reinsurance fund of about $25 billion (financed off a fee on commercial insurance plans) that compensate health plans that enroll a costlier pool of patients; “Risk corridors” that substantially limit insurance company losses by shifting these costs to taxpayers; and Risk adjustment that balances health plans that enroll a disproportionate share of costlier patients.
The money drawn off the newly proposed user fees (tax) would be used to finance the risk corridors. This scheme is largely aimed at shifting money between insurers that lost excessive amounts of money, and those that were profitable.
Problem is, almost everyone lost money. Few if any Obamacare plans had excess profits this year, owing to the rocky rollout. So there isn’t any money to shift around -- absent, of course, some new cash infusion. That’s where the user fee comes into play.
Since Obamacare health plans were prevented from pricing products to reflect true risk, they were always going to have atypically high cost, and in turn, losses. The red ink was inevitable. Now all of us will be forced to pay for it, whether we have an Obamacare plan or not. That new tax will be passed onto everyone in the form of higher premiums.
You can follow Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Twitter @ScottGottliebMDCLOSE A large part of the southern USA is hunkering down Wednesday in the face of what the National Weather Service has called "mind-boggling if not historical" snow and ice. VPC
Meteorologist Bobby Deskins forecasts snow and ice up the entire I-95 corridor. (Photo11: USA TODAY)
A messy and dangerous winter storm is blasting the southeastern U.S. on Wednesday with ice and snow, which is leading to numerous power outages and travel chaos.
The worst of the icing is in Georgia and the Carolinas, where than 300,000 homes and businesses are without power as of mid-afternoon.
•Traffic is at a standstill across much of the Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham areas due to snow.
•The threat of winter weather prompted airlines to cancel all nearly all of their flights Wednesday at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport,
•Nationwide, airlines had canceled just shy of 7,000 flights since Monday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
•South of where the wintry weather is occuring, rain is pelting the Gulf Coast, while thunderstorms will roar across Florida. Most of the peninsula of Florida is under a severe thunderstorm watch.
Heavy snow is spreading north into Virginia Wednesday and will take aim on the I-95 corridor from Washington to Boston Wednesday night and Thursday.
The heaviest snow is likely in the Appalachians from Virginia to New England.
Elsewhere, more coastal and valley rain and mountain snow is falling in the Northwest. A few snow showers are also possible in the upper Midwest, accompanied by another blast of bitterly cold temperatures.
YOUR TAKE: Share your weather photos
The Southwest and southern Florida will again be the nation's warm spots, with highs expected in the 80s.
Weather history for Feb. 12: In 1950, a tornado hit Shreveport, La., killing 18 people. In 1958, a record 2.8 inches of snow fell in Tallahassee, Fla.
In 1990, record warmth spread across the Midwest, with a record high of 59 degrees set in Minneapolis. In 2006, more than two feet of snow fell in New York City.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1aSS0t5Knoji reviews products and up-and-coming brands we think you'll love. In certain cases, we may receive a commission from brands mentioned in our guides. Learn more.
There are two Mikvahs (Jewish ritual baths) in Raanana, Israel one in the Kiriat Sharet neighborhood and one on Herzel Street.
Men's and women's Mikvahs in Raanana
At each of the Raanana Mikvahs there is a men's section and a woman's section and they are kept completely separate with separate entrances and facilities. You don't have to fear running into members of the opposite sex on your way to the Mikvah. On the same property the Raanana Mikvahs also have a small Mikvah for purifying utensils, plates etc.
Cost of Raanana Mikvah visits
The use of the kitchenware Mikvah is free and you can perform the immersion yourself. The women's Mikvah costs 15 shekels for each visit but if you don't have the money you won't be looked down upon or turned away. Brides are charged 30 shekels as it is usually their first time and takes a little more attention and time. The men's mikvah is either free or costs 5 shekels depending on when you visit.
Raanana Mikvah open hours
The Raanana women's Mikvah open hours throughout the week are twenty minutes after candle lighting time and for approximately an hour and a half but the closing time is flexible depending on the amount of women on any given night. On Saturday nights the Raanana Mikvah opens a little later, an hour after Shabbat ends. The only night of the year when the Raanana Mikvah is closed in Erev Yom Kippur. There is no need to call ahead to book immersion in the Raanana Mikvahs although if you are a bride coming to immerse yourself in the Mikvah before your wedding you should let the Mikvah know so that they can keep one of the ritual baths for you and give you some special attention and explanations about the Mikvah experience.
Raanana Mikvah supplies
At both the Raanana Herzel Street and Kiriat Sharet Mikvahs you can use towels, shampoos, soap, brushes, nail scissors, nail files, make-up remover and whatever other supplies you may need to prepare for the ritual immersion in the Mikvah. These supplies are free of charge, however you may wish to do the preparations for the Mikvah at home and simply come ready for a quick shower and then straight to the Mikvah bath.
Raanana Mikvah Kiriat Sharet,
53 Perez Street, Raanana, Israel
09 7711046
The Raanana Mikvah in Kiriat Sharet is on the eastern corner of Raanana, you enter the Kiriat Sharet neighborhood where Weitzman Street meets Jerusalem Street. Once you have entered Kiriat Sharet at this junction, take your first right hand turn into Peretz Street. Raanana Mikvah in Kiriat Sharet is on Peretz Street next to the Synagogue on the left hand side of the road, you need to drive up a small lane next to the synagogue. Peretz Street is a one way street and there is parking outside the Mikvah.
The kiriat Sharet Mikvah in Raanana is smaller and older than the Herzal Street one but it is well kept and has been renovated several times. You will find all the same facilities here as you will in the Herzal Street Mikvah but on a smaller scale. There is also only one Balanit (the lady who oversees your immersion) on duty each night where as the Herzal Street Mikvah has several Balaniot. If you make the Kiriat Sharet Mikvah your regular Mikvah you will get to know the Balanit well and perhaps feel more comfortable being overlooked by a familiar face each month instead of a different Balanit each time. The Kiriat Sharet Mikvah in Raanana has a neighborhood feel to it as opposed to the Raanana Herzal Street Mikvah which is in the middle of town. The majority of religious women in Raanana use the Herzel Mikvah, so the Kiriat Sharet one is less crowded and more intimate if not as fancy.
The Raanana Kiriat Sharet Mikvah can be reached on bus number 1.
Kiriat Sharet is the same Raanana neighborhood where the only public religious boys high school, Roi Klien, is located.
Raanana Herzel Mikvah
5 Herzel Street, Raanana, Israel
09 7746765
For most women the Raanana Herzel Street Mikvah is the more convenient of the two Raanana Mikvahs as it is in the middle of Raanana just off of Ahuza Street, close to Yad Lebanim and Keren Hayasod Street. Herzel Street is on the same side of Ahuza Street as Yad Lebanim and is located in the second building on your left if you are coming from Ahuza.
Brides visiting a Raanana Mikvah
The Herzal Street Mikvah is the larger of the two Raanana Mikvahs and is probably better suited for brides visiting the Mikvah for the first time before their wedding, as there is a pleasant foyer area where your female friends and relatives can await you and perhaps even bring sweets, cakes and sing as you immerge from the private ritual bath.
The Raanana Herzal Mikvah is run very efficiently, it is clean and organized with many women passing through it's doors every night. This does make it less personal and there is always someone in front of you in the line and someone behind you. The facility is large, but serving the majority of Raanana religious women it can get crowded.
The Herzel Mikvah is in a relatively new building and is comfortable and esthetically decorated. You are more likely to find an English speaking Balanit in Herzal Street than in Kiriat Sharet.
There is plenty of parking behind the building and there is even a sauna on the premises. The Herzal Street Mikvah in Raanana can be reached on bus 29 and busONLY ON KRON4: BART commuter says passenger has 'gone to the bathroom' multiple times in trains Copyright by KRON - All rights reserved Video
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A BART commuter reached out to KRON4 about a particular passenger who he says has "gone to the bathroom" multiple times in trains.
That frustrated passenger spoke to KRON4.
Riders KRON4 talked with on Thursday night say the trains are filthy, with foul odors and often of urine--and sometimes worse.
The passenger that sent KRON4 the video said this time he'd just had enough.
It's shocking video on BART, as a woman is seen relieving herself on the train.
"She took her pants down," BART rider Allen Nunley said. "I don't know if she did No. 1 or No. 2, but she did wipe. When she got done wiping, she put the issue down, pulled her pants back up, Went back to her seat, and laid down. I was like, 'Oh no! This is crazy.' Everyone there next to me was like, 'Oh my God! She's really going to the bathroom. This is crazy.'"
Nunley says he takes BART five days a week from Pittsburg to the Civic Center Station.
He says he has seen the woman often, and other passengers say she's made the train her bathroom before.
"We can get sick from it," Nunley said. "As BART riders, we pay a lot of money to ride BART, and it's just really ridiculous that BART staff cannot do anything about that. Everyone on the train is just covering their mouths and everything. They just can't deal with it either. This particular time I just had enough."
Frequent BART riders tell KRON4 they have similar issues on their commute.
"The train does often smell of some sort of biohazard," another passenger told KRON4.
Nunley says he sent BART an email with the video in it on Thursday.
KRON4 also reached out to BART and haven't heard back.Share. Battlefront's dogfight mode is gloriously hectic, and a welcome change of pace. Battlefront's dogfight mode is gloriously hectic, and a welcome change of pace.
If I had to choose between an X-Wing or a TIE fighter, I think I’d have to side with the Imperials. Having piloted both in Star Wars Battlefront’s Fighter Squadron mode, I can happily report that both fly differently from one another. The X-Wing is bigger and heavier, and while it’s still nimble it’s not as agile as its rival.
The differences aren’t purely down to how they fly either, and each has their own secondary power-ups. In addition to its laser cannons, the X-Wing can fire a homing proton torpedo, which locks onto its target if you track a TIE fighter for long enough. It also has a shield boost, which you can use to regenerate your starfighter’s hull if you’ve taken a hit. The TIE fighter also has lock-on missiles, but rather than a shield it has a speed boost, which is great for getting out of trouble or fast-tracking your way over to an objective.
Additionally, you control how to divert your ship’s power, pushing it all into your boosters to increase speed or channeling it to the blasters, which reduces thrust but allows you to fire for longer. Alternatively, you can have a balance between the two, and because you can change it on the fly you’re able to alter your ship’s performance to suit your situation.
Exit Theatre Mode
When you first take to the skies above Sullust – a barren planet pitted with lava pools, realised for the first time in the Star Wars universe in Battlefront – it all feels a bit chaotic. They’re huge 20-ship dogfights, comprised of both player and bot fighters, and initially it’s a bit confusing figuring out what you should be focusing on. Victory, in this demo at least, is awarded to the team with the most kills, but there are objectives to complete too, such as protecting transport shuttles and eliminating enemy VIP frigates.
After a couple of matches, however, it starts to make sense. Tracking enemies as they duck and weave becomes second nature, as do the subtleties of combat. The lock-on makes it way easier to follow and take out targets, not only because you can rattle off a missile once you get a strong lock but also because your target is highlighted red, making them easier to distinguish among the chaos. There are also evasive maneouvres you can use to avoid incoming lasers and homing missiles, by jinking to the side or doing a 180-degree flip, but like the special attacks they have cool-down periods so use wisely or you’ll waste them.
There are power-ups scattered around the map that reset cool-downs or restore shields, plus a rarer collectible that, if you’re a Rebel, puts you in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Unsurprisingly it’s the most powerful of the ships in the demo, with heavy armour and powerful cannons. It has three special power-ups too – shield, speed boost and homing missile. But, being the iconic Falcon, it’s a magnet for enemy fire, and my experience was all too brief when all TIE fighters stopped attacking the X-Wings and concentrated fire on Han Solo’s hunk of junk.
Exit Theatre Mode
The final game will also include Boba Fett’s Slave I as the Imperial’s ‘hero’ ship, plus TIE interceptors alongside the regular fighters. Similarly, Rebel players can choose the A-Wing as well as the X-Wing.
The inclusion of Fighter Squadron is a welcome addition to the Hoth battle and survival mode shown already, providing variety and a change of tempo from the aim-down-sights action we’ve seen. But while it’s certainly an enjoyable distraction, I’m not sure if it’ll be much more than that – a fun change of pace, when you’re tired of taking out snowtroopers.I am and always have been a firm believer in the separation of church and state.
I agree that God should be taken out of all secular/governmental oaths, offices, money, the pledge, etc. This separation is hard for some people. Generally because their stance on moral issues comes from their religion.
Many people are against homosexuality, same sex marriage, abortions, birth control and sex education due to their religion.
I want to point out that the Bible should not be taken literally. The Bible should simply be a moral guide for life. When I say, for life, it should be only a guide for living your own life. It should not be a means to impose your beliefs on others.
The Bible was written by man
Not only was the Bible written by man, it was written years after the original events happened. It’s much like Homer with the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer is credited as the author of those two epic poems but he did not write them down. He was a great orator that told the stories. After years of those stories being spread they were finally written down.
Have you ever played telephone as a kid?
In a line you share a phrase from person to person. You then see how that single phrase changes in the exchange. These stories were bound to have changed from their original nature over those years.
I always feel when I write about Christianity that I should say, I am a Christian, I do have faith that Christ died for my sins. I believe he lived, I do believe the stories in the Bible were based on real events. However, I just don’t take them as completely true because of the flaw in not only man writing them, but that time frame between the event and when they were written.
When taking the Biblical stories and applying them to today we also have to remember the vast difference in cultures at the time.
Many cultures, tribes of people, living at the times of the stories in the Bible had a very small worldview. For instance, there is archaeological evidence of a great flood. But the evidence of this great flood happened just around the Black Sea. It was by no means a world-covering flood, but I’m sure to the cultures around the flood at the time it did cover what they knew of the world. It seemed like a flood that covered everything.
No matter the argument I make there will be many that still use the Bible to their defense, often times twisting the meaning, ignoring any cultural influence, etc to make a point.
My thought, as a Christian, is we need to stop worrying about the sins of others (if you truly consider them sins) and just worry about ourselves.
Worry about the other teachings of Jesus Christ including to love all, accept all. Political influences, utilizing your religion as a means to pass laws against others that are not harming anyone is amoral in my eyes as well.
Sarah
Similar Posts:
Gender Discrimination in Religion: Why I Want to Teach My Kids DifferentlyCouncillor Adam Vaughan is asking how campaign spending rules will be enforced during the next election, after Rob Ford escaped punishment this week for several apparent violations of election law.
On Monday the city's Compliance Audit Committee voted 2-1 not to take legal action against the mayor, despite an auditor's report that found he committed dozens of "apparent contraventions" of the Municipal Elections Act during his 2010 mayoral bid. The alleged infractions included exceeding the spending limit by three per cent, or $40,000, incurring expenses before he had registered as a candidate, and accepting an interest-free loan from one of his family's companies.
On Friday, Vaughan wrote an administrative inquiry to city clerk Ulli Watkiss asking what the implications of the committee's decision are for the 2014 election.
"When faced with apparent, if not actual, violations of the rules governing Municipal Elections in Toronto the committee has chosen not to prosecute," Vaughan's letter reads. "This calls into question many of the fundamental rules that govern campaigning in this city."
The letter asks Watkiss to report to council and the public before the 2014 race begins "with written guidance and clarification as to what exactly are the regulations... governing campaigning," particularly "the rules as they relate to spending and fundraising before a candidate is registered."
In an interview Wednesday, Vaughan said that he didn't believe Ford should have necessarily faced harsh punishment for his alleged infractions, but the committee's decision has left it unclear whether there are any consequences for violating election law.
"So many rules were broken, that it effectively says we have no rules," said Vaughan. "It creates so much ambiguity and so much opportunity for people to have unfair advantages."
"I want defined rules and an even playing field for everyone, so everyone knows what the rules are going in and everyone knows what the consequences are for breaking them."
One councillor is currently facing possible punishment for violating the elections act, however. On February 4, the committee decided unanimously to commence legal proceedings against Giorgio Mammoliti, after an audit found that he had overspent by $12,065, or 44 per cent of the legal limit, during his 2010 campaign.
If the prosecutor convinces a judge that Mammoliti broke the law, he could be slapped with a fine. It's also possible, although unlikely, that he could be removed from office or sentenced to jail.
Despite the committee's decision to start proceedings against Mammoliti, Councillor Mike Layton agrees that its inaction in Ford's case sends a message to potential candidates that they may not be punished if they fail to run a clean campaign.
"If we're not going to enforce the most basic election laws, why have them?" asked the councillor, adding that the allegations against Ford should at least have merited further investigation.
But Layton doesn't think a presentation from the city clerk like the one Vaughan is seeking would reveal anything new.
"What [staff] are going to confirm is no, you need to follow the law," he said.
The two members of the audit committee who voted to drop the case against Ford gave no reason for their decision on Monday.
But the mayor's lawyer had argued that Ford did his utmost to comply with the law any violations he may have committed were unintentional or so minor as to be inconsequential. Ford's attorney also said that the mayor had learned his lesson and there would be no point in taking further action.
Adam Vaughan's letter to city clerk re: Rob Ford's campaign audit by Ben SpurrDaven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click here.
Wikimedia Commons
Once there was a woman whose cells were immortal. What does this mean? Today, these cells have multiplied in laboratories worldwide to the point that, if you were to weigh all the cells that currently exist, they’d weigh about 50 million metric tons—about as much as 100 Empire State Buildings. So who was this woman, and why are scientists keeping her cells supplied with fresh nutrients so they can live on?
The woman was Henrietta Lacks, and her immortal cells—dubbed "HeLa"—have been essential in many of the great scientific discoveries of our time: curing polio; gene mapping; learning how cells work; developing drugs to treat cancer, herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, AIDS … and the list goes on and on (and on). If it deals with the human body and has been studied by scientists, odds are those scientists needed and used Lacks' cells somewhere along the way. HeLa cells were even sent up to space on an unmanned satellite to determine whether or not human tissue could survive in zero gravity.
Photo courtesy Amazon
Lacks was an impoverished black woman who died on October 4, 1951 of cervical cancer at just 31 years old. During her cancer treatment, a doctor at Johns Hopkins took a sample of her tumor without her knowledge or consent and sent it over to a colleague of his, Dr. George Gey |
res 30-40% of Evasion.
• Ruptuk's Influence | Hits Penetrates 30-40% of Armor.
• Pennetra's Influence | Hits ignores 20-30% Block Rate.
• Poluktra's Influence | Hits ignores 15-25% Elemental Resistance.
• Vein'lez's Influence | Cannot be Leeched.
• Blasfhel's Influence | Reflect Curses.
• Drëin'Ma's Influence | Mana Drain Aura. (Do not bypass Energy Shield)
• Veknom's Influence | Hits applies Bleeding and Poison at the same time.
• Naktura's Influence | Hits applies Elemental Status Ailments randomly.
• Reflephy's Influence | Reflects 5% of Physical Damage.
• Reflele's Influence | Reflects 5% of Elemental Damage.
• Mutänzhio's Influence | Can use any Skill.
• Drëin'Li's Influence | Life Drain Aura. (Do not bypass Energy Shield)
• Nullfhka's Influence | Nullifies Charges on Hit.
• Abbzörba's Influence | Steal Charges on Hit.
• Ünberabah's Influence | Empowers allies on Death.
• Auräzhia's Influence | Random Aura.
• Unbuffo's Influence | Hit remove Buffs.
• Vamphir's Influence | Hit bypasses Energy Shield as Damage Overtime (Does not affect CI).
• Greeda's Influence | Don't drop items.
- Upon killing a Dominator, you gain its influences for 45 seconds inside the area you've killed it.
- There is some Dominators that cannot be killed, only sealed or purified.
- Dominators also has a chance to drop part of their body as Unique Items, which grants benefits similar to its Influences to the player while equipped.
Spoiler
Spoiler
• Dominant Orb (Divine Orb Rarity via Enemies / Blessed Orb Rarity via Dominators)
- Makes a random Tier Roll dominant above the others.
• Essence Orb (Exalted Orb Rarity via Enemies, can only be acquired inside Glyphs.)
- Reforges the Essence of an item.
- The Dominant Orb can only be acquired via killing monsters influenced by Dominators.
- Dominators has a fixed chance (not influenced by IIQ and IIR) to drop a Dominant Orb.
*Effects of the Orbs:
• The Dominant Orb check randomly if any of the item's Mods matches the Item Level.
Updated New Idea.
- If it's true, then the mod is kept.
- If it's false, it upgrades the mod to a matching tier.
- Can only be used once.
Old Idea.
Spoiler
- If it's true, then the mod is kept.
- If it's false, it upgrades the mod to a matching tier.
- The item needs to have at least 2 mods to be picked randomly by the orb. If 1 mod already matches the item level, the orb won't affect the item.
- If the item has at least 2 mods that matches the item level, the orb won't affect the item.
• The Essence Orb have different uses for different items.
- If used in an equipment it changes the base of the item once.
- If used in an Skill Gem it has a chance of changing the attribute of the gem, changing its color.
(For example, if you succeed you can have a Blue Ground Slam Gem with 155 intelligence Requirement at level 20)
Can only be used once, and cannot be used on Corrupted Skill Gems.
- If used in a Jewel, it has a chance of adding 1 extra affix if it has 4 it goes to 5. Or completely scour the jewel.
- If used in a Strongbox it makes it drops items from another boxes even if its not the right base.
- If used in a Map it re-rolls the map Tier from 1 to 15.
• Dominant Orb (Divine Orb Rarity via Enemies / Blessed Orb Rarity via Dominators)- Makesrandom Tier Roll dominant above the others.• Essence Orb (Exalted Orb Rarity via Enemies, can only be acquired inside Glyphs.)- Reforges the Essence of an item.- The Dominant Orb can only be acquired via killing monsters influenced by Dominators.- Dominators has a fixed chance (not influenced by IIQ and IIR) to drop a Dominant Orb.*Effects of the Orbs:• The Dominant Orb check randomly if any of the item's Mods matches the Item Level.Updated New Idea.- If it's true, then the mod is kept.- If it's false, it upgrades the mod to a matching tier.- Can only be used once.Old Idea.• The Essence Orb have different uses for different items.- If used in an equipment it changes the base of the item once.- If used in an Skill Gem it has a chance of changing the attribute of the gem, changing its color.(For example, if you succeed you can have a Blue Ground Slam Gem with 155 intelligence Requirement at level 20)Can only be used once, and cannot be used on Corrupted Skill Gems.- If used in a Jewel, it has a chance of adding 1 extra affix if it has 4 it goes to 5. Or completely scour the jewel.- If used in a Strongbox it makes it drops items from another boxes even if its not the right base.- If used in a Map it re-rolls the map Tier from 1 to 15.
Spoiler
Spoiler
• Dragon Stance
- Dual-Wield effects applies to Unarmed when no Off-Hand is equipped.
- Can attack with both hands.
- No Block Chance.
• Crone Arts
- 0.2% increased Critical Multiplier for Spells per 1 Intelligence while Unarmed.
- 25% chance of enemies be knocked back by your Spells on Critical Hit while Unarmed.
- You have Iron Will while Unarmed.
- Your spells can miss.
• Faithful Mixture
- 5% chance to refresh a Flask Buff duration on kill.
- 50% reduced Flask Charges.
(The refresh is not meant to be a fully refresh, if a buff lasts 12 seconds, and it is at current 4 seconds, and you succeeds to "refresh" the buff via Faithful Mixture, you will only get just a few seconds more, it won't go back to 12, unless you are pretty lucky succeed 12 times in a row. Sorry for not specifying that.)
• Essence of Resolution
- Instead of dying, Spectres'rests' for 35 seconds when they take a fatal damage recovering Life.
- 10% Less Spectre's Life.
Spoiler
• Catarina, Specialization: Path of Witchcraft
- Death Eater - (A feast of your despair…)
Rank 1: You Curse Enemies with the same curse that is affecting you on Damage Taken if you're equipped with a Spirit Shield.
Rank 2: Each curse on you reduces curse effectiveness on you by 11%.
Rank 3: Each Cursed enemy nearby increases your Curses Effectiveness by 8%.
- Eldritch Secret - (Magic is Power.)
Rank 1: If you kill an enemy with a Spell Critical Hit you create an Elemental Ground of the same element you killed the enemy with.
Rank 2: Standing on a Elemental Ground decreases your Elemental Spell Damage taken of the same type by 30%.
Rank 3: Standing on a Elemental Ground increases your Elemental Spell Damage of the same type by 30%.
- Frontline - (Fallen by me. Risen by me.)
Rank 1: Each Skeleton Minion killed nearby gives you and your minions Bone Offering buff for 1.2 seconds.
Rank 2: Enemies killed by Zombies gives them Flesh Offering buff for 5 seconds.
Rank 3: Standing on a Dead Corpse (not summoned by you) makes your Minions to take 15% of Damage Taken before you.
• Elreon, Specialization: Path of Wisdom
- Neutralize - (Peace is not a state. It's a choice.)
Rank 1: 60% of your Armor Mitigation also applies to Elemental Damage.
Rank 2: 25% chance of Elemental Damage Taken be reduced by your highest Elemental Resistance disregarding the Element on Elemental Damage Taken.
Rank 3: 9% of Physical Damage taken are now affected by a random Elemental Resistance.
- Iron Tempering - (Even the strongest metal needs to adapt sometimes.)
Rank 1: On Elemental Damage Taken, Elemental Status Ailment duration is based on your Armor Rate instead of your Life.
Rank 2: Stun Threshold is based on 65% of your Armor instead of Life.
Rank 3: You gain 15% increased Armor per Critical Hit you take for 7 seconds.
- Self Knowledge - (And now I know. There is no Self, only Knowledge.)
Rank 1: Chaos Damage Hits does not bypass Energy Shield while at Full Energy Shield.
Rank 2: You recover 1% of Damage taken on Life as Energy Shield.
Rank 3: Your Energy Shield applies as Armor to Physical Spell Damage.
• Haku, Specialization: Path of Blood
- Karui Blood - (We bleed. We kill.)
Rank 1: Enemies that Life Leech from you are Ignited for 5 seconds. If they die, they explode spreading Ignite for 3 seconds to nearby enemies.
Rank 2: You are 50% harder to be Stunned while Casting Spells or Executing Attacks using Blood Magic.
Rank 3: Projectile attacks can't make you Bleed or apply Damage Overtime if the hit is taken on Life.
- Tribal Rite - (Bonds are the roots of our people's strength.)
Rank 1: You and your Totems get 3% Less Damage taken per active Totem.
Rank 2: You share your Armor and Life Regeneration with your Totems.
Rank 3: Your Totems are immune to the respective Elemental Damage they took for 2 Seconds.
- Heavy Steel - (The harder the Resolution the harder the Defeat.)
Rank 1: Enemies are Stunned when Damaging you for 0.3 per 1200 Life seconds.
Rank 2: You take 2.5% less Physical Reflect Damage per 1000 Armor.
Rank 3: With at least 14000 Armor, you have 8% more mitigation against Physical Damage Hit Taken while you're not moving.
• Zana, Specialization: Path of Influence
- Specialist - (My body is the only tool I really need.)
Rank 1: While Determination is active, your Armor has doubled effects against Projectiles.
Rank 2: While Grace is active, 20% of your Evasion Rate is also applied to Spells.
Rank 3: While Discipline is active, you take 1.5% less Elemental Reflect Damage per 1000 Energy Shield.
- Naturalist - (Nature has perfection in all of its imperfections.)
Rank 1: Your Fire, Cold or Lightning Resistances can't be reduced below 50% while you have Purity of Fire Ice or Lightning active respectively.
Rank 2: Enemies are also Ignited when they Ignites you while Anger is active. Enemies are also Chilled/Frozen when they Chills/Freeze you while Hatred is active. Enemies are also Shocked when they Shocks you while Wrath is active.
Rank 3: Elemental Damage Taken has 10% chance to Activate a Random Level 20 Aura effect on you for 4 Seconds.
- Emperor - (The weight of an Empire can be felt by many, but can only be carried by one.)
Rank 1: Enemies are Blinded by 5 seconds if they deal a Critical Strike on you while your Auras are active.
Rank 2: Enemies around you are slowed by 3% per Active Aura on you.
Rank 3: Enemies around you with Low Life deals 10% less damage on you and on your allies/minions affected by your Auras while your Auras are active.
• Vorici, Specialization: Path of Shadows
- Haze - (They never felt the fear. Only the chill of the dagger.)
Rank 1: Enemies are Blinded upon spotting you for 0.2 seconds per 2% Increased Light Radius.
Rank 2: You create a Smoke Cloud when you dodge an attack for 0.3 seconds per 100 Evasion Rating.
Rank 3: While shrouded by a Smoke Cloud, enemies' hits are Unlucky against you.
- Camouflage - (They can't see me. They can't kill me.)
Rank 1: 5% more chance to dodge Spell Damage while moving.
Rank 2: Enemies are Unlucky on hitting you while you're not moving. Enemies are Unlucky on hitting you while you're moving near Walls, Trees or Bushes.
Rank 3: Standing on a Elemental Ground gives you 10% more chance to dodge the same kind of Elemental Damage.
- Toxicology - (The rage and hatred of Nature can be as silent as the darkest night.)
Rank 1: Your Caustic Clouds also Slow enemies by 20%.
Rank 2: You create a Caustic Cloud when you dodge an attack for 0.3 seconds per 100 Evasion Rating.
Rank 3: Your Caustic Clouds increases your Chaos Resistance by 2% per second while standing on a Caustic Cloud.
• Vagan, Specialization: Path of War
- Combat Strategy - (The Mind can be an Emperor on the battle field.)
Rank 1: On Projectile Damage Taken you reduce the enemy's Attack Range to 1 for 4 seconds.
Rank 2: On Block you take less Projectile Damage for 5 seconds based on the distance between you and the enemy.
Rank 3: Taunted enemies have its attack range reduced by 5 (for a minimum of 1) and group together to attack you.
- Adrenaline Rush - (Victory is running in my veins.)
Rank 1: Movement Speed values from Boots are doubled for 1 second on evading an attack.
Rank 2: 30% increased Attack and Cast Speed for Movement Skills.
Rank 3: Movement Skills Stuns enemies on its initial casting Area.
- Fortified Heart - (My defeat is far beyond your efforts.)
Rank 1: While Fortify is active, you have additional 5% chance to block Projectile Attacks and Projectile Spells.
Rank 2: Fortify also grants you 10% extra Movement Speed.
Rank 3: While Fortify is active, you gain 5% chance to Stun and Knockback enemies on block.
• Tora, Specialization: Path of Nature
- Born in Nature - (Keen as a Wolf, Wise as an Owl, Rigid as the Mountain.)
Rank 1: 5% chance to get 1 Frenzy Charge on kill Animals. 5% Chance to get 1 Power Charge on kill Demons. 5% Chance to get 1 Endurance Charge on kill Humanoids.
Rank 2: When at Maximum Frenzy Charges you have 1% more chance per Frenzy Charge to Dodge Projectile Attacks. When at Maximum Endurance Charges you have 1% more
chance per Endurance Charge to Dodge Melee Attacks. When at Maximum Power Charges you have 1% more chance per Power Charge to Dodge Spells.
Rank 3: 20% chance to gain 1 Charge from the two Charges not active on you while at Maximum Charges on Kill, respecting the Maximum Charges capacity.
- Adaptation - (My life can be threatened. Not my freedom.)
Rank 1: 35% chance to avoid any Status Ailments when on Low Life.
Rank 2: You take 12% Less Elemental Damage while you suffer from the respective Elemental Status Ailment.
Rank 3: While suffering from any Status Ailment, your enemies always deal the lowest damage roll they can on you.
- Survival Instincts - (What would be of us, if our spirit was as stubborn as our body…)
Rank 1: With at least 9000 Evasion Rating, Stun don't prevent you from executing Projectile Attacks.
Rank 2: When dodging Spell Damage, you get Phased buff for 2 seconds. When dodging Attack Damage, you get Fortify buff for 2 seconds.
Rank 3: 10% chance of not taking damage when you're supposed to take a Fatal Damage.
Spoiler
• Runes on Glyphs:
Each Rune Word also affects the area in which it can be found. The enemies will be affected by the runes depending of its effects, but you can reclaim the buff for yourself if
you find the Rune. (something similar to shrines).
The buffs have no duration, and you can use them as much as you want, but once you return to Wraeclast, you'll lose the Runes and the buffs if you didn't transcribe it yet.
To transcribe a rune, all you have to do is find them on Glyphs then reclaim it to yourself then go to your Rune Book and transfer them. Upon doing this, you'll lose the
rune's buffs, but you'll be able to use the Runes later in Wraeclast.
At least 1 Rune Word will affect the Dominator in some way, and/or can be used to Seal the Dominator conquering the Glyph.
So if you're running a 2 Sockets Glyph, you will only have this Rune available to you, since its mandatory to the Glyphs mechanics.
The more sockets, the more runes you can use on your favor.
Each Rune Word gives a special ability to the Enemies, so on a 6 Socketed Glyph, monsters tend to be VERY scary.
Some Rare Enemies get the skills from the Bosses of the map you've socketed, so don't be surprised to see a Rare Skeleton using a ground slam and dropping cages on you
if you've socketed a Dungeon Map on the glyph. (These effects only affects the area the Rune Word are active though.)
• Runes on the Character:
When you save a rune on your Rune Book you can use it to enchant your own Character by tattooing the Runes on their bodies.
A Character can only hold up to 3 Enchantments, there are currently 77 enchantments to be applied on them. There might be more with the addition of new maps.
You enchant your Equipment Slots, and every equipment equipped there, will be affected by the powers of the Runes while equipped.
You can't repeat the same Enchantment even if you can apply it on different Gear Slots.
Enchantments Examples:
- As a Marauder, you have 15% reduced Intelligence and Dexterity attribute requirements. (Head Enchantment - Global)
- 1 Red Socket of this Gear Slot also supports Active Skills Socketed on your Boots. (Arms Enchantment - Local)
- As a Shadow, you have 30% reduced Strength attribute requirement. (Head Enchantment - Global)
- Movement Speed values of Boots equipped on this Gear Slot are increased by 5%. (Foot Enchantment - Local)
- Intelligence Support Gems Socketed on the Equipment equipped on this Gear Slot have 10% increased Experience Gained. (Off-Hand Enchantment - Local)
- Attack Speed Modifiers from Equipped Weapon on this Gear Slot are converted to Cast Speed Modifiers. (Hand Enchantment - Local)
- Chaos Skill Gems socketed on the Equipment equipped on this Gear Slot have -5 to Mana cost. (Chest Enchantment - Local)
- +1 Level to Active Gems socketed on the Equipment equipped on this Gear Slot. (Neck Enchantment - Local)
- Items equipped on this Gear Slot gains +15% Extra Quality. (Head, Gloves, Arms, Hand, Boots or Chest Enchantment - Local)
- As a Witch, Spell Gems have 10% increased Experience Gained. (Head Enchantment - Global)
Thank you very much for reading through this (pretty) wall of text!
You can download the whole Project via this link:
"
http://www.4shared.com/zip/-UsUBE_mce/Frontier.html
Here's a link to the image album too!
http://imgur.com/a/ESSkM
Here's a link to the image album too!
It contains all the Images I've used and all the After Effects and Photoshop projects, along with the Text Fonts I've used too.
There's also a text file that explains everything more detailed, but I've put 90% of it in this thread.
• Credits:
Spoiler
https://vantiel.squarespace.com/gallery/
https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/4386dc/suggestion_path_of_exile_frontier_saw_it_on_the/?sort=new&limit=500
Please, if you have ANY knowledge about the images i've used, please informe me to be credited here!
Please, if you have ANY knowledge about the images i've used, please informe me to be credited here!
• Q & A - Read it if you still have a question about the idea!
Spoiler
Q: What's your problem with Chromatic Orbs? Why lowering the cost?
A: That's personal. I always thought that Chromatic Orbs were a little bit unrewarding sometimes.
So I thought this could be a good idea. Turns out that I was wrong =P
Q: How the Glyph vendor Recipe works? Can I just keep rolling the reward until I get an Abyss Map
for example?
A: No, obviously not. This works like every other Recipe. Every instance of an item will reward you with a specific reward. You will need a completely new Glyph(even if it's the same base) to get a
random new reward. So basically, you can't "exploit" it. You technically CAN do this with other recipes, but they're not viable ways of explointing the results, and with Glyphs are even worse, because they're not very common drops.
Q: Those Ideas seems very unbalanced, why that?
A: Basically because if i would think about every single combo people could do with it, i would literaly never release this. I have a work, and it took me a whole month to get this done, so i can't spend the whole time doing something that is a Dev work, first, because i'm not a dev, and second, because i hope players understand that lol
So basically, i can't afford doing this kind of stuff, because it requires a large amount of game analysis and knowledge, and unfortunately i can't do that, or the idea would never get to the forums. I hope you guys understand, i'm really sorry.
Q: Can you please explain the Dominant Orb a little bit more?
A: Well, personaly, i can't see why is it so overpowered as people are saying it is, but i'll try:
Quick brief about Dominant Orb:
- Crafting an item from 0:
You have an ilvl84 Normal Glove, you alt spam it until you get 2 mods, than you roll
T2 life leech and T3 attack speed.
You use a dominant orb, and it will pick between the leech, and the attack speed.
Let's say it picks the attack speed, and now it's a T1 mod.
You CAN'T use the orb again, because there's no range between mods to be picked.
Then, you regal it. While hoping to get another T1 mod with your regal, you might fail, and THEN you can use the Dominant Orb again, because now it has another 2 mods to be randomly picked by the orb.
And finally, you exalt since it has now 2 T1, and if you fail to get a T1, you use your final dominant orb, and it's done. It can't affect the item if it has 3 T1 (prefixes OR suffixes) anymore.
So basically, to craft an item from 0, you have to spend 3 Dominants a regal and 1 ex, so it has a little bit of investment (at least for poor players like me =P). And considering that you can only get the Dominant Orb by influenced mobs, or dominators, they might be really rare imo.
In other hand, if you get a Rare item with good mods, you can use a dominant orb until you get a T1 mod, but if the item has 3 T1's already, the orb won't work because of the cap. So, that's basically it. You can't do a perfect item via Dominant orb. I don't know if it would really ruin the game, but i can update the idea if you guys think it necessary.
PS: I've put an alternative idea version to Dominant Orb, now you can only have 1 T1 mod.
Q: What's the gameplay inside a Glyph looks like?
A: Well, basically, they're more like "mini-acts". Instead of Mapping, you should think more about "Acting" =). Glyphs are intended to be an extensive gameplay, it isn't slow, but it is not as quick as a map is. There are quests, in which you DO can get rewards, there are daily rewards, there are master missions, there are exploration involved, since you have to find the runes to make use of them, and also there's an opportunity to increase the player knowledge of the lore of the game.
When a Dominator change from an area to another, its influences remain there for a few minutes. This prevent the player to wait the dominator to go from area A to B, and clear all the monsters in area A, and then when the dominator goes to the area C the player clears all the monsters of the area B. This would be boring and requires no player skill. It's a no-brainer. So the minutes make players to decide if they really want to wait the influences run off, because the dominator might come back to the place before the influences are gone, and they are refreshed. That's why the Runes and quests exists, some of them aid the player to deal with the dominator without having to kill it. There are some runes that imprisons the dominator for a bit, to give players more time to search for other runes. All of this are meant to the player play the glyph strategically, because the Dominator don't affect all of the areas, they affect only the areas they are present in. So you can look for runes in the maps they aren't or you can go and hunt them down if you find yourself brave/capable enough of doing it.
Q: This seems a bit frustrating to casual players, since all the dominators and stuff are most likely to affect uber-farmers, what do you think about that?
A: Actually, this is not. It have an impact to casual players and to hardcore players. Hardcore players might want to deal with the dominators and the challenges of the Glyphs. The casual players in other hand, might want to play it more carefully, and think if they need to defeat the dominator and get the reward, or just complete the glyph. Maybe get rid of the dominator and clear the map for exp, loot, or challenge themselves to their limits. Of course you might not have the required wealth to deal with the dominator at the moment, but its not mandatory. You can deal with the glyph differently from a hardcore player, and this is where the idea shines. If you want someday be able to face a dominator, you'll have to work for that. If you don't find it necessary, you still can play the glyph.
Just follow its rules and you'll be fine =)
Q: What are Jumpscares and Mirages?
A: Example of a Jumpscare: After the loading screen the "Ressurect in town" dialogue box appears and your LIFE ball looks like you have lost all of your life, but your character is actually alive with full Life. The effect wears off a few moments after the "scare". Another example, when you open your inventory, you see all of your items unequipped or missing. Example of mirage: You identify an sorcerer's boots and they appear as a Skyforth, then a few moments later, they go back to normal. Those are supposed to be "fun" mods, make players interact more with the game. If you don't like'em, you can savage your Glyph through the recipe =). They aren't very common tho, so you can prioritize efficiency over 'fun' if you want. I also know that some of you might find this mods a bit annoying.
Q: Wouldn't Bounce breake the game with Flicker Strike?
A: Actually, no, Flicker Strike can't be supported by Bounce as Ice Crash can't be supported by Multistrike and Spark can't Chain. I thought about that Support Gem to see if Shield Charge could finally become viable.
I'll update the thread with more Q&A when i find it necessary =) Thanks a bunch!
That's it for the Suggestion! Thanks a lot for the GGG team for creating this awesome game, and give us
opportunity to share Ideas.
I hope you guys have enjoyed the LOOOONG reading! Again, I'm sorry for the huge wall of text!
Please, comment and leave your feedback! Let's keep this thread alive and hopefully show it to GGG!
Have fun in Wraeclast guys! Hello Wraeclast citizens!! And welcome to:First off, I really want to thanks my friend, that helped me to "balance" this Suggestion.Of course there are values way off-hand but since it's a Suggestion I won't lose much time with this kind of stuff. BUT, nevertheless, he helped me to make things more reasonable for you guys. Without him I wouldn't be able to complete this little project.Also, I'am a Brazillian. I'm not fully optimized in english, so I'm really sorry for any grammar issue that you might find while reading though it.This is something I've be thinking and doing for the whole January, and I'm really excited to show you guys. So, let's go straight for it!Thank you very much for reading through this (pretty) wall of text!You can download the whole Project via this link:It contains all the Images I've used and all the After Effects and Photoshop projects, along with the Text Fonts I've used too.There's also a text file that explains everything more detailed, but I've put 90% of it in this thread.Read it if you still have a question about the idea!That's it for the Suggestion! Thanks a lot for the GGG team for creating this awesome game, and give usopportunity to share Ideas.I hope you guys have enjoyed the LOOOONG reading! Again, I'm sorry for the huge wall of text!Please, comment and leave your feedback! Let's keep this thread alive and hopefully show it to GGG!Have fun in Wraeclast guys! Dream with me! Last edited by Hilldrake on Feb 7, 2016, 8:57:16 PM Last bumped on Apr 29, 2018, 2:31:05 PMDear Alaska and Oregon,
I hear you've both got marijuana legalization initiatives on your November ballots. You're thinking about taking the plunge. For those of you still undecided, let me offer some neighborly advice.
Two years ago I was in your shoes. I lived in Washington state. I had two teenage kids. I hadn't smoked a joint since college. I was leaning toward a no vote on Initiative 502, our marijuana proposition. Pot? Meh. I didn't like it, didn't use it, didn't want my kids to have easier access to it.
A few days before the election, my friend Linda Mangel, a civil rights lawyer, challenged my opinion. "Listen," she said. "This is not about you." Nobody cares whether you like pot or hate it, she said. "This is a race issue. It's a civil rights issue. There are generations of black men in prison because they were caught with a substance that's less harmful than alcohol. You're a white guy so you don't have to worry about it. Others do."
I went home and thought about it. I did some research. She was right. Every year about 750,000 Americans are arrested for pot. Those arrests lead to jail time, lost jobs and broken families. Those penalties are far more likely to hit people who aren't white. White people and black people use marijuana at about the same rate, but black people are four times more likely to be arrested on pot charges.
Though my feelings about pot hadn't changed, I couldn't deny the data. The War on Drugs had devolved into a convenient excuse to stop and frisk dark-skinned people. My friend was right. I held my nose and voted in favor of legalization.
The next morning I woke up and saw that I'd helped change history. Washington state had legalized. A shock of anxiety went through me. What in the world had we just done?
I've spent the past two years trying to answer that question. I'm a science writer; I look for evidence and data, then force myself to think on the page. I took a deep dive into the scientific research on marijuana and the brain. I went behind the scenes with pot farmers, retailers, regulators and researchers. I watched, day by day, as Washington and Colorado rolled out their tightly controlled marijuana industries. I saw my own town, like every municipality in the state, struggle to find the appropriate places to allow its production and sale.
And I spoke with my kids about it. At first they were a little freaked out about their square father writing about marijuana. Now they laugh about it. Pot legalization -- and my own interest in it -- has broken the taboo that exists around the subject. I keep them updated on what I find. Last night, after watching an episode of "New Girl," we talked about pot and how it messes with the wiring of the developing brain. (OK; I talked, they listened. But there were jokes.)
After two years of legalization, and three months of open retail pot shops, here's what's different about daily life in Washington state: Almost nothing. Marijuana isn't more or less of a presence in our lives. My kids have no easier access to it. There's no epidemic of drugged drivers on the road. There are no drug fiends running riot in the streets. What's mainly changed is this: In my state we no longer needlessly arrest and ruin the lives of 12,000 to 15,000 people every year.
Is everything working perfectly? No. We've had supply and demand problems, but we're working those out as more growers get licensed and more pot shops open. Colorado has provided some cautionary tales regarding marijuana-infused edibles (ask New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd), and regulators there and in my own state have acted quickly to correct the dosage problems. But it's a new law. It's a newly legal product. We're learning and adapting as we go along.
Two years after casting my vote, I'm no longer on the fence about pot legalization. I'm living in a legal state, and I'm convinced that it's the right thing to do. Legalization isn't a foolish experiment. It's progress, and it works.
Bruce Barcott lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington. His forthcoming book, "Weed the People: A Journey Into America's Legalized Future," will be published in April 2015.PRETORIA – A landmark vote means same sex relationships will now be recognised by the Dutch Reformed Church.
It&39;s also voted in favour of ordaining gay ministers and scrapping a so-called celibacy clause.
With a 64 percent majority, the church voted in favour of acknowledging same sex unions and allowing gay ministers to be ordained without the need for them to be celibate.
The church said the move was a step in the right direction for human dignity.
Dutch Reform Church moderator Nelis Janse van Rensburg said: “It is historical because with this decision we actually are at a point where there can be no doubt that the Dutch Reformed Church is serious about human dignity.
"And you know that we are living in this country where we have so many problems with the dignity of people.”
But while the decision&39;s been hailed, individual churches won&39;t be forced to follow the ruling.
“Church councils and congregations are like families. They will eventually decide that how they will go about it. They know the context, they know the situation, they know about the faith of these people, so they can decide on that.”
The church will also help ministers to get the necessary legal documentation to ratify civil unions.
“The pastors who will legitimise these relationships have to be licensed by the state and we will in due course now start liaising with the state to make that possible for these pastors who are actually willing to become commissioners of same-sex relationships,” Van Rensburg said.
“The church has stated that while its decision will impact (on) churches here, it does not extend to its synod in Namibia, whose laws don’t recognise same-sex relationships.”Feb 24, 2016; Boulder, CO, USA; American retired basketball player and current Pac 12 Networks analyst Bill Walton interviews a college athlete prior to the game between the Arizona Wildcats against the Colorado Buffaloes at the Coors Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Bill Walton went way too far on Friday night during the Pac-12 semi-final tournament game when talking about Allonzo Trier.
Come on Bill! You are the father of one of the most famous Arizona Basketball Alumni in the NBA, and you went on National television and basically slandered Allonzo Trier as he was having one of the best games of his collegiate career. On top of that, Magic Johnson was there watching BOTH teams and he is Luke’s boss.
We get it, you are a Bruin, but to go to that extreme and basically call the Arizona Basketball program a liar regarding what happened to Allonzo in the off-season to cause the NCAA to suspend him for 19 games is just irresponsible and damning.
People listen to you, most like you and respect you and your zest for life. Arizona Wildcats are not different; more fans enjoy listening to you than don’t. Some Wildcats fans feel you are too much to take, but we all understand you know your basketball.
Allonzo, as far as everyone has said officially, and as your co-host Dave Pasch confirmed, was in a car accident over the summer and was administered or given some medicine that had steroids in it, or something banned. The Wildcats had to wait until the stuff was totally out of his system. Do you really think the NCAA would have ever let Allonzo play again if they actually thought he was taking steroids for performance purposes?
Trier appealed the NCAA’s decision and won the appeal. Deadspin writer Nick Martin said it best, “The only silver lining here is knowing Trier is sitting as a result of the NCAA having its head shoved up its ass, and not something of real concern.”
.@ISO_ZO talked about the difficulties of missing the beginning of the season tonight. Won Pac-12 Tournament MVP honors. pic.twitter.com/nWPS |
authentic form. Dragon is one of those people who, when you see just how talented he is, makes you think there just might be a God after all.Jodhpur: Another Indian Mujahideen terror suspect has been arrested in Jodhpur by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
30-year-old Zakir was arrested on Thursdayday from Lala Lajpat Colony in Pratap Nagar locality in Jodhpur. He was also found to be associated with the IM module of Rajasthan and was assisting the module's active members, said an ATS official.
ATS has got this breakthrough following the information obtained from the interrogation of Ashraf, an IM operative who was arrested in Tamil Nadu on 1 May in connection with IM's sleeper module in Rajasthan which was busted by the state ATS and Delhi Police special cell in March.
Zakir was on Friday produced in court which sent him to 14 days judicial custody.
According to the officials, Zakir is a mason worker and resident of Johdpur.
This is the sixth arrest from Jodhpur. Earlier five suspected IM terrorists were arrested from different locations in Rajasthan in March.
Ashraf, also a resident of Jodhpur, was, however, arrested from Chennai last week. He had escaped from Jodhpur following the busting of the module in Jodhpur.
ATS is currently interrogating Ashraf, who was remanded to 10 days police custody by a local court on Wednesday.
PTI
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.Consumer electronics company Jawbone has sued rival Fitbit for “systematically plundering” trade secrets, by poaching Jawbone employees who had access to confidential information and took steps to download this information before leaving the company.
According to the suit, filed in California State Court earlier today, Fitbit had recruited an estimated 30 percent of Jawbone’s workforce since early 2015 and induced some employees to join Fitbit, who brought with them “intimate knowledge of key aspects of Jawbone’s business.”
In one instance, an employee at Jawbone was said to “download onto her personal computer a highly confidential presentation that laid out in detail the positioning of Jawbone’s current and future technologies” just before she left to become a user experience researcher at Fitbit.
This employee and others who left to go work for Fitbit were also said to have forwarded highly sensitive confidential company information to personal email accounts before they left, even going as far as installing a tool called “CCleaner” on their computers to cover their tracks, the filing alleges.
Another former Jawbone employee, a product design engineer “who had access to every aspect of the mechanical and industrial design of Jawbone’s products, including its fitness trackers and its full lineup of audio products,” allegedly downloaded confidential information to a portable USB drive after accepting a position at Fitbit, but before notifying Jawbone.
The filing states that a Fitbit recruiter admitted at one point, “Fitbit’s objective is to decimate Jawbone.”
The lawsuit comes as San Francisco-based Fitbit is revving up for an initial public offering. The company is planning to trade on the NYSE under the ticker “FIT.”
According to its S-1 filing, Fitbit sold 10.9 million devices last year, and reported revenue of $336.8 million and net income of $48 million for the three months ended in March 31. Fitbit has repeatedly said that it dominates the U.S. activity-tracking market, supported mostly by data from the NPD Group.
At the same time Jawbone, which is also based in San Francisco, has just raised $300 million in funding from investment firm BlackRock, as it looks to continue making its signature audio and wearable products.
It also just launched its newest activity-tracker, the Up3, after the product was delayed by several months. (See here for Re/code’s review of the Up3, which has received tepid reviews.) The Up3 is mentioned in the filing as an example of Jawbone’s “numerous technological advances” it claims Fitbit does not have and would be incentivized to poach.
News of the lawsuit was first reported by the New York Times.
Fitbit could not be reached for comment. Jawbone declined to offer comment beyond what it has stated in the filing.
Update: A spokesperson for Fitbit has put out the following statement: “As the pioneer and leader in the connected health and fitness market, Fitbit has no need to take information from Jawbone or any other company. Since Fitbit’s start in 2007, our employees have developed and delivered innovative product offerings to empower our customers to lead healthier, more active lives.
We are unaware of any confidential or proprietary information of Jawbone in our possession and we intend to vigorously defend against these allegations.”Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, it is 20th Century Fox's reboot of the Planet of the Apes series, intended to act as an origin story for a new series of films.[7] Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but it is not a direct remake of that film. In the film, a substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee named Caesar, who leads an ape uprising.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on August 5, 2011, to critical and commercial success. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It was also nominated for five Saturn Awards including Best Director for Wyatt and Best Writing for Jaffa and Silver, winning Best Science Fiction Film, Best Supporting Actor for Serkis and Best Special Effects. Serkis's performance as Caesar was widely acclaimed, earning him many nominations from associations which do not usually recognize performance capture as traditional acting.
A sequel to the film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was released on July 11, 2014 and a third film, War for the Planet of the Apes, was released on July 14, 2017.
Plot [ edit ]
Will Rodman, a scientist at the San Francisco biotech company Gen-Sys, is testing the viral-based drug ALZ-112 on chimpanzees to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. ALZ-112 is given to a chimp named Bright Eyes, greatly increasing her intelligence. But then, during Will's presentation for the drug, Bright Eyes is forced from her cage, goes on a rampage and is shot to death. Will's boss Steven Jacobs terminates the project and has the chimps slaughtered. However, Will's assistant Robert Franklin discovers that the reason for Bright Eyes' rampage was that she had recently given birth to an infant chimp. Will reluctantly agrees to take in the chimp, who is named Caesar. Will learns that Caesar has his mother's intelligence, through being exposed to ALZ-112 in her womb, and decides to raise him. Three years later, Will introduces Caesar to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument. Meanwhile, Will treats his dementia-suffering father Charles with ALZ-112, which seems to restore his cognitive ability.
Five years later, when Caesar reaches adolescence and sees a dog on a leash like his own, he questions his identity and learns of his origins from Will. Meanwhile, Charles' condition returns as he becomes resistant to ALZ-112. Caesar injures an aggressive neighbor, Douglas Hunsiker, while defending a confused Charles from him. As a result, he is placed in a primate shelter where he is tormented by a chimp named Rocket and the chief guard, Dodge Landon, but also where he befriends an orangutan named Maurice, who came from a circus. Caesar learns how to unlock his cage, gaining free access to the common area. With the assistance of a gorilla named Buck, he confronts the sanctuary's alpha, Rocket and claims that position. Meanwhile, Jacobs clears development of a more powerful, gaseous version of the drug – ALZ-113 – when Will tells him it can also improve intelligence. Will takes the drug home to try to save his father, but Charles declines further treatment and dies overnight.
After attempting to test the drug on a scarred bonobo test subject named Koba, Franklin becomes exposed to ALZ-113 and becomes ill. Attempting to warn Will at his home, he sneezes blood onto Hunsiker and is later discovered dead. Will attempts to reclaim Caesar, but the chimp refuses to go home with him so he could look after the other apes. Instead, he escapes from the facility and returns to Will's house, where he takes canisters of the ALZ-113. Upon returning, Caesar releases the gas and allows it to enhance the intelligence of the other apes. When Dodge attempts to get him back into his cage, Caesar speaks for the first time, yelling "No!" and gets in a fight, which inadvertently leads to Dodge's death. The apes flee the facility, releasing Koba and the remaining apes from Gen-Sys and free more apes from the San Francisco Zoo on the way.
A battle ensues as the ape army fights their way past a police blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge to escape into the redwood forest. Buck sacrifices himself to save Caesar by jumping into the helicopter in which Jacobs is riding. The helicopter crashes onto the bridge, trapping Jacobs in the wreckage. While Caesar ignores Jacobs' pledges for help, he instead allows Koba to seize his chance for revenge and sends Jacobs falling to his death in the bay below.
As the apes find their way into the forest, Will catches up to them in a stolen police car and warns Caesar that the humans will hunt them down and begs him to return home. In response, Caesar hugs him and says that "Caesar is home". Will, realizing that this is indeed their last goodbye, respects Caesar's wishes. The apes embrace their new lifestyle in the forest.
In a mid-credits scene, an infected Hunsiker leaves his house for work as an airline pilot, arriving at San Francisco International Airport for his flight to Paris. His nose begins to drip blood onto the floor. A graphic traces the spread of the humanity-ravaging virus around the globe via international flight routes, the beginning of a global pandemic.
Cast [ edit ]
Humans [ edit ]
Apes [ edit ]
Andy Serkis as Caesar, a chimpanzee whose intelligence is increased from being exposed in the womb to ALZ-112 when the drug is administered to his pregnant mother, and who is raised by Will for eight years. Caesar is based on Roddy McDowall's character in the last two films of the original Apes series.
series. Karin Konoval as Maurice, a wise and benevolent Bornean orangutan who was retired from a circus and knows sign language; he becomes Caesar's closest ally. Konoval also cameos as the court clerk whom Will briefly argues with about his appeal. His name is a reference to Maurice Evans who portrays Dr. Zaius in the first two films of the original series. [10]
Terry Notary as Rocket, the dominant chimpanzee at the ape sanctuary, until Caesar overthrows him. Notary also plays Bright Eyes, Caesar's mother, who was captured in Africa.
Richard Ridings as Buck, a gorilla who pledges his allegiance to Caesar after he is freed by him.
Devyn Dalton as Cornelia, a female common chimpanzee in the ape sanctuary
Jay Caputo as Alpha, the dominant male chimpanzee of Bright Eyes' troop and Caesar's father
Christopher Gordon as Koba, a scarred and aggressive bonobo who has spent most of his life in laboratories and holds a grudge against humans
Production [ edit ]
Development and writing [ edit ]
In 2006, screenwriter-producer Rick Jaffa was searching for a script idea. As Jaffa searched a newspaper articles clipping, one about pet chimpanzees that become troublesome to their owners and heartbroken for not adapting well to the human environment intrigued him. As Jaffa eventually realized it fit the Planet of the Apes series, he called his wife and screenwriting partner Amanda Silver to express his ideas of such a chimpanzee eventually starting the ape revolution, and then the couple started developing the character of Caesar. Jaffa indicated that "it's a reinvention" and if he had to pick between calling it a prequel or a reboot he would say it is a reboot: "It's a different story of who Caesar is, and how he came to be. So it's really kind of hard to put a label on it. We are hopefully rebooting it." He went on to say that "we tried really hard to create a story that would stand on its own and yet also pay homage and honor the movies that came before us."[11] Jaffa and Silver then wrote a script and sold it to Fox, producers of the Apes franchise. The script added other elements which the couple had researched, such as genetic engineering.[12] Several tributes to specific scenes, characters, and cast and crew from the previous Apes film series were added in the script. In particular, Caesar's treatment at the primate sanctuary parallels Taylor's treatment as a captive in the original film.[13][10]
In a segment of a video blog post, director Rupert Wyatt commented on the originality of the plot: "This is part of the mythology and it should be seen as that. It's not a continuation of the other films; it's an original story. It does satisfy the people who enjoy those films. The point of this film is to achieve that and to bring that fan base into this film exactly like Batman Begins."[7] In a 2009 interview, Wyatt said, "We've incorporated elements from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, in terms of how the apes begin to revolt, but this is primarily a prequel to the 1968 film...Caesar is a revolutionary figure who will be talked about by his fellow apes for centuries...This is just the first step in the evolution of the apes, and there's a lot more stories to tell after this. I imagine the next film will be about the all-out war between the apes and humans."[14] Mark Bomback did an uncredited rewrite of the script.[15]
Filming [ edit ]
Filming began in July 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia.[16] Filming also happened in San Francisco, California (the primary setting of the film),[16] and around Oahu, Hawaii, which doubled for the African jungle as the schedule and budget did not allow for location shooting in Africa.[17]
Visual effects [ edit ]
As the apes in Rise were meant to be actual apes, the producers decided not to use actors in ape suits. After considering real apes, instead Weta Digital created the apes digitally in almost every case through performance capture.[18] Advances in the technology allowed the use of performance capture in an exterior environment, affording the film-makers the freedom to shoot much of the film on location with other actors, as opposed to the confines of a soundstage.[19][20] The main breakthrough was a camera that enabled viewing the motion capture dots in daylight, employed mostly for the Golden Gate Bridge battle. A maximum of six actors could have their movements captured, with larger ape crowds using fully digital animals animated using Weta's move library. The Golden Gate Bridge set used both a physical set which was extended digitally, and a fully computer-generated model of the bridge that also included the ocean and nearby hills.[21]
After shooting the actors playing humans interacting with others wearing the motion capture suits, a clean plate was shot with actors for extra reference. Actor-stuntman Terry Notary guided the actors on realistic ape movement, while Weta studied the chimps in the Wellington Zoo for reference. The digital apes also received detailed models with skeletons, muscles and nerve tissue layers for accurate animation. Cast models of apes' heads and limbs helped the texture department replicate skin details such as wrinkles and pores. Given the difference between human and chimpanzee facial muscles, the animators tweaked the performance through a new facial muscle system adding dynamics, ballistics, and secondary motion. As the silent performance required expressive eyes, a new eye model was made to depict both greater accuracy in muscle movement in and around the eyes, and also tears, pupil dilation, and light refraction.[18][22] While Andy Serkis was the primary performer for Caesar, as the effects team considered that at times "Andy overcame the character," other motion capture team actors were also used, especially Devyn Dalton, whose height matched that of a chimpanzee. Along with that, they used Notary to play Caesar in stunt-filled scenes such as the Golden Gate Bridge scene.[23]
Music [ edit ]
The score for the film was written by Patrick Doyle and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony conducted by James Shearman.[24] The main concern was to have the music help progress the plot in the scenes without dialogue, for instance, conveying the emotions of Caesar's relationships with Will and Charles. To turn the score into a "driving force that keeps audiences paying attention," Doyle employed an African-American chorus and focused on percussion and "low and deep" orchestra sounds. Doyle collaborated closely with the sound department to make the music complement the sound effects, including writing a recurring theme based on their recording of a chimpanzee.[25]
Reception [ edit ]
Critical response [ edit ]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was well-received by critics upon release. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 258 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Led by Rupert Wyatt's stylish direction, some impressive special effects, and a mesmerizing performance by Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes breathes unlikely new life into a long-running franchise."[26] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[27]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised the role of Caesar and Andy Serkis by stating it was a "wonderfully executed character" and "one never knows exactly where the human ends and the effects begin, but Serkis and/or Caesar gives the best performance in the movie."[28] Giving the film 5 out of 5 stars, Joe Neumaier of Daily News labelled Rise of the Planet of the Apes as the summer's best popcorn flick.[29] Nick Pinkerton of The Village Voice wrote, "Caesar's prison conversion to charismatic pan-ape revolutionist is near-silent filmmaking, with simple and precise images illustrating Caesar's General-like divining of personalities and his organization of a group from chaos to order."[30] Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel wrote, "Audacious, violent and disquieting, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a summer sequel that's better than it has any right to be." He gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars.[31] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised the film by saying, "Precisely the kind of summer diversion that the studios have such a hard time making now. It's good, canny-dumb fun." She also gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars.[32]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone noted that the film has mixed "twists lifted from 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and 1999's Deep Blue Sea".[33]
Box office [ edit ]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes made its debut in the United States and Canada on roughly 5,400 screens within 3,648 theaters.[34] It grossed $19,534,699 on opening day and $54,806,191 in its entire opening weekend, making it #1 for that weekend as well as the fourth-highest-grossing August opening ever.[35] The film held on to the #1 spot in its second weekend, dropping 49.2%, and grossing $27,832,307.[36] Rise of the Planet of the Apes crossed the $150 million mark in the United States and Canada on its 26th day of release. Entertainment Weekly said that this was quite an accomplishment for the film since the month of August is a difficult time for films to make money.[37]
The film ended its run at the box office on December 15, 2011, with a gross of $176,760,185 in the U.S. and Canada as well as $305,040,864 internationally, for a total of $481,801,049 worldwide.[2]
Home media [ edit ]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and Digital Copy on December 13, 2011.[38]
Awards [ edit ]
Sequels [ edit ]
Regarding the story setting up possible sequels, director Rupert Wyatt commented: "I think we're ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning."[52] Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that Rise of the Planet of the Apes would feature several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we're building a platform for future films. We're trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth."[7]
On May 31, 2012, 20th Century Fox announced that the sequel would be named Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.[53] Reports said that Wyatt was leaving the sequel due to his concern that a May 2014 release date would not give him enough time to properly make the film;[54] he was replaced by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves.[55] Jaffa and Silver returned as producers and to pen the screenplay, with rewrites from Scott Z. Burns[56] and Mark Bomback.[15]
Taking place ten years after Rise, Dawn follows Caesar's growing nation of evolved apes. Andy Serkis, Terry Notary and Karin Konoval reprise their roles as Caesar, Rocket and Maurice.[57] James Franco returned as Will Rodman in a "cameo via video".[58] Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released July 11, 2014.
On January 6, 2014, 20th Century Fox announced a third installment with Reeves returning to direct and co-write along with Bomback, with a planned July 2016 release.[59][60] In January 2015, Fox delayed the release to July 14, 2017.[61][62] On May 14, 2015, the title was given as War of the Planet of the Apes,[63] later re-titled to War for the Planet of the Apes.
See also [ edit ]Rebuilding the ‘Pen and the Odd Year Playoff Curse
In this final team preview for 2017, we head across the Bay and examine the San Francisco Giants. After winning the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014, the “even year magic” was broken as their bullpen couldn’t hold a 3-run 9th inning lead during the 2016 Divisional Series. The Giants Front Office set out to correct this problem come hell or high water, and it appears they got their man.
The 2016 San Francisco finished with a 87-75 record which was good for 2nd place in the NL West, 4 games behind 1st place LAD. They were arguably the best team during the first half of the season, but then injuries and their bullpen crippled them to nearly.500 baseball the second half and barely hanging on to a Wild Card spot. After another MadBum post-season masterpiece with complete game shutout against the Mets in the Wild Card round, the Giants were primed to continue the “even year” dominance. Matt Moore kills it in Game 4 with an 8 inning, 1 ER, 10 K to 2 BB effort and hands the ball over to the bullpen in the 9th only needing 3 outs to protect a 3 run lead. Five Giants relievers couldn’t get the job done and of course, Aroldis Chapman didn’t have the same problem in the bottom of the 9th. The Cubs go on to finish off a story-book playoff run that the “baseball gods” clearly supported in route to their first World Championship in 108 years.
The drought in San Francisco may only be two seasons, but Giants fans must have been wondering…”what if we had a real closer?” I think you would have felt pretty good then going into what would have been “winner-takes-all” elimination game with Johnny Cueto on the mound and MadBum looming if Cueto gets into any trouble. As mentioned above, #1 priority this off-season was to lock up an Ace Closer regardless of cost. They might not have gotten any of the sexy names, but what they did get is a three-time All-Star Closer that led the league in 2015 with 51 saves and led the league in 2016 with 67 games finished. Mission Accomplished…and then the Giants took off the rest of the Off-season. Will putting all their eggs in one basket be enough?
Key Off-Season Transactions
Additions:
Mark Melancon CL Nick Hundley C Jae-gyun Hwang 3B/SS
Subtractions:
Sergio Romo Santiago Casilla Jake Peavy Javier Lopez Chris Heston Angel Pagan Ehire Adrianza Gregor Blanco
As mentioned in the opening section, the Giants were very intentional on their strategy this off-season. #1 – Sign a top notch Closer. #2 – Clean up the roster of some dead weight. Melancon could add 4-5 wins in the regular season and more importantly instill confidence in the post-season.
I’m not sure there were any guys they let walk or cut that they should have cut. Romo, Casilla and Lopez were important parts of their three Championships but are all now in their mid-to-late 30s.
I would like to have seen them solve their LF situation, but perhaps they will just wait until the trade deadline to get the right guy. Korean Free-agent signing, Jae-gyun Hwang, is an interesting addition but I’m not sure how he will fit in. He is primarily a 3B/SS and those positions are locked in and he’s not been officially added to the 40-Man roster. He is having a fantastic Spring and could force the Giants to bring up sooner rather than later. He is hitting.356 with an OPS of 1.108. He leads the team in HRs (5) and RBIs (15).
Projected Opening Day Roster Notables
Lineup
Denard Span (L) / Gorkys Hernandez (R) LF Brandon Belt (L) 1B Buster Posey (R) C Hunter Pence (R) RF Brandon Crawford (L) SS Eduardo Nunez (R) 3B Joe Panik (L) 2B Jarrett Parker (L) / Mac Williamson (R) LF PITCHER
Key Bench
Nick Hundley – primary backup catcher Aaron Hill – utility INF Conor Gillaspie – 3B/PH
The health of Hunter Pence of Eduardo Nunez will likely determine how potent this offense will be in 2017. The Giants believe in having a stacked rotation and scoring enough runs to keep the pressure off them. They should easily get over 700 runs scored this season and therefore exceed 4 runs per game giving their rotation the needed support to win a large percentage of games. Power really isn’t their game considering none of the guys on their projected lineup exceeded 20 HRs last season. On the other hand, all 8 starters listed above could/should crack double digits and will create enough extra-base hits to drive in runs. Span has definitely lost a step at 33, but speed really isn’t their game with only Nunez considered a “base-stealer.” That being said, there are quite a few guys that could could swipe some bags if given the green light and if the situation was right. Panik, Crawford and reserves, Gorkys Hernandez and Kelby Tomlinson, could all reach double-digit steals this year. Last thought…do the Giants really like Jarrett Parker in LF? Sure he could hit 25 HRs in a full season, but it would likely come with 200 Ks. I expect there be an upgrade here prior to the playoffs.
Rotation
Madison Bumgarner LHP Johnny Cueto RHP Matt Moore LHP Jeff Samardzija RHP Matt Cain RHP *Ty Blach LHP
Bullpen
Mark Melancon (R) CL Hunter Strickland (R) 8th Derek Law (R) 7th Steven Okert (L) LHS *Will Smith (L) Injured or would have been 8th
The Giants have one of the best rotations in baseball but it is not without question marks. Madbum and Cueto are about as good as it gets as a #1 and #2. Many would say that Jeff Samardzija is the #3, but he is too inconsistent for me. This is likely why he has been on 4 teams in the last 3 years. There is no questioning his stuff, but his command and inconsistency makes him a wild card and better suited as the #4. Couple that with Matt Moore’s impressive outing in the NLDS and overall solid contribution to the team after acquiring him mid-season from the Tampa Rays. Although his walks increased, his overall statistics were better across the board once he hit the National League and I believe that he will enjoy pitching for an entire season knowing he is in a playoff race. Unlike Samardzija, Moore’s biggest knock has been health related and I believe he can and will regain his command and be a solid #3 for the Giants this season.
We can all agree that they solved their Closer issue, but what about the rest of the bullpen that blew 30 games last year. Well as mentioned above, the old core guys are gone, but some of the young guys that remained were part of the melt down during the second half of last season. Will Smith was acquired late last season and was supposed to be a major cog during the late innings, but he is now officially out for the season with an upcoming Tommy John Surgery. This leaves Hunter Strickland and Derek Law as the primary setup guys in high-leverage situations. Although they were both partially responsible for the collapse last season, they both overall had good seasons. I attribute the melt down to fatigue as Strickland had 72 appearances in only his 2nd full MLB season and Law had 61 as a rookie. I expect them to both be back to early season form and have great seasons in 2017.
Key Spring Training Position Battle
5th Starter – Cain vs. Blach
It appears that the organization is intent to give Cain every chance to start the season as the #5 starter despite clearly being the inferior pitcher this Spring. I assume its a loyalty thing here as he as posted a team worst 37 hits allowed and 23 runs allowed this Spring. I think if rookie-eligible Ty Blach came out this Spring and pitched lights out, he could have won the job. He was better than Cain, but wasn’t dominate. I personally give him a leg up based on his masterpiece against Clayton Kershaw to put the Giants in the Wild Card at the end of last season. He could still make the team as the long-reliever, but I expect him to start the season in AAA in order to keep him stretched out for an April call-up. It won’t be long before this spot goes to top prospect, Tyler Beede.
Left-Handed Specialist — Okert vs. Osich
Okert clearly out-pitcher Osich this Spring and has locked up the primary LHS but Osich likely makes the team as a 2nd lefty option and middle innings reliever. Okert could be a key to the bullpen this season to try and neutralize lefty sluggers in the late innings. He could also fair well in strikeouts and holds for those in fantasy leagues that value middle relievers.
Utility Infielder — Hill vs. Tomlinson vs. Hwang
As mentioned early in this piece, I’m not sure how Hwang will fit in and he could fill this roll at some point this season. However, I have to believe the Giants will primarily use veteran Aaron Hill in this position as he can play all four infield positions and can provide leadership and the occasional clutch power stroke. Tomlinson has proven to be a valuable asset as he can also play in the outfield. I do expect to see him up throughout the season to cover injuries, but to start the season with a healthy club, Aaron Hill should be the man.
Prospects to Know for 2017
Tyler Beede RHP (late 2017 — Blach and Okert probably would have been in this section, but I have already covered them so I turn to the organization’s undisputed top pitching prospect. Beede finished the 2016 season in AA, but the 23-year-old should spend the first half of this season in AAA. He features a plus fastball and change-up as well as a major league ready cutter and curve-ball. He improved over the past season in keeping the ball down and cutting down his walks. If he continues to show progress in these areas, it will be tough to keep him down during the stretch when some of the veterans could use a break and to control their usage. Andrew Suarez RHP (late 2017) — If they don’t want to rush their top pitching prospect, they may give their most polished pitching prospect a shot. His best pitches are his fastball and slider but they are not plus pitches like Beede. His command is his best tool, but he does throw what projects as a MLB average curve-ball and change-up to mix in with his better offerings. One compliant is he throws “too many” strikes and the team would like to see him miss a few more bats. If he can develop that over the first half of the season, he could see a call up this August or September to spell an injury or rest.
Fantasy Targets
Brandon Crawford – He has a lot of fans in the clubhouse including Team USA during the World Baseball Classic. He will get overlooked with the young shortstops all the rage. He went #225 overall (Round 15, 16 team) in my MLFB draft this past week. If I didn’t already have Correa, I would have snagged him. He might not have any one impressive stat, but he will fill out the score card. He has a chance to have a line something like this…25 2Bs, 10 3Bs, 20 HRs, 85 RBIs, 10 SBs and.275 avg. – He has a lot of fans in the clubhouse including Team USAduring the World Baseball Classic. He will get overlooked with the young shortstops all the rage. He went #225 overall (Round 15, 16 team) in my MLFB draft this past week. If I didn’t already have Correa, I would have snagged him. He might not have any one impressive stat, but he will fill out the score card. He has a chance to have a line something like this…25 2Bs, 10 3Bs, 20 HRs, 85 RBIs, 10 SBs and.275 avg. Matt Moore – I was targeting him in the same draft, but someone reached for him at #148 (round 10). I was expecting him to be there in Rounds 15-18 and he would be a great value there as his move to the NL should revitalize his career. If he stays healthy he will put up great numbers for a fantasy 4th or 5th starter.
2017 Team Outlook
Can then get the ball to Melancon with the lead? I believe the answer to this is YES! As mentioned earlier, I like the young guys Okert, Law and Strickland to be productive and cut down the 30 blown saves by at least half, if not better. Will the outfield stay healthy & be productive? don’t trust Span to be productive at age 33. At don’t trust Pence to stay healthy. I love Pence when he’s playing, but history tells us you need to have depth in the Giants outfield. Parker/Tomlinson/Hernandez combo in left-field is just a placeholder until they can pull off a deadline deal. Last year it was the bullpen, this year the outfield may be the team’s achilles heal. I believe the answer to this is NO! Idon’t trust Span to be productive at age 33. At don’t trust Pence to stay healthy. I love Pence when he’s playing, but history tells us you need to have depth in the Giants outfield. Parker/Tomlinson/Hernandez combo in left-field is just a placeholder until they can pull off a deadline deal. Last year it was the bullpen, this year the outfield may be the team’s achilles heal. 2nd Place in NL West at 90-72, Wild Card berth — If this looks familiar, well, it is. I see the regular season unfolding similar to last but I think they should finish with a few more wins. Unfortunately, the Dodgers probably will too. The good news: this breaks the odd year curse of missing the playoffs. Breaking the even year magic could pave the way to a new odd-year dominance. With the improved bullpen and outstanding rotation, they could match up well against the Cubs or Nats in the Divisional Series.
Bryan Luhrs
Major League Fantasy Sports
Writer & Contributor
Real Deal Dynasty Sports
Owner, League Developer & Executive Commissioner
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Click the RED link below to listen)
Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio Show: Join Corey D Roberts, and Kyle Amore live on Sunday March 26th, 2017 from 7-9pm EST for episode #80 of Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio. We are a live broadcast that will take callers at 323-870-4395. Press 1 to speak with the host. This week we will discuss players in the draft going for nice bargains.
Our guest this week is Steve Hamilton. Steve is a writer, and editor with majorleaguefantasysports.com focusing on baseball. His articles publish every Saturday.
You can find our shows on I-Tunes. Just search for Major League Fantasy Sports in the podcasts section. For Android users go to “Podcast Republic,” then download that app |
MO)
September 2011 fundraiser. [KMOX, 9/8/11; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 9/8/11]
Mecklenburg Republican Party (NC)
Heather Wilson for Senate (NM)
August 2011 fundraiser. [New Mexico Independent, 7/28/11; Albuquerque Journal, 8/13/11]
Hamilton County Republican Party (OH)
Oregon Reagan PAC
Centre County Republican Committee (PA)
February 2011 fundraiser. [CentreGOP.org, accessed 10/25/12; Facebook.com, accessed 10/25/12]
Franklin County Republican Committee (PA)
Austin Republican Women's Club (TX)
March 2012 fundraiser. [therightsideofaustin.wordpress.com, 3/2/12; AustinRepublicanWomen.org, accessed 10/25/12]
Republican Party of Fort Bend County (TX)
January 2011 fundraiser. [FBCGOP.org, 2/18/11; Fort Bend Independent, accessed 10/25/12]
Williamson County Republican Party (TX)
Davis County Republican Party (UT)
Washington State Republican Party (WA)
October 2011 fundraiser. [NW Daily Marker, 9/20/11; Seattle Times, 10/18/11]
Pete Snyder
Virginia Victory 2012.
Virginia Victory is the "coordinated campaign in charge of winning the state of Virginia for the Republicans in 2012." [VAVictory2012.com, accessed 10/24/12]
Mitt Romney for President. As chairman of Virginia Victory, Snyder coordinates with Republican campaigns such as Romney's to win the state for Republicans. He regularly acts as a surrogate for the Romney campaign. The following are just a few examples:
August 2012 speech. [CSPAN.org, 8/15/12]
September 2012 speech. [YouTube.com, 9/3/12]
September 2012 speech. [MittRomney.com, 9/27/12]
John Stossel
Marin County Republican Party (CA)
April 2012 fundraiser. [Examiner.com, 4/20/12; MRWF.org, accessed 10/24/12; MarinGOP.org, accessed 10/24/12]
Andrea Tantaros
Ohio Delegation to the Republican National Convention
Women's National Republican Club
April 2012 fundraiser. [New York Post, 4/25/12; WNRC.org, May 2012]
Cal Thomas
Americans for Prosperity's Obama's Failing Agenda Tour
September 2012 speech, Hickory, NC. [JohnLocke.org, 9/4/12; AmericansForProsperity.org, accessed 10/24/12]
Republican Party of Palm Beach County (FL)
August 2012 fundraiser. [Palm Beach Daily News, 9/1/12; PalmsWestRC.com, accessed 10/24/12]
Graphic by Drew Gardner.
Short Link
copy link Posted In Elections Network/Outlet Fox News Channel(h/t Heather)
Breaking news on Friday's Countdown. Senator Barack Obama's campaign has written a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking for an investigation into improper leaks from DOJ officials involving their ACORN investigation and whether or not people within the DOJ, perhaps with the help of the White House, are working in concert with the McCain campaign to further the ACORN myth for his political advantage.
Keith Olbermann talked with an Obama campaign attorney about this brilliant strategy by the campaign -- they are linking the ACORN/DOJ scandal with the U.S. Attorney firing scandal. If you will recall, several of the improperly fired attorneys were let go primarily because they wouldn't play along with Rove/GOP demands that they prosecute bogus voter fraud cases.
We're working on video and will post it as soon asap.But these are minor objections. The real problem is that Walt does not seem to have taken the trouble to have read the transcript of Blair’s testimony. If he had, he would have realized that Blair was not talking about how invading Iraq might benefit Israel, but about the conflict then occurring between Israel and the Palestinians. The second intifada had reached a new height with the Passover and Haifa suicide bombings and the beginning of the siege at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and Blair was concerned that the Bush administration was not actively pursuing the peace process. Blair wanted the administration to put the Arab-Israeli issue on a par with the threat of Iraq. The former prime minister makes this clear in other parts of his testimony. Here is an exchange between Blair and Sir Roderic Lyne:
Lyne: … Just one more point arising from Crawford, but not just from Crawford. You said--you reminded us that the Arab-Israel problem was in a very hot state at Crawford. You said you may even have had some conversations with Israelis from there, and obviously it was something that was a large part of your conversations with President Bush. I think it is right to say--indeed, Jack Straw said it--that you were relentless in trying to persuade the Americans to make more and faster progress on the Middle East peace process. Ultimately, Jack Straw said it was a matter of huge--in his evidence the other day--it was a matter of huge frustration that we weren’t able to achieve something which you had been seeking so strongly …
Blair: … I believe that resolving the Middle East--this is what I work on now--is immensely important, and I think it was difficult, and this is something I have said before on several occasions, it was difficult to persuade President Bush, and, indeed, America actually, that this was such a fundamental question …
Lyne: But surely you must have said to him, “Look, this thing is only really going to have a chance of working well if we can make this progress down the Arab-Israel track before we get there”?
Blair: Well, I was certainly saying to him, “I think this is vital,” and I mean, this was--you could describe me as a broken record through that period …
The talks at Crawford and subsequent discussions led eventually to getting Bush to launch the “road map” for peace. In other words, he and Bush were not saying that they had to invade Iraq to assist or appease the Israelis. Nothing that Blair said in his testimony should have provided the slightest evidence that this was occurring. And it seems clear enough that the discussions Blair and Bush had with the Israelis were not about Iraq but about the peace process.
I am sorry to say that this kind of sloppy research and reasoning is typical of the way that Walt and Mearsheimer deal with the question of whether the Israel lobby influenced the decision to go to war. In their book, they claim that the U.S. would “almost certainly” not have gone to war without the influence of the Israel lobby. That’s a very strong claim, but they do not back it up either in the book or in Walt’s current blogging. Let me briefly deal with their logic here.
There are three ways in which the Israel lobby could have made itself indispensable to the decision to go to war: first, in White House-Pentagon deliberations; second, in significantly influencing the critical Congressional vote in October 2002; and third, in dramatically shaping public opinion. Their argument falls short on all these counts.
White House: To contend that the “Israel lobby” influenced the White House decision to invade—which had more or less been made by the spring of 2002 when Blair visited Crawford—Walt and Mearsheimer expand the “lobby” to include "neoconservative intellectuals" such as Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense. They then imply that Wolfowitz and other neo-conservatives favored regime change in Iraq primarily because it would benefit Israel. No evidence has surfaced to show that Wolfowitz was acting in this manner. There were other neo-conservatives in the administration – such as David Wurmser and Douglas Feith – who had in the past explicitly linked regime change in Iraq to Israel’s welfare, but they were not in a decision-making capacity. Indeed, the two people outside of the President who appear most responsible for the decision to invade -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney -- could not be categorized, even by Walt and Mearsheimer’s absurdly broad standards, as part of an Israel lobby. So while it would be foolish to rule out that Israel’s welfare was not discussed or mentioned in discussions about whether to invade Iraq, there is no basis for saying that the White House decision to invade Iraq was driven by neo-conservative preoccupations with Israel’s security.Heading into the winter, it wasn’t entirely clear what the market for Carlos Ruiz was going to look like. He’s headed into his age-35 season, coming off his worst offensive year since 2008, and served a 25 game suspension for failing a drug test (for using amphetamines, specifically Adderall) last year. However, Ruiz proved to be a popular early market target for many teams, and after a week or two of a mini-bidding war, the Phillies have re-signed Ruiz to a three year, $26 million contract, a bit more than the FanGraphs Crowd’s 2/$17M forecast.
Because the Phillies have a long history of overpaying for aging players, the easy narrative is that Ruben Amaro strikes again. He just guaranteed Ruiz $8.5 million for his age-37 season, and the list of catchers who have been productive at that point in their careers is very small indeed. This deal, like almost every other contract signed by the Phillies in recent years, is unlikely to end well.
However, I will continue to point out that we should not evaluate a free agent contract by how it looks in the last year of the contract. Free agents on multi-year deals often take less money in AAV than they are worth for the beginning of the contract in exchange for being overpaid at the back end. This is entirely normal, and nearly every free agent contract is going to work the same way: value up front, albatross at the end. We cannot simply state that the Ruiz signing is a poor one for the Phillies because Ruiz will be overpaid at the end of the deal.
And while Ruiz is an aging catcher coming off a poor season, I think it would be useful to keep the lessons of Russell Martin in mind when talking about this deal for Ruiz, and perhaps hold off on the easy shots at Amaro for re-signing yet another old guy, since this old guy might still be a good player.
A year ago, the Yankees basically told Russell Martin to go away. They refused to offer him even a two year contract at this same salary range, and he eventually signed with the Pirates for $17 million over two years, a deal that was roundly criticized by many as a waste of money for an aging catcher whose offensive skills were in serious decline. Martin, however, was a revelation for the Pirates, combining league average offense with elite defense, providing a huge upgrade behind the plate and helping Pittsburgh win one of the two NL Wild Card spots. In retrospect, $8.5 million per year for Martin on a two year commitment was perhaps the very best free agent value any team signed last winter.
Ruiz is significantly older than Russell Martin was a year ago, but the skillsets are actually pretty similar. For his career, Ruiz has a 105 wRC+, and Steamer projects him for a 109 wRC+ in 2014, thanks to his monster 2012 season still holding a decent amount of predictive weight. He’s also considered an above average defensive catcher, though probably not quite as good as Martin if you include the pitch framing estimates. Over the short term, Ruiz projects for a little more offense and a little less defense than Martin, but the overall package is roughly about as valuable. For comparison, Steamer projects Martin as a +3.1 WAR player in 2014, while Ruiz checks in at +3.0.
You don’t have to think Steamer is the absolute gospel truth to see Ruiz as an above average Major League catcher right now. If you were trying to win in 2014, the list of catchers you might prefer would include Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, Brian McCann, Salvador Perez, Miguel Montero, A.J. Ellis, and perhaps Jason Castro. After those seven, you’ve got a big group of guys that include Matt Wieters, Carlos Santana, Jonathan Lucroy, Alex Avila, and Wilson Ramos, along with Martin and Ruiz. I’d suggest that those 15 are probably the top half of Major League catchers in baseball right now, in some order. You could make a case for Ruiz as high as 10 or as low as 15, probably, but he’s clearly in the mix of solid regulars who are better than what most teams have at the position.
Even if you think Ruiz is more of a +2 WAR player than a +3 WAR player, 3/26 for an average regular is still not a deal worth making fun of. That’s what Jeremy Guthrie and Cody Ross got last winter. If we think the price of a win is probably going to be around $6 million this winter, then the Phillies are paying for roughly +4 WAR over the next three years. Even if you apply the most aggressively negative 2014 projection to Ruiz you could reasonably defend — I’d say +2 WAR would be that floor — then you’d still come out with about a +4 WAR projection over the life of the three years even with regression for aging built in. If you start Ruiz closer to the +3 WAR that Steamer projects, then you’re looking at something like +6 WAR over the next three years, or about $4.5 million per win.
Perhaps if Ruiz had a reputation as a terrible defender, or the pitch framing estimates suggested that he was hurting his team in ways that we aren’t currently capturing with the projections, there could be an argument that this is some kind of ridiculous overpay. But the evidence at hand simply doesn’t support that reaction, just like it didn’t support that reaction with Russell Martin last year. Catchers who hit a little bit and hold their own behind the plate are very valuable, and $8.5 million per year just isn’t that much money for a good every day player anymore.
The Phillies are trying to win in 2014, whether you think that they should be or not. Carlos Ruiz is a good player who will help them win more games next year than they would if they had let him go, and they almost certainly could not have replaced his production with the $26 million they spent to keep him. It’s one thing to argue that the Phillies should be rebuilding, but that ship has long since sailed, so given that they are in win-now mode, they should not be criticized for making good moves that help them win at reasonable prices. To think this is an unreasonable price, you have to think that Ruiz is far less than what both his track record and the projections suggest. I don’t know why we should think that.
Just as we shouldn’t buy into the narratives pitched by Wins and RBIs, we shouldn’t buy into the narrative that every deal signed by Ruben Amaro is a bad one, or that every contract for a catcher on the wrong side of 30 is a mistake. There’s nothing wrong with 3/26 for Carlos Ruiz. He’s a good player. He has some risks, sure, and he might age poorly, but for 3/26, the Phillies aren’t paying him like he’s a risk-free superstar. At this price, they just need him to be average for the next couple of years. That’s a very reasonable expectation.Blooms, or proliferation, of jellyfish have shown a substantial, visible impact on coastal populations –– clogged nets for fishermen, stinging waters for tourists, even choked intake lines for power plants –– and recent media reports have created a perception that the world's oceans are experiencing increases in jellyfish due to human activities such as global warming and overharvesting of fish.
Now, a new global and collaborative study conducted at UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) questions claims that jellyfish are increasing worldwide and suggests claims are not supported with any hard evidence or scientific analyses to date.
The results of the study, led by Rob Condon, marine scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) in Alabama, appear in the latest issue of the journal BioScience. Condon's co-authors are comprised of experts from the Global Jellyfish Group, a consortium of approximately 30 experts on gelatinous organisms, climatology, oceanography, and socioeconomics from around the globe, and include co-principal investigators Carlos Duarte of the University of Western Australia's Oceans Institute and the Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados in Spain, and Monty Graham of the University of Southern Mississippi.
"Clearly, there are areas where jellyfish have increased –– the situation with the Giant Jellyfish in Japan is a classic example," says Condon. "But there are also areas where jellyfish have decreased, or fluctuate over the decadal periods." Condon says understanding the long-term rather than short-term data is the key to solving the question about jellyfish blooms.
Increased speculation and discrepancies about current and future jellyfish blooms by the media and in climate and science reports formed the motivation for the study. "There are major consequences for getting the answer correct for tourism, fisheries and management decisions as they relate to climate change and changing ocean environments," says Duarte.
"The important aspect about our synthesis is that we will be able to support the current paradigm with hard scientific data rather than speculation."
The study highlights the centerpiece of their research collaboration with NCEAS –– the formation of a global database called the Jellyfish Database Initiative (JEDI) –– a community-based database project that is being used in the global analysis and to test the worthiness of the current paradigm. The database consists of over 500,000 data points about global jellyfish populations collected from as early as 1790, and will serve as a future repository for datasets so that the issue of jellyfish blooms can be continually monitored in the future.
By analyzing JEDI, the group will be able to assess key aspects behind the paradigm, including whether current jellyfish blooms are caused by human-made actions or whether we are simply more aware of them due to their impact on human activities, such as over-harvesting of fish and increased tourism. "This is the first time an undertaking of this size on the global scale has been attempted, but it is important to know whether jellyfish blooms are human-induced or arise from natural circumstances," says Condon. "The more we know, the better we can manage oceanic ecosystems or respond accurately to future effects of climate change.
"The scientific data exists to answer this question, but it is fragmented in analysis," says Condon.
The global analyses using JEDI are currently under way with an anticipated finish date of spring 2012.
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
BioScienceThis beautiful piece of land stretches for over a million acres of land across the southern edge of the state. Its ancient cliff dwellings, ceremonial sites, abundant rock art, countless cultural artifacts, winding creek beds, and expanses of desert land, contain the great history of my nation.
There was a time when our nations, American and Navajo, were at war with each other — when the U.S. Cavalry forcibly rounded up Navajo men, women, and children, and marched them at gunpoint to a foreign land hundreds of miles away. During this time, some of my Navajo ancestors successfully hid at a sacred place of prayer, shelter, and fortitude: the Bears Ears area of Utah.
I am very proud to be both Navajo and American. As the President of the Navajo Nation, I’ve dedicated my life to ensuring that, as a Najavo, my story — and our stories — are part of our collective American history. Today, I want share one of those stories with you.
This place served to protect my family then, just as it has protected many Native American people throughout the years.
Today, President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation to protect this land as a national monument for future generations of Navajo people and for all Americans. Thanks to his action, this land will be finally given the legal reverence and protection it deserves.
This action reflects the President’s profound record on conservation: He has done more than any other president in history to set aside more land and water for the future.
But it is also in accordance with his actions to elevate the voices of Native people. Five sovereign tribal nations petitioned to have this irreplaceable land conserved.
Bears Ears National Monument is sacred not only to the Dinépeople, but also our Hopi, Ute, and Zuni neighbors. These tribes came together in an unprecedented show of unity to conserve these lands for future generations of all Americans. This intertribal coalition also pushed for a new standard for national monuments and tribal involvement.
Thankfully, President Obama and his team listened to our sovereign nations.
With this step to protect and conserve these irreplaceable lands, he has set a new precedent for national monument tribal collaborative management. And he has strengthened the relationship between our Navajo and American nations.
As both Navajo and American, I am proud our President listened to a sovereign appeal and acted to preserve our sacred land for future generations.
Thank you for listening,
Russell Begaye
President, Navajo NationTestosterone is the male sex hormone involved in sex differentiation, libido and erectile function. It’s also known to play a role in metabolism and influence obesity, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders. But how testosterone participates in various metabolic pathways is not clear. In a paper just published in the Journal of Lipid Research, investigators demonstrate that the effects of testosterone on metabolism may be altered by the low density lipoprotein receptor, a critical protein for the transport of lipid-modified proteins and the regulation of blood cholesterol levels.
The study is important, says lead author Kyriakos Kypreos at University of Patras Medical School in Greece, because it reveals “a novel role of the LDL receptor as a switch for processes associated with testosterone-induced metabolic alterations, such as body weight and body fat content, energy metabolism, and glucose tolerance.” Based on this finding, Kypreos adds that scientists can now focus on drugs to treat metabolic disorders that modulate the number of functional LDL receptors on cells.
Kypreos and colleagues have a longstanding interest in metabolic disorders in which testosterone is involved. Testosterone deficiency in men, called hypogonadism, is considered a primary risk factor for a number of disorders. These disorders include obesity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, a condition where LDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol levels in blood are raised.
Kypreos says he and his colleagues came across research that suggested that the LDL receptor was an important receptor in diet-induced obesity. There is also research that shows that mutations in LDL receptor cause coronary heart disease and dyslipidemia.
Putting it all together, Kypreos and colleagues decided to investigate the potential involvement of the LDL receptor superfamily in the metabolic actions of testosterone. The investigators used genetically engineered male mice that were missing the LDL receptor. They surgically castrated these mice to see how low testosterone levels and a lack of LDL receptor affected metabolism. They feed the mice a high-fat diet “to mimic the human situation where obesity develops as a result of disruption of homeostasis between food intake and energy expenditure,” explains Kypreos.
The investigators discovered that the LDL receptor “is a main switch of testosterone actions on body metabolism,” says Kypreos. The receptor helps testosterone trigger those pathways involved in maintaining blood sugar and triglyceride levels. The investigators’ data also suggest that the receptor affects how testosterone activates fat burning in white adipose tissue. Kypreos says one of the group’s aims now is to search for “molecular targets for new pharmaceuticals that will promote fat burning through thermogenesis as a treatment of obesity and obesity-related complications.”Tenacious D: The Greatest Band on Earth, or sometimes called The Adventures of Tenacious D, is a TV series that ran on HBO in 1997, 1999 and 2000. It featured the fictional accounts of the real band Tenacious D, which is composed of members Jack Black and Kyle Gass. All of the episodes of the show are available on Tenacious D's The Complete Masterworks DVD.[1][2][3][4][5]
There were three half-hour episodes total in the season, each containing two segments. The show included many songs that would later be rerecorded for the band's studio albums Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny.[6]
Synopsis [ edit ]
The series follows the exploits of JB and KG, the two halves of Tenacious D., the self-proclaimed "greatest band on earth." Their music is heavy on power chords and lyrics about sex, Satan, and why they are "the greatest band on Earth."
Dispute with HBO [ edit ]
According to Kyle Gass, HBO offered Tenacious D a deal to make ten episodes, but in doing so, they would have to relinquish their role as executive producers.[7] Gass and Jack Black decided to make a movie instead of giving HBO creative control of Tenacious D, and they made the Pick of Destiny.[7]
Episodes [ edit ]
No. Title Directed by Original air date 1.1 "The Search for Inspirado" Tom Gianas November 28, 1997 ( ) After a successful gig at the open-mic night, host Paul F. Tompkins asks Tenacious D to perform a new song. The band searches for "inspirado", but ends up with nothing. The pressure of this leads to the band's break-up. The band's break-up becomes the inspiration for the new song. Songs Played: "History" (released on the Pick of Destiny album)
album) "Kyle Quit the Band" (released on the album Tenacious D, alternative version released on the EP D Fun Pak) 1.2 "Angel in Disguise" Tom Gianas November 28, 1997 ( ) Jack falls in love with a girl named Flarna, and confesses his love for her to Kyle. Kyle is then seen clogging with Flarna, and Jack employs karate on him. During their struggle, Flarna is taken away by an armed robber who shoots at Jack, but Kyle dives in front of the bullet. Kyle is seen lying motionless. As Jack sings of his loss, Kyle reappears, and in song attributes his survival to an over sized friendship medallion Jack had given him. Songs Played: "The Sex Song/Sex Supreme" (released on the album Tenacious D as "Double Team")
as "Double Team") "You Broke the Rules" (released on the album Tenacious D as "Karate")
as "Karate") "Kyle Took a Bullet" 2.1 "Death of a Dream" Tom Gianas November 27, 1999 ( ) After another open-mic night, the band announces a T-shirt signing. When nobody shows up for the autograph session, the pair have a chance to talk to the store owner, Captain Ed, played by Ernest M. Garcia,[8] who convinces the duo that believing they could be rock stars is like believing in Sasquatch. The band almost gives up on their dream, but are saved when they discover that Sasquatch does exist. Songs Played: "Cosmic Shame"
"Kielbasa" (released on the album Tenacious D )
) "Sasquatch" 2.2 "The Greatest Song in the World" Troy Miller November 27, 1999 ( ) A writer (actor Scott Adsit) moves into the apartment next to the D's, and when the D commences their pre-show rituals, their new neighbor gets extremely bothered. He calls the police, and the D then sing their song "Tribute", to explain their side of the story. Songs Played: "Tribute" (revised version released on the album Tenacious D) 3.1 "The Fan" Tom Gianas March 15, 2000 ( ) After playing open mic night, JB foolishly throws his clear pick into the crowd and can no longer continue the show without it. After the show, Lee (actor JR Reed), gives them the pick and divulges the information of his Fan site. The D immediately check it out, and become stalkers of Lee. They break into his house, and sing a song for him, titled "Lee", and then by the end of the episode, they are all friends again, and together they sing the song "Special Thing" at open mic night. Songs Played: "Explosivo" (released on the album Tenacious D, alternative version released on the EP D Fun Pak ))
, alternative version released on the EP )) "Lee" (revised version released on the album Tenacious D )
) "Special Things" 3.2 "Road Gig" Tom Gianas March 15, 2000 ( ) The open-mic night host, Paul F. Tompkins, informs the D that his brother needs a few open mic night bands to play at his new club. He invites the D to go, and the D is set to go on their road gig (although the club is down the road). On the way to the gig, a bug is hit by the car's windshield, and there is no wiper fluid. Searching for a place to get a refill of washer fluid, the band comes across Jesus Ranch, a ranch at which a cult is living. Since the cult's philosophy is that whenever you produce feces, you part with a part of your soul, everyone at the ranch buries their "shits" as JB puts it. Because of this, the health department comes to the ranch and demands everyone evacuate immediately. The members of the cult are ready for a standoff, so the D are forced to stay. The health department employees decide to play loud music, so the D have a battle of the bands. They win, and make it to the road gig. Songs Played: "Warning"
"The Road" - first half in the episode, second half during credits (released on the album Tenacious D )
) "History" (released on the Pick of Destiny album)
album) "Jesus Ranch" (demo version released on the EP D Fun Pak)Looking into the eyes of someone you love and not recognizing or understanding them anymore is startling. The first few times you may miss it and let it go–angry or confused–but it is still there, regardless of your recognition. They become like one of those children’s toys that rotates to show you another face with a different expression. Once you see the signs and glimmers of mental illness in someone you are close to, you can’t unsee or forget it even when the person you know returns. Not that you ever should forget, of course.
My earliest memories were of us in the eaves of the house, my brother David and I. We shared a room; he was sweet and naive, I was impetuous and curious. While he was older, I had to frequently be called out for abusing his kind, giving nature with my controlling, bossy tendencies. Looking back, this makes perfect sense, but at least I had a partner in all of the trouble I was causing!
Things began to change as David entered his teens. I was younger and often did not realize what was happening when he came home from school feeling dejected and unwelcomed. While not exactly popular myself, I was one to respond more aggressively in the face of my troubles, than to be downtrodden by them as David was. David struggled to find a place to fit in, a place he felt that was worthy of himself and as he came to express his feelings at home and to me, he was angry that he was not accepted when others were. Amidst his expressions of sadness, however, there was something else–a tinge of something unfamiliar to me. Later on, as I saw it more, I came to recognize it as flares of irrational paranoia. He felt that all the prettiest, most popular girls should want to date him and that his company should be desired above others. The sweet brother I had known started showed a side that rarely saw the sun and it was frightening.
I was too uninformed, immature, self-involved, and ill-equipped to see how I should change my behaviors to help David. Instead, I made things worse. I teased him and together my sister and I would give him nonsensical nicknames and then refuse to explain to him why he got them. He would stew on it for days. Eventually I would find him waiting for me in the annals of the house, hidden. He’d tackle me and, with an unfamiliar wildness in his eyes, accuse me of saying that he was gay. He’d never really hurt me, but the intensity of this confrontation rattled me. My parents, eternally otherwise occupied, turned a blind eye and said I was stirring up trouble, which I was. The true issue, other than my idiotic behavior, was missed.
David had an unpleasant high school experience and more and more turned to religious devotion to find his answers and counsel. I never invested heavily in religion and the intensity of his religiosity drove an even greater wedge between us. He regularly called me out on my light attitude and perceived impiety and I pushed him away as stodgy and fanatical. After high school, he waffled about for a year or two, whilst still living with my parents. He seized upon direction and moved to Michigan to join a conservative, Calvinist, Christian seminary on his own. My parents supported his decision on the surface, at least, and my mother attempted to write down every possible instruction and domestic process possible to shore up his lack of domesticity. My brother arranged to live with some other young men who were interested in religious life as well. News was slim from David in Michigan. He called each week, though we rarely talked. We had grown so different and he seemed to have little interests in small talk or talk of any kind beyond discussion of weighty theological matters and I did not much care for those matters.
I came home from my job one weekday evening to find my oldest brother, Michael, and his wife, Shelly, sitting on our couch with my mother, while my father nervously milled about. The anxiety in the room was palpable. I asked what was wrong and no one wanted to speak. I persisted with my questioning. No one wanted to be the first to speak to me but instead carried on their conversation as though I had not entered. Someone announced that Shelly’s plane ticket had been purchased. My mother thanked Shelly and tried to brush the action off as not being a big deal. The dates were selected and David would need to be talked to because he was unwilling to leave. Shelly would gather his possessions into his car and drive him back to the Rectangle States. I pressed and pressed for details until someone finally shared. My parents had received a call from a friend in the seminary David was attending and they had expressed concerns about my brother’s mental health. A friendly suggestion was made that he be retrieved, a suggestion that was doubtless due to become a request and then a requirement if we did not act. Shelly had a free schedule and my parents wanted to keep the news as closed as possible. I did not need to be told that this was serious and the family mantra “Don’t tell anyone anything” was unspoken but understood.
They returned a week later. Shelly was exhausted and disappeared from family life for a few weeks. Stories were finally shared. David had become isolated in Michigan and in his isolation came to radicalize and began to believe that certain Biblical passages were referring to him specifically. He had ceased to pay the bills for his apartment and had been living without power, water or telephone for weeks. Shelly arrived to a scene she rife with vermin and grime. She saved time by throwing away his clothes, rather than trying to salvage them from the stains. Perhaps most damaging, David had acted oddly and behaved poorly in the public sphere when my parents were unable to curtail him. We were not to talk of any of these things openly, to anyone.
Within a few days of returning, I asked David to come to lunch with me. I was in college myself and had encountered enough information to recognize mental illness, even if I did not know names and diagnoses. By this point we were far from the level of closeness we had had as children. David attempted to shift the conversation to more of his Biblical critique of my life but I doggedly drove it back to his activities in Michigan and how I was concern that we would have another episode unless he was connected with professional help. David insisted all the care he needed was found in the Bible and that he could overcome any issues with the help of a minister. I was dumb-founded and incredulous and stubbornly refused to accept that as sufficient. This was one of the last times David and I spent time one on one. I had become more and more enamored with the discovery of my own sexual identity and seeing more of the world. He became increasingly deeper wrapped in his religious texts and internal searches. I remember nights before I moved out, when he would wake in the middle of the night to tell me he knew he was going to hell when he died. He would be visibly shaken and the earnestness of his concern was obvious. His devotion left him terrified. One night it was so bad that he woke up my parents, then nearing their 60’s, to draw them into his concerns. He would go up to their room in the small hours of night, tomes in hand, frantic and frightened. Confused and frustrated, I would continue attempting to sleep.
In time, I forgot the David with whom I grew up. The sweet, naive boy turned into a confusing and often intense man. I thought perhaps some of his issues had waned when I came out, but I was the naive one there. I received multiple emails from him, each without opening or closing that were brimming with hostility and religious fervor. They were difficult to read, as much for the obvious rage as the garbled, confusing syntax and lack of continuity. I attempted contact only to sporadically receive a glut of confusing messages every so often. I eventually gave up and simply deleted them without reading. Years later, I asked my sister how he was doing and whether “he was in care,” as we say in the industry. She said that the family had agreed he had mental troubles, but that he was autistic and that he did not need care. She said my parents were afraid he would live with them into adulthood and never really achieve independence. Later still, I hear he had actually met someone, a home schooled girl, and that they had married. I do not envy the struggle his wife and child must endure.
For years, I was angry at David. I did not understand exactly what was happening with him and I was frustrated at the person he had become; incorporating his zealotry in place of human interaction. |
pig it came from were not, in a sense, on its way towards being human; traditionally, a bride would not be accepted by the family she marries into unless she were similar enough to them to pass as a blood relative. In both cases, similarity provides a meaning-endowing semblance of identity.
Some years after Columbus met the Arawak, a new set of explorers began expanding the limits of Europe’s power by taking the territory of those notorious anthropophagi, the Mesoamerican people widely referred to as “Aztecs.” Just as their own God was losing prestige, some anthropologists and historians have argued, Europeans were themselves gaining prestige abroad as gods. Arens, who denies that the Mesoamericans, or anyone else for that matter, practiced anthropophagy as a part of their culture, also argues that the Aztecs were no dupes, and understood full well that Cortés was no god. Cortés and his men could not have been mistaken for gods by the Aztecs, since, Arens writes, “their human qualities were apparent enough from the first moment of contact with an Aztec provincial official, from whom Cortés demanded in all candor ‘some gold’ to show his good intentions.”
Two paragraphs later Arens tells us that it was the foreigners’ “interest in precious metal which made the most vivid impression on the natives.” He cites an anonymous native informant who describes the way the Spanish behave in the presence of gold: “Like monkeys they seized upon the gold. It was as if they were satisfied, sated, and gladdened. For in truth they thirsted mightily for gold; they stuffed themselves with it, and starved and lusted for it like pigs. And they went about moving the golden streamer back and forth, and showed it to one another, all the while babbling; and what they said was gibberish.”
One might reasonably ask: Well, which is it? Was the Spanish lust for gold perfectly transparent to the Mesoamericans, or was it incomprehensible? Does greed make one’s humanity “apparent enough” or is it a distinctly European idiosyncrasy that the Mesoamericans could only interpret on analogy to the business of monkeys and pigs? To ask these questions is not to make a knitpicking demand for consistency, but rather to approach the heart of the themes that have been occupying us since the beginning of this review. What in a stranger’s actions is transparent and what, in contrast, opens that stranger up to the projection of fantasies of otherness? Greed and cruelty are, one might think, both universal and easy to recognize, even in complete strangers. But there is no a priori reason why a god should not be greedy and seek to get as much gold as he can, even if this stretches our usual understanding of the concept of God. There is similarly no reason why a person should have to be exceptionally cruel to participate in an anthropophagous feast. There is already something inherently cruel about the slaughter of animals, but this inherent cruelty does not and cannot allow an exceptional portion of cruelty to everyone who benefits from the slaughter.
So Cortés may have been met as a god by a nation of man-eaters, but this does not in itself make Cortés impressive, nor the Mesoamericans savage. What would make Cortés’s apotheosis impressive is if, for the Mesoamericans, by definition ‘gods are great.’ I do not know whether they in fact held this. What would in turn make an instance of Mesoamerican cannibalism exceptionally savage is if it were executed outside of the ordinary, rule-governed practice of human ritual sacrifice and consumption. But the Aztecs were not a multitude of Vincent Lis. They were a civilization.
The early modern fantasy of cannibal savages in the New World was of groups of people who lived by no law, as animals: hence the constant coupling of cannibalism and incest in the European imagination. There is, to be sure, something asocial, lawless, and ‘animal’ about a certain kind of cannibalism, namely, the kind that is deviant relative to the culture of the cannibal. This much is clear from the figure of the cannibal in another, very different Native American culture: the Cree of Canada and the Northern US. For them, the ultimate form of asociality is a condition diagnosed these days as “Windigo psychosis,” the apparent transformation of an individual into a mythological creature, whose primary distinguishing trait is that his lips have been eaten away and his teeth are left exposed in a skeletal smile. The Windigo is the sorry soul who has become so detached from the social world that he will eat anything—including himself.
One might suppose that with their figure of the cannibal, early modern European thinkers did not go far enough in imagining what life would be like for those who live under no law. If there were truly no law, we would all be gnawing our own lips off. Life would be far too nasty, poor, brutish, and short to afford the time to even think about appointing a sovereign. But the Europeans’ cannibal served his purpose, just as the much more fearsome one imagined by the Cree serves his: as a mirror that reflects society by showing it in the negative. Even if Avramescu’s affectionate revival of the figure of the cannibal is not a project of its time, his work reminds us nonetheless of the treasures to be found along the via negativa through the history of political philosophy.
If you like this article, please subscribe to n+1.A black, glossy sign hangs on the wall outside of Sean Marks’s office at the Brooklyn Nets’ two-year-old practice facility on 39th Street in Brooklyn. An intricately designed maze, like the one in Westworld, lies in the middle. A light-blue line maps the correct path in and out of the puzzle. Above it, in white lettering, there’s text that reads, “There are no shortcuts.” Underneath, it reads, “Strategic thinking wins.”
“Strangely enough, I stole that from an airplane magazine and I had them design it the way I wanted,” says Marks with a laugh, now almost two years into his role as Nets general manager. “But it’s true. There’s not gonna be shortcuts along the way. We just got to do things that hopefully lead to something sustainable.”
Marks knows a thing or two about sustainability. After 11 seasons as an NBA reserve (and a stint playing in Poland), Marks spent five years on the Spurs’ staff, first in the front office, then as an assistant coach on Gregg Popovich’s bench, and finally as assistant general manager to R.C. Buford. He won two titles with San Antonio along the way—in 2005 as a player, and nearly a decade later as an assistant coach. In February 2016, Marks traded in a top position with the Spurs, one of the most meticulously crafted team cultures in the league, for the Nets, a … team.
The hiring of Marks—at the time 40 years old and in the early stages of his post-playing career—to clean up one of the biggest messes in sports history certainly raised some eyebrows. (Marks himself was “wrestling” with the decision, according to reports at the time.) But where others saw disaster, Marks saw opportunity. The Nets, despite not controlling their own first-round pick until 2019, were a blank canvas. And the unique problem required more than a paint-by-numbers approach. “We’ve got to break the mold and at least be as creative as we can without living outside of the box,” Marks says.
Joseph Tsai, cofounder and executive vice chairman of Alibaba, bought a 49 percent stake in the Nets from Mikhail Prokhorov in October and will likely take over full control in four years. But Marks’s path forward remains the same; indeed, Tsai reportedly “expressed enthusiasm” over the direction of the franchise.
“It’s like being with a startup; we’re in more of a search mode,” says Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. “We’re not the Spurs; they’re in a ‘we know’ mode. We’re searching. We’re very curious. We have a curious staff, diverse staff.
“We’re trying shit out.”
Gregg Popovich is one of the most revered coaches in the game. Marks says that the Spurs patriarch, who is now 68 years old, would sometimes get in line alongside his players and run sprints with them. “Sweat equity,” is how Marks describes it. “The players see that and go, ‘Hey, man, he’s in the foxhole with us,’” says Marks, who played under Pop in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Atkinson takes the approach to another level. Many NBA coaches will outline, in meticulous detail, how to run a play; Atkinson will literally get in the play and show you. The Nets coach is also known to sit in the weight and locker rooms with players as they go about their routines. “I want to be in their skin,” he says. “I hate sitting in my office.”
Atkinson, now in his second season as head coach in Brooklyn, is a grinder. He played professionally for 14 years, mostly overseas, before pivoting to the management side, first in Paris, then with the NBA’s Rockets, Knicks, and Hawks (under another Spurs alumnus, Mike Budenholzer). The 50-year-old calls himself “kind of a jock,” and his youthful passion is evident when discussing the game. You can see the intensity in his eyes and hear it in his voice—his tempo and timbre change when discussing nitty-gritty hoops topics. Atkinson is just as likely to cuss as he is to go the extra mile to help a player. “You can just tell how passionate he is about the game,” Nets wing Allen Crabbe tells me. “He just has that relationship. He has that demeanor. He’s an easy guy to talk to, he’s an easy guy to get along with, and I think guys look at him as more than just a coach.”
The hands-on approach has become a major asset, especially for a team that has nearly three times as many losses as wins in Atkinson’s tenure. Marks says a player is likely to go further out of his comfort zone or be more open with a coach or executive when he feels like they’re all working toward something together. Atkinson certainly seems to have earned that level of trust from his players. “I’ll dive on the floor for that guy,” Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson says. “I’ll take a charge for that guy. That’s the type of respect he’s gained from us.”
Atkinson says he views the coach-player relationship more as a collaboration. The coaching staff might be able to help a player fix his footwork, while a player can help a coach who hasn’t held the head position very long work his way through some potential missteps. “Ultimately, as a staff, we have to make decisions that aren’t easy, but I think [players] have a voice in the process where they feel we’re together with them in the process,” Atkinson says. “Also I think they recognize there’s a humility. I think they understand this guy is not Rick Carlisle; he doesn't have a championship and 20 years. This guy is still learning. And I think they feel that.”
Point guard D’Angelo Russell, in his first season in Brooklyn, tells me, “There’s no ladder ranking who’s more important than anyone else. They take great pride in making everybody feel like that number-one [player]. It may sound cliché to say, but it’s the truth.”
When discussing how he manages his relationships with players, Atkinson paused, noting that he felt bad that he hadn’t sat down with Sean Kilpatrick (who has since been waived) for two or three days. “He just opened up a juice bar in Westchester [New York] and I haven’t even asked about that,” Atkinson lamented.
Player development has always been Atkinson’s strength, but Nets forward DeMarre Carroll, who spent time with Atkinson in Atlanta, says the coach has “grown tremendously” as a game manager. “Now he’s in the office drawing X’s and O’s on the board,” Carroll says.
Some of the designs being drawn up might be familiar to Carroll. Atkinson is installing a motion-based system that draws elements from his time under Rick Adelman, Mike D’Antoni, and Mike Budenholzer. “It’s a blend,” Atkinson says. “They’re three excellent systems with three excellent offensive minds, and I think pretty liberal minds. They weren’t conventional.”
The Nets play a relatively positionless brand of basketball, with read-and-react elements used by Adelman and Budenholzer, particularly the “motion strong” offense Budenholzer took from San Antonio to Atlanta. This style has supercharged Hollis-Jefferson, the team’s Swiss army knife who, in his third season, is also the longest-tenured player. Atkinson has Hollis-Jefferson bring the ball up, run the pick-and-roll, post up, and defend every position. When I asked about Hollis-Jefferson’s role, Atkinson chuckled. “I have no idea what his position is,” he says.
That’s OK, because unpredictability is the goal of a motion offense. The ball swings from one side of the court to the other before the play even takes shape. The initial ball reversal causes defenses to shift, and any time a defense is moving, weaknesses can open up that can be exploited with a pick-and-roll, dribble handoff, or another play.
Here, the Nets run their motion strong, swinging the ball from one side to the other, but this time Crabbe sprints through stagger screens set by Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert, resulting in an open 3 at the top of the key. If it looks like the type of play the Hawks once ran for Kyle Korver, it’s because it is. Crabbe isn’t on Korver’s level as a sharpshooter, but the Nets are trying to ease him into that role.
There are other options on the play aside from having Crabbe launch from 3. In this example, Crabbe drives and Hollis-Jefferson rolls for the layup.
Atkinson crosses his motion system with D’Antoni’s philosophy of fast pacing, lots of pick-and-roll, and shooting. The Nets rank near the top of the league in pace and just about league average in time of possession, while attempting the third-highest frequency of 3-point attempts. Atkinson’s first NBA experience came in 2007, when he was hired as the Rockets’ director of player development. Atkinson says now that his time under Daryl Morey and Sam Hinkie “opened my eyes up” to the world of analytics. “Now we argue about it; the debates are intensive. But at the end of the day, I really believe in it. I trust it,” Atkinson says. “It’s shaped my coaching philosophy.”
The Rockets are currently breaking the NBA by launching 43.2 3-pointers per game, and it seems Atkinson would like to close the gap. The Nets currently take 34 a game, second most in the league, but Atkinson says his “perfect number” would be 40. For now, Brooklyn is happy with its strong shot profile, which also includes the second-fewest long midrange jumpers (behind the Rockets again), per Cleaning the Glass. But overall, the Nets rank just 21st in offensive rating. To be better, they need their starting point guard.
Without the high draft picks that come as a reward for three straight losing seasons, the Nets have had to get creative with how they acquire top-level talent. So while their own no. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft went to Boston (and later Philadelphia), the Nets had to settle for trading for the no. 2 overall pick from 2015.
The Nets sent pick no. 27 this year (Kyle Kuzma) and Brook Lopez to the Lakers for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov’s albatross contract. And while Russell came with a lot of baggage after two up-and-down seasons (under two different head coaches) with the Lakers, he had shown progress in Atkinson’s hybrid system before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in mid-November. Russell, who is out indefinitely, posted career highs in points (20.9), shots per game (17.1), and effective field goal percentage (50.7).
At 6-foot-5, Russell has the height to make passes that shorter guards can’t, as evidenced by these two lasers to Joe Harris. The next step is to improve his decision-making, take fewer risks, and adjust to the NBA’s speed and physicality. Russell tells me he’s learning how to play with pace through his on-court experience and film sessions with Atkinson, video coordinator Nate Babcock, and assistant coach Jacque Vaughn. “Russell is go, go, go. We want go, go, pause,” Atkinson says. “Mike D'Antoni used to say basketball is a rhythm; you can't go a thousand miles an hour. … We need him to change gears."
Russell says that Atkinson wants him shooting more 3s and fewer pull-up 2s, and that they’ve shown him analytics to underline the value of such a move. The upside is still there with Russell—we’ve witnessed multiple ice-water-in-his-veins moments over his young career. But the 21-year-old is still shooting only 32.3 percent on pull-up 3s for his career. To open up the rest of the floor for his dribble-drive game, he’ll need to shoot it better.
Perhaps more importantly, Russell needs to start playing defense. “It’s something that D'Angelo knows can get better. He's making strides,” Marks says. “To [play point guard], you're going to have to have some leadership qualities there. We're trying to assist him with those. Leadership isn't something that's just given to you. You've gotta earn it.”
To that end, Carroll has been invaluable for Atkinson. The 31-year-old, who was also traded to the Nets this past offseason (along with first- and second-round picks from Toronto to swallow the remaining $30 million on his deal), operates as a “middleman,” as Carroll puts it, between the coaching staff and the players. Carroll’s past experiences as a journeyman—clawing his way into the league, and then into a critical role for a 60-win Hawks team, and then into a $58 million contract—resonate with a team of outcasts looking for a chance in the league. “He's kind of like a guy that's bought himself up from nothing so these guys can identify with him,” Atkinson says. “He gives authentic leadership.”
Whether it’s Carroll’s influence or something else, Marks seemed encouraged by Russell’s personal growth, pointing to what happened after a win in Portland on November 10 as proof. “D'Angelo had a terrific game, really won the game for us in Portland, and then in the postgame interview he immediately deferred to DeMarre,” Marks says. “Just to see that level of humility and also a little maturity. Those things are important.”
Russell isn’t the only flier Brooklyn has taken under Marks’s watch. Entering this season, the Nets had six other young, high-upside players whom they signed as free agents, traded into the draft to acquire, or outright traded for: Crabbe, Hollis-Jefferson, LeVert, Harris, Isaiah Whitehead, and Spencer Dinwiddie. In December, they added two more, trading for Sixers castaways Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas, the no. 3 pick in 2015 and no. 8 pick in 2014, respectively.
Their goal in doing so is simple: With increased opportunities, maybe they can develop a difference-maker from within like Atlanta did with Carroll just four years ago. Dinwiddie, more than any other Nets retread, has already shown signs of becoming an impact player.
After being drafted 38th overall in 2014 by Detroit, Dinwiddie was assigned to the D-League, traded to the Bulls, and then waived. He was back at the developmental level before the Nets signed him last December. The move was scrutinized at the time; Yogi Ferrell, the player Brooklyn released to make room, shined in his first season with the Mavericks.
But in Dinwiddie, the Nets saw a long, 6-foot-6 point guard who played with confidence and maturity beyond his years. Atkinson tells me the team had Dinwiddie first on their “get list,” and the 24-year-old began proving why they were so high on him before the 2017-18 season even started. Dinwiddie says he wanted to get into “impeccable shape,” while also improving his shooting range off the dribble and on spot-ups by using imaginary 4- and 5-point lines.
Dinwiddie, now starting in place of Russell, is shooting only 34.4 percent from 3. But after spending the summer pushing his game to its outer limits, Dinwiddie is doing the same in games by taking shots with a high degree of difficulty—ones that he otherwise might not be able to take in different situations. He’s done the same on the other end by defending multiple positions. “He's become a two-way player,” Atkinson says. “We're sticking him on Kyrie [Irving], and if there's a wing that's bothering [us], the assistants are like, 'Throw Spencer on him.' I'm like, 'Dinwiddie?'”
Necessity is the mother of invention, so this is what the Nets do at this stage of the rebuild: allow players the chance to be their best selves. Dinwiddie says he’s thankful for the opportunity. “Basketball is an art form. The NBA is its own dance. It's kind of a beautiful ballet out there, and if you never get to actually be in it, you just don't learn it,” he says. “Until you go through the situation on a consistent basis, you can't be expected to perform on a consistent basis.”
With Jeremy Lin out for the season, Caris LeVert, a nominal small forward, has become the de facto bench point guard. The role has allowed the 23-year-old to flash the sort of nifty handle and terrific vision that would have made him a lottery pick in 2016 had it not been for three foot injuries at Michigan.
As he adjusts to the speed of the game, LeVert has gotten better at improvising outside of set plays and calculating decisions within a split second against defenses. LeVert needs to improve his 3-point shooting (29.4 percent)—a trend across the roster—but he’s already developed nice chemistry with rookie center Jarrett Allen, the no. 22 overall pick in 2017.
Allen is a raw, 19-year-old center, and was widely considered by scouts as one of the premier athletes in the draft. “A big man that can move like that,” Marks says, his thought trailing off. “It's intriguing.”
The Nets run so much pick-and-roll, and play at such a fast pace, that it’s critical for their big men to set strong screens, finish at the rim, and run the floor. “They want me to be the fastest guy and the most athletic guy on the court,” Allen says. Atkinson says he doesn’t want to expect too much from Allen, but he sees the young center filling the role Clint Capela and Amar’e Stoudemire have for D’Antoni. “He's gonna be a threat at the rim,” Atkinson says. “We were all on the same page. Like Sean and I said, ‘This is the type of player we need for this system. He's a perfect fit.’”
Allen still has a long way to go, though. He needs to get stronger, learn how to read plays on defense, and expand his offensive game. Eventually, the Nets would like Allen to do what any of their other frontcourt players do: shoot 3s. Brook Lopez started shooting 3s last season. Mozgov, Tyler Zeller, and Quincy Acy frequently space to the line. Okafor was even spotted hoisting from the corners at a recent practice. Allen could take longer to develop (though he did drain his only corner 3 attempt of the season), but he’s putting in the work, as you can see at a recent practice:
Atkinson says the front office and coaching staff use analytics to guide their players through the developmental process. If they’re trying to get a big man to shoot more 3s, they’ll show the player his points per possession on a deep pull-up 2-pointer, and compare it to what it’d be as a spot-up 3-pointer. “We want to take high-value shots,” Atkinson says. “That's the goal of all coaches, pretty simplistic. I don't want to make it like we're reinventing the wheel here.”
For now, Allen’s primary focus is on improving his interior finishing and defense. With a 7-foot-5 wingspan and a wide frame, Allen will improve defensively as he fills out as the years pass. And the hope is that, through experience and coaching, his fundamentals and positioning will get better.
The Nets defense needs to get better than 22nd overall. But the team is executing how it wants to. The Nets force the most midrange field goals, while allowing a low frequency of layups and 3s. From a philosophical perspective, they’re doing exactly what they want. But a good process doesn’t always lead to good results. “It sucks sometimes,” Atkinson says. “You can be doing stuff analytically and you're getting killed.”
But the coaching staff trusts the data, and they make sure the players do too. Atkinson says that after seeing three low-efficiency floaters go in, the players’ impulses may lead them to an extreme overcorrection, like blitzing or trapping. “That's the immediate solution,” Atkinson says with a laugh. “It's our job to educate them. It's not easy.”
There is a pile of 40 to 60 books in four different stacks on a table in Marks’s office. In late November, I asked Marks if he had any favorites. Marks reached over and grabbed Legacy by James Kerr, which tells the story of the New Zealand national rugby team, known as the All Blacks, and the secrets to their unprecedented success.
The book discusses how to develop leaders and accountability, how to sustain success, the importance of character, and the search for knowledge. On Page 23, Kerr writes, “A winning organization is an environment of personal and professional development, in which each individual takes responsibility and shares ownership.” It echoed something Marks said earlier: “The only way we're gonna get better is if we're all inclusive. This is all together. And if there's one thing we preach here, it's collaboration.”
The Nets use Slack, a chat platform used in newsrooms and businesses, to share thoughts or articles. And their all-inclusive approach trickles down to the court. Allen says that when he struggled with a post move at a recent practice, the other Nets frontcourt players (i.e., his direct competition) were quick to offer some advice. “One person chimed in, then another person gave me another tip, and then someone else,” he says. Allen then smiled and imitated Mozgov’s deep voice and Russian accent, “He’s like, ‘You need to do this.’”
Things will get a lot easier for Brooklyn in the near future. The Nets will have at least two picks in the 20-45 range in the 2018 draft (the Raptors’ first and the less favorable of the Magic or Lakers’ second). In 2019, when high school graduates may once again become draft-eligible, the Nets will finally own their own first-round draft pick. As cap space becomes a tight squeeze for most organizations, they could have the room to become major players in the free-agent market.
Marks says they’ve thrown out dates internally regarding when the right time will be to go after an elite player. And the team, as it has since Marks arrived nearly two years ago, needs to stay fluid.
“You never know how different teams are evolving and what's going to happen,” Marks says. “A lot of it is knowing the temperature of the NBA landscape, making sure that you have flexibility.
“For us, it's patience.”by Paul Braterman
Is this book worthy of your time and attention? Yes. But this is not a book review, so much as a conversation with myself, triggered by reading it, and what follows is as much mine as his, especially as I have focused on those chapters that overlap my own concerns. There is no shortage of writings debunking creationism, or homoeopathy, or others covered here, beliefs that fly in the face of massive evidence, and yet this evidence has no effect at all on their believers. Why is this, Storr asks. What is going on? And what makes us think that we ourselves are so different?
Storr starts by telling us of his meeting with John Mackay, a Young Earth creationist, who was talking to an appreciative audience in a small town in Queensland. This seems to have been his first encounter with the full-blooded version of modern creationism, according to which evolution science and old Earth geology are fundamentally unsound, and the Bible is the infallible word of God. At the end of Genesis 1, God speaks of His work as being “very good”. “Very good” must mean no pain, and no death. It follows that tigers and tyrannosaurs coexisted happily with Adam and Eve in Eden, all of them adhering to strictly vegetarian diets, until the Fall went and spoiled everything. And “Tonight, the choice you have to face up to is this – do you put your faith in Darwin, who wasn't there? Or in God, who was?”
Mackay claims to be able to feel the presence of God. What turned him against evolution, he says, was a biology textbook he was reading as an adolescent, which followed its exposition of evolution with a chapter advocating atheism. Unfortunately, he does not tell us which textbook he was referring to, giving me no way of checking his perspective, although such a chapter would of course be completely out of place in a biology textbook.
Mackay's audience were universally sympathetic, a fact that Storr observed with bemusement that turned to dismay when, the following Sunday, Mackay mounted the pulpit to deliver a scathing attack on the wickedness of homosexuals and the compromising Churches who countenance their activities.
Mackay speaks proudly of debating with ordinary sane scientists or, as he would call them, evolutionists: “We frequently win public debates… They presume they will be fighting against theologians with no science degrees.” He himself has a degree in geology from Queensland, where he also took a class in genetics. As a teacher in a private school, he was able to promote creationism under the guise of “critical thinking”, comparing the claims of evolution and creationism as he saw them. He met up with Ken Ham, a kindred spirit, and together they set up the Creation Science Foundation. Mackay was forced out after some bitter infighting, and now directs a relatively small outfit known as Creation Research. The Creation Science Foundation, meantime, has turned into Answers in Genesis, a multi-million organisation based mainly in the US, famous for its Creation Museum and Ark Encounter Theme Park.
I have no doubt of Mackay's sincerity. His arguments against creationism will be depressingly familiar to anyone who has studied the subject. Didn't Darwin himself complain about the inadequacy of the fossil record? Why don't we ever observe intermediate species? What about polystrate fossils, tree trunks that project upwards through different geological layers, supposedly separated from them by huge banks of time?
“The first dinosaurs look like dinosaurs… The last ones look like dinosaurs too. So within that timeframe – even if you did put in a millions of years – they produce their own kind, just as Genesis says.”
Let me invite the reader to respond to Mackay's arguments, and to answer a question of my own: if your last common ancestor with a flatfish was 430 million years ago, how long ago, roughly, was the last common ancestor of a flatfish and a frog? (Answers at end)
Storr is in no doubt that Mackay is completely misguided. And yet, he says of Mackay and others pursuing the unreasonable,
“There is something noble about their bald defiance of the ordinary, something heroic about the deep outsider-territories that they wilfully inhabit… I feel a kind of kinship with them. I am drawn to the wrong.”
Storr gives us, later, more detail about his own past than I intend to divulge about mine, beyond saying that I too have explored strange places of the mind, and entertained bizarre beliefs.
Later Storr discusses Mackay with Nathan Lo, an Assistant Professor at the University of Sydney, who describes creationism as appealing because very easy to understand, unlike evolution which requires time and thought. Lo dismisses the leaders of the creationist movement as just in it for the money, prompting the kind of observation that makes this book so interesting:
“Nathan Lo and I… see ourselves as the rational ones, the clean-sighted bringers of 21st-century reason. And yet both of us, I have come to believe, are mistaken. We are wrong about the wrong.”
He joins a group who are taking part in a 10-day programme of extremely rigorous meditation. Halfway through, a woman participant starts screaming in distress, but he does nothing to go to her aid. Why not? Excessive obedience to authority. Later, he compares himself to participants in Stanley Milgram's famous electric shock experiment. Here, subjects were told that they were taking part in an experiment on the effects of punishment on learning, and believed that they were administering electric shocks to the learner, who was in the next room. The subjects obediently administered increasing shocks, even when the person in the next room (an actor) started screaming, and many went all the way up to levels of shock clearly labelled as lethal and not to be used. Then there was the strip-search scam, where a bogus policeman claims be investigating a reported theft, gives a vague description that the management applies to one of the waitresses, and that waitress is then told to strip naked and cavort, kiss the “policeman”, and even submit to spankings, in front of the manager, and her boyfriend acting as chaperone. And does what she is told, with neither manager nor boyfriend raising any questions. And this performance has been repeated in over 70 diners throughout the United States.
Excessive obedience, according to Storr, is but one of the many ways in which our brains differ from the standards of rational judgement that we naïvely believe ourselves to be applying. Notice that I said “differ from”, not “fall short of”. We are evolved animals, and the brain has more investment (if I may so put it) in seeing us survive and prosper in our societies, than in making us aware of objective truth. We are influenced by others, and if enough of our neighbours say so, we will actually come to see one line as being longer than another, even when our eyes plainly tell us that it is not.[1]
That's the least of it. Storr finds himself forced to confront a much larger question, perhaps the largest question in the whole of philosophy: what really goes on inside our minds (or our brains; for me, as for Storr, these come to much the same thing) and how well does that enable us to cope with reality?
Storr deals with this question in a tightly argued (but, given the difficulty of the subject matter, surprisingly readable) chapter, of which I can do no more than convey the general favour. He quotes from Bruce Wexler's book, Brain and Culture, which describes the brain and mind as highly plastic and shaping themselves to the environment, until early adulthood. From that stage onwards, the process is reversed, and “much of the [brain] activity is devoted to making the environment conformed to the established structures.” From which Storr draws the unpalatable conclusion:
“Your brain is surprisingly reluctant to change its mind. Rather than going through the difficulties involved in rearranging itself to reflect the truth, it often prefers to fool you. So it distorts. It forgets. It projects. It lies.”
This is true for the brain of the deluded creationist. And Storr's brain. And yours. And mine. Our brains spend most of their time satisfying themselves that things are as we expect them to be, and spring into action (and denial) when this comfortable belief is disturbed.
Our entire sensory world is a construct. We see in three-colour vision, and our inner worlds are that extent richer than those of a skate, which has no colour vision at all, but poorer in ways we cannot even imagine than those of birds and insects that have up to six separate kinds of colour receptor. So colour is not something in the world, but a construct that we impose on it. Light itself has wavelength, but no colour. (Here Storr seems to me to be making a common philosophical error. When we are seeing normally, our colour vision is causally determined by the wavelengths of light impinging on our eyes, as well as by the way our brains process that information. Colour vision may encode only part of the information out there, and the particular code may be specific to humans, or even to individuals, but that does not invalidate the information obtained. But perhaps this is nitpicking.) Storr goes on to describe our inner world of perceptions as “A vision. A useful guess about what the [external] world might look like, that is built well enough that we are able to negotiate it successfully.” The point is that we do not handle reality, which is far too complex, but the model we make of it. Accuracy beyond what is needed is irrelevant for the serious business of surviving and reproducing, or even harmfully distracting.
Even our emotions are constructs, based on expectation. Depending on your culture, you will when drunk become more convivial, or more aggressive, or more sexually uninhibited, and some of these effects (I trust that no one tested for the last one I mentioned) can even be produced by alcohol-free fake drinks.
We deceive ourselves to protect our expectations without ever realising it. When told that a male applicant for the job of police chief has qualification A, while a female applicant has qualification B, most people will choose A as the more important qualification. Reverse the details, and most people will choose B. Ask them for their reasoning, and they will discuss the finely balanced choice between A and B on its merits, with no mention of gender. From the outside |
said, "Italy and India shall each submit to the Tribunal the initial report...not later than 24 September 2015, and authorises the President, after that date, to request such information from the Parties as he may consider appropriate."
The 21-member UN-mandated court located in this German city issued the order with 15 in favour and six against.
Unhappy over India's handling of the marine's issue, Italy took the matter to the ITLOS challenging Indian jurisdiction in the case.
It has pleaded that India must cease to exercise any form of jurisdiction over the Enrica Lexie incident and the Italian marines, including any measure of restraint with respect to Sergeant Latorre and Sergeant Girone.
The two marines, who were on board ship 'Enrica Lexie', are accused of killing two Indian fishermen on 15 February, 2012 off the Kerala coast.
ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention.
Italy had requested the tribunal to make India refrain from taking or enforcing any judicial or administrative measures against the two marines in connection with the Enrica Lexie Incident, and from exercising any other form of jurisdiction over the case.
It had also asked India shall take all measures necessary to ensure that restrictions on the liberty, security and movement of the Marines be immediately lifted to enable Sergeant Girone to travel to and remain in Italy and Sergeant Latorre to remain in Italy throughout the duration of the proceedings before the Annex VII Tribunal.
Italy maintained before the tribunal that it was only in late May of this year that it became clear beyond doubt that a negotiated settlement with India would not be possible.
India on its part contended that nothing happened in May to change what had been the status quo over the previous 14 months and recognised that in the spring of 2014, it was apparent that a diplomatic impasse had been reached.
The tribunal said that both parties agree that an extensive exchange of views has taken place and that this did not lead to an agreement between them regarding the settlement of the dispute by negotiation or other peaceful means.
The tribunal said that India argued that although Italy "pretends to act in order to protect its own alleged rights, Italy in reality behaves as if it were espousing its nationals rights while clearly the conditions for exercising its diplomatic protection are not fulfilled."
India maintained that Italy should have exhausted the local remedies available before the Indian courts' and that 'an Annex VII tribunal can only exercise its jurisdiction and rule on the claims of Italy once all remedies available to the two accused have been exhausted, it said.
In the view of the Tribunal, since the very nature of the dispute concerns the exercise of jurisdiction over the Enrica Lexie incident, the issue of exhaustion of local remedies should not be addressed in the provisional measures phase.
It said India stated that under articles 95 and 96 of the Convention, immunity from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State is available only to warships and Government ships operated for non-commercial purposes.
"Admittedly, the Italian marines were on board a merchant vessel, therefore, the Government of India was not obliged to recognise their claim of immunity under the Convention or any other principle of international law," the tribunal said.
The question of the status of the two Marines relates to the issue of jurisdiction and cannot be decided by the Tribunal at the stage of provisional measures, it said.
The tribunal said it was aware of the grief and suffering of the families of the two Indian fishermen who were killed and the consequences that the lengthy restrictions on liberty entail for the two marines and their families.
PTI
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption People sing and celebrate as Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is sacked
Zimbabwe's ruling party has sacked Robert Mugabe as its leader, as pressure intensifies for him to step down as president.
Zanu-PF has also given Mr Mugabe, 93, until 10:00 GMT on Monday to resign as president, or face impeachment.
He is currently addressing the nation, after meeting military leaders who have called on him to step down.
The military intervened last week, in an apparent attempt to block him from installing his wife as his successor.
The first lady, Grace Mugabe, and several other senior officials have been expelled from the party altogether.
Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans attended street protests on Saturday, demonstrating against the Mugabes.
No details of the talks between Mr Mugabe and the military leaders have been released. However, photos posted by the state-run Herald newspaper show the two sides - who also met several days ago - shaking hands.
Mr Mugabe was said to be seeking more time to negotiate his exit after nearly four decades in power.
A number of sources close to the talks said Mr Mugabe is poised to resign, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Cheering erupted when the decision to dismiss Mr Mugabe as party leader was announced in Harare on Sunday.
One senior official later told the BBC's Andrew Harding: "It's the dawn of a new era. Mugabe can go farming."
Zanu-PF appointed ex-Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was fired by Mr Mugabe two weeks ago, in his place.
The party's central committee also warned that impeachment proceedings would begin if Mr Mugabe did not step down as president by noon local time on Monday.
Impeaching the president would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Zimbabwe's parliament, which is due to resume on Tuesday.
The opposition MDC-T party has tried unsuccessfully to impeach Mr Mugabe in the past, but this time the ruling party - which has an overwhelming majority in both houses - is likely to go against him.
Image copyright AFP Image caption President Mugabe's wife, Grace, had emerged as a leading candidate to succeed her husband
Image copyright Reuters Image caption But Mr Mnangagwa has re-emerged as front runner after his dismissal two weeks ago
Mr Mnangagwa, who left Zimbabwe after he was sacked but has since reportedly returned, has also been nominated as the party's presidential candidate for the 2018 general elections.
Nicknamed "the crocodile" for his perceived shrewdness, Mr Mnangagwa is a former state security chief who is now widely expected to lead an interim post-Mugabe government.
His sacking prompted an extraordinary chain of events over the past week:
Mr Mnangagwa fled the country after his dismissal as Mr Mugabe's deputy two weeks ago
The army's chief of staff, Gen Constantino Chiwenga, warned last Monday that the military might intervene to stop purges in the party - and was roundly criticised by allies of the Mugabes
On Wednesday, soldiers seized the headquarters of the national broadcaster
Mr Mugabe has been mostly under house arrest for several days
On Saturday, unprecedented mass protests further weakened Mr Mugabe's position
Speaking ahead of the party meeting, the head of the influential War Veterans Association, Chris Mutsvangwa, threatened to "bring back the crowds and they will do their business" if Mr Mugabe did not step down.
Mr Mugabe has been leader of Zimbabwe for 37 years, having led the country since it gained independence in 1980.
He has made just one public appearance since events unfolded, speaking at a university graduation ceremony on Friday.Hello Sour Beer Friends!
Winter is upon us on the east coast of the United States! This means that, in addition to a variety of tasty sour beers consumed over the holidays, my friends and I have taken the opportunity to open the last bottle in the Armand 4 Seasons series, Armand 4 Winter Gueuze. This is the final bottle in the set of four specialty gueuzes produced by Armand Debelder of the Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen. Each gueuze in this series has been a different blend, and each seemed to evoke characteristics of the season for which they were named. As we will shortly discuss, Armand 4 Winter was no exception to this rule!
The first bottle of the set, Armand 4 Lente, had flavors that focused on a bright, grassy, and hay-like funk, with subtle notes of kerosene or diesel fuel. This beer very much reminded us of the first time you fire up a lawnmower to cut the springtime grass. The next beer in the series, Armand 4 Zomer, was an earthier blend with notes of damp must and ozone. This gueuze reminded us of walking through a humid forest after a summertime thunderstorm. Armand’s autumn blend, Armand 4 Herfst, featured a more assertive hop profile than the other gueuzes in the series. The combination of both stale and some fresher noble hop character in addition to the blend’s musty and earthy Brettanomyces funk put us in mind of slightly damp fallen leaves, the type that are just beginning to break down in our yards each fall.
Unlike the other gueuzes from the series, we did not taste Armand 4 Winter side by side with another blend of Drie Fonteinen gueuze. This was partially due to the fact that our bottle of Armand 4 Winter poured nearly still. It is an unfortunate reality that any cork and caged beer that is stored for several years in a cellar has the potential to develop defects. In the case of this bottle, a dry cork allowed nearly all of the carbonation to slowly leak from the bottle. We were fortunate to find, however, that this loss of carbonation did not seem to coincide with an increase in vinegar character or other beer-ruining defects. While the product was intended to be fully carbonated, we gave this still version a chance and were pleasantly surprised with the flavors that the gueuze maintained.
The gueuze poured a deep copper color without the formation of any head. The first aromas that we noted were Brettanomyces characters of the goaty, barnyard animal variety. There were notes of lemon oil and light cocoa, along with cherry pie-like ester aromas. The gueuze smelled vinous and reminded us of the oak aromas detected in wine barrels. We also picked up some sweet smelling malt notes, such as those of Caramel or Munich malt. Lastly, we noticed further Brettanomyces characteristics that smelled like leather and wet dough.
When tasting Armand 4 Winter, we perceived that this gueuze was more balanced toward a sweet malt profile than the other gueuzes in the series. Brettanomyces flavors of hay and dried grass were very prominent in the blend. Additionally we picked up a musty barnyard funk reminiscent of sweat and horses. More subtly, there were notes of white glue, wildflowers, and floral perfume. We were happy to find that while the acidity of this blend was fairly low, it was still a nice clean lactic acidity without any detectable development of vinegar. Similarly to many of Drie Fonteinen’s gueuze blends, we picked up light metallic/copper notes in the water profile. While some of these characteristics may be related to the fact that the beer had gone flat, we did perceive richer and darker malt flavors in this blend. This gueuze was also significantly less tannic than other examples from the series and had little to no cheesy hop profile. While the beer had a light to medium body, it did not taste watery. Rather, this still gueuze had a mouthfeel similar to a dry white wine and was appropriately dry in the finish. Lastly, while the beer had the same alcohol content as the other gueuzes in the Armand 4 series (6% ABV), this blend did seem to drink a bit warmer, and tasted higher in alcohol than the other blends.
Keeping up with the tradition of the other Armand 4 Seasons gueuzes, this Winter blend did feel best suited for wintertime drinking. The beer’s slightly warmer alcohol presence combined with its softer, less tannic body and a sweeter malt profile gave this gueuze a sort of “winter warmer” character which we all found to be very pleasant and highly drinkable. While the bottles from this series have become increasingly hard to find over the past two years, they are all world-class gueuzes that should not be passed up if you are given the opportunity to try one or more of them. I personally will be saving all four empty bottles and their wooden collector’s case as both a decoration for my home and as a souvenir of the past year. 2014 has been a fantastic year for me and I have thoroughly enjoyed both creating and writing for this website. Even more, I have loved getting to know and corresponding with the growing number of readers who are enjoying the blog. I look forward to all of the delicious sour beers, interesting brewing questions, and chances to meet and talk to fellow sour beer fans that 2015 will bring!
Cheers and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!
Matt “Dr. Lambic” Miller“I mean, I have it all!” said Patricia Dugan, a senior majoring in management, who was reading Dario Fo’s “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” in her light-filled living room while soaking a silk caftan in one of two master bathroom sinks.
The finances of subdivision life are compelling: the university estimates yearly on-campus room and board at $13,720 a year, compared with roughly $7,000 off-campus. Sprawl rats sharing a McMansion — with each getting a bedroom and often a private bath — pay $200 to $350 a month each, depending on the amenities.
Gurbir Dhillon, a senior majoring in molecular cell biology, pays $70 more than his four housemates each month for the privilege of having what they enviously call “the penthouse suite” — a princely boudoir with a whirlpool tub worthy of Caesars Palace and a huge walk-in closet, which Mr. Dhillon has filled with baseball caps and T-shirts.
Photo
The pool table in the young men’s Great Room is the site of raucous games and taco dinners. “You definitely appreciate it when you visit your friends at other schools and they say, ‘O.K., sleep on the floor,’ ” Mr. Dhillon said.
A confluence of factors led to the unlikely presence of students in subdivisions, where the collegiate promise of sleeping in on a Saturday morning may be rudely interrupted by neighborhood children selling Girl Scout cookies door to door.
This city of 79,000 is ranked third nationally in metropolitan-area home foreclosures, behind Las Vegas and Vallejo, Calif., said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that tracks housing sales. The speculative fever that gripped the region and drew waves of outside investors to this predominantly agricultural area was fueled in part by the promise of the university itself, which opened in 2005 as the first new University of California campus in 40 years.
The crash crashed harder here. “Builders were coming into the area by the bulkload,” said Loren M. Gonella, who owns a real estate company here. “It was, ‘Holy moly, let’s get on this gravy train.’ ”
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
But visions of an instant Berkeley materializing in the cow pastures were premature. The stylishly designed university planned for a gradual expansion, adding 600 new students a year. That has meant phased dorm construction, which is financed with tax-exempt bonds repaid by student revenue. There is room for only 1,600 students in the campus dorms, but 5,200 are enrolled.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
With hundreds of homes standing empty, many of them likely foreclosures, students willing to share houses have been “a blessing,” said Ellie Wooten, a former mayor of Merced and a real estate broker. Five students paying $200 a month each trump families who cannot afford more than $800 a month.
The university’s free transit system, Cat Tracks, stops at student-heavy subdivisions. There are also limitless creative possibilities, with décor ranging from a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority bedroom motif to an archetypal male nightstand overflowing with empty bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Not all neighbors are amused.
“Everybody on this street is underwater and can’t see any relief,” said John Angus, an out-of-work English teacher who paid $532,000 for a house that is now worth $221,000. “This was supposed to be an edge-of-town, Desperate Housewifey community,” he said. “These students are the reverse.”
Photo
Mr. Angus pays $3,000 a month, while student neighbors pay one-tenth of that. “I think they’re the luckiest students I’ve ever come across,” he said somewhat bitterly.
Nevertheless, students quickly learn that the cul-de-sac life is not risk-free. Lance Eber, the crime analyst for the Merced Police Department, said vacant houses were frequent targets of theft, most recently of copper wiring. They also attract squatters, who sometimes encamp beneath covered patios, he said.
Ms. Wooten related a cautionary tale about four students living in a house foreclosed by a bank who continued to send rent checks to an owner who had skipped town. When the bank gave them two weeks’ notice to move out, the students went into Erin Brockovich mode and researched their legal rights. “It bought them at least three months,” Ms. Wooten said. “By golly, they’re still there.”
She added, “There are some odd scenarios going on around here.”
They include the case of absentee landlord parents like Rhonda Castillo and her husband, who bought a house for their son, Jason, when times were flush in 2005. Jason was in the first class at the Merced campus.
The untimely investment was ultimately less important than “an investment in our son,” Mrs. Castillo said. “It gave him a preview of real life: buying groceries, preparing food, doing the laundry and taking care of the yard.” (He is now in medical school, and four female students rent the house.)
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Indeed, managing a four- or five-bedroom house — not to mention all the cars — can be tricky business for young people.
Sitting in her kitchen, a planet of granite, Katilyn McIntire, a human biology major, explained how she and her four roommates rotated cars — one parks on the street, two park in the garage and two in the driveway. Whoever is getting up for an 8 a.m. class parks last. After an unsuccessful attempt at tending the yard with a hand mower, they now pay $50 a month to a gardener.
The student equivalent of “keeping up with the Joneses” has emerged, too.
Jaron Brandon, a sophomore and a senator in the student government, does his homework in the Jacuzzi in his six-bedroom house, on a waterproof countertop that he rigged over the tub.
Seeking housemates, he posted a beguiling ad on Craigslist: “For a small amount more than a nameless house in the suburbs,” it read, “you could be living in a mansion right by school.”A new initiative designed to help Bitcoin users with the upcoming fork advises them to maintain 100 percent control of their Bitcoin, rather than keeping it in exchanges.
The reality is clear - most Bitcoin blocks hit the block size limit of 1 MB and are plagued by fees and slowdowns. The solution, though, is still up in the air as debate rages about how change should happen.
One solution, the user-activated soft fork (UASF) is scheduled to go live on August 1, while another competing group has threatened to split the chain if that occurs.
1August.org claims to be a neutral third party designed to help users understand and navigate the upcoming fork, and how to best protect their Bitcoin. Because a fork would create duplication, the best solution for users is to be able to transact on both chains, should a fork occur.
At this time, they are advising that users maintain 100 percent control of their Bitcoin, rather than keeping it in exchanges such as Coinbase or Bittrex. The only way to completely control Bitcoin is to be in control of your private keys on either a wallet application or a paper wallet.
As they continue to evaluate the situation, 1August has promised to continue informing users in an unbiased fashion.There may soon be a lot more birthday scenes on TV and in the movies.
Happy Birthday To You is no longer a song to be avoided by the entertainment industry because of hefty licensing fees to use the song. A U.S. judge ruled recently that the commonly sung tune belongs in the public domain. The ruling still could be appealed by Warner/Chappell Music Inc., which claims it owns the copyright.
But party-goers and well-wishers wanting to start a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday To You to celebrate their loved one should still feel free to sing the tune.
"I don't think they have anything to worry about either... before or after this ruling," says Graham Hood, an associate who practises copyright law at Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh firm's Toronto office.
But, while a private version of the song at a birthday party may be OK, there are other murkier parts of copyright.
Canadian copyright law is "remarkably complex," he says.
For the most part, artists retain the right to publish, reproduce and perform their work for their lifetime.
They can pass on copyright to their estate or another person after they die. That person then holds the copyright for the rest of the calendar year after the artist's death and another 50 years. After that time passes, the work enters the public domain and is free from copyright restrictions.
Some musical works, like sound recordings, are subject to slightly different time frames.
The rules are contained in Canada's Copyright Act.
It's also filled with exceptions, Hood says, and then exceptions to those exceptions, making copyright infringement something that is often determined on "a case-by-case basis."
Below are some situations that could unexpectedly pose a risk of copyright infringement.
School concerts
Elementary schools often hold seasonal recitals for students' parents and relatives.
At holiday time, some classes may perform a rousing rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town or White Christmas. Unfortunately, both remain copyrighted and out of the public domain, according to the Public Domain Information Project, a site where users can search for royalty-free songs.
The Copyright Act offers special protection to educational institutions using copyrighted material, but only under specific circumstances. The performance must take place on school grounds, be for educational or training purposes, take place in front of an audience made up of mostly teachers and students, and not make a profit.
A court could look at whether the recital was truly educational, charged an admission fee or solicited donations, or if the audience was mostly students and staff, says Kevin Sartorio, who leads the Gowlings law firm's copyright law group.
YouTube videos
YouTube videos that play or cover another artist's copyrighted music can prove to be troublesome.
A copyright lawsuit over a YouTube video starring a baby bouncing along to Prince's Let's Go Crazy is about to head to trial. Closer to home, Toronto Mayor John Tory's parody video featuring a Kanye West song was withheld by Twitter, where he originally posted it, "in response to a report from the copyright holder."
Recently, Canada's act was amended to include a fair dealing exemption for non-commercial user-generated content, Sartorio says, like YouTube videos that play or cover copyrighted songs. Under the exemption, people can generally use the music so long as they don't profit from it, credit the people who created it and don't adversely impact the dissemination of the original work.
But if a video of, for example, someone covering Sia's Chandelier goes viral and the person adds a few advertisements that people must watch before the video plays?
"Then it would become a problem, probably," says Sartorio.
Weddings (in non-traditional venues)
Many weddings include a portion of the evening where guests are encouraged to show off their moves on the dance floor.
Whether the songs are played by an in-house DJ or thanks to an iTunes playlist, most wedding venues pay a fee to a copyright collective, like the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), for the right to blast copyrighted music during events, says Hood.
However, non-traditional venues, like farms, might not make those payments. Then, a court would have to determine whether the wedding reception was a private or public event, says Sartorio. A court would likely consider the size and make up of the guest list when making its decision.
It's a judgment call, says Hood, and the answer isn't clear. But if it's a group of close friends and family dancing to music played over speakers from an iPod, he says, "chances are the artists on your playlist won't come knocking."
Family reunions
Another situation that blurs the line between private and public is a family reunion.
It's not as cut and dried that all events held in public places are public and all those hosted in private residences are private, says Sartorio. Prior legal cases have shown that isn't always the case.
For a reunion held at a public park with speakers blasting pre-recorded music, "chances are you'll be OK," says Hood — so long as the guest list truly is family and not open to the public.
Street performances
Sometimes buskers play original music, but often it's covers of other artists' works pedestrians hear when passing by them.
SOCAN offers tariff licences for buskers and strolling musicians to prevent them from copyright infringement when they perform in public. Musicians can expect to pay $32.55 daily for a three-month maximum cost of $222.93.
Other public performances that necessitate a SOCAN tariff licence include comedy and magic shows, fireworks displays and parades with marching bands or floats with music.UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare received a $3.4 million Centers of Excellence program grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, to fund its new Latino Center of Excellence, a campus press release announced Friday.
The grant — which runs from July 1, 2017, to June 2022 — will be used to help fund the center’s recruitment practices and research opportunities.
Projects the grant could fund include stipends for research and field placements in the Latinx community and strategy development to increase Latinx student interest in behavioral and mental health, as well as academic support at the center, according to Jeffrey Edleson, dean of the School of Social Welfare.
“The idea of the center is to grow the pipeline of Latinx students who want to study social welfare and, in particular, mental health issues within the Latino community,” Edleson said. “Not just study, but actually serve the community.”
Edleson added that the HRSA award is a “capacity-building grant” that will allow the School of Social Welfare to increase Latinx student enrollment, improve the existing curriculum and better support graduate-level and junior faculty research.
The campus Latino Center of Excellence was one of 13 successful applications, chosen as a recipient of the Centers of Excellence program grant for fiscal year 2017, according to Jacqueline Rodrigue, director of the HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce’s Division of Health Careers and Financial Support.
Rodrigue said the Centers of Excellence program award recipients have “demonstrated innovative resource and education centers to recruit, train and educate underrepresented (minorities) and faculty.”
The Centers of Excellence grant program was established in 1987 in part to increase racial and ethnic diversity in health professions as well as to devote attention to minority health issues, according to the HRSA.
“At a time when the nation’s population continues to become more racially and ethnically diverse, its healthcare workforce has been unable to keep pace with these changes,” the Centers of Excellence grant application states. “Diversity in the healthcare workforce is necessary to achieve the goal of high-quality, safe, and accessible care.”
The ultimate goal of the program, according to the HRSA, is to “strengthen the national capacity to produce a quality healthcare workforce (whose) racial and ethnic diversity is representative of the U.S. population.”
Rodrigue added that of this cycle’s Centers of Excellence grant recipients that were awarded to Latinx student programs, UC Berkeley’s is “the only one focusing on behavioral and mental health.”
Edleson said he hopes to sustain the Latino Center of Excellence beyond the five-year period funded by the federal HRSA grant.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to really produce a whole new group of both social workers to work in the community and scholars to study the issues in the community,” Edleson said.
Contact Valerie Hsieh at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @valhsieh.Donald Trump has surged far ahead of his Republican rivals in Florida and leads a hypothetical matchup with Democrat Hillary Clinton in the biggest swing state, according to a Florida Atlantic University poll released Wednesday.
The reality TV star and real estate mogul, a part-time resident of Palm Beach, leads the Republican presidential field in Florida with 36 percent, the poll found. His closest rival, Sen. Marco Rubio of West Miami, trails with 18 percent, followed by Ben Carson, of West Palm Beach, with 15 percent.
"Despite conjecture that Donald Trump has plateaued, his support in Florida remains very strong and could be growing," said Kevin Wagner, associate professor of political science at FAU.
He noted that the presidential candidates have spent little time in Florida while focusing on the early primary states. "For Florida, the most visible candidate continues to be Donald Trump because of his dominance of the news media," Wagner said.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Coral Gables was fifth in the poll with just 8.9 percent, down more than two percentage points from a prior poll in September. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Cuban-American from Texas, got 10 percent in the Florida preference poll.
CAPTION Opinion: Dan Vasquez imagines what Trump's best tweets would be after he takes office. Opinion: Dan Vasquez imagines what Trump's best tweets would be after he takes office. CAPTION Opinion: Dan Vasquez imagines what Trump's best tweets would be after he takes office. Opinion: Dan Vasquez imagines what Trump's best tweets would be after he takes office. CAPTION Opinion: Donald Trump doesn't want to win Opinion: Donald Trump doesn't want to win CAPTION Opinion writer Daniel Vasquez conducts an imaginary interview with Donald Trump. Opinion writer Daniel Vasquez conducts an imaginary interview with Donald Trump. CAPTION Opinion: Donald Trump's first days as president would be uglier than his hair piece. Opinion: Donald Trump's first days as president would be uglier than his hair piece.
Among Democrats, Clinton, the party's front runner nationwide, holds a 43-point lead in Florida over her closest rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 65.5 percent to 22.4 percent.
But while leading the Democratic field, she continues to trail the GOP front runners in a hypothetical matchup in the general election. Carson leads Clinton by 9.7 points — 50.2 percent to 40.5 percent. Trump leads Clinton by 8.7 points in Florida, 49.2 percent to 40.5 percent.
"While Clinton is losing in all the trial heats, she is winning among females," said Monica Escaleras, director of FAU's Business and Economics Polling Initiative, which conducted the poll. "Thus, it appears that her strategy of targeting women is working."
The survey was conducted in Florida Nov. 15-16, immediately after the Nov. 14 Democratic debate and in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris. The poll did not include questions about national security or terrorism. Wagner said the 2016 elections most likely will be decided on economic and other domestic issues.
The GOP primary contest — marked by raucous debates and occasional nasty exchanges — has not helped many of the candidates in the minds of Florida voters. Trump had a favorable rating of just 41 percent in the latest poll, while 51 percent had an unfavorable impression of him.
His numbers were more positive among likely Republican voters, with 63 percent viewing him as favorable and 32 percent unfavorable.
Clinton appears to suffer from similar negative ratings. Only 41 of those polled gave her a favorable rating, while 54 percent had an unfavorable impression. Among independent voters, Clinton's numbers dropped to 35 percent favorable and 56 percent unfavorable.
In the Florida race to replace Rubio in the U.S. Senate, Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, of Jupiter, held a nine-point lead in a potential matchup with Republican Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, 39 percent to 30 percent.
The poll found that Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, of Orlando, another Senate candidate, trails Lopez-Cantera by 38 percent to 34 percent, a statistical tie since it's within the margin or error.
And in another hypothetical matchup, Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis, of Ponte Vedra Beach, trailed Murphy 38 percent to 36 percent, a statistical tie since it's within the margin of error. DeSantis led Grayson 37 percent to 33 percent.
The poll surveyed 829 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent. It included 297 Democratic and 355 Republican likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 and 5.2 percentage points respectively.
Wegibson@Tribpub.com, or 202-824-8256.Buy your sections now in Cliffordville, the Government's new lifestyle development south of Seddon.
Marlborough is abuzz with scant news of the $422 million town, especially its spectacular water feature, a fully working ferry terminal.
"I'm abuzz," said a Government minister who cannot be named because of a confidentiality agreement. "The entire project is cost-neutral, at least to our generation. And the freight firms I speak to are very enthusiastic."
What about the catastrophic effect on Picton's economy, Out Of My Head (OOMH) inquired politely?
"Opportunity," said the minister. "Opportunity - Picton could become the new Queenstown."
Critics are puzzled by supposed fiscal gains from shifting the terminal, since the Picton port company makes just $7 million a year from ferry operations.
"The freight firms I speak to are most persuasive," said Minister X. "I can't divulge figures, because they are top secret, but the truckers' share price will do very nicely, enriching Mum and Dad investors nationwide. Besides, that $422 million is not real money. It's borrowed money - we'll never have to pay it back. Or we might do a public-private partnership."
But, OOMH persisted, Picton locals fear that the loss of 1.2 million visitors a year will create a ghost town.
"Nonsense," said the minister. "Look, the truth is, they've been leaning on the crutch of ferry income for generations. It's all about breaking the cycle of dependency."
Minister X urged Marlburians to take a deep breath and put their heads between their knees over the proposal. The Government might consider providing free paper bags to huff into.
Residents would be fully consulted once the Government had made up its mind, he said.
Surely a project of such major implications warrants a local say?
"They had their say at the last election," X grinned. "Besides, we cannot release any information because of a confidentiality agreement, and I think it would be irresponsible of us to let ill-informed people skew the debate."
Oldtimers who remember the vomitous Wellington-Lyttelton ferries say the new route will be a nightmare in rolling northerly swells. Why scrap a sheltered cruising route in the Marlborough Sounds that entrances thousands of tourists?
"Overrated," said X. "The trucking firms I've spoken to say it's a big yawn after the 100th trip."
Endangered hector's dolphins will also be at risk from the ferry traffic. "Oh, look, we're all sick of the carping from those dolphins," the minister snapped. "They've been given every chance to lift themselves off the endangered list, and frankly, when you look at the stats, their children are likely to be on the list, too. It's about breaking the cycle of dependency."
Despite awaiting feasibility study results in July, the Government has already mapped out the new settlement of Cliffordville, which will be serviced by a network of four-lane motorways.
"It's a companion project to our Roads of National Significance, or Rons. We're calling it More Oldschool Roads of National Significance - our public relations team are still working on the acronym."
Cliffordville is planned as a gated community, with entry by swiping a gold credit card. Covenants will ensure houses are three times as big as they need to be, pricing out undesirables.
The model town would not neglect its social obligations, said X. The elderly, or GSUs (Geriatric Stock Units), will be housed in high-rise rest homes and given a regimented five minutes of TLC daily, "whether they need it or not", by the skeleton crew of Filipina staff.
Workers will be bussed in each day from Picton, taking advantage of low-priced accommodation.
Do Kiwis give a damn any more about the welfare of their elderly, OOMH opined?
"Of course they give a damn. Many of them have shares in aged care companies. Thousands of Mums and Dads keep the stockmarket website on their Favourites menu."
Minister X enthused again that "Picton could become another Queenstown - crammed with foreigners and heaps of bars where people can drown their sorrows. It's also close to the water - uncanny".
Yes, but Blenheim, and even Nelson, will feel the economic pain when campervans disembark at Cliffordville and turn left for Christchurch, OOMH asserted.
"So you're against the rebirth of plucky Christchurch?" said X.
No, of course not, OOMH flustered.
"Glad to hear it. Do you know, I believe Blenheim could become the new Queenstown."
Isn't that spot already taken?
"You can never have too many Queenstowns," the Minister sniffed.
PPS: Marlborough's mayor is hoping meetings early this year will shed light on why the Government is seriously considering a $422 million ferry terminal at Clifford Bay, which will knock |
pos = obj. pos, x = pos. x, y = pos. y, z = pos. z, r = x * x + y * y + z * z, theta = acos ( z / sqrt ( r )), phi = atan2 ( y, ( x || 1 )); if (! obj. sphere ) { obj. sphere = new THREE. Vector4 (); } var pos = obj. pos, sphere = obj. sphere ; pos. x = sphere. x = s * sin ( theta ) * cos ( phi ); pos. y = sphere. y = s * sin ( theta ) * sin ( phi ); pos. z = sphere. z = s * cos ( theta ); } } //...other shapes here... };
//transitions object. can be used like //Trans.linear, or Trans.Elastic.easeOut, etc. var Trans = { linear : function ( p ){ return p ; } }; ( function (){ //add easing equations as methods //of the transition object/function //i.e add easeIn/Out to the Elastic/Sine objects var makeTrans = function ( transition, params ){ var trans = { easeIn : function ( pos ){ return transition ( pos, params ); }, easeOut : function ( pos ){ return 1 - transition ( 1 - pos, params ); }, easeInOut : function ( pos ){ return ( pos <= 0.5 )? transition ( 2 * pos, params ) / 2 : ( 2 - transition ( 2 * ( 1 - pos ), params )) / 2 ; } }; for ( var p in trans ) { transition [ p ] = trans [ p ]; } return transition ; }; //transition equations var transitions = { Sine : function ( p ){ return 1 - Math. sin (( 1 - p ) * Math. PI / 2 ); }, Elastic : function ( p, x ){ return Math. pow ( 2, 10 * -- p ) * Math. cos ( 20 * p * Math. PI * ( x [ 0 ] || 1 ) / 3 ); } //...other transitions here... }; //enhance the Trans object with new transitons for ( var p in transitions ) { Trans [ p ] = makeTrans ( transitions [ p ]); } })();
WebGL
//draw scene gl. viewport ( 0, 0, gl. viewportWidth, gl. viewportHeight ); gl. clear ( gl. COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | gl. DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT ); perspective ( 45, gl. viewportWidth / gl. viewportHeight, 0.1, 500.0 ); loadIdentity (); mvTranslate ([ 0.0, 0.0, - 150.0 ]); mvRotateX ( rx ); mvRotateY ( ry ); for ( var i = 0, l = parts. length, vertices = []; i & lt ; l ; i ++ ) { var p = parts [ i ]. pos ; vertices. push ( p. x, p. y, p. z ); } //create and store and bind vertex data gl. bindBuffer ( gl. ARRAY_BUFFER, ballsPositionBuffer ); gl. bufferData ( gl. ARRAY_BUFFER, new Float32Array ( vertices ), gl. STATIC_DRAW ); gl. vertexAttribPointer ( shaderProgram. vertexPositionAttribute, ballsPositionBuffer. itemSize, gl. FLOAT, false, 0, 0 ); //set model view and perspective matrix setMatrixUniforms (); //set color and object scaling gl. uniform1f ( shaderProgram. scaleUniform, s ); gl. uniform3f ( shaderProgram. colorUniform, r, g, b ); //draw gl. drawArrays ( gl. POINTS, 0, ballsPositionBuffer. numItems );
SPDE = Scala + Processing
abstract class Transitions extends Function [ Float, Float ] { private def easeInVar ( x : Float, i : Float = 1.0 ): Float = apply ( i * x ); private def easeOutVar ( x : Float, i : Float = 1.0 ): Float = i - apply ( i * ( 1 - x )); def easeIn ( x : Float ) = easeInVar ( x ); def easeOut ( x : Float ) = easeOutVar ( x ); def easeInOut ( x : Float ): Float = ( if ( x & lt ; = 0.5 ) easeInVar ( x, 2 ) else easeOutVar ( x, 2 )) / 2 } object Transitions { private val pi = Pi ; def linear ( x : Float ) = x ; object Sine extends Transitions { override def apply ( x : Float ): Float = 1 - sin (( 1 - x ) * pi / 2 ) } object Back extends Transitions { override def apply ( p : Float ): Float = { val x = 1.618 ; pow ( p, 2 ) * (( x + 1 ) * p - x ); } } //... other objects here... }
Transitions. linear _ ; Transitions. Elastic. easeOut _ ;
Transitions. Elastic. apply ( 0.5 ); //is the same as... Transitions. Elastic ( 0.5 ); Transitions. Elastic. easeOut. apply ( 0.5 ); //is the same as... Transitions. Elastic. easeOut ( 0.5 );
Conclusion
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Disqus
Last week I got the chance to put my hands on some technologies I've been interested for some time now. I've created a basic 3D example of some fractals, and implemented it in 2D Canvas WebGL and SPDE Processing ). The main goal of these experiments was to warm up a little bit in 3D, to learn WebGL, Scala and Processing. I had previous experience with 3D and OpenGL while developing V8-GL, an OpenGL ES port to V8, and also while developing the House of Cards visualization in OCaml. But these were other times. Now OCaml is dead, and there's a V8-GL port in the browser, which is called WebGL. I'm kind of proud to have chosen things that became sort of mainstream later on though: functional programming for graphics and hardware accelerated graphics with JavaScript :).The 2D Canvas API has a limited capability for 3D graphics. In order to make 3D with it you can use some high level 3D engine like pre3d or three.js which provide classes to do mathy stuff in 3D and then use tricks like the pinhole camera model to project them on 2D. What's interesting about three.js is that it also provides SVG and WebGL renderers. These are awesome tools to make 3D, but since my example was more in the spirit of the JS1k demos I decided to start from scratch. The only thing I used was the Vector3 and Matrix4 classes from three.js. The result is quite interesting although it's CPU intensive. You can try it here if you have a 2D canvas enabled browser.To make this example I created a Shape object, that would create a list of particles placed in some particular shape:I also created a tween object from scratch, which would provide transition equations (linear, Elastic, Bounce) for the particles movement. There are many tweeners around, but since I'm a big fan of MooTools and the way they use object mutability and functions as objects to create their tweener I implemented something in that spirit. The transition object code provides an object with methods (Trans.Elastic(delta), Trans.Bounce(delta)) and "submethods" as properties of these methods (Trans.Elastic.easeOut(delta), Trans.Bounce.easeInOut(delta)). That's the approach I like and I don't think it's that easy to emulate in other languages... Will Scala be up to the task? Here's some code for that transitions object:Finally the main.js file contains init, loop and nextShape functions. The init function will call the Shape object methods, pre-calculating the particles positions, and will set an array with the shapes to iterate on. Loop will render each point to the canvas, by using the x and y coordinates of the particle. The z coordinate will determine the alpha color and radius of the particle. Once a fixed number of loops are triggered nextShape will be called to make the transition to the next shape. While this is a simple approach, 3D in the 2D canvas environment is quite limited, and very CPU intensive.Since most of the code used in the previous example was dealing with 3D objects and then projected into 2D space, this code can also be used when working with WebGL. Getting started with WebGL is much harder than with 2D Canvas though. First, there's all that setup of creating a program, compiling the shaders (which of course is GLSL code and not JavaScript itself), linking them into the program, initializing buffers, etc. Moreover, since there's not a fixed pipeline all that push/pop matrix stack has to be hand-coded now, which makes it quite difficult to create things without a framework. However, since this is a very simple example I used exactly the same things here than in the previous example. Here's the live example that you can see in a WebGL enabled browser (click here to get a WebGL enabled browser). Or you can check the video I made of the demo below (click here if you can't see the video):The rendering part is quite different though. You need to set all the vertex information into a buffer and send that data into the shaders. The shaders will get the data in attributes (which is per vertex information) or uniforms (data which will remain the same for all vertices). For example, all particles are colored the same, but each particle has a different position, so the code would look like this:While it can be a little bit difficult to dive into WebGL from scratch, this is definitely the way to go if you want to make some serious 3D stuff in the browser. Plus, once you get some base code right, things become quite simple :). Chrome/Safari and Firefox have pretty mature implementations of WebGL, and just like it happened with 2D canvas, I bet this will be eventually implemented in other browsers as well.Since OCaml is dead and I really liked some features of it such as type inference, destructuring, pattern matching, object literals, operator overloading and more, I looked for some replacement and considered Scala as an interesting alternative. I'm still learning Scala, and while being more OO and less functional than OCaml, there's still room for pattern matching with case classes, syntactic sugar for singletons (or object literals), and other goodies such as traits, operator overloading, etc. SPDE is the "port" of the Processing Development Environment to the Scala programming language. It basically provides a nice workflow to create and run projects, providing the set of drawing methods that already exist in Processing. The SPDE project is hosted at Github as well as the SPDE Examples. The structure of the code I ported is quite similar to the WebGL example code, but more high-level in the sense that there are lots of drawing primitives and useful functions within the Processing environment. I really enjoyed hacking this thing with Scala. Here's the source code for the example. You can also watch a video of the visualization below (click here if you can't watch the video):Remember the code for the tweener I described before? Some really nice feature in Scala is that you can extend the classwhich provides mappings from one type to another. In Scala functions are also treated as classes and the "elegant" code done for creating transitions in JavaScript can be "ported" to Scala in that same way:So now transitions can be passed as parameters just like with JavaScript:This is due to the fact that there's some syntactic sugar for the apply method for a Function instance:There are many approaches to do graphics and I only used three of them. For 2D Canvas rendering in 3D there are some libraries worth taking at look at: three.js and pre3d. If you'd like to learn WebGL (highly recommended) I recommend the webgl lessons page found here. Finally, SPDE is a great way to learn Scala and Processing at the same time. It's definitely worth taking a look at it.There were two points in President Obama's State of the Union address that provoked resounding and universal applause in the chamber from the assembled senators and representatives of both parties. One point was when the president said he wanted to start his job-creation program "in small businesses, companies that begin when an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream, or a worker decides its time she became her own boss." The other point was when he said, "While we're at it, let's also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment; and provide a tax incentive for all businesses, large and small, to invest in new plants and equipment."
The lusty cheering and applause were not based upon some belief on the part of the assembled legislators that this was about alleviating the pain and suffering of the one-in-five Americans who is out of work, or who is struggling to support a family on the income from some pathetic part-time job paying minimum wage. It was apparent that this was a cheer for the idea of giving more money to the capitalist class. Period.
In today's America, those in power have completely disavowed one of the key goals--if not the key goal--of democratic government, which is, as the Constitution put it so admirably in its opening sentence, to "promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty."
There is nothing in that Preamble about promoting the welfare of the business classes. The only justifiable reason for doing so then would have to be in order to promote the general welfare. And yet decades of policies aimed at promoting the welfare of the corporate elite and to a lesser extent promoting the welfare of the business classes in general (what used to be called the "trickle-down theory"), have demonstrably not only not promoted the general welfare; they have worsened the general welfare.
By every measure, the tax policies, welfare policies, trade policies, labor law policies, and Wall Street deregulation policies of the government, whether in Democratic or Republican hands, have led to a declining standard of living, a transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich, and a gradual increase in the underlying level of unemployment (the "acceptable" base level of unemployment which establishment economists consider to be "full" employment), not to mention to the extraordinary current level of unemployment.
"Trickle-down," it turns out, really means "piss on."
President Obama's talk about jobs is bogus. Jobs are leaching away from the US at a prodigious rate, like water pouring through the holes of a sieve, thanks to trade policies that encourage companies to shut down US operations, move production abroad, and then sell the once locally-made goods back to increasingly impoverished Americans. Any new jobs created are lower wage, and prone to interruption, given that they are in services, and aren't linked to any major capital investment.
Proposed programs like a $5000 tax credit for hiring a worker or revoking tax breaks for companies that shift production overseas are a joke, simply a rhetorical sop to the listening audience not meant to be taken seriously. (No employer will make a new hire just to snag a $5000 cut in taxes, and in any event, a credit is only useful to a company that is making profits and paying taxes, and such firms have no need of assistance to get them hiring. It's the companies that are in trouble that would need encouragement to hire, and they aren't paying any taxes.)
What is clear from the wild applause to these two lines in the State of the Union address is that government at this point is not about improving the general welfare at all (if it ever was). It is self-evidently about enriching the rich.
And at that point such a government has lost its reason for being.
This explains why the health "reform" bill has been such a farce. It was never about improving the health care of average Americans (something that could have been easily, quickly and efficiently accomplished by simply expanding Medicare to cover everyone). It was always about ensuring the enrichment of the various players in the health care industry, who already own 17.5 percent of the entire US economy.
It explains why we aren't getting any kind of re-regulation of the predatory financial industry. The goal of de-regulation was never to make life better for average Americans. It was to enrich the financiers, and it did that very well. And no de-regulation is going to happen, because the goal of Washington politicians is to continue to enrich those financiers.
It explains why we're at war in Afghanistan. There is no conceivable threat posed by this poorest of nations located, landlocked, in a part of the globe that is maximally remote from the US. Yet we are being committed to an endless war there, costing a nominal $100 billion a year (times two or three when you add in the financing of the debt, and the costs of care for the injured troops over their lifetimes), because that war enriches the munitions industry, and also provides justification for an annual $800 billion military budget--a staggering sum that sucks the very life out of any program aimed at "improving the general welfare."
The whole government enterprise at this point is an ugly affront to the Preamble of the Constitution.
We will all be better served if and when the whole thing is brought down.
The way I see it, we've pretty much lost our government, and just voting in new politicians isn't going to fix anything (we just demonstrated that!). Our best hope then is a popular groundswell for a new Constitutional Convention. Let's roll the dice and try over, now that we've seen how our government can be stolen.
I agree it's a scary idea. Who knows what we Americans are really like? Maybe we are a nation of selfish imperialists and racists and sduch a convention would lead to a restoration of slavery or apartheid, a mass deportation of minorities, incarceration of gays and lesbians, and open endorsement of empire and a police state. But I like to think that we Americans are actually as good as our mythology tells us we are, and that a constitutional convention could lead to a new government that would really be of the people, by the people and for the people.
_______Third time turned out to be unlucky after all.
Earlier today, Sen. Susan Collins said that she has serious concerns about the latest GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare as Republicans prepare to vote on the legislation next week, adding that she was "leaning against the bill... I’m just trying to do what I believe is the right thing for the people of Maine." And with Collins voicing against the bill, it meant that GOP leadership would be left with no room for error if they want to get their last-ditch ObamaCare repeal bill through the Senate next week.
The math is simple: Republicans have 52 seats and need 50 senators to support the bill, which would require Vice President Pence to break a tie, under the special budget rules being used to avoid a Democratic filibuster. Sen. Rand Paul has already said he will vote against the legislation.
Which meant that losing just one more vote would mean the end of this latest attempt to repeal Obamacare.
They lost it moments ago when John McCain said in a statement that "I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal"
I cannot in good conscience vote for Graham-Cassidy. A bill impacting so many lives deserves a bipartisan approach. https://t.co/2sDjhw6Era pic.twitter.com/30OWezQpLg — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 22, 2017
The senator added that "I would consider supporting legislation similar to that offered by my friends Senators Graham and Cassidy were it the product of extensive hearings, debate and amendment. But that has not been the case. Instead, the specter of September 30th budget reconciliation deadline has hung over this entire process. McCain's statement recalls his dramatic return to Washington in July after a brain-cancer diagnosis, when he cast the decisive “no” vote to send a health plan by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell down to a stunning 49-51 defeat.
Ultimately, McCain demands the Democrats be part of any solution: "A bill of this impact requires a bipartisan approach" as "we should not be content to pass health care legislation on a party-line basis, as Democrats did when they rammed Obamacare through Congress in 2009."
His full statement below:
STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON HEALTH CARE REFORM Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement today on health care reform: "As I have repeatedly stressed, health care reform legislation ought to be the product of regular order in the Senate. Committees of jurisdiction should mark up legislation with input from all committee members, and send their bill to the floor for debate and amendment. That is the only way we might achieve bipartisan consensus on lasting reform, without which a policy that affects one-fifth of our economy and every single American family will be subject to reversal with every change of administration and congressional majority. "I would consider supporting legislation similar to that offered by my friends Senators Graham and Cassidy were it the product of extensive hearings, debate and amendment. But that has not been the case. Instead, the specter of September 30th budget reconciliation deadline has hung over this entire process. "We should not be content to pass health care legislation on a party-line basis, as Democrats did when they rammed Obamacare through Congress in 2009. If we do so, our success could be as short-lived as theirs when the political winds shift, as they regularly do. The issue is too important, and too many lives are at risk, for us to leave the American people guessing from one election to the next whether and how they will acquire health insurance. A bill of this impact requires a bipartisan approach. "Senators Alexander and Murray have been negotiating in good faith to fix some of the problems with Obamacare. But I fear that the prospect of one last attempt at a strictly Republican bill has left the impression that their efforts cannot succeed. I hope they will resume their work should this last attempt at a partisan solution fail. "1 cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal. I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will effect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it. Without a full CB0 score, which won't be available by the end of the month, we won't have reliable answers to any of those questions. "I take no pleasure in announcing my opposition. Far from it. The bill's authors are my dear friends, and I think the world of them. I know they are acting consistently with their beliefs and sense of what is best for the country. So am I. "I hope that in the months ahead, we can join with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to arrive at a compromise solution that is acceptable to most of us, and serves the interests of Americans as best we can."
In response to McCain's statement, Lindsey Graham, one of the bill's sponsors, tweeted "My friendship with @SenJohnMcCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he’s lived his life and the person he is", however he added that "I respectfully disagree with @SenJohnMcCain position not to proceed forward on Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson" and that "I know Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson is the best chance to repeal and replace Obamacare."
My friendship with @SenJohnMcCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he’s lived his life and the person he is. — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 22, 2017
* * *
Earlier on Friday, the Brookings Institution estimated Friday that the Graham-Cassidy plan would reduce the number of people with health coverage by about 21 million a year from 2020 through 2026. The number may be larger, it said, because of difficulties in setting up state health systems by 2020 and possible market turmoil in the final years. "What is clear, however, is that the legislation would result in very large reductions in insurance coverage," Brookings said. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said Medicaid funding cuts would equal 16 percent of projected state budgets in 2027. "That’s more than what states provide for higher education," it said according to Bloomberg.
McConnell said earlier this week that he intended to hold a Senate vote next week before a Sept. 30 deadline to use a fast-track procedure allowing a simple majority vote. David Popp, a spokesman for McConnell, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about McCain’s decision.
President Donald Trump warned on Twitter on Friday, “Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as ‘the Republican who saved ObamaCare.’” The president is working the phone on the issue and is “open to having face-to-face meetings,” adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News. “The president is leaning in all the way.”
Meanwhile, Democrats denounced the lightning-speed path to a vote, with only one committee hearing on the bill scheduled. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the “dead of night” bill’s spending cuts will cause millions of Americans to lose insurance coverage and burden the finances of his state and many others.
The new proposal would turn Obamacare funds into block grants for the states, which would create their own health-care plans for their residents. States that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare would be hardest hit by spending cuts, losing $180 billion from 2020 to 2026, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. States that rejected the Medicaid expansion would gain $73 billion. The measure would end the Affordable Care Act’s requirements that individuals have insurance and that most employers provide it.
And with the GOP's final attempt to pass Obamacare repeal before the end of the month now likely history, the market sighed a collective breath of relief, sending the managed care index soaring as the status quo is now assured to remain indefinitely.
And now we await Donald Trump's latest angry tweet.Crushing waves of dirge are washing over me as I listen to their cover of Leonard Cohen’s “The Butcher” from the upcoming The Body and Full of Hell collabo album entitled One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache. What’s a trip about this tune is that it has a creepy as fuck Screaming Jay Hawkins high on doom vibe about it that I find very groovy and interesting. With this song, The Body and Full of Hell have created the sickest doom slo-jam ever made! I want to die now so the evil saints can come marching in and get their groove on! Our comrades over Neurot Recordings will be releasing One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache on March 25th, and The Body and Full of Hell will be touring Europe together in April. CVLT Nation is beyond stoked to be sharing with you “The Butcher” below – you can pre-order their collabo LP HERE!
THE BODY + FULL OF HELL European Tour Dates 2016:
4/06/2016 Vera – Groningen, NL
4/07/2016 Magasin 4 – Brussels, BE
4/08/2016 Het Bos – Antwerp, BE
4/09/2016 Ritual Festival @ Canal Mills – Leeds, UK w/ Conan, 40 Watt Sun
4/10/2016 Audio – Glasgow, UK
4/11/2016 Rainbow Cellar – Birmingham, UK
4/12/2016 The Ruby Lounge – Manchester, UK
4/13/2016 Electric Brixton – London, UK w/ Converge “Blood Moon”
4/14/2016 Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, NL
4/16/2016 KB18 – Copenhagen, DK
4/17/2016 Kantine Am Berghain – Berlin, DE
4/18/2016 Klub 007 – Prague, DE
4/19/2016 Feierwerk – Munich, DE
4/20/2016 Jubez – Karlsruhe, DE
4/21/2016 Gaswerk – Winterthur, CH
4/22/2016 La Machine A Coudre – Marseille, FR
4/23/2016 Sidecar – Barcelona, ES
4/24/2016 Moby Dick – Madrid, ES
4/25/2016 Musicbox – Lisbon, PT
4/26/2016 Cave 45 – Porto, PT
4/27/2016 Santana 27 – Bilbao, ES
4/28/2016 Le Saint Des Seins – Toulouse, FR
4/29/2016 La Mecanique Ondulatoire – Paris, FR
4/30/2016 Tivoli De Helling – Utrecht, BESimon Butler and I wrote the book Too Many People? “to promote debate within the environmental movement about the real causes of environmental destruction.”
To that end, Simon recently accepted an invitation to speak at a meeting organized by the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales, an organization which officially considers population growth as a “a key ethical issue,” and which advocates “a statutory structure to move towards an ecologically sustainable population for Australia, one smaller than our current population.”
Below is the text of a talk he gave on November 17, as one of three speakers on a panel titled “Sustainable population: towards a meaningful dialogue.” He tells me that his talk “departed sharply from the other two presenters on my panel,” but the discussion was polite and several attendees described his comments as “thought-provoking.”
That’s not a stirring endorsement, but it is a start.
by Simon Butler
I don’t think there are too many people on the planet, but I do agree there are too many of “some” people. I think there are too many coal barons. There are too many oil tycoons. I think there are too many Clive Palmers – there’s just one of him, but one is still more than we need in my opinion. (Palmer is an outspoken – to put the case mildly – Australian coal billionaire –Ian)
I also think there are too many stockbrokers speculating on food commodity prices and too many coal seam gas wells being sunk across Australia. I definitely agree that there is just too much stuff: our sick economy thrives on waste and an endless stream of products “designed for the dump.”
The relationship between population size and environmental decay has been a long running controversy among environmentalists. But I take the side of the late Barry Commoner, the great US ecologist who sadly died earlier this year. His view was: “It is a serious mistake to becloud the pollution issue with the population, for the facts will not support it.”
In our book, Too Many People? Population, Immigration and the Environmental Crisis, Ian Angus and I took issue with a recurring mistake we found many populationist writers had made about population numbers, which is to think that correlation equals causation. For example, population levels and carbon emissions both rose in the 20th century, but these facts alone do not prove that one caused the other. The cause is still a matter for investigation.
Too often, populationist explanations for our environmental crises fail to look behind the big numbers. Our dispute with populationists is not about the numbers, but about what the numbers actually mean. We think the raw figures can’t reveal much at all unless they are placed in an economic context, a social context, a historical context and an ecological context.
To make sense of population, we also have to consider the unequal relationships between rich and poor, the between the First World and the global South and, especially, between men and women. Countries with extreme levels of poverty, and where woman lack education and economic independence, tend to have the highest population growth rates.
When you break down the population and pollution numbers countries by country a striking pattern emerges, which upends the simple people equals pollution assumption.
In the 20th century, the nations with the highest population growth rates tend to have had lower carbon emissions growth rates, and the nations with lower population growth rates tend to have had higher emissions growth. Clearly, population growth cannot not explain this. In truth, the biggest factor in ecological decay is how a society uses its resources, not how many people live in that society.
Given what we know about climate change and the consequences of acting slowly, it makes sense for environmentalists to focus energy on the most critical areas. These include campaigns to keep fossil fuels in the ground and forests in the soil, close existing fossil fuel infrastructure, build renewables and public transport and spread sustainable farming methods.
These campaigns aren’t new, but they have proved incredibly hard to win mainly because of the array of powerful corporations that stand in the way. To avoid the worst of climate change, we must make biggest polluters write off trillions of dollars of value.
The coal barons, oil tycoons and resources giants have moved to protect their assets from these campaigns. They’ve used their economic weight and political influence to accumulate even more wealth, while working to poison the public debate about global warming.
Their political grip is now so strong, US Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney could not even utter the words “climate change” in their three televised debates. The fossil fuel industry had spent enough to make sure it won the US election no matter who took office.
In Australia, the two big parties are equally tied to the big polluters. Labor and Liberal both agree that the fossil fuel juggernaut can keep rolling on indefinitely, when the science says that’s suicide.
In Too Many People? we say if we want a safe future, it’s either them or us. Any significant environmental gains will be won only through a confrontation with these elites who are resisting change. No gains will be permanent if they keep hold of economic and political power. And we won’t be able to harness the human potential needed to prevail unless we can build democratic political systems – controlled by people, not corporations – too.
We argue the super-rich are the real ecological vandals, whereas population growth, which has been trending downwards worldwide for the past 50 years, is not a key factor. Our pressing problem is the 1%, not the 99%. Or, as Barry Commoner put it: “Pollution begins not in the family bedroom, but in the corporate boardroom.”
And we also warn that the population argument is too often used to shift the blame for ecological destruction away from the real culprits and toward the poorest parts of the world where the human population is growing the fastest.
If we are to find solutions to the climate emergency, the food crisis and other environmental ills, we have to explore and act upon the causes, not the symptoms. These causes lie in the unequal power held by between different groups in society and an economic system geared for infinite growth on a finite planet.
+++++++++
Ian
More from my notebook …One of the oft-repeated arguments put forward against Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is that this is against the fundamental right to practice one’s religion. It is argued that the act of the state to legislate in matters, which ought to be governed through religious texts, is an attack on religious freedom.
Outwardly it might appear so, but in practice, UCC doesn’t take away any religious freedom. Yes, it takes away the rights of religious bodies to control a group – and that’s why those who fancy themselves as representatives or leaders of a religion are opposing it – but it doesn’t strip an individual his freedom to follow certain religious practices or rules.
Let’s first understand the issues involved in layman language to understand this important difference.
- Advertisement - - Article resumes -
The laws of a nation can be broadly divided into two types – criminal laws and civil laws.
Criminal laws, as the name suggests, deal with issues related to crime e.g. theft, murder, violence, economic fraud, harassment, etc. while civil laws deal with issues such as marriage, inheritance, adoption, maintenance, divorce, etc. there are some issues that are covered under both e.g. defamation and domestic violence.
An act of crime is often seen not just as an offense against an individual, but as an offense against the society as a whole – as it disturbs public order – which is why the criminal law is common for everyone.
However, a civil wrong is often seen as a matter between two individuals or groups. Yes, such wrongs can also be seen as a wrong against the society e.g. a matter of divorce could be seen as a matter pertaining to the larger issue of status of women in a society, but in legal terms, civil wrongs are treated differently than criminal offenses.
Another crucial difference is – a civil wrong is legally actionable only when an aggrieved party seeks a remedy, while a criminal offense is deemed to be committed the moment such an act is carried out by someone, whether or not there is any complainant.
For example, if there is a murder in the neighborhood and nobody knows the victim, the state will still investigate it and try to deliver justice, but if a son has voluntarily given up share in his dad’s property, the state won’t intervene and ensure a ‘fair’ inheritance.
Understanding it in the context of Uniform Civil Code, let’s assume that there is a civil law (part of UCC, which by the way could be a series of amendments or legislation, instead of being one single act) which states that retired parents have the right to get minimum 5% of the monthly salary from their grown up children as maintenance for their old age.
There is a person X who feels that he has enough retirement funds and he doesn’t need such maintenance from his son or daughter. The state, or a third party, can’t force X or his children in this case to execute the provisions of the law.
Now assume that there is a religion Y that says that it’s a sin for a person to take money from his or her children. Technically, the civil law (UCC) has given X the right to commit this sin – and thus the custodians of religion Y will call the civil law “anti-Y” and an attack on their faith – but in practice, it doesn’t force the followers of Y to commit the sin.
If the person X is religious, he will not exercise his right to get money from his children even if his retirement funds deplete. He will not see himself as an aggrieved party due to his religious beliefs. Thus despite the civil law that contravenes his faith, he will have all the freedom to follow his faith.
Now for whatever reasons – whether X is a bit less religious or he is in dire need of money – if X decides to exercise his right, and commits a sin in the eyes of religious leaders of Y, he can’t be stopped or punished from committing this sin.
And this is where Uniform Civil Code takes away the rights of a religious body. When personal laws exist, X can be stopped or punished under such laws whose interpretation and implementation are often controlled by these bodies. This power of controlling lives of people is taken away from such |
out opponents distanced themselves from Geordie Tait’s post. So I don’t want to act like everyone on the other side is like this. But, there’s definitely a hardcore element that would like to see us erased.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around liking long manifestos without reading them. And Cate Gray wasn’t the only one to co-sign this beyond-the-pale garbage (Also, LOL @ Fail King for liking his own shit. Pathetic):
(She didn’t give the other name. If anyone knows about it, put all relevant info down in the comments)
All we can do, is fight like hell to preserve our culture and way of life. Every crazy death wish they hurl at us, all their false accusations…they must be chronicled. They’ve made it their mission to wipe us out, if not literally, then definitely figuratively. Luckily, they have severely underestimated our resolve. Three months in, and we’re still going strong. Keep up the fight, and ignore the haters.
UPDATE: More photos of the comments and likes…Ricky Rodriguez? Ricky Rodriguez!
His MLB debut Monday couldn’t have gone much better. He struck out the first two batters and got a soft liner to first from the third batter for a 1-2-3 inning.
Not to get too carried away here, but when will the Texas Rangers name him their closer?
Rodriguez has been in the organization since he was signed out of Venezuela in 2010 as an 18-year-old. He essentially missed the past two seasons with injuries that resulted in Tommy John surgery.
Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram
But he was lights out in 12 games at Double A Frisco, going 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA, after being lights out at High A Down East, where he was 3-1 with a 1.41 ERA in 23 games.
Sounds like closer material to me.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1. Jeff Banister still had no idea why he was ejected Sunday afternoon, and still insisted a day later that he wasn’t arguing when first-base ump Tripp Gibson ejected him after a hit by pitch in the fifth inning.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch had also left the dugout to see why the umpires warned both benches after Andrew Cashner grazed Marwin Gonzalez’s jersey with a 3-0 fastball to open the inning with the Rangers down 1-0.
Clearly, that isn’t a situation when a pitcher intentionally throws at a hitter. All Banister wanted to know was why did that particular hit by pitch prompt a warning, so he asked plate ump Stu Scheurwater.
Gibson made himself part of the conversation, and soon gave Banister the heave. That was his fifth ejection of the season.
The stunned look on Banister’s face said it all, and also raised a question: Do umpires and Banister have a sour relationship?
“Ejections have no bearing on relationships,” Banister said. “I’ve been ejected three times taking up for our guys. I was ejected for clapping. I think the landscape of today, based on replay, ejections get more press now.
“My relationship with these guys is good. The conversation is good. If we had the same crew today, I promise you it would be handshakes and smiles. When you get inside the competitive atmosphere of a game, there are always emotions.”
Prior to Sunday, Banister was ejected July 26 after Adrian Beltre had been tossed by Gerry Davis for moving the on-deck circle. Banister was run for trying to defend Beltre.
“When he goes, I’m going to go. I can promise you that,” Banister said. “That has nothing to do with relationships with the umpires. I’m not screaming and hollering from the dugout about balls and strikes. There are times when maybe there needs to be a spark somewhere. I’m OK with that.”
Umpires certainly don’t seem to be trying to screw over the Rangers. Calls go against them just as they do all other 29 teams.
Maybe Banister has worn out his margin of error with umpires, as one observer pointed out. If an umpire has a decision to let it go or let Banister go, he chooses the latter.
But with the latest ejection Sunday, one that it didn’t appear Banister had earned and one that he didn’t believe he had earned, his relationship with umps is a something worth considering.
2. Speaking of ejections, Ian Kinsler and Brad Ausmus were tossed by plate umpire Angel Hernandez in the fifth inning Monday after Kinsler took the first two pitches in an at-bat against Martin Perez.
The first pitch looked low but was called a strike, prompting Kinsler to ask Hernandez, “What’s wrong with you tonight?”
The next pitch was also low and more outside, and Kinsler must have asked Hernandez if that, too, was a strike.
Kinsler was gone, and then he got in some colorful words when telling Hernandez just how bad of an umpire he is.
The disruption didn’t disrupt Perez, though. The left-hander allowed a two-run homer to Justin Upton in the first inning but finished by tossing five scoreless innings and earning the win for a second straight start.
He did that in June but didn’t pitch as well as he has the past two, allowing three earned runs in 14 innings.
The roller coaster he usually rides throughout a season is clicking its way to the top of another hill. If the Rangers are lucky, it will get stuck.
They need quality pitching from someone besides Cole Hamels and Andrew Cashner. Perez has the stuff to do it, and it appears his mechanics and mind are both in the right place.
Perez will start Saturday against the Chicago White Sox, Aug. 23 at Anaheim and either Aug. 29 or 30 at Houston. They’re all big at this point with the Rangers trying to remain in the playoff picture, but the one next week could help the Rangers gain ground in the wild-card race.
The Angels, who were without Mike Trout for 39 games because of a wrist injury, are holding down the second wild-card spot and lead the Rangers by three games. That series, four night games to open a 10-game road trip, is looking like a big one.
3. Banister was bullish about the offense, saying the approach the lineup had through the game was the best of the season. Monday’s game was the Rangers’ 117th of the season.
The Rangers showed power, with Joey Gallo hitting homer No. 33. They manufactured runs, using two sacrifice bunts, two steals and a sacrifice fly to produce runs. They had 10 hits that weren’t homers.
Rougned Odor had the best game, going 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two steals. The first hit was a bunt hit, something he did with aplomb last season but has largely abandoned this year.
Nomar Mazara also had three hits, including a broken-bat bloop single to drive in the game’s first two runs. The runners, Delino DeShields and Elvis Andrus, opened the game by drawing walks.
“Just all around probably the best approach we’ve had collectively through the game,” Banister said. “Some things that we’ve talked about going forward is the ability to put runs on the board. That’s what the thought process is. It’s about scoring runs. If that’s the approach we need to take throughout, so be it.”
Imagine that: Quality starting pitching, an offense that can score runs in multiple ways, and four wins in the past five games.
Adrian Beltre, Mr. Optimism when it comes to the Rangers’ playoff chances, said on Sunday that the Rangers haven’t gotten hot yet. An impending hot streak is one of the things fueling his optimism.
Maybe this is it. If so, the Rangers need it to last more than five games.16-year-old Fulham winger Ryan Sessegnon scored the winner against Cardiff in the FA Cup
Slavisa Jokanovic has urged Fulham owner Shahid Khan to keep hold of teenage sensation Ryan Sessegnon and strengthen his squad for a promotion push.
Sessegnon became one of the youngest scorers in FA Cup history - at 16 years and 235 days - with the winner in Fulham's 2-1 third round success at Cardiff.
The England Under-17 international has been linked to the Premier League's big guns, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham all reportedly showing interest in the Wandsworth-born product.
"He's very good for the project of this football club, he's one of the most talented teenagers in England," Jokanovic said.
"I am sure that he is going to be a very important player for us in the future. But he's only 16 years old, we have to be careful with him, and I prefer not to talk so much about Ryan Sessegnon.
Ryan Sessegnon, born in 2000, impressed for Fulham and struck the winner against Cardiff
"He's a very intelligent kid, he's working very hard and has to keep going."
Florida-based Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team, is one of the wealthiest businessmen in the United States.
And Jokanovic wants Fulham to invest in the January transfer window and push on with the Cottagers close to the play-off picture.
Fulham are currently in 10th place after a slow start to the season, but winning their game in hand would move them to within three points of the top six.
Asked what he expected of the January transfer window, Jokanovic replied: "It depends on our ambition. I want Ryan Sessegnon, I want one striker and I want one defender.
"We have to try to push the team in top six. We are past the first third of the season and we have in front of us 20 days still (of the window).
Souleymane Bamba of Cardiff City complains to the referee after Fulham score their second goal
"I am pleased with this win because we moved the ball well and played with patience. We scored two goals and did enough for third goal."
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock said his hand had been forced on team selection.
Warnock made five changes from the side which had beaten Aston Villa on Monday, and he admitted that he was unwilling to risk players who were nursing injuries.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock assesses the action
"It's a sad aspect when you play a weakened team like I have done today," Warnock said.
"The FA Cup is a great competition but there are other priorities now. A club like ours can not afford to go down.
"We have to make sure we stay up and Bristol City on the horizon is a vital game for us. But today has answered a few questions that we do need reinforcements when we have players out."More questions are being raised about Premier Alison Redford's travel expenses after she charged taxpayers more than $9,000 for a flight back from California last year.
Redford was on vacation with her daughter in Palm Springs when she used a government plane to come back for Ralph Klein's memorial on April 5.
The cost was $9,200, which covered flying the plane down to California and bringing back Redford, her daughter and two bodyguards.
But in the wake of a $45,000 trip to South Africa to attend Nelson Mandala's memorial, MRU political science professor Lori Williams says a trend may be forming.
"The questions of judgment about exploring cheaper options, I think that doesn't look terribly good and could be a part of a bigger narrative."
Williams admits this trip is different than the one to South Africa because of unpredictability, cost and options available.
However, she says there is heightened awareness about politician spending right now, especially in the wake of the senate scandal.
"All of these sorts of things are piling up in the public mind and people are saying look, 'We can't afford to do things like this and we are wondering whether our government ought to be doing these sorts of things.'"
Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson said Redford had plenty of time to book a commercial flight instead.
"It appears what she did is she was on vacation, heard about it, made her plans, called the government plane down and didn't even think about flying home commercially and didn't think about the cost of a flight to meet her down and bring her back."
Anderson says it speaks to wasteful spending.
The premier's office says commercial flight options were considered, but there was a backlog of passengers because of bad weather.It’s taken me ten days and a trip clear across the country to take stock of the emotional trauma associated with being both a Whitecaps supporter and a charter member of the #OptimistsUnion during this muddling month of March.
About a month ago the consensus was something like this: the Whitecaps needed to patch up at right back, central attacking midfield, and striker with new acquisitions, and we got them. We had trimmed away some of the dead wood, rehired a great veteran leader in Mauro Rosales, and even shocked everybody by buying Brek “Swear like a Supporter” Shea, an acquisition that was on nobody’s radar.
We were heading into the Champions League semi-final with permission granted to get off to a slow start in the league if it meant we have a good showing in Mexico. A good showing meant, by popular consensus, a 2-0 loss in Monterrey. If that meant sending out a reserve team again San Jose, no problem. Do it. Early season league points could be sacrificed.
First Yordy Reyna went down. Then Fredy Montero got stranded on a desert island, and although we magically went up 2-0 in San Jose on Erik Hurtado and Nicolas Mezquida’s prowess, David Ousted wandered “Outside The Box” and we threw the game away.
In Monterrey we acquitted ourselves well until an own goal sank us and we finished, as expected, 2-0 losers but with a sour taste in our mouths. We came home and held Toronto to an eye-watering 0-0 draw until Brek Shea picked up a chant from the Southside and a red card to go with it.
Suddenly we’re pretty much where we figured we would be, but in all the wrong ways. It’s all very Capsy indeed: doing all the expected things in unacceptable ways.
I’m not sure what the emotion is. Not despair exactly or disappointment. It’s the feeling of having everything basically work out according to plan in a way that causes you to lose hope. I’m stubbornly clinging to the #OptimistsUnion because it’s clear that the club isn’t even competent enough to engineer disappointment. Somehow things will have to get better.
I can imagine that this team, which is pretty good on paper, has to be able to find ways to turn it around without setting loose their manager. But football is a funny old game and you don’t always get what you want. What happens on the field involves another team of people working against your aims. What’s supposed to happen in your own stadium however, in your own town, is entirely up to you.
The club has actually done some things lately that have made it increasingly hard to wave all but an ironic banner. We received a poster as a season ticket package, which paled in comparison to what teams like NYCFC and TFC were offering their supporters. We were trolled by our own club announcing a trade of $50,000 of play money as if it was a DP signing. More recently, it was discovered that, of the hundreds of thousands of @WhitecapsFC twitter followers, only 27% were verified to be real.
After two home games it has become patently clear that the Southside has been rendered into tatters by the ‘Caps ticketing polices and lack of creative supporter relations, which, instead of working with the supporters groups to help fill in the supporters sections, have meant that season’s tickets have been snapped up by resellers who are flogging “the best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver” to people who don’t really want to be in amongst it once they are asked to sing.
“I hope you’re not going to play those loudly” said one touchy tourist who had bought a seat right next to the drums. That seems to sum it up. That guy could have been speaking for the entire organization.
Up in the Pigeon Loft, we are at least trying to generate a bit of a good time, with some two-sticks and a few new chants for Mati Laba and Sheanon Williams, and a couple of self-deprecating numbers just to stay a bit honest and humble. I think we enjoy making the most of a bad time in the team’s history and somehow we’ve managed to enjoy ourselves in spite of results.
But it’s hard.
Last week I watched a compilation of all of our 2011 goals, and I watched the crowd reaction in the Southside at Empire. We didn’t score a lot that year, but we didn’t score a bad one, and each goal was greeted with delirium. I miss those days.
Our inaugural MLS year was a terrible, terrible season, but the team was easy to love. We had character and joy in our football. The Southside was cheeky and unified. We weren’t yet completely cynical, although the undercurrents were there, as the long time Southsiders will tell you.
The excitement of the 2011 campaign papered over the very real structural issues in supporter relations that we are dealing with in 2017. It has been a multi-year project just to work with the club to fill the supporters section with actual supporters group members and I fear we’ve actually slid backwards.
You don’t know what you don’t have until you see it elsewhere. This year’s launch of TSS Rovers as a Canadian team in the PDL stands in stark contrast to the way in which the Whitecaps currently engage their supporters. Rovers have a sharp new kit, a beautiful scarf, an active social media life. They are going to play at Swangard. They are basically supporters running a football club and it’s worth the $80 season ticket price just to give them a hand. That’s only 16 cups of fancy coffee and for your trouble you get summertime Friday night football and the reciprocal love and support of a club that knows how important supporters are, because that’s what they are too.
And Rovers aren’t the only ones. Last week I was in Halifax where I had coffee with Andre Bourque of the Halifax Wanderers Supporters Group, yet another Canadian Premier League supporters group without a team. When you sit down and talk to him about what they are doing, his eyes light up with joy and pride. He has a chance to see live professional football in the town he loves and to work with a bunch of others to represent Halifax in all its quirky diversity.
The team is excited to have a supporters group already in place, and they are meeting together on March 30th hopefully to learn some good news about the CPL and the Halifax club. Mouths are watering at the prospect of Moncton away days.
All we want to be is proud of our team and our city. I cannot understand why the Whitecaps organization makes it so hard to love them.
A reset of the simple things, a trial and error approach to upping our game, a recommitment to the fans that desperately want to love this club is required. It’s not just about the vocal supporters groups either. It’s about all of us.
When a shoestring start up operation in Burnaby and a wispy idea of a team in Halifax are outclassing you, it’s time to rethink your strategy. When upstart Atlanta United enters the league and after three games REDEFINES atmosphere, you ought to be paying attention. When the Southsiders twitter handle rewrites your supporters section policies in a practical way, you might want to issue a mea culpa.
Professional sports operations of any kind cannot do it without the supporters, both for our passion, our willingness to hang in there, and the incredible reserves of creativity that are there for the tapping. Being countercultural at best, football clubs have a chance to actually break new ground. We aren’t doing it.
We’ll be here, but it’s clear that we are not an infinite resource. Results help, but how you deal with the unexpected says volumes and how you do the tough work of working WITH your engaged fans matters. The optimist in me can see a myriad of ways we can go, but it’s going to require something different now, a 180 degree turn and a full commitment to try to change the nature of the club from Capsy to classy.
Let’s do it. Why not? We can only get better from here.We are extremely regretful to announce that, after two years of seeking, we have decided to suspend our search for a location.
During these past years, we have toiled to get Casanova up and running again, looking at 31 different locations all over the area and starting lease negotiations on 6 of them. Unfortunately, at every turn there seemed to be an unforeseen obstacle or some inexplicable incident, all of which barred our path to reopening.
A part of our disappointment is knowing that we have disappointed all of you, our loyal customers. We want to thank you again for your ongoing support and encouragement through email and Facebook posts. It was because of you that we were motivated and able to endure these months of frustration.
A very special thank you to our realtor, Darin, who was an amazing help to us, constantly going the extra mile and being a true advocate for Casanova.
We don't know what is in store for the Casanova name, if we will revisit the possibility of reopening in the years ahead, or if it will evolve into some other project. We will keep avenues of communication, through the website and Facebook, open as long as we can in the case that there are any updates on our future.
Our deep thanks and sincere apologies to all of you,
The Casanova Family
email: info@casanovapizzeria.com1 of 13 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Scenes from a once-booming oil industry gone bad View Photos Unfortunate circumstances and miscalculation in Texas have forced energy firms to retreat amid a sea of defaults. Caption Unfortunate circumstances and miscalculation in Texas have forced energy firms to retreat amid a sea of defaults. March 1, 2016 Terry Swift, president and chief executive of Swift Energy, wanders the grounds at a company drilling site in Tilden, Tex. This particular well was the third one that was drilled in the Eagle Ford Shale area. Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
TILDEN, Tex. — He’d borrowed from banks and investors and retirement funds, all in a frenzied mission to drill for oil and gas, and by the time Terry Swift realized he’d gone too far, this was his debt: $1.349 billion.
His company, founded by his father almost 40 years earlier, had plunged into bankruptcy and laid off 25 percent of its staff. Its shares had been pulled from the New York Stock Exchange. And now Swift was in a company Chevrolet Tahoe, driving back to the flat and dusty place where his bets had gone bust.
Swift was coming to this energy-rich strip of South Texas trying to grapple with how much blame he shouldered for the failure of his company. A low-key and historically cautious oil chief executive who eschews private jets and orders low-fat salads for lunch, he had made what he thought was the best financial move of the past decade — a gamble on rising oil prices — and yet was ensnared in an industry-wide craze of dangerous debt.
“Maybe we were wrong to believe there wouldn’t be a bust this bad,” Swift, 60, said, as the Tahoe rumbled south of San Antonio. “It didn’t even feel risky.”
Swift’s miscalculation has made his company, Swift Energy, a casualty of the greatest wave of financial defaults since America’s subprime mortgage crisis ravaged the U.S. economy. For him, it’s a painful low point in his family’s 111-year journey in American oil, one that started when his great-grandfather set up a series of storage tanks in the plains outside of Tulsa. And it’s a jarring reversal from just a few years ago, when Swift felt as if he’d taken his company to a pinnacle by capitalizing on a massive surge in U.S. energy production — one that promised an era of American energy independence thanks to revolutionary new technologies.
[Graphic: The end of the U.S. oil boom, told through one Texas firm's bust]
This new wave of bad loans isn’t the same magnitude of the housing bust, but it reflects similar behaviors. Borrowers feasted on what Bloomberg estimates was $237 billion of easy money without scrutinizing whether the loans could endure a drastic downturn. The consequences are far-reaching: The U.S. oil industry, having grown into a giant on par with Saudi Arabia’s, is shrinking, with the biggest collapse in investment in energy in 25 years. More than 140,000 have lost energy jobs. Banks are bracing for tens of billions of dollars of defaults, and economists and lawyers predict the financial wreckage will accelerate this year.
South Texas, along with North Dakota, had been the testing grounds for the industry’s ambitions, a place where shale oil and gas companies had taken on billions in loans to support more drilling and fracking. The strategy was to gather up drilling sites at turbo-speed and later slow down and reap the benefits. But then, oil prices plunged and stayed down. They’ve fallen 60 percent from two years ago.
“It was drill-drill-drill,” said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer, an investment bank. “Every Tom, Dick and Harry was trying to become an oil baron. Now all of a sudden you say, my God. All these people spent beyond their means.”
[How the world’s great oil powers became so powerless]
As Swift arrived in Tilden, the site of some of Swift Energy’s fields in South Texas, the signs of decay were everywhere. Scrubby two-lane roads once clogged with heavy-duty vehicles were almost empty. Roadside hotels that sprang up to meet demand — including one that once was booked solid for a year by Halliburton — had vacant parking lots and dust glazing the windows. McMullen County, where tens of thousands had worked every day at the peak, had shriveled back to a quiet place of 800.
The Tahoe turned onto a straight country road and headed toward Swift Energy’s field office, a series of trailers that were the base for its drilling operations. Little paddles of cactus nuzzled a fence that ran alongside the road, and Swift spotted a few cows near the entrance, the only visible activity along the horizon.
“We’ll have to chase ’em out,” he said.
He was quiet for a moment, pausing on what had transpired.
“You know the thing that’s disappointing,” he said. “All the wealth that was created — it dried up.”
Ambitions fueled by debt
America’s great energy boom resulted not simply from gains made by the established giants — ExxonMobil and Chevron — but rather from the rise of hundreds of smaller companies. And those smaller companies grew with debt, using it to drill 8,000 feet into the earth’s crust and 10,000 feet across, renting equipment, pumping in millions of pounds of sand, and creating fractures that released oil and natural gas.
This was hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” the technology that, in the middle of the last decade, allowed companies to reach oil and gas that was previously inaccessible. Companies had a choice: either borrow to enter the fracking race or stay on the sidelines and risk losing out.
Most, including Swift, chose to frack.
That decision, multiplied across hundreds of producers, has caused U.S. oil production to nearly double since 2007. And while politicians and executives celebrated that new capacity — dramatically reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil — few discussed the dangerous financial risks.
The industry’s debt, after all, had also nearly doubled. Producers like Swift didn’t think this was a bubble: Instead, they saw a new chapter in American energy — one in which technology had helped expand the market permanently at a time of global energy needs, led by China.
“Not that the industry was bust-proof, but the cycles maybe wouldn’t be as deep,” Swift recalled. It was a profoundly wrong call.
“By the time this is over,” he said, “this might be the worst of all the busts.”
Swift had been in the oil industry since graduating from the University of Houston with a degree in chemical engineering in 1979. He started off in Texas for a few years and then in 1981 joined the company run by his father, Aubrey Earl Swift, who died in 2006. There, he was initially dispatched to work overnight shifts in West Virginia. He called himself a geological nerd and happily talks for hours about rock formations and sonic mapping tools.
“It gets in your DNA,” Swift said.
Before fracking, Swift Energy had been a medium-size player — operating conventional oil and gas wells in Louisiana and Texas — that had relied on much the same formula for more than a decade. It kept its debt to a minimum. It drilled somewhere between 30 to 70 wells per year. It also had owned some previously sleepy tracts in South Texas’s Eagle Ford, an area that, with fracking, looked like America’s next energy moneymaker. Swift felt his company, which had experimented with fracking when the technique was less common and less reliable, had lucked out.
“The play was getting bigger and bigger,” Swift said. “So our vision was, we could do this.”
As the company began to frack more often, the amount it spent on exploration and drilling skyrocketed by hundreds of millions of dollars. To cover that spending, Swift Energy issued three separate packages of bonds worth $875 million. It also had a credit line of $500 million from JPMorgan. All together, the more than $1 billion debt represented an amount so large that if the company had combined its profits from its 20 best years, it could not have paid the debt back.
Not long after, cracks began to show in Swift Energy’s plan. The first problems, Swift thought, seemed manageable. Swift Energy was drilling in five places across Texas and Louisiana — each a different kind of dirt — and was taking a little longer than competitors to figure out the best drilling methods. Several times a year, Swift would pledge to pull a certain amount of oil and gas from the ground, then tell investors that the company had missed its targets. Often, its share prices would tumble. “They were horribly inefficient,” said David Deckelbaum, an analyst at KeyBanc.
Then Swift Energy began to feel the pain of unexpected global developments. Natural gas prices started to dip. Then the price of oil fell off a cliff in November 2014 when Saudi Arabia, in a bid to retain market share amid greater U.S. competition, increased its own production. Meantime, global demand sagged, again led by China.
Swift realized a manageable problem was no longer manageable. The company needed cash just to make interest payments, and nobody would lend it more money.
[$2 gasoline isn't having the economic impact everyone thought it would]
Swift tried to perform triage. He laid off some employees. He called vendors and asked for lower prices. He chiseled at expenditures.
The company’s lender, JPMorgan, began tightening the funds Swift Energy could withdraw. The company’s stock — above $40 per share in 2011 — dipped below $1, and then below 25 cents.
Swift, along with chief financial officer Alton Heckaman, spent days at the computer running scenarios.
Can we survive if oil bounces back to $60?
Are we doomed if oil hits $30?
Running out of cash, Swift realized his company was bound for bankruptcy. “I knew it was the best path,” he said. “Doesn’t mean it was a great path.”
On Dec. 1, Swift skipped an interest payment to its bondholders.
On Dec. 18, the company’s shares were yanked from the New York Stock Exchange because of their “abnormally low” prices.
And on the night of Dec. 31, Swift and Heckaman gathered at their Houston office, signing the last bankruptcy papers.
“The debtor requests relief in accordance with the chapter of title 11,” one of the documents said, and in this case restructuring meant that everybody who’d once owned stock in Swift Energy would lose virtually everything.
It was not alone. In 2015, 42 oil and gas companies failed, according to Haynes and Boone, a Dallas-based law firm, and this year that number is projected to accelerate.
“It was a disaster for everybody,” said J. Ellwood Towle, a St. Louis-based investor who was among Swift Energy’s biggest shareholders.
‘It wasn’t sustainable’
Here in Tilden, 80 miles south of San Antonio and 100 miles north of the Mexican border, Swift Energy had rented out its own “man camp” — a compound of prefab trailers — to house workers recruited from as far away as Ohio. For the three-person trailers, the company paid $3,000 per month. The 13-trailer compound felt at the time like the only option, Swift said. Without a man camp, you could spend $5,000 per month just to house an employee.
In the Eagle Ford basin, the number of drilling rigs doubled between 2011 and 2012, topping 250. Prices for land spiked a hundredfold. Swift had put up with the prices because the potential rewards were so great, but now he was directly facing the consequences of those decisions.
Swift walked into the field office to meet with Robbie Walters, the supervisor who managed all the production in South Texas. Walters sat in a wood-paneled office covered in geological maps.
“Down here just for the day?” Walters asked, and he never mentioned the bankruptcy.
“Just for the day,” Swift said.
Walters talked, instead, about the broader landscape. About the empty hotels. The businesses that had disappeared. The Tex-Mex restaurant, Pepe Boudreaux’s, that had shuttered only weeks earlier.
“You look back and you see it wasn’t sustainable,” Walters said.
Now, only 43 rigs were operating in the Eagle Ford.
“It was very competitive,” Swift said. “If you ever blinked and said, I’m not sure about sustainability, you’d get put in the bleachers. The longer you waited, the more you missed out.”
Swift returned to the Tahoe and checked out some other spots in the Eagle Ford: a new gas well that was being tested and the company’s man camp, where they are trying to renegotiate a better rate.
While touring the field, Swift stayed mostly quiet, instead listening to his employees detail how well the work to develop oil and gas wells was going. But on the drive home, he had something to say. It wasn’t so much an explanation for his company’s demise, but rather an explanation for his actions.
Comparing the joy of pulling oil from the ground with a “baby being born,” he said, “Mother earth has treasures, and there are prizes if you can extract them.” He added: “I don’t ask myself when I wake up, how much money do I have? I’m still an oil guy.”
But even if he remains an oil guy, his father’s company will no longer be controlled by one.
When Swift emerges later this year from a lengthy federal court process in Wilmington, Del., Swift will still be CEO. But the company will be owned by bondholders, including the hedge funds that swooped in last year — when it was obvious Swift Energy was in trouble — and bought, for dimes on the dollar, the bonds that were certain to default.
Swift doesn’t even know whether the company will retain its name.
“If I was in total control, I’d answer that,” Swift said. “I’m not in total control.”Google, it is cheekily said, knows everything even, apparently, the origin of an unidentified flying object.
On Oct. 16, 2012, residents of Pike County, Ky., looked high in the sky to find a strange sight. Amateur astronomer Allen Epling described it to a local reporter as looking "like two fluorescent bulbs, side by side, parallel, shining very brightly."
"It would get so bright they would seem to merge, and you could see it very clearly with the naked eye," Epling said. "Then, it would dim down almost invisible... It wasn't anything I recognized. Definitely not an airplane, and I've never seen a helicopter that looked like that."
Epling wasn't the only one who noticed; police in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee got phone calls from concerned citizens. Calls were made to nearby airports, but government officials could shed no light on it. The unidentified flying object, estimated to have reached an altitude of 60,000 feet, remained more or less stationary for hours, suggesting that it was tethered to the ground somehow, or hovering under its own power. [7 Things Most Often Mistaken for UFOs]
And now, the origin of the bright bulbs has been found.
Explanations and speculations
Alien spacecraft were, of course, suspected. The most likely explanation a balloon of some sort was floated, but led to further mystery and shadowy speculation. What entity placed it there, and what was its purpose? Was it spying on unwitting Americans?
Or was it sampling or even creating so-called "chemtrails," those lines in the sky that resemble normal airplane contrails but are suspected of being anything from extraterrestrial signals to mind-control experiments to weather-controlling machinery? Many thought top-secret chemical agents were involved, which raises the question of what possible purpose the chemtrails would serve. As Bob Carroll notes in his book "The Skeptic's Dictionary" (Wiley, 2003), "Any biological or chemical agents released at 25,000 feet or above would be absolutely impossible to control, making any measurement of effects on the ground nearly impossible... Such an exercise would be pointless, unless you just wanted to pollute the atmosphere."
Besides that, the fact that the U.S. government didn't know or, depending on your point of view, claimed not to know what the object was simply fueled the speculation. Obviously, whatever was that big and high up in the sky was not put there by a hobbyist, and if no one at the Air Force or Pentagon truly knew what it was, perhaps a private company, or maybe even a foreign power, was behind it. The reports and news faded away, but the mysterious object hung like a question mark in the sky.
Secret revealed
Now, an article in Wired magazine has revealed the secret behind the mysterious craft: a Google-financed tech endeavor code-named Project Loon. "The people in Pike County were witnessing a test of Project Loon, a breathtakingly ambitious plan to bring the Internet to a huge swath of as-yet-unconnected humanity via thousands of |
in the world, with a mix of fighting aircraft (C-123s, F-100s, C-130s, C-47s, Huey Choppers, etc.) and commercial airliners transporting troops to and from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Australia, and other R & R locations. I enjoyed the activity ~ not the death ~ but all the action was exciting.
MEDCAP: PACIFICATION PROGRAM
As a dentist attached to the 3rd Air Force Dispensary, one could remain fairly safe, if remaining on base, except for the not-so-uncommon rocket attacks around 10:15 p.m. But my being an inquisitive country boy, the Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) offered the perfect opportunity for off-base adventure through the Pacification Program with medical treatment for the outlying Vietnamese populace. It was designed to demonstrate to the Vietnamese people that we were their friends.
Housing at Bien Hoa Air Base was reminiscent of a miniature chicken farm, with the screened tin-roofed, shotgun-shaped huts all in a row ~ commonly called “the hooches.” Sitting around our 8’ by 17’ hooch “living room” at night, Dental Commander Major Cecil Brown indoctrinated Captain John Maressa, Captain Bill Keaton, and me on the objectives, procedural guidelines, local customs, and dangers related to being active in MEDCAP.
Cecil emphasized the difficulty in identifying the enemy in Vietnam ~ might even be a young boy who could toss a hand grenade into your slow-moving jeep, if caught up in the frequent traffic jams near bridges. And, of course, friendly Vietnamese in South Vietnam were almost identical to the Viet Cong, except, perhaps the Viet Cong would be wearing more of the black pajama variety of clothing. But the Vietnamese all looked alike facially since they descended from similar bloodlines. A problem, for sure.
MEDCAP: MY FORTE Appointed Chief of Prosthetics early on, I became a MEDCAP leader and had the opportunity to routinely treat patients in eleven hamlets, in two South Vietnamese refugee camps, in two schools, and at Father Berset’s Ben San Leprosarium.
Our Bien Hoa MEDCAP Team traveled to each destination by either Huey Chopper or jeep, with portions of the trip occasionally necessitating a sanpan boating to an island hamlet. Almost without exception, the Vietnamese villagers loved to see us coming ~ lots of big smiles and with excited children grabbing my hand while screaming, “Da- we! Da-we!” which meant “Captain! Captain!”
To me, every MEDCAP trip offered new excitement. If traveling by Huey, the chopper pilots would rock-and-roll us between the palms that lined the Dong Nai River. The object was to keep the enemy off-balance if preparing to take a shot at the chopper. In the process, it made for exhilarating rides over the beautiful, lush countryside ~ that is, where the forest defoliation program had not reached.
FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE “VIET CONG”
This day would bring more excitement than I bargained for. Thirteen miles from Bien Hoa Air Base was our MEDCAP hamlet of Binh Co. The young U.S. Army Warrant Officer had given us a memorable ride. The yellow flared landing area was uncharacteristically almost one-quarter-mile from the village. And, after dropping off my team, the Army chopper darted closely over the bushes as it quickly vacated the area, then shot skyward in one big burst ~ all characteristic of being in a dangerous war zone. The chopper pilots action set the scene for what was ahead.
The Airmen grabbed heavy medical supply boxes and we headed to the hamlet. About fifty yards down the dusty road, black pajamas began to slowly emerge from both sides of the underbrush. Even more young men slivered from the bushes, with glaring eyes and frightful expressions. I could hear mumbling Airmen to the rear. Quick discernment said this was the Viet Cong (VC) ~ named “Charlie” by the Allied Forces. My wheels were turning on how to save my Airmen from certain death.
Airman Second Class Dennis Fisher, a sharp 20-year-old Texan, worked his way to my right side: “Doc, did they leave us in a VC camp?”
“Fisher, sure looks like we’ll spend the day in the big middle of Charlie.” “We won’t be trying to shoot our way out of here, will we?” DEALING WITH “CHARLIE”
“No. No. Look, Dennis, pass the word: No one touches his trigger ~ and every Airman must act unconcerned when we reach the village. The next part will not be easy: Tell Sarge to instruct everyone to lay down their weapons when we reach the hamlet and set up for clinic ~ just like always. That’s our best bet to get out of Binh Co alive. We’re gonna’ beat the VC by treating the VC. Let’s take that chance. Got it?” “Yes, sir. They have us far outnumbered. Sounds like the best thing to do.”
The Airmen followed the plan perfectly ~ looked like they were setting up for a Sunday picnic. As overhead clouds darkened, the Village Chief was reverently presenting the aging papa-san as our first patient. Respect for the elderly. With twisted cane in hand, and goatee reaching his navel, papa-san sat in one of the few village chairs.
As my local anesthetic began to numb his lower lip, large droplets of rain quickly accelerated in rhythm. Without warning, forty mile-an-hour horizontal winds joined the foray! Most everyone took flight to the little thatched houses, but papa-san wanted his treatment ~ now.
In the middle of his dental care, the high winds had papa-san’s long goatee whipping my face like a wet horse’s tail. We were both drenched, but maintained our doctor- patient relationship until, finally, his decayed lower bicuspid decided it was time to give it up.
As the rain subsided, papa-san energetically slapped his cane three times into the mud, and with a nod of his head, said I had performed well and he was ready to go. Walking the old man slowly back, Dennis Fisher opened the front door and began a slow applause. The Village Chief quickly led others into thunderous cheers, with papa-san and I treated like we just won an Oscar.
Fisher then lined up our pediatric patients, utilizing a long cypress log as my dental chair. As per usual with kids around the world, the baby-sans were amused by their numbing lips. Fifty-five extractions later, the horrendous rains returned, sending us for cover.
With time on their hands, the young VC became restless, disturbing frowns filling the rooms. Danger was in the air. And it was almost 1700 hours, and no chopper in sight. The Texan to the rescue ~ in a very simple way. Pulling up his fatigue shirt, Fisher began showing three kids how to rub their bellies while chanting, “HO, HO, HO!” The Village Chief joined, so three minutes later, all but a few sculling VC joined in the chant. Simple, but, thankfully, quite effective for the occasion.
“Flutter ~ flutter ~ flutter” began to dominate the air. Best sounds I ever heard! Opening the front door, the clouds looked like the Red Sea opening for Moses, as the brave pilot brought the beautiful little Huey to our doorstep. Quick load. No shots were fired as we departed. Thank you, Jesus. Glancing down from five hundred feet, I could almost hear the kids screaming “HO, HO, HO” as they rubbed their little tummies. Then it dawned on us. We made it out safely ~ Yes!!
THE CRUEL AFTERMATH War is no playground. War is worse than nasty, it is brutal. Yes, war is hell.
Combined military intelligence deemed that Binh Co had been a significant supply route for enemy transport of Russian rockets already fired on Bien Hoa Air Base and the city of Bien Hoa. Intelligence said that more rockets were heading down Ho Chi Minh Trail. Remedy: The Binh Co Viet Cong ~ the Village Chief ~ Papa-san ~ the women and children ~ the entire Viet Cong camp was eliminated by U.S. firepower. Bottom line: Avoid the horrors of war unless the threat to peace (astronomically) warrants otherwise.
LESSONS LEARNED
Not only is it important to recognize your enemy, it is equally as imperative to know how to deal with him once he is discovered. The saga of Binh Co had taught lessons which would be put to use over thirty years later ~ in our story.
ONE “ BIG DAY” IN OUR STORY
On or about October 7, 2000: Encounter with two (future) 9-11 hijackers and those allegedly harboring and supporting them. This was the “Big Day.” Again, the “business meeting” was at Jamal’s residence, apparently the only place where Jamal was comfortable. Again, Jamal began his diatribe advising Graham that Graham should invest with Jamal, with Graham making big money without lifting a finger, and that Graham should postpone his AdvaLife business.
SURPRISED ARRIVALS
After Graham and Jamal had talked for about twenty minutes, three men wearing turbans and off-color-white Muslim jackets marched (unannounced) through the back door into Jamal’s kitchen. The taller, middle one (of the three) was Dr. Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed, the dental patient of Dr. Graham’s who had shown an interest in being part of the “Gum Disease Potentially Linked to Cardiovascular Disease” study.
Upon seeing his dentist with Jamal, Habeeb was shocked and visibly perturbed to the extent of almost falling to the floor. Habeeb’s reaction led Graham to recognize his patient, but Graham struggled to immediately remember his name. Habeeb finally relaxed after Graham said that he and Jamal were talking business; Jamal chimed in saying Dr. Graham might invest $25,000.00 with Jamal (which Graham had no intention of doing). Graham ignored Jamal’s investment statement, asking Habeeb about his two friends. Notwithstanding Habeeb’s demeanor worrying Graham, he remained excited to meet the two apparent middle-Easterners.
TWO YOUNG ARABS INTRODUCED AS DOCTORS
The two shorter middle-Eastern men were introduced by Jamal and Habeeb as medical doctors. Fayez Banihammad was introduced (Habeeb speaking, with Jamal nodding approval) as a Resident from LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, and Nawaf Alhazmi was introduced (Jamal speaking, with Habeeb nodding approval) as a medical doctor from Chicago who would be staying with Jamal for four to five weeks while taking course(s) at LSU Medical Center. Fayez and Nawaf showed no emotion before, during, or after being introduced, other than Nawaf’s intense, never-ending stare that penetrated straight through Graham.
PRETTY EYES OF INTIMIDATION
Since Nawaf had entered the room following closely behind Habeeb, Nawaf had a clear view of Habeeb’s shocked reaction upon seeing Graham there, so Nawaf apparently took offense to Graham’s presence. Nawaf, whom Graham later refers to as “Pretty Eyes,” could not answer questions posed by Graham, appearing to be unable to answer in English.
After eight to ten minutes of Nawaf Alhazmi’s burning, intimidating stare at Graham, Jamal suggested to Nawaf that he (Nawaf) might want to go upstairs to rest awhile. Nawaf did go upstairs, glaring back at Graham as he (Nawaf) ascended the stairs.
JAMAL’S FATHER VISITED USAMA BIN LADEN
About five minutes later, Jamal looked straight at Dr. Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed and related, speaking loudly in English, that his (Jamal’s) father recently visited Usama bin Laden. With no words spoken, Habeeb disgustingly leaned his head to one side as if to imply that Jamal was the dumbest brain on earth for making such a statement in Graham’s presence. Graham felt in danger, so in order to act neutral, Graham asked Jamal what his family really thought about bin Laden, since television programs said negative things.
Jamal said, “The TV lies. Bin Laden is a nice guy, a great businessman who makes lots of money, and bin Laden has friends and contacts all over the world.”
Added danger gripped Graham, so Graham casually left Jamal’s place about fifteen minutes later for a contrived dental emergency, never to return to Jamal’s townhouse.
Since those hearing this account invariably ask me why did Jamal speak to Habeeb in English when telling Habeeb that his father had visited bin Laden, a bit of explanation is in order. Being a Muslim from India, no doubt Habeeb spoke a dialect only familiar to someone from his area of India (and not on the same page with Jamal). Though Jamal claims to speak several languages, he and Habeeb are quite fluent in English, despite Jamal’s moderately heavy accent. So, Jamal and Habeeb’s best common language was English. And with his charismatic personality, Jamal simply blurted out the reference to Usama bin Laden without thinking. Moreover, I doubt that Jamal thought I had a deep understanding of bin Laden being the founder of Al-Qaeda. Besides, for whatever reason, Jamal apparently trusted me explicitly. It appeared that all the groundwork in befriending Jamal was paying off.
GUESS WHO CAME TO JAMAL’S
Later discovered facts surrounding Jamal and Habeeb’s two Arab friends on or about October 7, 2000:
David Malcolm Graham was an eye-witness to Mohammad Jamal Khan (aliases Mohamad Jamal, Mohammad Jamal, Jamal Khan, others) harboring and supporting Nawaf Alhazmi (hijacker of American Airlines Flt 77 which hit the Pentagon), and additionally, to Jamal harboring and supporting Fayez Banihammad (hijacker of United Airlines Flt 175 which hit the World Trade Center south tower). Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed, MD did recommend for Jamal to harbor Nawaf Alhazmi and Fayez Banihammad as well as Habeeb gave, or lent, Jamal five hundred ($500.00) dollars to assist Jamal in caring for both Nawaf Alhazmi and Fayez Banihammad (and perhaps Khalid Almihdhar).
Jamal harbored American Airlines Flt 77 hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi during October, 2000, and probably well into Nov, 2000, and Jamal harbored and supported United Airlines Flt 175 hijacker Fayez Banihammad on or about 7 Oct 2000 for several days.
HOW HABEEB ALLEGEDLY HELPED 9/11 TERRORISTS
Mohammad Jamal Khan’s friend, Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed, MD (alias Mohomed Habeeb Ahmed, MD), a Cardiology resident at LSU Medical Center (now called LSU Health Science Center), did (but not limited to) refer future hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Fayez Banihammad to Jamal for harbor and support. Both aforementioned videotapes corroborated Habeeb’s referrals of Alhazmi and Banihammad to Jamal, as well as Habeeb giving (or lending) Jamal $500.00 to help take care of Nawaf Alhazmi and Fayez Banihammad. Habeeb states on the Graham-Habeeb videotape that Habeeb had met both Nawaf and Fayez at the Mosque (said Mosque being Masjid Al-Noor, owned by Islamic Association of Shreveport and located at 3769Youree Drive; Shreveport, LA 71109).
FOLLOW-THROUGH ON AN AGREEMENT
Since I had agreed (during the Airline High vs. Evangel Christian Academy football game) to take Jamal to Carter Anderson’s class at The Friendship House, I had to follow through or else Jamal would suspect I was avoiding him. Believe me, at this point it was extremely difficult to stay on course for more information.
After all, let’s review individual situations and statements having taken place in the previous couple of weeks: (1) Jamal was dating women on Barksdale AFB and loved traversing the base; (2) Jamal desperately wanted to purchase a large, white used cargo-style truck with a “For Sale” sign and parked on Youree Drive near Squire’s Tux Rentals; (3) Unquestionably, Jamal tried to drug me with the “coffee mix” drink; (4) After entering Jamal’s townhouse through the kitchen door while escorting two young Mid-easterners, Habeeb almost fainted upon seeing me with Jamal, indicating Habeeb was obviously upset about my seeing him escorting Nawaf Alhazmi and Fayez Banihammad into Jamal’s residence; (5) two young middle-eastern men were introduced as medical doctors and I discerned that neither was a doctor, which meant Jamal and Habeeb had fabricated the “doctor stories” in order to distract me from their true mission; (6) Jamal told Habeeb of his (Jamal’s) father recently visiting Usama bin Laden. Oh, boy ~ the makings of a dangerous relationship.
At this point, I felt as if I was the only person on planet Earth capable of getting more info out of Jamal and Habeeb. And much of what I had already uncovered spelled trouble for U.S. security. There was simply no way I could dodge my responsibility to see it through. Only a few more days, and it’s off to the FBI. The follow-through paid off.
Though Dr. Graham thought he had plenty of information to turn over to the FBI at this point, he decided to befriend Jamal a while longer in order to extract more suspicious information from Jamal. Graham’s persistence was rewarded on several new fronts.
(In retrospect, since 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed stated during his interrogation that he was emailing through chat-rooms to Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar while Nawaf and Almihdhar traveled around the U.S., there is a strong likelihood that Nawaf Alhazmi, and perhaps Khalid Almihdhar, was receiving emails from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed while Alhazmi and Banihammad, and perhaps Almihdhar, were hosted by Mohammad Jamal Khan in Shreveport during the weeks surrounding October, 2000.)
9/11 RINGLEADERS EMAIL AT SHREVEPORT’S “USA CASH”
With almost certainty, emailing was accomplished at Jamal’s favorite business hang- out, USA CASH located at 779 Shreveport-Barksdale Highway in Shreveport, Louisiana 71105. Jamal was hanging out there (with Alhazmi living with him) during October, 2000 and into November, 2000 doing his emailing and faxing “around the world.” Additionally, Jamal was correct when telling me that he was “a very important person.” What a shame that a likeable fellow had such a misguided allegiance.
USS COLE BOMBING INTERRUPTS GRAHAM
Since I was shell-shocked by the events on or about 7 Oct 2000 at Jamal’s, I hesitated to call Jamal for a few days. Then, on 12 Oct 2000, as I was about to give Jamal a shout, lo and behold, Fox News Flash stated the horrific bombing of the USS Cole Navy ship in Yemen’s Aden Harbor. Usama bin Laden was implicated. Man, now I had a renewed interest in being extremely cautious when associating with Jamal.
So, after building my courage over the next couple of days, on or about Saturday, 14 Oct 2000, I called Jamal about joining me to attend Carter Anderson’s class at the Friendship House behind First Assembly. Jamal was excited in accepting my invitation. Neither Jamal nor I mentioned the USS Cole bombing or bin Laden. SECTION 6 Jamal Befriended at Church
A PROMISE FULFILLED
On or about October 15, 2000: Graham and Jamal go to church
CORRECTION: After careful review of sermon tapes of Pastor Denny Duron, this date of October 15, 2000, is the “on or about” date of the Graham-Jamal church visit to First Assembly of God, Shreveport, LA (and not the “on or about Oct 8, 2000 date” which was previously given to agents and/or www.ifccfbi.gov and/or Office of Homeland Security).
Carter Anderson’s Class at the Friendship House began at 8:30 a.m. with highlights of Evangel football. Shortly after 9:00, Graham introduced Jamal as someone having been reared in a much different society, but wanted to keep an open mind today. Jamal nodded in agreement while flashing a broad smile. Carter performed admirably, being quite sensitive toward Jamal. After class, Jamal expressed his appreciation for the cordial guys at the Friendship House. Then, David and Jamal crossed the north parking lot toward the main sanctuary.
JAMAL’S ALLEGED IMPLICATING BUSINESS CARD
Surprisingly, Dr. Graham’s friend Brenda O’Brock was a church greeter on the north entrance of First Assembly, so he and Jamal spent 4-5 minutes conversing with Brenda, followed by Jamal giving her his Global Textile Industry, Inc. business card.
Inside the sanctuary, the Cathedral of Praise Choir was well into the first praise song as Dr. Graham and Mohammad Jamal took their seats. Jamal had been properly welcomed at Carter Anderson’s Class at the Friendship House, so he was at ease in the big church service with over 2,500 in attendance.
PROPHETIC MESSAGE
Ironically, Pastor Denny Duron’s message was entitled “Thou Shall Not Murder.” To paraphrase: Denny began saying murder did not include killing animals for food; we are not commanded to be vegetarians. Forms of murder, Duron emphatically pointed out, would include suicide, euthanasia, abortion, and the killing of innocent human beings. Under certain circumstances, capital punishment is taught in the Holy Bible. He basically said that through salvation offered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross and his Resurrection from the grave, the deeds of an evil heart, and guilt, can be forgiven and be replaced, through the Holy Spirit, with a heart of compassion and love. Pastor Duron’s opening remarks could easily have been his close. Paraphrasing other remarks: “America may be punished for her modern-day sins... It’s right to fight to stop the spread of evil... God wants justice in this world... Justice must be implemented, and it must be swift.”
Looking back, Graham is numbed by the message Jamal heard that day. As Graham and Jamal socialized in the foyer after church, (who was filming the service from overhead platform at the back of sanctuary and spotted Jamal sitting with Dr. Graham), knew of Jamal being a
company, which shall go unnamed), and warned Graham by sending Scott Winston to alert Graham with concerns about Jamal. Graham told Winston to call him later that night, because that morning was set aside for spiritual matters.
Later, in early 2002, Graham obtained five pages of notes made by, as had performed a business investigation for his company, showing several people allegedly (Since Shreveport FBI Agent Ray Spoon again did not return Dr. Graham’s page, highlights of these notes were forwarded by Graham to www.ifccfbi.gov.) business risk (since Bobby had done a 2-day investigation into Jamal’s business dealings months earlier when Jamal wished to do business with his SECTION 7
Graham’s First Corroboration
On or about October 15, 2000: Michael Steiger (name changed) became a corroborating witness
CHILI’S RESTAURANT IN SHREVEPORT
As Graham and Jamal pulled out of First Assembly parking lot, Michael Steiger, a representative who had just left services at Shreveport’s Broadmoor Baptist Church, called Graham on his cell phone and wanted to meet for lunch. Twelve minutes later, Graham and Jamal and Steiger had lunch at Chili’s Restaurant in Shreveport, located at the NW corner of Youree Drive and E.70th Street (Steiger was specific about not using his real name in the book, so, as with several other individuals in this story, Graham is respecting the request to substitute a fictitious name).
As the meal began, and with little prompting from Graham, Jamal told Then, Michael’s eyes
pop out of his head when Jamal tells Michael
CORROBORATION BY SWORN AFFIDAVIT
(NOTE: In spring, 2002, Michael Steiger signed a Sworn Affidavit, witnessed and notarized, stating that Mohammad Jamal Khan did, on or about Oct 15, 2000 in Shreveport’s Chili’s Restaurant, tell
Said Sworn Affidavit was given to a smiling Shreveport FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Mike Kinder in the presence of David M. Graham)
I accompanied Michael Steiger (name changed) to the Shreveport FBI Office in downtown Shreveport the day he turned in his Sworn Affidavit to FBI Agent-in- Charge Mike Kinder. As is the usual procedure, Kinder escorted Steiger and me into a small one-desk room for the interview. After answering a few preliminary questions, Steiger was forthright about his hearing Jamal telling him “face-to-face” that
Steiger was then quick to say that all he knew was in the Affidavit, and that he knew nothing about the rest of my report (which was the truth ~ Michael Steiger absolutely did not know anything else for certain, only what I had related to him during
, which meant that anything else Steiger might say would be “hearsay” and counterproductive in court). his father lives in Pakistan up by the China Wall over by Russia. bin Laden” and that “Jamal’s father lives in Pakistan up by the China Wall over by that his (Jamal’s) father recently visited Love that “Jamal’s father had recently visited Usama Russia”. by Love Jamal’s father had visited bin Laden recently and, additionally, that Jamal’s dad lived in northwest Pakistan.
endless meals during breakfast at George’s Grill on East Kings Highway in
Shreveport). THE QUESTION OF A POLYGRAPH
Steiger then asked Agent Kinder why the Shreveport FBI had not required me (Graham) to take a Polygraph (lie detector) Test, since Steiger said a former FBI agent from Florida had told him that if the FBI did not ask for a Polygraph, they must not believe Graham. Kinder then set the record straight.
Shreveport FBI Agent-in-Charge Mike Kinder smiled while telling Steiger forthrightly that the FBI had no reason to doubt my story and, in fact, the FBI believed The Graham Report to be the absolute truth and that he did not believe I wanted anything out of disclosing the information in my account. I then supported Kinder’s statement, followed by my offering, one more time, to take a Polygraph. Kinder restated that it would not be necessary.
Later, a knowledgeable friend (with former Top Secret clearance) shared the theory that the FBI did not give me a Polygraph Test in order to keep out of the record the fact that I had passed the test. In that manner, security agencies appear less accountable for their inaction in investigating the names (especially the two 9/11 Ringleaders Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar) whom I turned in on my November 1, 2000 Graham Report to Shreveport FBI Agent Steve Hayes (to repeat, ten months before 9/11). Just a thought. You decide, while remembering the CIA was amiss in not placing Alhazmi and Almihdhar on the Watch List when having the chance in both January, 2000 and March, 2000, earlier in the same year of my report.
ONE KEY TO THIS BOOK
Of major significance, on October 17, 2002, National Security Association (NSA) Director Lt. General Michael Hayden testified before Congressional Open Hearings that security agencies had been informed of Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, and Nawaf’s brother, Salem Alhazmi, being in the terrorist group Al-Qaeda months before September 11, 2001.
Perhaps the leading questions of this book: Was General Hayden’s disclosure entered into the FBI computer system long before 9/11 ~ specifically, had the information reached the Shreveport FBI Office where I turned in the names of Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, and Fayez Banihammad on 1 Nov 2000? If not, who is accountable for such a major oversight?
So, by Graham waiting a few more days before calling the FBI, he was rewarded with Steiger’s Sworn Affidavit. In this case, a little patience paid off. Michael Steiger’s Sworn Affidavit had become an important piece of corroborative evidence.
On or about October 15, 2000, when Jamal, in Steiger’s presence, that, I thought it important to have another individual hear those words from Jamal’s lips. However, at the time, I had no inkling
of the full significance. again repeated Jamal’s father had recently visited bin Laden The plot thickens when, after 9/11 on October 5, 2001, I identified Nawaf Alhazmi (Pentagon crash) by FBI File Photo in USA Today, followed closely by my identification of Fayez Banihammad (WTC 2) through viewing the FBI File Photo in USA Today and www.foxnews.com and www.cnn.com, and the name Khalid Almihdhar (remembering the Thoroughbred Stallion named “Khaled” and the “hdh” in the last name reminiscent of a motor oil) from the dialogue in the same October 5, 2001 issue of USA Today wherein the article disclosed Khalid Almihdhar as Nawaf Alhazmi’s running buddy.
There was absolutely no doubt in my mind as to these three names being identical to the three names printed on three boxes (i.e., one name on each of three boxes) on Jamal’s kitchen floor as eye-witnessed by me on or about September 26, 2000 and on or about October 3, 2000 and on or about October 7, 2000.
After studying the 5 Oct 2001 issue of USA Today, I was certain, beyond any doubt, that I had met both Nawaf Alhazmi and Fayez Banihammad at Jamal’s townhouse on (or about) October 7, 2000 in the presence of both Mohammad Jamal Khan and Mohammed Habeeb Ahmed, MD. SECTION 8
Richard Clarke vs. Clinton Cabinet and the Gorelick Wall (Security from 1992-2000)
Throughout this journey, the reader will be blown away by the exponential deterioration of agencies involved with security of the United States during the 1990’s. What you are about to hear was gleaned from the pens of a former CIA agent, an advisor to several presidents on matters of national security, and award-winning investigative journalists and authors. The disturbing chronological review of highpoints follows:
LOUISIANA BACK-DROP: WADIH el-HAGE
In early 1990, the former University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL ~ renamed University of Louisiana-Lafayette) student named Wadih el-Hage was involved in the murder of Rasid Khalifa, a black Muslim cleric whose doctrine was deemed heretical by the fundamentalist group Al-Fuqra. Wadih el-Hage eventually moved to Arlington, Texas, then on to Brooklyn, NY, and much later becoming the personal secretary of terrorist leader Usama bin Laden.
RICHARD CLARKE vs THE CLINTON CABINET
As author of The Graham Report, I became increasingly intrigued by the security culture surrounding the defense of America. On numerous occasions, this same lack- luster attitude permeated high levels of the U.S. political structure. For our purposes, we will be looking at security highlights from the Clinton years 1992-2000, which, of course, immediately preceded my 1 Nov 2000 Graham Report to Shreveport FBI Agent Steve Hayes and followed approximately one week later by reporting to U.S. Secret Service Agent Ron Lewis.
American citizens will be disappointed by the Clinton administration’s treatment of recommendations by his National Security Advisor Richard Clarke (as taken from his book AGAINST ALL ENEMIES), who was guided by Top Secret discoveries. After seeing the sundry errors of commission and omission, the reader will realize why Graham Report(s) were either not properly analyzed and processed up the ladder to headquarters, or the Graham Report(s) were not properly cross-referenced with intelligence upon arrival at headquarters.
From Clarke and several other sources, revelations of President Clinton’s security failures provided critical pieces to the convoluted question of why the U.S. suffered the Al-Qaeda attacks on September 11, 2001. Assuredly, there is other blame to spread around. All the security snafus notwithstanding, we know who took the 3,000 lives while crashing into American soil on 9/11 ~ Usama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network of terrorists. Speaking of destruction, let us begin the series of events contributing to a weakened U.S. security:
CLINTON WINS THE PRESIDENCY
1992: William Jefferson Clinton won the U.S. Presidency and, within hours, the press reported that Clinton turned his back on the CIA attempting to provide security briefs in Little Rock, Arkansas.
FIRST BOMBING OF WORLD TRADE CENTER
February 26, 1993: Financed by Usama bin Laden’s brother-in-law Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, five were killed and 1,000 injured in the World Trade Center car- bombing after FBI Agent Nancy Floyd was prevented from investigating perpetrators Abouhalima and Salameh, and perpetrator Abdul Basit Mahmoud Abdul Karim (better known by his alias Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, or more often, known by his alias Ramzi Yousef) missed his asylum hearing and escaped both the FBI and INS, then constructed the 1,500 pound bomb. Perpetrators are later indicted and convicted.
EARLY AIRLINER WARNINGS
Later in 1993, the FBI disrupted the “Day of Terror” Plot by followers of the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdul Rahman (or better known by alias Sheikh Rahman). Scheduled to be hit were landmark targets such as the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the United Nations building, and the New York FBI Office.
CIA CRUMBLING CONTINUES
February 21, 1994: The FBI arrested CIA Agent Rick Ames, establishing Ames as the most prolific U.S. traitor in the history of planet Earth.
The continuing FBI surveillance of hundreds of CIA agents was followed by a drastic CIA size reduction, metamorphing the CIA into a mega-dwarf operation,. When the CIA is prevented from spreading its wings by working with unsavory characters who did not pass the FBI white glove test, the U.S. citizenry was less protected. You see, the bad guys knew how other bad guys thought, planned, and carried out their sinister acts, thereby lent great support to the CIA.
1994: CIA Director Jim Woolsey began transferring the CIA’s counterespionage to the FBI (according to former CIA Agent Robert Baer) as FBI Director Louis Freeh took pride in helping to dismantle the CIA. Freeh had generous Congressional monetary support in opening numerous international FBI offices to replace the reduced CIA influence abroad, all of which drastically changed and exponentially reduced U.S. international security.
EGG ON THE FB-EYE However, FBI gloating was short-lived, as FBI Agent Robert Hanssen wass caught giving away U.S. security secrets in trash bags. Talk about a trashy piece of garbage ~ Hanssen, that is.
CIA HITS CHINESE EMBASSY
A weakened CIA resulted in a powerful U.S. missile exploding into the misidentified Chinese embassy in Belgrade, obviously causing major international distress.
AIRLINER BOMBINGS FOILED IN PHILIPPINES
January, 1995: A plan is foiled that involved bombing 12 airliners headed to the United States, instigators later discovered to be Ramzi Yousef (first WTC bombing) and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (Mastermind of 9/11), who also discussed crashing a plane into the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
SIX SECURITY SNAFUS
February, 1995: Abdul Hakim Murad helped to train terrorist pilots with pilot Ranzi Yousef, who was also an accomplished bomb-maker.
1995: Clinton’s Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick authored the classified Memorandum entitled “Instructions for Separation of Certain Foreign Counterintelligence and Criminal Investigations.” The Janet Reno-supported Gorelick Memorandum prevented major info-sharing between intelligence agents and criminal investigators, and even blocked much info-sharing between divisions within the FBI.
(In April, 2004 the media began referring to the Gorelick Memorandum as “The Wall”, or the “Gorelick Wall.” As a member of the 9/11 Commission, Gorelick was accused by a key Republican U.S. Senator as having a conflict of interest and should resign the commission. However, Gorelick was defended by former New Jersey Republican Governor Thomas Keane, Chairman of the 9/11 Commission. The discovery of the Gorelick Wall was described in the April 15, 2004 issue of The Wall Street Journal as the biggest finding from the 9/11 Commission hearings.)
November, 1995: The first attack is carried out against the Saudi National Guard facility in Riyadh.
June 25, 1996: Al-Khobar barracks explosion kills nineteen American soldiers in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. demonstrated little or no response.
July 17, 1996 on Long Island, NY: TWA Flight 800 crashed after leaving JFK for Paris, France. The explosion was determined to be almost identical to the PAL Flt 434 crash, according to former CIA Agent Robert Baer. October, 1996 in Phoenix, AZ: After advising FBI control agent Ken Williams to keep a close eye on an Algerian flight instruction with ties to Sheikh Rahman, FBI intelligence source Harry Ellen was instructed to back off the case. Shortly, Hani Hanjour (hijacking pilot of American Airlines Flt 77 which hit the Pentagon) began pilot training at CRM Airline Training Center in Arizona, and met with Nawaf Alhazmi in late 2000 (only weeks after Alhazmi, Almihdhar, and Banihammad were reported to the FBI in the 1 Nov 2000 Graham Report), with Hani Hanjour receiving his assignment from “9/11 Co-Ringleader Nawaf Alhazmi” to be the hijacking pilot of American Airlines Flt 77 which hit the Pentagon.
1996: The FBI |
of men with high blood pressure. The study showed that much of the rise in the number of people with high blood pressure over the last 40 years is also due to a larger, and older, world population. High blood pressure puts extra strain on the blood vessels and major organs such as heart, brain and kidneys. It is the world’s leading cause of cardiovascular disease, which leads to stroke and heart attacks, and is thought to cause 7.5 million deaths a year across the globe. Blood pressure is defined by two numbers: systolic pressure, which represents the force your heart pumps blood into the blood vessels, and diastolic pressure, which is a measure of the resistance to the blood flow in the body’s blood vessels. Both numbers are measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). High blood pressure is defined as 140/90 mmHg or higher. The team explained the condition is caused by a number of factors including dietary influences, such as eating too much salt and not enough fruit and vegetables, obesity, insufficient exercise and some environmental factors such as lead exposure and air pollution. The condition is more common in older ages. Countries with the highest pressure The country with the highest age-corrected proportion of men with high blood pressure in 2015 was Croatia (38 per cent of the population), while Niger had the highest proportion of women with high blood pressure (36 per cent). Tackling the epidemic of high blood pressure in low and middle-income countries is one of the most pressing global health challenges, added Professor Ezzati. “We need economic means and regulation to improve access to high quality food, especially fruits and vegetables, and reduce excessive salt in food. We also need a stronger healthcare system, to identify people with high blood pressure earlier, and improve access to treatment and medication. Without these measures, the world is unlikely to achieve the World Health Organization’s target of reducing the proportion of people with high blood pressure by 25 per cent by 2025.” The other findings of the paper included: • In the UK, in 2015 the age-corrected proportion of people with high blood pressure was 18 per cent for men and 12 per cent for women, making the UK 195th in the world for men (6th lowest), and 194th for women (7th lowest). In 1975, 38 per cent of UK men and 28 per cent of UK women had high blood pressure, placing men at 48th in the world (153rd lowest) and women at 96th in the world (105th lowest). • Average blood pressure for men in the UK in 2015 was 126/72 mmHg (in 1975 it was 130/78 mmHg). Women’s average blood pressure was 117/71 mmHg in 2015 (in 1975 it was 124/77 mmHg). • The country with the lowest proportion of people with high blood pressure in Europe in 2015 was the UK for both men and women (in 1975 it was Cyprus for both men and women). • The top five countries with the highest proportion of men with high blood pressure in 2015 were all in Central and Eastern Europe: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Slovenia. Nearly two in five men in these countries had high blood pressure. • The top five countries with the highest proportion of women with high blood pressure in 2015 were all in Africa: Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Somalia. Around one in three women in these countries had high blood pressure. • The five countries with the lowest proportion of people with high blood pressure in 2015 were: South Korea, USA, Canada, Peru, and Singapore. Around one in six men and just over one in ten women have high blood pressure in these countries • In the USA, the age-corrected proportion of people with high blood pressure was 15 per cent for men and 11 per cent for women in 2015, placing them 2nd lowest in the world. In 2015, men’s average blood pressure in the USA was 124/74 mmHg, while women in 2015 had an average blood pressure of 117/71 mmHg. • In 2015, 258 million (23%) of the 1.13 billion adults with high blood pressure lived in South Asia (200 million in India) and another 235 million (21%) lived in East Asia (226 million in China). The team added there were limitations of the study, for instance some countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, had less data than others or the data were older. Furthermore, the equipment used to measure blood pressure has changed since 1975 – with most monitors now digital rather than a level of mercury rising on a measure. - The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust "Worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015: a pooled analysis of 1479 population-based measurement studies with 19·1 million participants" is published in Lancet.
See the press release of this articleThe Model S’s in-dash touchscreen doesn’t play video, but the victim of a fatal crash had a portable DVD player in his car.
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Brown, 40, believed in the power of engineering. He was a former Navy SEAL, a technology consultant, and a Tesla fan. He had posted YouTube videos of himself driving a Tesla Model S on autopilot, taking his hands off the wheel to show how the car could avoid a collision on its own. He had nicknamed his car “Tessy.”
On May 7, Brown and Tessy were cruising down a Florida highway on autopilot when they both failed to notice a big-rig truck making a left turn across traffic in front of them. The truck’s driver told the Associated Press that Brown’s car “went so fast through my trailer I didn’t see him.” A quarter of a mile later, what was left of the car and Brown came to an abrupt stop against a telephone pole.
The driver told the AP that, after the crash, he could hear a distinct sound coming from the car, the roof of which had been sheared off by the trailer. The car’s entertainment system, he said, seemed to be blaring a Harry Potter movie.
The driver acknowledged he could only hear the sound of the movie, not see it. And Tesla was quick to point out that its in-dash touchscreen is disabled from playing video, for exactly the reasons you’d guess (although hackers have found ways around that). But a Florida Highway Patrol sergeant told Reuters on Friday that a portable DVD player was found in the car.
This matters, not so much because it suggests that Brown may have been behaving recklessly—that’s a question for the legal system to sort out—but because it seems to corroborate skeptics’ fears about the perils of an autopilot system.
Tesla insists that its car’s ability to accelerate, brake, and steer on its own does not affect the human driver’s responsibility to pay full attention to the road at all times. But it certainly seems to affect people’s will to do so. And it’s fair to ask: If the autopilot system isn’t intended to reduce the driver’s mental load, why is it there at all?
Tesla will tell you it’s a safety feature: a second pair of eyes on the road, a second foot at the brake pedal. But if it means fewer actual human eyes on the road, then it’s going to be a tough sell to regulators unless the technology is nearly flawless.
Tesla says its autopilot system navigated 130 million miles of road before its first fatal accident, which is fewer deaths per mile than traditional cars. Realistically, it’s going to need to go a lot more than 130 million miles before the next death in order to satisfy regulators and the public that autopilot systems are trustworthy. The head of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, which is investigating the autopilot’s performance in the collision, has called for such systems to demonstrate that they’re at least twice as safe as human drivers.
In fact, some autopilot systems might already be safer than Tesla’s. Google’s self-driving cars have more sophisticated (and pricier) sensor arrays than the Model S, because they’re designed to be entirely autonomous. But they’re likely to take a PR hit too if Tesla’s system gets a bad rap.
We may never know exactly what Brown was doing, or how much attention he was paying to the road, when that truck turned in front of him. And a lawyer for Brown’s family, Paul Grieco, told me there are no plans to take legal action against Tesla until authorities have completed their investigation. In the meantime, Brown’s family does not seem intent on crusading against Tesla or self-driving cars. In a statement Friday, they said:
In honor of Josh’s life and passion for technological advancement, the Brown family is committed to cooperating in these efforts and hopes that information learned from this tragedy will trigger further innovation which enhances the safety of everyone on the roadways.
That’s a generous sentiment, one that seems to be in keeping with Brown’s own faith in the power of technology. In this tragic instance, however, his faith in one particular technology appears to have been a little more than it deserved.VANCOUVER — More than 70 per cent of the marijuana-related businesses in Vancouver are in violation of proposed new city rules that would limit how close they can be to schools, community centres or each other.
According to an analysis by The Vancouver Sun, of the 84 pot shops in the city, 61 (72 per cent) are within 300 metres of a school, community centre, neighbourhood house or another marijuana-related business.
That would not be permitted under new rules the city has proposed to try to regulate the city's expanding number of medical marijuana dispensaries.
In a report to council published last week, city staff indicated there are now "over 80 confirmed marijuana-related businesses" in the city, a fourfold increase since 2012 when the federal government changed the rules for how medical marijuana users can buy their medicine. In the last four months alone, 20 new shops have opened.
If you're on a mobile device, please click here to see the map.
According to the city's business-license database, that means there are now four times as many pot shops in Vancouver as McDonald's (19) and nearly as many pot shops as Starbucks (93).
Last week, The Sun asked the city for a list of the pot shops it had identified. The city refused, so The Sun made a Freedom of Information request for the list.
On Friday the city released the list voluntarily, saying now that the information had been presented to council it felt comfortable making it public.
However, the city warned that the list may not be 100 per cent accurate, as it is based on numerous sources such as complaints to 311.
The Sun's analysis found that, of the 84 pot shops the city has identified, 37 (44 per cent) are within 300 metres of a school, community centre or neighbourhood house and 54 (64 per cent) are within 300 metres of another pot shop. Roughly a third (36 per cent) are both too close to a school and too close to another shop.
Distances were calculated as the crow flies rather than according to driving distances.
A map of the 84 shops shows that many are clustered in relatively small areas, such as along sections of West 10th, East Hastings, Commercial Drive and Kingsway.
Downtown, for example, only two of the 15 pot shops are more than 300 metres from another one.
While 72 per cent of the shops violate one or both of the two rules, that doesn't mean they will all have to close. For example, if two pot shops are located across the street from each other, but far from any others, only one will have to shut its doors.
The city has said that, in cases where pot shops are clustered together, the city will grade them — giving out demerit points for problems such as visits from police or complaints from the community — and the one with the most points can stay. In the case of a tie, a lottery will be held.
In addition to the proximity rules, the city has also proposed requiring pot shop staff to undergo criminal record checks and charging a $30,000 licensing fee, significantly more than that paid by other businesses.
The federal government has urged the city not to proceed with its regulations, saying storefront sales of marijuana remain illegal.
cskelton@vancouversun.com
===
Click here to report a typo or visit vancouversun.com/typo.
Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. CLICK HERE or go to vancouversun.com/moretothestoryA New Documentary Looks Back At A Famous Cup Of McDonald's 'Hot Coffee'
Enlarge this image toggle caption HBO HBO
Question: What do you think is the most famous lawsuit of the last 50 years that didn't involve an already-famous person?
My guess is that it might be the case of Stella Liebeck. If Stella's name doesn't ring a bell, maybe "McDonald's coffee" does.
The Liebeck case became a legend largely because the narrative that became popular had three basic elements that people quite reasonably found galling in combination: (1) A trivial injury (spilling coffee on yourself); (2) resulting from a ridiculously foolish act (driving with a cup of coffee between your legs), for which (3) someone set out to get rich (the jury awarded Stella $2.9 million).
Airing tonight at 9:00 p.m. on HBO, the new documentary Hot Coffee argues, among other things, that all three of those elements of the popular narrative were fundamentally false. It shows gasp-inducing photographs of Liebeck's third-degree burns, which required hospitalization and multiple skin grafts; it clarifies that she (in the passenger seat) and her grandson (in the driver's seat) were parked in the McDonald's parking lot, and were not driving, when the coffee spilled; and it extensively quotes Liebeck's attorney and family on the fact that her initial request to McDonald's was merely to have them pay the part of her out-of-pocket medical expenses that weren't covered by Medicare.
(As a side note, it's also interesting to hear Liebeck's daughter say that when it first happened, the family assumed that in order for the spill to inflict the injuries it did, the pot must have malfunctioned or been cranked up higher than it was supposed to be, so they didn't anticipate that having the company cover her medical expenses would be particularly controversial. They sort of assumed that third-degree burns would be evidence that something wasn't done the way it was meant to be done, which didn't turn out to be so.)
There are other aspects of the Liebeck case that are explored in the film — which played at last week's Silverdocs festival in Silver Spring, Md. — including the fact that the judge reduced the award and the problems the jury had with some of the testimony McDonald's provided. But the aim of filmmaker Susan Saladoff is, at least in part, to offer a counterargument to a narrative she believes has fundamentally changed the way people perceive the civil justice system, in spite of the fact that it isn't what actually happened.
Understand: Saladoff is an advocate, and she was, when she presented the film at Silverdocs, clear and unapologetic about the fact that Hot Coffee is an opinionated argument, not a dispassionate recitation of facts. She's trained as a litigator herself, and she's angry about the four topics she tackles here: false (or partly false, or exaggerated) narratives about particular lawsuits, legislative caps on the damages an injured person can collect notwithstanding the extent of the injury, the influencing of judicial elections in order to have those legislative caps upheld in court, and the use of mandatory arbitration in consumer and employment contracts.
She's also a brand-new filmmaker, and that shows in the simplicity of the presentation. This isn't a documentary that's made with any particular effort at cinematic style — and the good news about that is that HBO is as good a place to see it as any. (Even before I learned that Hot Coffee would be airing on TV, I would have told you it looked like TV.)
There are a lot of pieces to the Liebeck case alone, and the misunderstandings of the facts are not all there is to it. Not everyone who fully understands the facts of the case agrees that she should have recovered anything — some judges have thrown out similar cases, and some juries haven't awarded damages in similar cases. But it is true that seeing the film makes the case look different than it does if you are under the impression she was flying down the highway with a teetering cup of coffee in her lap.
Showing the pictures of Liebeck's burns doesn't suddenly resolve all debate over the case. But if people are going to have strong opinions about whether she should have collected anything and what that means about how courts work (which many people do), at least Hot Coffee gives them an opportunity to base those opinions on the original story, rather than on jokes from Seinfeld, which can happen when a case becomes such a fable that the perception of it is based on the equivalent of tenth-generation photocopies of what actually happened.
Saladoff told the Silverdocs audience of Hot Coffee, "It's my truth." Indeed, there are other people who undoubtedly would (and do) make other arguments from the same sets of facts. But when the maker of a documentary is straightforward about the fact that she's staking out a position, it's kind of refreshing: When you know that, you don't walk out of the theater thinking you've supposedly been presented with every argument. This is just her argument, and she offers her evidence to support it. What you do with it, and the degree to which you are persuaded, is up to you.Untitled a guest May 28th, 2011 2,566 Never a guest2,566Never
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 5.14 KB [08:43:01] <bahador> esl HAS ENOUGH MONEY [08:43:03] <mivooo> FUCK YOU ESLTV [08:43:14] <masilla> crap quality [08:43:21] <bahador> they just fucking fags who want too steal money for a stream that should be free taking 2.5 is stealing [08:40:10] <GreenCloud> faking fags [08:40:14] <GreenCloud> money whores [08:38:45] <derp___> oh wow it really is low quality [08:34:15] <Rosecenze> Quality is awful [08:31:41] <fuckingesl> OMFG THIS FUCKING ESL FUCKERS OMFG LOOK AT THE HORRIBLE QUALITY [08:31:49] <agrey_> u need to pay for better quality [08:31:50] <agrey_> wow [08:31:54] <agrey_> scamming fuckers [08:30:04] <gotcha_> u want me to pay for this shit??? [08:27:44] <Viper27> Why the hell is the stream quality so fucking bad? [08:26:12] <Jiji__> What`s with the poor quality? [08:25:03] <Rioben> WHY ESL PAY RETARDS TO SHOUTCAST WHEN GOOD PLAYERS WOULD DO IT FOR FREE [08:24:21] <EvilRogue> the quality is really bad [08:22:48] <bzzzt> dat quality [08:23:01] <bzzzt> so bad [08:23:08] <bzzzt> cant see shit :( [08:21:00] <Mestitia> I rather ESL just dissapeared and have the normal LoL players stream like they always do [08:21:02] <Mestitia> way better quality [08:21:08] <Mestitia> and top ELO players commentating [08:48:26] <ZombieCommie> is the shitty quality normal? [08:50:19] <tsh> why the quality is so bad? [08:51:09] <kapa_> cant read score [08:51:18] <killYa> bad quality [08:51:49] <mugetsugg> wow what a shit quality [08:52:13] <fuzzy_> this is gay why sooo bad qulity [08:52:24] <bahador> fuck this AIDS quali, im not gonna watch it, FUCK YOU ESL FUCK YOU FUCK YOU im out of this FUCK YOU ESL i just watch later in hd [08:52:37] <agrey> why would esl make us pay to watch a god dam stream normally when they dont even know wtf there talking about when ommentating [08:52:56] <ihwqef_> SHITTA QUALITY OMG [08:52:45] <styyhjlyy> guardsman bob and those ppl have much bether wuiality [08:53:03] <wakkawakka> lol very shitty quality [08:53:08] <wakkawakka> this isnt very professional [08:57:11] <ololololololol> why is the quality so fucking shitty? [08:58:24] <MrBlo0> fail quality [08:59:12] <Tiffosi> Cant even read the game score [09:00:29] <sh__> wau, whats this bad stream quality? [09:06:51] <Mestitia> don't buy shit noobs, they're fuckin scaming you [09:07:04] <Mestitia> Noone else charges for LoL streams and it's always way bettter then this shit [09:07:12] <mTw|imm> coz ESL wants u to buy premium $$ [09:08:29] <dertfgrtftd> WHY WOULD I WANT TO GET PREMIUM WHEN THEY DONT EVEN SHOW THE MOST WANTED MATCH? [09:08:38] <gegege> is it just me or do the quality sucks? can't use HQ either [09:43:09] <sadgfsdgf> wtf that shit quality? [09:43:23] <Eueml> can i get a better quality somehow? [09:44:12] <Nies> why is the quality so shitty? [09:44:14] <Yendoc> bad quality [09:44:26] <tyret999> yeah bad video [09:56:33] <Porexeud> i cant see what he bought with that quality [09:56:42] <lol____> lol and yeah the quality is crap [09:56:36] <Szbuli> quality is a fucking piece of crap [09:56:25] <Nevalopo> Why is the quality so extreamly shit? I can't even see thier names :E [13:13:24] <erjterj> what a baaaaad quality [13:13:23] <Sprororo> stream quality is shit [13:12:32] <Deadlyx> this quality suck like hell [13:11:51] <operative> they stream so low so the only way to watch it in HD is to pay [13:11:52] <Abyss_> they want money [13:11:53] <Roteki> that's quite obvious to see [13:11:58] <Abyss_> greedy fucks [13:11:36] <alex______> why is the resolution so bad [13:11:31] <fghjgj> shit quality [13:11:10] <Sprororo> why is quality so low? [13:11:07] <oodsicle> Im not saying we are ENTITLED. Im not BITCHING. I am simply WONDERING, why, when I know they have the ability to stream higher quality, would they stream so low? [13:10:53] <fdwdawd> why....the players would streamer for free, better quality if esl would let them...just a money grab [13:10:55] <la_bruja> wait, what? you have to pay for stream where you can atually see score!? [13:08:11] <sdfds> this is the worst stream quality ever [13:06:30] <oodsicle> why is the quality so bad? [13:04:25] <Reager> why is the quality so shitty? [13:02:16] <dyst> this quality is shit :( [12:55:16] <fleshfire> whats with the quality :S [12:55:05] <motch> this is shit quality [12:52:15] <jimbam666> FUCK ESL [12:52:21] <mivooo> FUCK YOU ESL [12:51:51] <xpeke> this is got to be the worst stream ive watched in 3 years [12:50:07] <hivkilled> HEY GUYS WE'RE ESL WE GOT ENOUGH MONEY FOR A STUDIO BUT NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO STREAM AT DECENT QUALITY [12:45:58] <zarteros> go better quality omfg -_- [12:45:54] <hghbj> this shit is so bad [12:46:04] <blah_> this quality is so fucking bad [12:46:09] <sef> better quality? [12:43:03] <Emuw> fail esl [12:41:50] <dasudasu> FUCK ELS [12:41:51] <dasudasu> ESL [12:41:52] <dasudasu> FUCK YOU [12:41:42] <ESLSCAMS> DEMAND BETTER QUALITY FOR US QUALIFIER http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=786473 [12:41:44] <dasudasu> FUCK YOU ESLUMMINATI [12:36:19] <SHITQUALITY> FUCK THE QUALITY OF THIS STREAM [13:22:42] <Epilox> Bad Bad Quality!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [13:23:56] <HeartlessFate> is anyone else have really bad quality on the videos
RAW Paste Data
[08:43:01] <bahador> esl HAS ENOUGH MONEY [08:43:03] <mivooo> FUCK YOU ESLTV [08:43:14] <masilla> crap quality [08:43:21] <bahador> they just fucking fags who want too steal money for a stream that should be free taking 2.5 is stealing [08:40:10] <GreenCloud> faking fags [08:40:14] <GreenCloud> money whores [08:38:45] <derp___> oh wow it really is low quality [08:34:15] <Rosecenze> Quality is awful [08:31:41] <fuckingesl> OMFG THIS FUCKING ESL FUCKERS OMFG LOOK AT THE HORRIBLE QUALITY [08:31:49] <agrey_> u need to pay for better quality [08:31:50] <agrey_> wow [08:31:54] <agrey_> scamming fuckers [08:30:04] <gotcha_> u want me to pay for this shit??? [08:27:44] <Viper27> Why the hell is the stream quality so fucking bad? [08:26:12] <Jiji__> What`s with the poor quality? [08:25:03] <Rioben> WHY ESL PAY RETARDS TO SHOUTCAST WHEN GOOD PLAYERS WOULD DO IT FOR FREE [08:24:21] <EvilRogue> the quality is really bad [08:22:48] <bzzzt> dat quality [08:23:01] <bzzzt> so bad [08:23:08] <bzzzt> cant see shit :( [08:21:00] <Mestitia> I rather ESL just dissapeared and have the normal LoL players stream like they always do [08:21:02] <Mestitia> way better quality [08:21:08] <Mestitia> and top ELO players commentating [08:48:26] <ZombieCommie> is the shitty quality normal? [08:50:19] <tsh> why the quality is so bad? [08:51:09] <kapa_> cant read score [08:51:18] <killYa> bad quality [08:51:49] <mugetsugg> wow what a shit quality [08:52:13] <fuzzy_> this is gay why sooo bad qulity [08:52:24] <bahador> fuck this AIDS quali, im not gonna watch it, FUCK YOU ESL FUCK YOU FUCK YOU im out of this FUCK YOU ESL i just watch later in hd [08:52:37] <agrey> why would esl make us pay to watch a god dam stream normally when they dont even know wtf there talking about when ommentating [08:52:56] <ihwqef_> SHITTA QUALITY OMG [08:52:45] <styyhjlyy> guardsman bob and those ppl have much bether wuiality [08:53:03] <wakkawakka> lol very shitty quality [08:53:08] <wakkawakka> this isnt very professional [08:57:11] <ololololololol> why is the quality so fucking shitty? [08:58:24] <MrBlo0> fail quality [08:59:12] <Tiffosi> Cant even read the game score [09:00:29] <sh__> wau, whats this bad stream quality? [09:06:51] <Mestitia> don't buy shit noobs, they're fuckin scaming you [09:07:04] <Mestitia> Noone else charges for LoL streams and it's always way bettter then this shit [09:07:12] <mTw|imm> coz ESL wants u to buy premium $$ [09:08:29] <dertfgrtftd> WHY WOULD I WANT TO GET PREMIUM WHEN THEY DONT EVEN SHOW THE MOST WANTED MATCH? [09:08:38] <gegege> is it just me or do the quality sucks? can't use HQ either [09:43:09] <sadgfsdgf> wtf that shit quality? [09:43:23] <Eueml> can i get a better quality somehow? [09:44:12] <Nies> why is the quality so shitty? [09:44:14] <Yendoc> bad quality [09:44:26] <tyret999> yeah bad video [09:56:33] <Porexeud> i cant see what he bought with that quality [09:56:42] <lol____> lol and yeah the quality is crap [09:56:36] <Szbuli> quality is a fucking piece of crap [09:56:25] <Nevalopo> Why is the quality so extreamly shit? I can't even see thier names :E [13:13:24] <erjterj> what a baaaaad quality [13:13:23] <Sprororo> stream quality is shit [13:12:32] <Deadlyx> this quality suck like hell [13:11:51] <operative> they stream so low so the only way to watch it in HD is to pay [13:11:52] <Abyss_> they want money [13:11:53] <Roteki> that's quite obvious to see [13:11:58] <Abyss_> greedy fucks [13:11:36] <alex______> why is the resolution so bad [13:11:31] <fghjgj> shit quality [13:11:10] <Sprororo> why is quality so low? [13:11:07] <oodsicle> Im not saying we are ENTITLED. Im not BITCHING. I am simply WONDERING, why, when I know they have the ability to stream higher quality, would they stream so low? [13:10:53] <fdwdawd> why....the players would streamer for free, better quality if esl would let them...just a money grab [13:10:55] <la_bruja> wait, what? you have to pay for stream where you can atually see score!? [13:08:11] <sdfds> this is the worst stream quality ever [13:06:30] <oodsicle> why is the quality so bad? [13:04:25] <Reager> why is the quality so shitty? [13:02:16] <dyst> this quality is shit :( [12:55:16] <fleshfire> whats with the quality :S [12:55:05] <motch> this is shit quality [12:52:15] <jimbam666> FUCK ESL [12:52:21] <mivooo> FUCK YOU ESL [12:51:51] <xpeke> this is got to be the worst stream ive watched in 3 years [12:50:07] <hivkilled> HEY GUYS WE'RE ESL WE GOT ENOUGH MONEY FOR A STUDIO BUT NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO STREAM AT DECENT QUALITY [12:45:58] <zarteros> go better quality omfg -_- [12:45:54] <hghbj> this shit is so bad [12:46:04] <blah_> this quality is so fucking bad [12:46:09] <sef> better quality? [12:43:03] <Emuw> fail esl [12:41:50] <dasudasu> FUCK ELS [12:41:51] <dasudasu> ESL [12:41:52] <dasudasu> FUCK YOU [12:41:42] <ESLSCAMS> DEMAND BETTER QUALITY FOR US QUALIFIER http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=786473 [12:41:44] <dasudasu> FUCK YOU ESLUMMINATI [12:36:19] <SHITQUALITY> FUCK THE QUALITY OF THIS STREAM [13:22:42] <Epilox> Bad Bad Quality!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [13:23:56] <HeartlessFate> is anyone else have really bad quality on the videosThe production cut agreement that OPEC closed last year in a bid to improve oil prices could be extended for more than six months, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said at the Asia Oil and Gas Conference that opened today in Malaysia.
“Based on the consultations I have had with participating members I am rather confident the agreement will be extended into the second half of the year and possibly beyond. The producer coalition is determined to do whatever it takes to achieve our target of bringing stock levels back to the five-year average,” the Kingdom’s top oil man said as quoted by Bloomberg.
(Click to enlarge)
The comment comes after crude oil recorded one of its worst weeks in recent months, with West Texas Intermediate dipping below US$45 a barrel on Friday – the lowest since August last year. Although Al-Falih’s comments should have sprinkled some water on the wilting hopes of oil bulls, prices have yet to reflect this.
It is possible, however, that the positive effect will be transitory, as the signals coming from the U.S. are unequivocal: production is growing and it will continue to grow. The U.S. is not the only producer intent on continuing with the ramp-up. Iran is also eager to boost its crude production, planning to expand its daily production capacity to 5.7 million barrels.
Related: All Eyes On Saudi Arabia As OPEC Begins To Unravel
OPEC is meeting in Vienna on May 25th to discuss the extension, and analysts seem to be unanimously agreed that it will approve the extension. Several cartel members have already declared their support for the extension, including exempt Iran and Nigeria, as well as Iraq and Kuwait, and there don’t seem to be any obvious factors that could justify an end to the cut at the initial deadline, June 30th.
However, worry remains that even an extension will do no good—or little good—as U.S. oil output continues to rise, with the Energy Information Administration forecasting the 2017 daily average at 9.2 million barrels, rising to 9.9 million bpd in 2018.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:WENATCHEE – Worry over ag labor shortages could be a thing of the past if two engineering firms hit goals to market robotic fruit-picking machines by 2019.
The two competing companies – Abundant Robotics Inc. in California and Israel-based FFRobotics – have plans to manufacture and market commercial robotic harvesters sometime in the next 18 to 24 months, representatives told a global audience of fruit growers here Thursday.
The two reps gave presentations to hundreds of orchardists, packers and shippers from 13 countries gathered last week in Wenatchee for the 60th Annual Conference of the International Fruit Tree Association.
The presentations on Thursday focused mostly on apple harvesting, but both reps said the machines could be adapted to pick other fruit – oranges, peaches and maybe even cherries.
Advantages of automation include no pickers’ bags, no ladders, no hauling to distant bins, less bruising and – depending on operator schedules – the possibility of 24-hour harvesting. Manufacturers are aiming for a 2-year return on investment, with the cost of machine harvesting equal to or less than human crews.
“The ultimate goal is for our machines to be as good as humans when it comes to harvesting,” said Dan Steere, co-founder and CEO of Ab |
and former MP for the main opposition party CHP. “But presidentialism à la Turca is a recipe for disaster. Whoever receives this much power would be in a position to abuse this much power.”
Ahead of the April 16 referendum, here’s a guide to the proposed changes.
A powerful president...
The existing Turkish constitution ascribes a mainly ceremonial role to the president, with the power largely in the hands of the prime minister and parliament — in theory, at least.
Ever since Erdoğan became Turkey’s first directly elected president in 2014, after more than a decade as prime minister and leader of the AKP, he has expanded the office beyond its constitutional limits, effectively remaining in charge of the country. A state of emergency imposed in the aftermath of last summer’s failed coup has allowed him to rule by decree.
Under the new constitution, the temporary powers granted to Erdoğan by emergency law would become permanent. While parliament would retain its legislative role, the president could simply bypass parliament by issuing decrees with the force of law.
“It’s a paradigm shift,” said Bertil Emrah Oder, a professor of constitutional law at Istanbul’s Koc University. Currently, she noted, presidential decrees have to be approved by the cabinet — a check on the president’s power that would no longer exist if the referendum passes.
The government argues that presidential decrees cannot alter existing laws or fundamental rights and freedoms. However, this changes under emergency law, according to Oder. “If a state of emergency is declared, he could, in fact, regulate even these rights and freedoms,” she said.
Erdoğan has flouted the neutrality rule since becoming president and repeatedly campaigned on behalf of the AKP.
The constitutional changes abolish the role of prime minister. Instead, Erdoğan could appoint one or several vice-presidents. The president would be able to appoint his own cabinet, selecting and firing ministers and other senior officials without needing approval from parliament. He would be responsible for the annual budget and national security policy.
On top of that, the president may be partisan. The current constitution requires the president to be neutral and give up any party affiliation — a law that casual Turkey-watchers may be unaware of, as Erdoğan has flouted the rule since becoming president and repeatedly campaigned on behalf of the AKP.
… and a weakened parliament
Parliament would keep some powers — to declare war, for instance. But its ability to control the executive is restricted under the new constitution.
While the president retains his right to dissolve parliament whenever he wishes, lawmakers have few resources to rid themselves of the president: the impeachment process is complex, requiring the support of an absolute majority in parliament and the approval of the Constitutional Court. And the president appoints a number of Constitutional Court members.
The constitutional amendments also revoke several checks on the executive, including parliament’s right to issue motions of censure (a formal strong rebuke), votes of no confidence or oral questions to the executive. Lawmakers may only raise written questions.
“Taking the general ineffectiveness of impeachment procedures into account, that cannot be regarded as sufficient checks and balances,” said Oder. Given the strict party discipline in Turkey, the president — who would keep his position as party leader — would have significant control over parliament, she added.
Parliament’s power to legislate is also weakened. Currently, the president may return bills to parliament to be reconsidered, but lawmakers can bypass his objections with a simple majority. Yet under the new constitution, the president gains veto rights on any law, a power that parliament can only override with an absolute majority.
Erdoğan and his supporters argue that these changes would reduce instability and prevent political stalemates created by any competing power centers. The government has dismissed suggestions that the new constitution would pave the way for more autocratic rule, insisting that the amendments would hand more power to the people, not the president.
“In the current system, society elects parliament, and parliament forms a government. That’s indirect legitimacy,” Erdoğan’s adviser Mehmet Ucum said during a conversation with reporters and others in Istanbul this week. “In the new system, society will elect the parliament and the government — so, direct legitimacy,” he said.
An 'impartial' judiciary?
At first glance, Turkey’s highly politicized justice system would be changed for the better under the new constitution. Military courts in peacetime would be abolished. Moreover, courts would have to act “on condition of impartiality” — but critics say this amendment is rendered meaningless by the new powers granted to the president.
The new constitution would enable Erdoğan to appoint four of 13 members of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors — the judiciary’s top disciplinary board overseeing appointment and dismissal of judges and public prosecutors — in addition to the minister and undersecretary of justice, who also sit on the Council. The remaining seven members are elected by parliament.
The proposed changes are projected to come into effect in 2019 and Erdoğan could, therefore, rule Turkey until 2029.
Currently, Erdoğan chooses only three appointees of a 22-member board — but the constitution requires him to make politically neutral choices. With the impartiality clause gone, the Venice Commission warned, the president could control the entire board if his party held a three-fifths majority in parliament. (The AKP is 13 seats short of a three-fifths majority.)
“That would place the independence of the judiciary in serious jeopardy,” the commission’s report concluded. “Getting control over this body… means getting control over judges and public prosecutors.”
Besides transforming Turkey into a presidential republic, the new constitution includes a series of minor changes, including lowering the minimum age for MP candidates from 25 to 18 and increasing the number of seats in parliament from 550 to 600.
Parliamentary elections would be held every five years instead of every four, with presidential elections taking place simultaneously. A president would only be allowed to stay in office for two full terms but would be permitted to stand for a de facto third term, in case of early elections.
The proposed changes are projected to come into effect in 2019 and Erdoğan could, therefore, rule Turkey until 2029 — that is if the referendum passes: current polls predict a close race, with the “no” vote slightly ahead of the government’s “yes” camp.With the recent news that the Mets are reassigning their 2014 hitting coaches Lamar Johnson and Luis Natera to elsewhere in the organization, it makes sense that the club is searching for replacement. Two of the reported candidates are names that will be familiar to Mets fans.
The Post is reporting that both Bobby Abreu and Edgardo Alfonzo are on the Mets' radar for the 2015 hitting coach position. Alfonzo isn't sure if he wants to be a coach full-time, but he apparently did enjoy his time coaching with Low-A Brooklyn in 2014. Abreu, of course, spent most of the past season shuttling between Las Vegas and Queens as a hired bat.
It's hard to say that either option doesn't make sense if they are willing. The Mets enjoy players who know how to work counts and take walks, and both Abreu and Alfonzo are experts at that approach. Alfonzo in particular has brought many a smile to Mets fans' faces since he broke out as an infield regular in 1997. In 2000, his best ever season, "Fonzi" hit.324/.425/.542 to help lead the Mets to the National League pennant.
Abreu's tenure with the Mets is quite short compared to the rest of his epic 18-year career which started in 1996 with the Astros. Throughout it all, he has been a consistent on-base machine whose career.291/.395/.475 slash line makes him a dark horse candidate for the Hall of Fame.
In a nutshell, either Abreu or Alfonzo would appear to be a great fit for a Mets team that needs to get as much as it can out of a lineup that doesn't hit too many home runs.The economic debate in Washington, D.C., is pretty straightforward. Democrats are eager to extend unemployment benefits, raise the minimum wage, expand Medicaid access, and preserve food-stamp spending as a way to help those who are struggling. Republicans believe these investments aren’t worthwhile and want to move in the opposite direction.
But Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus apparently believes there’s a hidden subtext lurking just below the surface. Sure, he says, Democrats claim they want these measures to pass and become law, but secretly Dems want their ideas to fail in Congress. At least, that’s the case the RNC chair made to conservative radio host Lars Larson yesterday.
“All of this kind of stuff is ridiculous because we’re spending all of our time actually talking and perpetrating what the Democrats actually want. They don’t want this to pass, Lars, what they want to do is they want to talk about these things, they want to talk about minimum wage and what they want to do ultimately is create a campaign issue, this sort of rich vs. poor, the same old thing they can do and avoid Obamacare. That’s what they want.”
It is, to be sure, a provocative allegation. Democrats are presenting a credible economic agenda, including popular ideas that enjoy broad public support, but for Priebus, “they don’t want this to pass.” And why not? Because if congressional Republicans kill these ideas, it will “create a campaign issue” that may benefit Democrats in the 2014 midterms.
In other words, the RNC chair believes we’re witnessing an elaborate ruse – Democrats hope Republicans kill worthwhile economic ideas to benefit struggling families so it’ll give Dems something to talk about during the fall election season.
I’m reasonably certain this theory is stark raving mad, but let’s assume for the sake of conversation that Priebus is onto something. Let’s say Democrats are going all out to push sensible economic proposals they secretly want to fail in order to give them a leg up in the midterms.The Georgia Court of Appeals has declined to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the Atlanta Braves by the father of a 6-year-old girl whose skull was shattered by a foul ball.
The appeals court, in a decision issued Friday, also declined to adopt the so-called “Baseball Rule.”
The rule, already in force in other states, says if a stadium operator provides screening behind home plate — the most dangerous place in the stands — and enough seats for spectators who want to sit there, it cannot be held liable for balls and bats that enter the stands and cause injuries.
The Braves, joined by the office of Major League Baseball’s Commissioner, Bud Selig, had asked the court to impose the rule, which would have essentially rendered the father’s lawsuit null and void.
The appeals court upheld a ruling by Fulton County State Court Judge Patsy Porter who declined to declare the “Baseball Rule” is Georgia law.
“At this stage of this litigation, we find no error in the trial court’s refusal to make such a declaration of law,” wrote Judge Elizabeth Branch for a unanimous three-judge appeals court panel.
The suit was brought by a man who’d taken his 6-year-old daughter to a May 30, 2010, game at Turner Field. During one at bat, then-Braves outfielder Melky Cabrera slashed a liner behind the third-base dugout that struck the girl in the forehead, fracturing her skull in 30 places and causing traumatic brain injury.
The girl’s parents believe extended netting should have already been in place, given the number of injuries in seats behind the dugouts, their lawyer, Mike Moran, said in a previous interview.Santa Clara County supervisors passed a new living wage measure Tuesday touted by some to be the most comprehensive in the nation.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors passed the Living Wage Ordinance by a 3-1 vote with one abstention.
The proposed law will require every employer who does business with the county to pay a minimum hourly wage of $19.06 per hour. A living wage ordinance differs from minimum wage laws in that it incorporates health care and other standard-of-living requirements.
"Decades of experience from other jurisdictions with living wage policies have shown that competition among bidders for local government contracts discourages vendors from driving up bids," staff wrote in a report.
To compare, San Jose's minimum wage, as of Jan. 1, 2014, rose from $10 to $10.15 an hour. San Jose enacted a living wage policy in 1998, and to date, county officials noted, there has not been any significant impacts during that time.The key to great engagement on any social network is not the network itself, but how many people you are following, and how many are following you. Finding people and adding them to your Google Plus circles is as easy as using the search bar on the top of the page. Just type in the person or business you are looking for and voila, an intuitive drop down will give you the best matches for what you typed in. If you press enter, you will be taken to a page that will show you posts with your keyword. Sometimes the post does not contain the keyword, but the poster’s profile does. This even works if you were to type in an occupation– for example, if you typed in Web Developer on Google+, the search will return results of people with the web developer keyword in their profile or recent posts with the keyword in it.
From here you will be able to click on the poster’s name and look over their profile. If their profile matches what you are looking for or if their content seems interesting to you, it is very easy to add them to your Google Plus circles from their profile page. Simply click the “Add to Circles” button on the top of their profile and you will get a drop down with a list of G+ circles that you can add them to. If you want to create a new circle, you can click the “Create Circle” link at the bottom and make an entirely new Google Plus circle, and the person whose profile you are viewing will be added to it automatically.
The more people that you add to your Google Plus circles who share similar interests with you, the more you will enjoy your Google+ experience. Building circles filled with a variety of different people will allow you to comment on the posts you find interesting. Engaging with other users’ posts is the one of the best ways to get them to add you to their own circles. The more people that add you to their circles, the better chance you have of your own content being seen. Personally, I feel that it is a good rule of thumb to engage with at least two posts for every single post you make.
As in the first part of the first part of this series (Google Plus: A Guide to Improving Your Experience), I would like to share a circle with you to get you started. These are people that I find to be very engaging, and share some very broad interesting content. If you are having trouble getting your Google Plus circles started, I highly recommend this circle for you.
Tip: If you type “shared a circle with” in the Google Plus search bar you will find recent circles that have been shared, this can help you connect with they right kind of circle very easily.
If you have found this article helpful, give us a Plus! Just click the button below. Thanks!
Create a great Community on Google PlusSACRAMENTO>>A proposed Assembly Bill seeking to fix a deadline error in the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act took another step forward Tuesday after unanimous approval by the Senate Government and Finance Committee.
Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, is hoping to push AB 21 to the governor’s desk as soon as possible in order to strike a set March 1 deadline that was inadvertently included in the new medical marijuana regulations requiring cities and counties to adopt medical marijuana cultivation standards or allow the state to take local control.
“Nobody intended to give local lawmakers such a short timeline to develop regulations for an industry as complex as medical cannabis,” Wood said in a statement.
Despite unanimous support Tuesday, concerns were voiced over another issue not included in AB 21.
As part of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, cities and counties have the authority to prevent medical marijuana patients from growing the drug for their personal use.
Both the American Civil Liberties Union and the Drug Policy Alliance have stated opposition to AB 21 unless the bill includes language that precludes local jurisdictions from banning medical marijuana from being grown for personal use, according to Wood’s office.
Wood said even though he is committed to working out the concerns of personal medical marijuana grows, it is unlikely AB 21 would be able to proceed before the March 1 deadline if the issue of the grows is added into the bill, which would likely keep the inadvertent deadline on the books even longer.
AB 21 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Health Committee next week.The Trump Organization's top attorney will represent President-elect 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's administration in its international negotiations, the transition team announced Tuesday.
Trump has tapped Jason Greenblatt, the Trump Organization's executive vice president and chief legal officer, as his special representative for international negotiations (SRIN).
In a statement, the president-elect sang Greenblatt's praises as one of his "closest and most trusted advisors."
"He has a history of negotiating substantial, complex transactions on my behalf, as well as the expertise to bring parties together and build consensus on difficult and sensitive topics," Trump said.
"His talents lend themselves perfectly to the role I have asked him to play, assisting on international negotiations of all types, and trade deals around the world.”
ADVERTISEMENT
It's not immediately clear how Trump will utilize Greenblatt, as his administration has created the SRIN position.
But the press release notes that Greenblatt served as a top campaign adviser to Trump on the U.S.-Israel relationship, so it's possible he could play a role in the administration's work with the ally.
Presumably, Trump's Cabinet secretaries will play key roles in negotiating relevant deals in domestic, economic and foreign spaces. But along with Greenblatt, Trump has tapped confidants to play key negotiating roles.
Earlier this month he brought on Peter Navarro, a University of California professor and economist, for a new role as director of trade and industrial policy. And he’s floated the prospect that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, could help to broker peace in the Middle East.
Trump has not yet named his pick for United States Trade Representative, a position that has traditionally taken the lead negotiating trade deals and is currently a Cabinet-level position."The great thing about this movie is that they are shooting Johannesburg as Johannesburg. Often you will find filmmakers will shoot in Johannesburg and portray the location as Los Angeles. This time around, the first 10 minutes of the film will be of Johannesburg."
And we’re off! Joss Whedon’s wildly anticipated sequel, has begun production in, of all places, Johannesburg, South Africa.The Independent Online (via ComingSoon ) reports that ancrew had set up shop in Johannesburg to film "action photography sequences [that] will not include main cast members such as Scarlett Johansson or Chris Hemsworth." Sorry, South African star gazers! You’ll have to wait forThere were rumors circulating that the South African city was going to fill in for a classic Marvel Comics location, maybe Wakanda, native home of the Black Panther. But ComicBookMovie cites the Gauteng Film Commission with saying that the city will "play" itself on screen, and that the first 10 minutes of Whedon’s movie will actually take place in Johannesburg. Representative Desmond Mthembu said:Very cool.What else do we know about? When it comes to location shots, we have reported already that South Korea and Italy have been scouted by Whedon and crews. The latter might provide an ominous-looking castle that speculation pegs as a lair for HYDRA… but that’s a best guess.In the meantime, Whedon has been stockpiling his cast with all sorts of actors. Forget about the originalteam members, including Robert Downey Jr., Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo. The sequel has added Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. And we have an array of potential villains. Of course, the robotic Ultron will be voiced by James Spader in the sequel. Thomas Kretschmann has been cast as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. This movie better be four hours long to accommodate all of the people who will be clamoring for screen time.Sois underway. I’m pretty sure every minute of this production will be documented, all but guaranteeing that the entire movie will be spoiled by the time it opens on May 1, 2015. And the first 10 minutes will be set in South Africa. So there’s that.Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2013 June 13
Four Planet Sunset
Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Kotsiopoulos (GreekSky)
Explanation: You can see four planets in this serene sunset image, created from a series of stacked digital exposures captured near dusk on May 25. The composite picture follows the trail of three of them, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury (left to right) dropping toward the western horizon, gathered close in last month's remarkable triple planetary conjunction. Similar in brightness to planet Mercury, the star Elnath (Beta Tauri) is also tracked across the scene, leaving its dotted trail still farther to the right. Of course, in the foreground are the still, shallow waters of Alikes salt lake, reflecting the striking colors of sunset over Kos Island, Greece, planet Earth. For now, Jupiter has wandered into the glare of the setting Sun, but Mercury and Venus remain low in the west at twilight.The rating agencies made public computer models that were used to devise ratings to make the process less secretive. That way, banks and others issuing bonds — companies and states, for instance — wouldn’t be surprised by a weak rating that could make it harder to sell the bonds or that would require them to offer a higher interest rate.
But by routinely sharing their models, the agencies in effect gave bankers the tools to tinker with their complicated mortgage deals until the models produced the desired ratings.
“There’s a bit of a Catch-22 here, to be fair to the ratings agencies,” said Dan Rosen, a member of Fitch’s academic advisory board and the chief of R2 Financial Technologies in Toronto. “They have to explain how they do things, but that sometimes allowed people to game it.”
There were other ways that the models used to rate mortgage investments like the controversial Goldman deal, Abacus 2007-AC1, were flawed. Like many in the financial community, the agencies had assumed that home prices were unlikely to decline. They also assumed that complex investments linked to home loans drawn from around the nation were diversified, and thus safer.
Both of those assumptions were wrong, and investors the world over lost many billions of dollars. In that Abacus investment, for instance, 84 percent of the underlying bonds were downgraded within six months.
But for Goldman and other banks, a road map to the right ratings wasn’t enough. Analysts from the agencies were hired to help construct the deals.
In 2005, for instance, Goldman hired Shin Yukawa, a ratings expert at Fitch, who later worked with the bank’s mortgage unit to devise the Abacus investments.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Mr. Yukawa was prominent in the field. In February 2005, as Goldman was putting together some of the first of what would be 25 Abacus investments, he was on a panel moderated by Jonathan M. Egol, a Goldman worker, at a conference in Phoenix.
The next month, Mr. Yukawa joined Goldman, where Mr. Egol was masterminding the Abacus deals. Neither was named in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit, nor have the rating agencies been accused of wrongdoing related to Abacus.
Photo
At Goldman, Mr. Yukawa helped create Abacus 2007-AC1, according to Goldman documents. The safest part of that earned an AAA rating. He worked on other Abacus deals.
Mr. Yukawa, who now works at PartnerRe Asset Management, a money management firm in Greenwich, Conn., did not return requests for comment.
Goldman has said it will fight the accusations from the S.E.C., which claims Goldman built the Abacus investment to fall apart so a hedge fund manager, John A. Paulson, could bet against it. And in response to this article, Goldman said it did not improperly influence the ratings process.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Chris Atkins, a spokesman for Standard & Poor’s, noted that the agency was not named in the S.E.C.’s complaint. “S.& P. has a long tradition of analytical excellence and integrity,” Mr. Atkins said. “We have also learned some important lessons from the recent crisis and have made a number of significant enhancements to increase the transparency, governance and quality of our ratings.”
David Weinfurter, a spokesman for Fitch, said via e-mail that rating agencies had once been criticized as opaque, and that Fitch responded by making its models public. He stressed that ratings were ultimately assigned by a committee, not the models.
Officials at Moody’s did not respond to requests for comment.
The role of the rating agencies in the crisis came under sharp scrutiny Friday from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Members grilled representatives from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s about how they rated risky securities. The changes to financial regulation being debated in Washington would put the agencies under increased supervision by the S.E.C.
Carl M. Levin, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Senate panel, said in a statement: “A conveyor belt of high-risk securities, backed by toxic mortgages, got AAA ratings that turned out not to be worth the paper they were printed on.”
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
As part of its inquiry, the panel made public 581 pages of e-mail messages and other documents suggesting that executives and analysts at rating agencies embraced new business from Wall Street, even though they recognized they couldn’t properly analyze all of the banks’ products.
The documents also showed that in late 2006, some workers at the agencies were growing worried that their assessments and the models were flawed. They were particularly concerned about models rating collateralized debt obligations like Abacus.
According to former employees, the agencies received information about loans from banks and then fed that data into their models. That opened the door for Wall Street to massage some ratings.
For example, a top concern of investors was that mortgage deals be underpinned by a variety of loans. Few wanted investments backed by loans from only one part of the country or handled by one mortgage servicer.
But some bankers would simply list a different servicer, even though the bonds were serviced by the same institution, and thus produce a better rating, former agency employees said. Others relabeled parts of collateralized debt obligations in two ways so they would not be recognized by the computer models as being the same, these people said.
Banks were also able to get more favorable ratings by adding a small amount of commercial real estate loans to a mix of home loans, thus making the entire pool appear safer.
Sometimes agency employees caught and corrected such entries. Checking them all was difficult, however.
“If you dug into it, if you had the time, you would see errors that magically favored the banker,” said one former ratings executive, who like other former employees, asked not to be identified, given the controversy surrounding the industry. “If they had the time, they would fix it, but we were so overwhelmed.”[email protected]
Autoridades de la delegación Tlalpan demolieron dos casas ubicadas en suelo de conservación en el Ajusco donde se prohíben edificaciones y que, acusaron, son propiedad de ex funcionarios de la administración del perredista Higinio Chávez.
De acuerdo con la demarcación, las viviendas pertenecen a Eloy Fuentes, quien fue director general de Servicios Urbanos; y a Carlos Hernández Mirón, quien era el titular general de Desarrollo Social, en la gestión de Higinio Chávez cuando era delegado. Hernández Mirón hoy es diputado federal por el Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD).
Ayer por la mañana, la diligencia se llevó a cabo pues los propietarios de los inmuebles no acataron la petición de la demarcación de que ellos mismos demolieran las obras consideradas irregulares, comentó en entrevista con El UNIVERSAL Fernando Hernández, director general de Jurídico y Gobierno de la jurisdicción.
Explicó que las casas que se ubican en un predio de 14 mil metros cuadrados en una zona boscosa del Ajusco, cuyo paraje es conocido como Rufina, son irrregulares y por ello se procedió a demolerlas.
Incluso, dijo que a diferencia de otras viviendas que también son irregulares y están en los alrededores, no eran precarias ni de techos de lámina. Por el contrario, describió, había un salón de fiestas y tenían dos niveles además de que contaban con todos los servicios.
Engañan a compradores. El director general de Jurídico y Gobierno de la demarcación señaló que hay viviendas irregulares que se alzan en zonas de conservación, como es el paraje Los Zorros, porque la gente compra terrenos a través de engaños o desconocimiento de la ley, pero en este caso, aseveró, los ex funcionarios sí sabían que ahí no se puede edificar obra alguna.
El funcionario explicó que hay una tercera construcción que también se determinó que es irregular y se presume pertenece a la esposa de Higinio Chávez. Sin embargo, ayer no era parte del proceso de demolición porque está amparada y hasta que el juez no resuelva de fondo el asunto no se procederá.
Fernando Hernández rechazó que la acción que ayer se efectuó sea una “venganza política” contra el perredista Higinio Chávez, sino que su actuación es en apego a la ley y a las denuncias ciudadanas.
La delegación Tlalpan es gobernada hoy por Claudia Sheinbaum, quien es militante del partido Morena.
Higinio Chávez se deslinda. “Durante el proceso de demolición, se presentó en el lugar Higinio Chávez García, ex delegado en Tlalpan de 2009 a 2012, quien aseguró que las viviendas eran propiedad del actual diputado federal y ex director general de Desarrollo Social de la demarcación Carlos Hernández Mirón y del ex director general de Servicios Urbanos, Eloy Fuentes, ambos ex funcionarios de la delegación durante el gobierno de Chávez García”, detalló la demarcación mediante un comunicado.
Al sitio, también refirió la demarcación, acudió el hijo de Eloy Fuentes, Edwin Fuentes, quien trató de impedir que se realizara el procedimiento de demolición, por lo que elementos de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública capitalina lo invitaron a retirarse.
De acuerdo con Fernando Hernández, los trabajos concluyeron ayer mismo y desde hoy lo que ocurrirá será el traslado del material de escombro que quedó.
Se prevé que una vez finalizados los trabajos de demolición y limpieza, los predios reciban un proceso de restitución forestal.With its 60th anniversary on the horizon, McDonald’s Corp. is coping with perhaps the most severe crisis in its history. The world’s biggest restaurant company has suffered 14 consecutive months of declining same-store sales at its 14,000 U.S. outlets (sales at stores that have been open for more than a year, the chief benchmark of a retailer’s performance).
McDonald's has added more nutritional menu items, but these don't sell especially well. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images )
The problem is not unique to McDonald’s core U.S. market, where same-store revenues fell a dismal 4.6 per cent last month. That period also saw a 2.2 per cent drop in global operations, including Canada, where Tim Hortons has eclipsed McDonald’s to become the top fast-food operator. The $28 billion (U.S.) company’s profits are sharply down, including a 30 per cent drop in the latest quarter. Stock in the company, based in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill., has slumped as well, and is down more than 7 per cent over the past year. By contrast, shares of archrival Burger King International Inc. have soared 63 per cent in that period. McDonald’s response to its woes, unveiled this month, signals the wide extent of the chain’s problems.
Article Continued Below
Yes, a July article by Consumer Reports, the product-testing organization, was a shocker, revealing that in its survey of consumers, McDonald’s burgers ranked worst among 20 competitors. But the problems at McD’s are more far-reaching than that. The chain suffers “menu creep,” a proliferation of new offerings. McD’s now offers 121 items, or 75 per cent increase in the past decade. The result: service at the world’s biggest “quick-serve” food operation has become notoriously slow. In trying to address age-old criticisms over serving unhealthy food, McDonald’s has been adding the fresher and more nutritional menu items that critics have demanded. Yet these healthier items don’t sell especially well, because the traditional McDonald’s customer isn’t all that interested in salads, soups and McWraps. McDonald’s continues to get more than 30 per cent of its revenues from just five items, some of which trace back to the origins of the company in 1955: Big Macs, plain hamburgers, cheeseburgers, McNuggets and fries. The new items swell inventory costs, of course. And the McDonald’s workforce skews to young, inexperienced employees whose turnover rate is high and whose pay and benefits are low. Asking that workforce to adjust to the chain’s recently launched “Create Your Taste” line of custom-made meal items — which take as much as seven minutes to prepare, compared with just two minutes for traditional bestsellers — threatens to slow service even more.
And McD’s is also coping with unprecedented competition. As the chain has come to be seen by many prospective diners as passé, specialty and even gourmet chains including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread, Shake Shack, SmashBurger and Five Guys are taking their toll on McDonald’s sales. So are veteran chains that have stepped up their games, including Wendys Co. and Burger King, which this month bought Tim Hortons. And most supermarket chains now offer nutritious ready-to-eat takeaway meals. Making matters worse is that consumer spending power is at a low ebb. A report last month based on U.S. Federal Reserve Board statistics shows that median middle-class American household income, adjusting for inflation, is stuck where it was in 1969, 45 years ago.
Article Continued Below
That helps explain McD’s failed effort to get customers to trade up to its Mighty Wings. The giant wings were arguably good value. And gram for gram, poultry is one of the greatest sources of nutrition. But priced at $1 a wing, the item was way above the traditional McDonald’s customers’ notion of value. McDonald’s, in short, has alienated existing customers while not attracting health-conscious ones. “In some of our markets the reality is that we haven’t been changing at the same rate as customers’ eating-out expectations,” concedes chief executive officer Don Thompson. Predictions of doom are premature, to say the least, however. McDonald’s still feeds 70 million people a day. Its share of the U.S. fast-food market, at 7.3 per cent, remains almost three times’ larger than its nearest rival, the privately owned Subway submarine-sandwich chain, even though Subway has more outlets (almost 43,000, to McD’s 36,000 worldwide). A rejuvenated Burger King claims a market share of just 1.7 per cent. On average, BK stores generate only $1.2 million in business a year, compared with McD’s $2.6 million. None of its rivals can match McDonald’s $1 billion annual marketing budget. And for all its recent woes, McDonald’s stock has outperformed that of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. conglomerate over the past 10 years, with a 184 per cent gain compared with the Oracle of Omaha’s 164 per cent gain. There’s no shortage of king-of-the-hill companies that have been humbled, including Starbucks Corp., Gap Inc., Home Depot Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Each of those firms eventually recovered. Complacency was the main culprit in each crisis. Fortunately for investors in McDonald’s, the firm’s top management has a sense of urgency about restoring the chain’s customer relevance. “We’re not going to re-energize this business by taking incremental steps,” Mike Andres, head of U.S. operations at McDonald’s, said this month. A sweeping McD’s re-org includes a drastic reduction in menu items, and rolling out the “Create Your Taste” customized-meal initiative to 2,000 U.S. stores by next year. The Canadian Harvey’s chain has a winning formula with its made-to-order burgers. Patrons have to wait a little longer, but their willingness to do so is what Andres is counting on with the “Create Your Taste” campaign. And with its high-turnover inventory, McDonald’s is assessing an unexploited advantage in its fresh-menu items. “Why do we need to have preservatives in our food?” Andres asks. “We probably don’t.” Like all retailing, fast-food is faddish. The industry is a graveyard of Tex-Mex, gourmet fries, steak joints, and haddock purveyors, concepts that have come and gone over the past half-century while burger outlets remain the most durably popular of roadside attractions. Perhaps what McDonald’s needs most is a marketing re-think. McD’s failed to explain, for instance, that its Mighty Wings were great value |
that Xu also posted an open challenge to martial artists to prove him wrong. On Weibo, Xu stated that he would take on any and all traditional martial artists in a no rules contest (including kicks to the groin and eye pokes). Xu also said he would pay 1.2 million yuan ($174,000) to anyone who beats him.
In his social media storm Xu, also challenged two-time Olympic champion boxer Zou Shiming. Zou’s agents told the Straits Times that the 35-year-old flyweight would not be responding to the challenge, given that Zou and Xu are “not on the same level.” On Weibo, Xu also challenged one of the bodyguards of Jack Ma, the billionaire owner of e-commerce site Alibaba. Ma responded to Xu’s challenge on Weibo stating - according to ejinsight - that, “Martial arts should be seen as something fun and that debate on various styles is pointless.”
Also according to ejinsight, Xu’s comments on traditional martial arts has enraged Chinese ‘wulin’ (a collective term for the Chinese martial arts community). The wulin is reported to be angered by Xu’s ‘arrogance’ and his debasing of the revered practice of Tai Chi.
Wei also made comments after fight, stating that the only reason he lost to Xu was because he was showing mercy and refraining from using his ‘internal strength.’ Wei reportedly said he feared Xu would be killed, had he used his full array of skills.
The Chinese Wushu Association, which promotes many martial arts in China and beyond, has condemned the fight between Xu and Wei, claiming it went against the principles of martial arts. Despite their condemnation, a number of traditional martial artists are eager to accept Xu’s challenge.
Straits Times reports that He Xi Rui, head of the Wudang Tai Chi sect, was one of the first to respond to Xu’s challenge. Using Weibo Xu wrote, “You are welcome to visit the Wudang Mountains to witness real martial arts.”
Lu Xing, another Tai Chi master - this time from the ‘Pushing Hands’ school in Sichuan Province - also accepted the challenge. Lu told Chengdu Business News that he’ll likely beat Xu thanks to his ‘iron fist’ which took more than twenty years to develop.
Yi Long, who has been marketed as ‘China’s strongest Shaolin monk’ also took to Weibo to accept Xu’s challenge. A fight with Xu would be familiar territory for Yi, who has previously tested his Kung Fu style boxing against western and Thai-style fighters.
Despite being billed as a Shaolin monk, a spokesperson from the Shaolin Temple stated in 2010 that Yi was not a monk from their order.
South China Morning Post reports that Li Shangxian, another Shaolin-style boxing practitioner, and Wang Zhanhai, a Tai Chi master, have also accepted Xu’s challenge. SCMP also reported that Chen Sheng, an entrepreneur who founded the drinks company Tiandi No. 1, was also getting in on the action by offering 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) to anyone who can defeat Xu.
With interest in Xu’s challenge to traditional martial artists gaining mainstream attention in China, it seems just a matter of time before more fights that pit MMA versus Tai Chi (and maybe kung fu) will make it to the internet. This, along with the most talked about fight on the planet being between a UFC champion and an undefeated boxer, could mean the era of style-versus-style match-making (aka ‘freakshow fights’) might not be dead after all.The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made a last-minute ruling Wednesday to block Germany’s deportation of an 18-year-old Russian man considered to be a “dangerous” Islamist.
The man was on his way to the airport in Frankfurt when ECHR interfered, according to The Local. A spokeswoman explained that the ruling is meant to make sure the case follows the necessary steps in a deportation proceeding and that it is not a final verdict in the case.
The decision comes less than a week after Germany’s highest court ruled that foreigners suspected of posing a terror threat can be deported under the country’s constitution. (RELATED: German Court Gives States The Right To Deport Suspected Terrorists)
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the expulsion of an Algerian man who state ministers considered to be a “dangerous person” was not unlawful. Interior ministers in Bremen ordered for him to be deported after determining he was potentially planning a terror attack.
The man challenged the decision and a law that allows states to expel foreigners “to defend against a particular danger for the security of the Federal Republic of Germany, or against a terrorist risk.” The law was introduced after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the U.S. but has not been used until the Berlin Christmas market attack last December.
Authorities have further used the law to deport two German-born men who were accused of planning an attack after police found Islamic State flags and weapons in their apartment. The suspects were subsequently ordered to be deported to their parents’ home countries of Algeria and Nigeria.
Follow Jacob on Twitter
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.Film Tax Incentives – Payback to the State Can Be Huge
May 11, 2013
I cam across an article in the Hollywood Reporter about the new U.K. TV, Animation Tax Credits on Track for April Launch, and there is one quote from Adrian Wootton, chief executive of the British Film Commission and Film London said public support for the creative industries “has a successful legacy in the U.K. with the current film tax relief delivering a return of $18 (£12) for every $1.57 (£1) invested by Government.”
My suggestion to every nay-sayer of film tax incentives is: DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Invest $1.57 and get back $18.00! I invite you look at your taxes paid – where does it go? Well, take $2 bucks out and know that the State has made back 9 times that in spin-off benefits. Hmmmm… Who is advising our States that film incentives aren’t working? Let’s take a close look at that person’s motivation.
The U.K.’s current film tax credit system is in place until the end of 2015. It allows producers to apply for a tax credit of 20 percent of expenditures incurred in the U.K. up to a maximum of 80 percent of the total production budget.
Cheers / John
AdvertisementsDoha says the Qatari ambassador to Iran who was recalled last year after Saudi Arabia’s severance of ties with Iran will return to Tehran.
According a statement released on Thursday by the Qatari Foreign Ministry’s Public Relations Office, the top Qatari diplomat will return to Iran to resume his diplomatic work.
The statement also reads that Doha wants to boost its relations with Tehran and hopes to see mutual relations expand on all fronts in the future, Al Alam reported.
The information office did not specify an exact date for the ambassador’s return – or provide his name – but said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani discussed “bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them” in a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.
The decision to restore ties with Iran comes amid a diplomatic dispute between Qatar and several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, according to Al Jazeera.
They accuse Doha of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and financing terrorism – a charge Qatar has dismissed as “baseless”.A suspected piece of the Great Lakes shipwreck mystery, Le Griffon, was examined once again Friday in hopes of finding out whether or not it is a part of the lost ship and a piece of international treasure.
OTSEGO, Mi (WPBN/WGTU) -- A suspected piece of the Great Lakes shipwreck mystery, Le Griffon, was examined once again Friday in hopes of finding out whether or not it is a part of the lost ship and a piece of international treasure.
The piece of wood was first found 15-years ago about 80-miles west of Charlevoix.
Using a laser, members of Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence scanned the wooden beam believed to be from Le Griffon.
A laser tracker then sent images of where they were scanning to a computer, creating a 3-D model of it.
"That we can use for simulation purposes to really confirm if the measurements would match something that would go into a ship, more precisely The Griffon," said Application Specialist with Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, Emily O'Dea.
The ship arguably sank in the waters of Lake Michigan centuries ago and since the age of 13 it has been Steve Libert's mission to find it.
For the past decade Libert's team has made several Lake Michigan dives on the shipwreck they believe to be the French vessel.
"It's a lifelong dream that we always wanted to do," said Steve Libert, president of the Great Lakes Exploration Group. "It's the most sought after ship probably one of the most sought after in the world if not the number one in the Great Lakes."
Now that Libert believes he has found part of the ship, he's working on proving that it is a piece of Le Griffon through markings on the wood, and that's where Hexagon comes in.
"A lot of the stuff we do is a lot of industrial stuff we measure a lot of airplanes and cars so this is the first time we've had a chance to scan something historical that might actually have a meaning," said O'Dea. "It's really important I think in history it's great going back so many centuries and finding history and treasure."
And they're doing it all for free.
"Well there's obviously an equipment cost, right now this is pro bono we're just out here for the sake of history to help out," O'Dea said.
Steve Libert hopes the more it's studied the more they'll learn and hopefully find out if it is in fact Le Griffon, the ship he's been searching a lifetime for.
"After all those years finally it's something you know it's like fishing for 30-years not even getting a nibble and now all of a sudden you bring up a shark and there it is right in front of your face," Libert said.
Friday's findings will be sent off to experts in Houston to compare with images of La Belle, the vessel commonly reffered to as Le Griffon's sister ship.
If the piece of wood is found to be from Le Griffon Libert says it could possibly go to a museum in Houston where it will sit with La Belle.A few weeks back, Ed Miliband was not seen as "Prime Minister material" by many despite five years of drilling home his credentials as Labour leader.
Now, after a short period of transformation - and with #Milinfandom an electoral phenomenon - the man who wants the keys to No. 10 has starred in his own Hollywood blockbuster.
Well, more of a four-minute electoral advert shot by the acclaimed Paul Greengrass, the man who brought The Bourne Trilogy to the big screen and shot the Oscar-nominated movie Captain Phillips.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
With May 7 closing in, and Miliband already pulling out his trump cards of an interview with Russell Brand and a promise to control rent prices - evident attempts to appeal to younger voters - the Labour leader has appeared in a short film portrait that aims to portray Miliband as a man on the side of people "who don't have it easy in this country".
"I feel that the last four-and-a-half years have been leading up to this moment," Miliband says at the start of the video, stating that he has spent his years in opposition formulating policies that are meaningful and there to benefit the majority of the country. "I feel ready to offer myself as Prime Minister."
Miliband speaks movingly about his upbringing and his father, who was attacked by The Daily Mail for his Marxist beliefs. The film shows the Labour leader on the campaign trail, knocking on voters' doors, before cutting to a large segment where he emphasises the need to "rescue the NHS" for "working families."
"I’m not on the side of the richest and most powerful. I’m on the side of the people who don’t have it easy in this country," Miliband says.
Miliband's full interview with Russell Brand is to be released soon, although a trailer gave the public some insight into how the discussion went.
"Of course people share your outrage about companies that don't pay their taxes and it can be dealt with," Miliband said. "But you've got to have a government that's willing to say 'there's something wrong with this' and we're going to deal with it."
Brand, looking surprised and excited, responds by asking: "You're that Government?" "Yeah," replies Mr Miliband.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowThe Guns of October
It was at 2 p.m. on the sixth day of October 1973 — the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement — when a barrage from 2,000 artillery pieces along the Suez Canal signaled the start of an epic war. It was epic as a chapter of history, when an overconfident Israel saw its vaunted army and air force battered by an Arab surprise attack, only to reverse the fortunes of war in a week with a counteroffensive that left the Egyptian armies surrounded and Damascus in range of Israeli artillery. It was epic in its military implications, as the Yom Kippur War shaped the way that the U.S. military would fight for decades. And, it was epic in its what-ifs: What if Israel had mobilized its reserve troops sooner? What if the Syrian tanks had not paused on the Golan Heights after breaking through the thin Israeli defenses, and had clanked down toward Haifa and Tel Aviv? What if the Egyptians had pressed their initial advantage and drove on southern Israel?
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War (or the Ramadan War, as the Arabs called it, in an ironic simultaneity of dueling religious holidays). Not surprisingly, such a dramatic conflict has spawned numerous wargames that allow armchair generals to simulate the conflict. Like an array of spotlights, each game illuminates different facets of the struggle.
For example, the most pressing question for Israel in 1973 wasn’t how to fight, but where to fight. Vastly outnumbered by the Egyptians in the south and the Syrians in the north, Israel confronted its ultimate nightmare; fighting simultaneously on widely separated fronts, creating a strategic dilemma of where to send its hastily mobilized reserves. "Bar-Lev," a board game first published in 1974 and later updated in 1977, is probably the best simulation of the Yom Kippur War. The game begins with the Israeli defenders badly outnumbered, but each turn the Israelis get new reserve troops which must be sent to either the Sinai or Golan fronts. The dilemma for the Israeli player is that once a unit is allocated to a front, it is committed; it takes at least a whole turn to transfer it to the other front, and a tank battalion in transit from Golan to Sinai is one less desperately needed battalion on either battlefield. Thus the Israeli player must anticipate his needs. If the war is going well in Sinai, it is easy for an Israeli player to send all his reinforcements to the Golan, only to be caught flat-footed by a lucky Egyptian attack. To play Bar-Lev is to understand why Israel has always feared fighting the combined Arab armies on its borders.
Any Yom Kippur wargame must also simulate a contradiction: the ability of Israeli units to outfight their Arab counterparts, and yet at the same time, show how the Arabs were able to nullify those advantages so much that Israel could only achieve a tactical victory by war’s end (some might even argue a draw). In Bar-Lev, Israeli units are often stronger and move faster than their Arab counterparts, especially the Israeli tank formations. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) can decimate the Arab air forces in aerial combat at virtually no loss, and then go on to pound Arab ground troops. But the game also gives the Arabs certain advantages, such as a combat bonus for their infantry when fighting Israeli tanks (reflecting their huge quantities of Soviet-made anti-tank weapons). More important is their huge number of surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft gun batteries, creating an air defense system denser than those faced by U.S. pilots over North Vietnam. The Israeli player can choose to preserve his air force by staying at high altitude and dogfighting the Arab air forces; the Israeli Air Force will be toasting plenty of new fighter aces, but that will be cold comfort to the hard-pressed troops on the ground. Or (as was historically the case), Israeli jets can come in low and support the ground troops, but will take heavy losses from flak. The Israelis relied on the IAF to be the "flying artillery" that saved the ground troops, but instead in Bar-Lev, it is the tanks and infantry who have to knock out the Arab air defense network before the Phantoms and Skyhawks can do their work.
"You can ask me for anything you like, except time," Napoleon told his generals, an admonition that the Israelis have always appreciated. The longer the conflict goes on, the more the Israeli economy grinds to a halt, the greater the expenditure in blood and munitions (the latter of which must be resupplied by the United States), and the higher the risk that the superpowers and the U.N. will impose a cease-fire that will favor the Arabs. Thus time is a crucial feature in Multi-Man Publishing’s two October War games: "Heights of Courage," which covers the Golan front, and "Yom Kippur," which covers the Sinai battles. In "Heights of Courage," the game is played over 17 turns. But after Turn 8 (Oct. 12), dice are rolled to see whether the international community imposes a cease-fire. Because the Syrians make their gains during their initial assault, they can grab the Golan and then dig in, placing the burden on Israel to race the clock to recapture lost territory before the war ends.
Time is both an Israeli enemy and ally in 1981’s "Suez ’73," perhaps the most insightful Yom Kippur wargame besides Bar-Lev. The game simulates the vicious Battle of the Chinese Farm on Oct. 15-19, when an Israeli counteroffensive found a weak spot in the Egyptian defenses that allowed the IDF to cross to the Egyptian side of the Suez Canal, tear a hole in the Egyptian air defense network, and surround the Egyptian armies on the Israeli side of the canal. Each 12-hour game turn can be divvied up into 10 "impulses" or mini-turns where each player can move his units and conduct combat. While the Egyptians can only get a maximum of three mini-turns, the Israelis can get up to 10, allowing the IDF to accomplish much more over those 12 hours than its enemies.
However, time is also as dangerous a foe as the Egyptian Sagger anti-tank missiles. In Suez ’73, the Israelis have only eight turns to accomplish the following: carve a corridor through two fortified Egyptian infantry divisions, heavily reinforced by additional tank and anti-tank units; move slow and bulky mobile bridges down a single road already clogged with tank columns needed to penetrate those Egyptian defenses; erect a bridge over the Suez Canal under Egyptian artillery fire; send tank and infantry units to form a bridgehead on the western bank; and send out raiding columns to destroy Egyptian air defense sites. Egyptians don’t need to defeat the IDF on the battlefield, just delay it. To play Suez ’73 is to understand why Israeli commanders always seem to be in a hurry, even if it means taking risks.
Ultimately, and in real life, Israel’s narrow victory rested on its battlefield performance. It was not that the Arabs couldn’t or wouldn’t fight — the Yom Kippur War disproved that unfortunate myth of 1967 — but that superior training, tactics, and initiative allowed an Israeli unit to accomplish more than its Arab counterpart. In Suez ’73, every unit has a numerical rating for "proficiency" that affects everything from how well it shoots to how well it rallies under fire. Israeli units, especially elite formations such as paratroopers and commandos, have higher proficiencies that give them an edge in combat. In 1977’s "Arab-Israeli Wars," Israeli superiority is shown through mechanisms such as morale, which means that an Israeli Centurion tank platoon disrupted by enemy fire will rally and return to the fight sooner than a Syrian platoon of T-62 tanks. But the Arabs usually have numbers on their sides, and quality versus quantity can be a tough fight.
These are essential facets that shaped the Yom Kippur War. But part of the fascination of wargaming is discovering the small historical details. In Suez ’73, the Israeli Ha Sinai reconnaissance unit, equipped with captured Arab vehicles, can slip past the Egyptian defenders guarding the road to the Suez Canal. And in Heights of Courage, the Israelis have the "Force Zvika" piece to inflict extra losses on the Syrians; this reflects the exploits of Lt. Zvi "Zvika" Greengold, who with one or two tanks managed to seriously disrupt the Syrian offensive (dice are rolled each time to see whether he survives).
Fascinating and compelling as these October War games are, there is a touch of ancient history about them. Thousands of tanks churning dust storms through the Sinai desert seem almost as anachronistic as Napoleon’s Old Guard at Waterloo. Warfare today is ballistic missiles, laser-guided bombs, chemical weapons, and cyberviruses like Stuxnet. A nation’s strength is now reckoned more by its quantity of hackers than infantry battalions. The year 1973 was the mid-point — chronologically and militarily — between the mass warfare of the Battle of the Bulge, and the high-tech combat of Desert Storm and the Second Iraq War.
Since 1973, Israel has never faced such a dire military situation. And perhaps not coincidentally, the quality of its military — or at least of its regular tank and infantry troops — has never appeared quite so brilliant, especially in the 2006 Lebanon War. Perhaps necessity is the mother of battlefield prowess, but that’s a bargain that most Israelis and Arabs would rather not make.Hyperloop One just posted a video of its first test, and from the looks of it, soon it will change the way we travel.
Hyperloop One on Wednesday announced the completion of the first full-scale test of its Hyperloop technology in a vacuum environment conducted on May 12th. In the test, the company’s hyperloop vehicle which uses magnetic levitation technology pulled off a speed of 70 miles per hour down the length of the company’s test track in Nevada. Hyperloop One posted this video of the low-speed test. This test marks a historic breakthrough in Hyperloop technology proving that Hyperloop is real, after all, it is the first new mode of transportation in over 100 years. Hyperloop One is essentially reinventing transportation by developing the world’s first Hyperloop, an integrated structure to move passengers and cargo between two points immediately, safely, efficiently and sustainably.
According to recent reports, the Los-Angeles-based company is further developing the technology and is gearing up to send an 8.5 meter-long pod hurtling down a set of tracks in a test run in Nevada in the next few weeks. The company is working to develop a technical vision proposed by Elon Musk, the founder of rocket maker SpaceX and electric car company Tesla Motors. In 2013, he suggested sending pods with passengers through giant vacuum tubes between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Hyperloop aims to achieve speeds of 250 mph (402 km/h) in its upcoming phase of testing.
In the latest test, the Hyperloop One pod levitated for 5.3 seconds in a vacuum-sealed tube and reached speeds of 70 miles per hour (113 km/h), the company said in a statement. By comparison, another test by Hyperloop One that made national headlines last year was done on an open-air track, not in the tube, a key to achieving high speeds. Meanwhile, backers of the project envision the pods reaching speeds of 750 miles per hour that is 1,200 kph. However, sceptics say the hyperloop idea faces real-world challenges ranging from obtaining construction permits to making turns at jet speed.
You may like to watch the Hyperloop One test video:
Hyperloop India connect:
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is in talks with five Indian states to build a high-speed travel network and will also raise USD 100 million to invest in the country. It is in talks with a corporate house for a local partnership and also an academic institution. HTT Chairman Bibop Gresta had said. “We have five offers on the table from five chief ministers. We spoke to them and the one that will give us the land we will go and build. We have local partners and we are now raising USD 100 million and bringing another investment from abroad.” The idea is to build a network between important cities like Mumbai and Delhi or Mumbai and Bengaluru in such a way that the journey time gets reduced to as low as an hour.
Also, in 2015, SpaceX announced a pod-designing competition to validate proof of concept. The objective was to invite students from all over the world to help build out the technology. Hyperloop One India was one among four Indian teams to take part in this route feasibility challenge. The team’s pod design has been approved for the final round of the competition, as per the founder -Prithvi Shankar. The student-run team has now evolved into a professional non-profit organisation that is run by college students in India, across five colleges.
Hyperloop One has raised $160 million in funding and has touted the technology’s potential as a rapid-transit option. “Hyperloop One will move people and things faster than at any other time in the world,” Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and executive chairman of Hyperloop One, said in a statement. Hervin Pishevar said Wednesday during an appearance on CBS News, said, “Hyperloop is real. The video you saw is our Kitty Hawk moment, we take a lot of inspiration from the Wright brothers and wanted to show the world that it works.”A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform into the path of a train because she hates Muslims and thought he was one was charged Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said.
Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, who was crushed by a No. 7 train in Queens on Thursday night, the second time this month a commuter has died in such a nightmarish fashion.
Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. She could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted. She was in custody and couldn't be reached for comment, and it was unclear if she had an attorney.
Menendez, who was arrested after a tip by a passerby who saw her on a street and thought she looked like the woman in a surveillance video released by police, admitted shoving Sen, who was pushed from behind, authorities said.
"I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up," Menendez told police, according to the district attorney's office.
Sen was from India, but police said it was unclear if he was Muslim, Hindu or of some other faith. The 46-year-old lived in Queens and ran a printing shop.
He was shoved from an elevated platform on the No. 7 train line, which connects Manhattan and Queens. Witnesses said a muttering woman rose from her seat on a platform bench and pushed him on the tracks as a train entered the station and then ran off.
The two had never met before, authorities said, and witnesses told police they hadn't interacted on the platform.
Police released a sketch and security camera video showing a woman running from the station where Sen was killed.
Menendez was arrested by police earlier in the day after a passerby on a Brooklyn street spotted her and called 911. Police responded, confirmed her identity and took her into custody, where she made statements implicating herself in the crime, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
The district attorney said such hateful remarks could not be tolerated.
"The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare," said Brown, the district attorney.
On Dec. 3, another man was pushed to his death in a Times Square subway station. A photo of the man clinging to the edge of the platform a split-second before he was struck by a train was published on the cover of the New York Post, causing an uproar about whether the photographer, who was catching a train, or anyone else should have tried to help him.
A homeless man was arrested and charged with murder. He claimed he acted in self-defense and is awaiting trial.
Focus on NYC's 'overall safety,' says mayor
It's unclear whether anyone tried — or could have tried — to help Sen on Thursday.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday urged residents to keep Sen's death in perspective as he touted new historic lows in the city's annual homicide and shooting totals.
"It's a very tragic case, but what we want to focus on today is the overall safety in New York," Bloomberg told reporters following a police academy graduation.
But commuters still expressed concern over subway safety.
"It's just a really sad commentary on the world and on human beings, period," said Howard Roth, who takes the subway daily.
He said the deadly push reminded him, "the best thing is what they tell you — don't stand near the edge, and keep your eyes open."
Such subway deaths are rare, but other high-profile cases include the 1999 fatal shoving of Kendra Webdale, an aspiring screenwriter, by a former psychiatric patient. That case led to a state law allowing for more supervision of mentally ill people living outside institutions.A decision by a Saskatchewan government social services employee to buy bus tickets to British Columbia for two homeless men is raising concerns in both provinces.
According to Caitlin Glencross, who works with the Lighthouse homeless shelter in North Battleford, Sask., the out-of-work men were applying to the province for a spot at the shelter.
But instead of getting funding to stay at the shelter — which has been locked in a funding dispute with the province of Saskatchewan — one of the men was offered a bus ticket to anywhere outside of the province, she said.
When he said he had a friend on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast, he was offered a one-way ticket on a Greyhound bus to Vancouver, Glencross said.
The second man, who managed to secure funding for a bed at the shelter, then asked for and was issued a ticket to B.C., even though he had never left the province before, she said.
"I'm almost speechless," said Glencross. "Like, I don't know what to say. We can't start shipping people off when we haven't done our due diligence in our own province. It's just not acceptable."
In B.C., Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang called the decision "absolutely appalling."
"It just shows you, certainly with the Saskatchewan government, they have no moral compass, to just slap people on a bus and send them somewhere else."
Heading to B.C.
"I'm very shocked. I've never seen a Saskatchewan resident … given a one-way bus ticket out of the province," Glencross added.
"I was very angry, to be honest. When people are homeless, the point of contact to try and stabilize is usually a homeless shelter.… Their plan is to go to another shelter there, because they don't have a plan once they get there. And that's concerning for us."
The two men were applying for funding to stay at the Lighthouse Shelter in North Battleford, Sask., when they were offered one-way bus tickets to B.C. (Lighthouse Shelter)
Saskatchewan Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer issued a brief statement in response.
"I have had a conversation with Social Services Deputy Minister Greg Miller regarding reports that two young men were given bus tickets for out-of-province destinations by social service workers.
"I reaffirmed to the deputy minister that regulations require a case plan be established by workers and clients before transportation be provided. The deputy minister is also reviewing if case plans were in place for these individuals, and he will be reminding front-line workers that clients should have a plan in place before they are given bus tickets for destinations away."
Premier Brad Wall, who just started an election campaign, also responded to questions about the move.
"I'm not sure of all the details here except we're having to trust officials — this is not a political thing — we're having to trust officials that all of the proper processes are being followed, and I certainly hope that's the case," said Wall.
'Not good social policy'
Jang said the incident highlights the need for a national homeless strategy.
"If this is a trend now, if the Saskatchewan government is going to start putting people on buses, you know that is just inhumane. It is not good public health. It is not good social policy, and it really does nothing for those individuals who are on that bus," Jang said.
"It really does speak to me that homelessness is a national issue. We are seeing it in every province. We are seeing it in every city. And we really do need a national housing program."
Jang believes the situation is unusual, though, because the annual homeless counts have shown that most homeless people in the region are from the local area.
"We know from our own research here in Vancouver, the homeless in our city, the vast majority are from here in our region or our province. We don't have a lot of immigration from out of the province."Another possibility, especially on the international stage, is that mixed signals could stir confusion and even strife. Trump has taken a belligerent stance with China, calling on it to do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear program, saying that the longstanding One China policy is negotiable, threatening a trade war, and warning about its building islands on the South China Sea—all of which has caused Chinese state media to raise the specter of war. Tillerson has echoed some of Trump’s hawkishness on China, but in modulated ways, and on the issue of North Korea he takes a very different line: that the United States has to be “clear-eyed” in what can realistically be expected from the Chinese government. If relations between China and the U.S. deteriorate, as seems likely, there will be the added problem of who the Chinese government tries to engage with in their negotiations. Will they think the relatively conciliatory Tillerson is setting policy, in which case changing policy on North Korea can be regarded as secondary? Or will they believe Trump is driving policy, in which case they will go into negotiations with greater pessimism about finding common ground?
If the Chinese government listens to Tillerson, it’ll be clear that the word of the American president carries little weight. If they listen to Trump, they’ll conclude that their relationship with the U.S. can’t be fixed. Both outcomes are troubling.
U.S. policy toward Russia has the greatest potential for disaster. Given the growing anti-Russia sentiment on Capitol Hill and the Pentagon, strengthened by reports of Russian interference in the election, Mattis might feel more beholden to hawks in Congress than the president he’ll serve under. In fact, Mattis might feel the need to take a firmer line against Russia to compensate for Trump’s gestures of friendship to Vladimir Putin.
The danger is that Putin will see Trump’s victory as an irresistible window of opportunity to test the fragility of NATO, only to encounter Mattis-led resistance. If so, conflict with Russia becomes more likely, not less.
Back in 1950, the U.S. sent mixed messages about its relationship with South Korea. Formally, the Truman administration was committed to a policy of containment of communism, but in speech that year, Secretary of State Dean Acheson failed to mention the country in describing the U.S.’s “defensive perimeter” in Asia. Dispatches between the U.S. and its embassy in Moscow, which were intercepted by the Soviets, also suggested that South Korea was a low priority. As a result, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin made the made miscalculation that he could greenlight a North Korean invasion of South Korea, with little risk of American resistance. So began the Korean War.“It’s not going to work.”
In a quest to find himself, my husband of many years had left the path of Torah. I am an ultra-Orthodox woman, and when I married my husband, he was also ultra-Orthodox. My dream was to raise my family in the ways of Torah and mitzvot. So when my husband stopped practicing our religious customs, I was at a loss.
“How am I going to continue to raise my children in the ways of Torah while still staying married to my husband whom I love?” I asked a good friend, searching for support in navigating a world of a mixed marriage.
“Fifty years ago it could have worked, but in today’s day and age it will never work. You will never be able to stay true to God and his ways while still being married to a guy who eats pork,” she said.
Fifty years ago, when young Jewish girls came from Europe to the U.S. after the war, they often married non-religious men. Even though they were committed to living a rich Torah Jewish life, the kind of life that had been torn away from them in Europe, they also wanted to settle in the United States, out of harm’s way. Despite their differences, many of these couples managed to raise observant Jewish families.
But that was 50 years ago, not today, in the 21st century, when it seems to have become increasingly difficult to be different but stay strongly involved and committed in a strictly observant Jewish community.
***
A few years after my husband’s announcement, I found myself outside of ShopRite, eyeing the display of mini roses. I was broke, but at four dollars a plant, the roses were something I could afford. I picked two white and two red plants. Driving home, I dreamed of red, white and green leading up to my front walkway. “How hard can it be to plant a few flowers?” I thought with all the confidence of a novice.
My |
flying mech that zipped across the battlefield from a top-down perspective, issuing orders and defending resources along the way. The game even included a split-screen multiplayer option, an amazingly early innovation that wouldn’t become standard in RTS entries for another five years or so.
Most North American gamers didn’t know what to make of Herzog Zwei, but as it turns out, it was a hit in the offices of Las Vegas-based Westwood Studios. The developers there used it as one of the blueprints (along with early-’90s strategy hits Populous and Civilization) to craft Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty, which took Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi universe and infused it with several elements that became RTS staples, such as fog-of-war, precise mouse controls, and resource management.
Unlike Herzog Zwei, however, Dune II was a massive success both critically and commercially upon its 1992 debut. This brought a flurry of iconic RTS releases over the next few years, starting with Blizzard’s Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. Modern gamers might know the Warcraft name from World of Warcraft (or, more recently, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft), but the franchise got its start in the real-time strategy realm. Warcraft popularized several soon-to-be-ubiquitous RTS elements, including a random map generator and multiplayer matches via modem or LAN.
Meanwhile, Westwood followed the success of Dune II with 1995’s Command & Conquer, which became a benchmark for RTS games by offering noticeably different faction play styles – not to mention awesomely cheesy full-motion video segments that added true storytelling elements to the genre. With several offshoots and expansions and nearly 20 releases in total bearing the Command & Conquer name from 1995 to 2010, it’s definitely the most prolific RTS franchise in gaming history.
Two years later, Ensemble Studios’ Age of Empires gave the RTS its first history-based hit, and presented players the choice of 12 factions spanning the Eurasian supercontinent, from Greece to Japan. The action followed the player’s forces as they evolved from Stone Age hunter-gatherers to a conquering Iron Age empire. The sequel, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, greatly expanded upon the concepts of the first game and become one of the most critically acclaimed RTS releases of all time.
Then, in 1998, Blizzard took the genre to even greater heights and launched an international phenomenon with StarCraft. While faction strengths and weaknesses had been part of the RTS experience for years, StarCraft struck the perfect balance with the powerful Protoss, the lightning-quick Zerg, and the balanced Terrans. These three expertly designed factions made the game ideal for online RTS competition – nowhere more famously than in South Korea, where it’s become a national passion that sells out arenas on a regular basis (oh, and for fun, search for “Zerg rush” on Google to see just how deeply this phenomenon has permeated the minds of gamers across the world).
The Present
Real-time strategy isn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it was from the ’90s through the turn of the 21st century, but the new millennium has brought some staggering innovation to the genre – along with a hearty dose of nostalgia.
In 2006, Relic’s Company of Heroes brought home the horrors of brutal World War II combat better than any gore-filled shooter, thanks in part to advanced map physics and destructibility. One of the game’s expansions, Opposing Fronts, even took a storytelling risk in the single-player campaign by putting players in control of German forces, a shift from the typical portrayal of any and every Nazi as a diabolical supervillain.
We’ve also seen some beloved RTS franchises make some surprise resurrections. Even after EA closed Westwood Studios in 2003, players still pined for more Command & Conquer. EA Los Angeles granted their wish in 2007 with Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, which starred Tricia Helfer and Billy Dee Williams in the first mainline C&C entry since 1999.
Halo Wars (Xbox 360 – Ensemble Studios, 2009)
Real-time strategy has also found success in some unexpected places. Double Fine’s Tim Schafer may be known as one of the fathers of adventure games, but he cited Herzog Zwei as the inspiration behind the rockin’ action-adventure/RTS hybrid Brütal Legend, the story of roadie Eddie Riggs (played with headbanging aplomb by Jack Black) and his adventures in a fantastical world inspired by heavy metal album covers.
Even one of gaming’s most popular shooters explored real-time strategy. Ensemble Studios’ Halo Wars was a rare attempt to carve out a console-only RTS niche on the Xbox 360 in 2009; the game was well-received and became the best-selling console RTS game of all-time, hitting more than 1 million in sales.
Finally, we can’t ignore the fact that the genre’s juggernaut is still going strong. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and its 2013 expansion, Heart of the Swarm, have modernized the most popular RTS franchise (with elements such as improved matchmaking and a more robust map editor) without sacrificing what made the original game so appealing.
The Future
For years, real-time strategy developers searched (mostly in vain) for a way to transfer the experience properly to home consoles and expand their potential audience. As we look toward the future, that focus seems to have shifted into making the genre all it can be on the platform that truly suits it best: the PC. Looking ahead, players should be excited about several real-time strategy developments on the way.
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, the game’s third and final expansion, is slated to hit this year and will put players in the middle of a Protoss-based campaign. Grey Goo, a well-received throwback RTS released in January from several Westwood Studios veterans at Petroglyph Games, promises to deliver further expansions in the coming months.
One of the most intriguing developments, however, is that 16 years after its original release, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is getting a new expansion in the form of The African Kings this fall. Perhaps we’ll see other classic RTS franchises look to the past in order to deliver something new.
Size matters, too. In the upcoming Ashes of the Singularity from Stardock, thousands of units will do battle on absolutely massive maps. We’ve never seen this type of mind-boggling scale in an RTS before, and we can’t wait.
We should also anticipate more genre-fusing experiments, resulting in intriguingly innovative hybrid gameplay. We’ve already seen this in Creative Assembly’s Total War series, which blends turn-based seasonal planning with hectic real-time battles in locales as varied as ancient Rome and feudal Japan (the most recent entry, Total War: Attila, even sees the fearsome Huns making their march toward the gates of Rome as the game progresses). Paradox’s Europa Universalis series, meanwhile, takes players on a journey from the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the French Revolution by combining real-time strategy and 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) gameplay.
Xbox itself is looking to a multiplatform future for the RTS genre, with the just-announced Halo Wars 2. It is currently under development by the aforementioned Creative Assembly for a 2016 launch on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC.
And don’t forget that real-time strategy is also the ancestor of two of today’s most popular genres: the multiplayer online battle arena (better known as the MOBA) and tower defense. So, the next time you’re up all night engrossed in League of Legends or Plants vs. Zombies, you can look back to Herzog Zwei and Dune II with gratitude.
With a track record that’s timeless and an appeal to gamers across all cultures, the RTS genre will no doubt continue to innovate and influence in the years ahead.
10 Real-Time Strategy Essentials
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (Windows – Ensemble Studios, 1999)
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Windows/Xbox 360 – Electronic Arts, 2007)
Company of Heroes (Windows – Relic Entertainment, 2006)
Grey Goo (Windows – Petroglyph Games, 2015)
Halo Wars (Xbox 360 – Ensemble Studios, 2009)
Homeworld (Windows – Relic Entertainment, 1999)
Sins of a Solar Empire (Windows – Ironclad Games, 2008)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Windows – Blizzard Entertainment, 2010)
Total Annihilation (Windows – Cavedog Entertainment, 1997)
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (Windows – Blizzard Entertainment, 2002)MHP leader tells Turkish PM they are not willing to take part in coalition gov’t
ANKARA
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, and Nationalist Movement Party, MHP, leader Devlet Bahceli during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 14, 2015. AP Photo
Unsurprisingly, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has told Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu the MHP was not willing to take part in any coalition government formula, since they have maintained Turkey’s people cast the role of main opposition party for them in the June 7 parliamentary election.“He [Bahçeli] has once more confirmed that their approach is to not be in a government partnership, as they have previously stated on many occasions since June 7,” Davutoğlu, the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), told reporters after a meeting with Bahçeli on July 14.It was the second meeting in a first round of meetings initiated by Davutoğlu after being given the mandate to form a new government by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 9.As the leader of the party which got the highest number of seats in the election, although also losing its parliamentary majority, Davutoğlu held the first meeting with Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on July 13. Both the AKP and the CHP have delivered positive messages following the meeting, with a highlight on their consensus that Turkey needs a strong government.Having voiced respect for the MHP leader’s stance, Davutoğlu, nonetheless, underlined the two leaders still exchanged views despite this negative response.“We have the opportunity to gather with Mr. Bahçeli for a second meeting after Eid al-Fitr if needed. We have also agreed that this may happen anytime,” he said, noting meetings would also be held between delegations from the other two parties in the meantime.With his meeting with Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ scheduled for July 15, Davutoğlu plans to complete the first round of talks before Eid al-Fitr, the three-day long Islamic holiday starting July 17.According to what he said after his meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu, a delegation from the AKP and the CHP will continue holding “exploratory talks” in the meantime. He said he wished to have the same kind of “exploratory” talks with other parties too before holding a second round of talks after Eid al-Fitr.“As the AK Parti [AKP], we will continue meetings with all parties. We will keep an equal distance with all parties until the government is formed. Both sides [the AKP and the MHP] consider that there is use in continuing consultations. We have the same convictions: Turkey cannot remain without a government and a strong government is needed,” Davutoğlu said.In response to a request to elaborate on the nature of possible talks with the MHP, Davutoğlu acknowledged these meetings may not have the same content as “exploratory” talks with the CHP.“[The] flow of time and conditions will determine the content,” he added, prompting a question by a journalist on whether this indicates the AKP would eventually turn to a meeting with the MHP to ask support for a minority government to be formed by them in case coalition talks do not eventually yield a positive result.“Politics is dynamic,” Davutoğlu responded, recalling they have agreed on two key points: Turkey cannot remain without a government and a strong government is needed. “Having agreed on these, the conditions available for our meeting can occur anytime,” he said.“The picture emerging from the June 7 election shows us [we should] not close any door and not exclude any possibility. We keep the same distance with every party until we form a coalition with a party and sign a protocol,” he said.According to Davutoğlu, politics is beyond any kind of calculations.“In critical times, all leaders need to review their earlier positions and everybody should be open to all kinds of options,” he said.During the almost two-hour-long meeting at Bahçeli’s office, Davutoğlu was accompanied by Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik, AKP Secretary-General Haluk İpek, AKP Deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Mahir Ünal, AKP Anktalya deputy Lütfi Elvan and AKP Ankara deputy Ertan Aydın.Bahçeli hosted the AKP delegation along with MHP Deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Oktay Vural, MHP Secretary-General İsmet Büyükataman, MHP Deputy Secretary-General Mustafa Kalaycı and MHP deputy leaders Kenan Tanrıkulu and Semih Yalçın.Next version of Unity 3D game engine has been unveiled and with it comes much requested support for Linux.
Starting with Unity 4.0, Linux will be supported as a publishing platform allowing Unity games to be played natively on Linux. Only standalone desktop games will be supported initially. There is no word on Linux support for game editor and web player.
Few days back, Brian Fargo announced that Wasteland 2 will use Unity 3D game engine. He said that Unity3D developers have handed him source code of the game engine so that a Linux version can be developed.
efforts of Brian Fargo and Linux users have finally brought the game engine to Linux. Now, surely theandhave finally brought the game engine to Linux.
Unity 4 will include a preview of a new deployment option to publish games to Desktop Linux, clearing a path for the Unity community to bring exciting new content to the estimated 10% of the game-hungry PC market. Desktop Linux standalone publishing will be available for all Unity 4 users at no additional cost.
Linux games are thriving even though the platform is comparatively underserved. The success of distribution initiatives, such as the Humble Indie Bundle and the Ubuntu Software Center, prove that Linux users are happy to pay for games.
Unity 4 have following new features:
Shuriken particle system supports external forces, bent normals and automatic culling
3D texture support
Navigation: dynamic obstacles and avoidance priority
Major optimizations in UnityGUI performance and memory usage
Dynamic fonts on all platforms with HTML-like markup
Remote Unity Web Player debugging
New Project Window workflows
Iterative lightmap baking
Refined component-based workflows
Extensible inspectors for custom classes
Improved Cubemap import pipeline
Geometry data improvements for huge memory and performance savings
Meshes can be constructed from non-triangle geometry -- render points & lines efficiently
Search, live preview and buy Asset Store assets from the Project Window
Unity 4 is already available for pre-order from official website and it will be demonstrated and discussed in further detail at the Unite 2012 developer conference that takes place August 22nd - 25th in Amsterdam.
Marketwire via
Checkout ShadowGun, a game made using Unity 3D:I took part in a discussion at the Cambridge Science Festival last week on ‘The science of morality’. Others taking part were Ray Tallis, Pater Cave and Alasdair Coles. I have here mashed up my introductory and concluding comments.
Every year, I give a lecture to theology students on why I am an atheist. It is essentially a primer on why we don’t need God to explain the universe or to ground morality. And in talking of morality, I take up the argument, well-formulated by theologists like William Lane Craig, that ‘If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist’.
One of the points I make to my students is that even though they see the insistence on the need for ‘objective moral values and duties’ as an argument for the necessity for God, many of those most hostile to religion also insist on the need for ‘objective moral values and duties’. Except that they see science, rather than God, as the guarantor of objective values.So, the philosopher Patricia Churchland argues in her book Braintrust that it is a ‘false dilemma’ to claim that ‘either God secures the moral law or morality is an illusion’ because ‘Morality is grounded in our biology’. And Sam Harris, perhaps the most strident of contemporary critics of faith, attacks both religion and moral relativism, arguing that moral values are in reality moral facts and as facts they can be scientifically understood by studying brain and behaviour.
What I suggest to my theology students, and what I’m suggesting to you, is that it is the very search for ethical concrete is the problem. Not because I think that values are arbitrary or relative but because what makes values non-arbitrary is not that they are fixed in some transcendental sphere or that they are defined objectively by science but that they emerge through humanity’s collective judgment.
There is a wide spectrum of views about how science can illuminate our moral lives. At the ‘soft end’ of this spectrum is the idea that science can, at some level, illuminate our moral lives. Few would deny that. Unless we wish to imagine that values simply fall out of the sky, there must be some relationship between the kinds of creatures that we are, the kind of world in which we live, and the kinds of values under which we best flourish. And science helps us understand facts about the world and about ourselves.
That, however, is very different from the claims at the ‘hard end’ of spectrum; from claims that science can define morality, or that moral values are empirical facts explicable by science; that questions of morality devolve to questions of wellbeing, that wellbeing can be measured scientifically, primarily in utilitarian terms, and that there are in principle no moral questions for which science cannot provide an answer. That morality, in Sam Harris’s words, is ‘an undeveloped branch of science’.
It is not difficult, however, to imagine circumstances in which moral reasoning may require us to reject answers that scientific data or cost-benefit analyses suggest. Suppose that scientists were to discover that racial differences are a biological reality and that one race is cognitively inferior to another, and suppose that cost-benefit analysis showed indisputably that the best outcome for humanity was for that race to be enslaved by another. How should we morally respond? By insisting, I hope, that whatever facts science may discover about racial differences, and whatever may be the outcome of a cost-benefit analysis, there is a rational moral argument for treating all humans equally.
Why? Because all humans possess a certain integrity by virtue of being autonomous moral agents. The presumption of equal treatment derives from a profound insight about what it is to be human and no amount of empirical data about racial or other similar differences can alter that.
We can make similar arguments about torture, and a host of other issues. A moral answer may well be contrary to that suggested by scientific data, and there is nothing irrational about ignoring such data in making moral evaluations. It is simply that the logic of moral evaluations is different to that which undergirds the assessment of empirical data or utilitarian arithmetic. Or to put it another way, science cannot settle moral questions because we already have to possess certain normative assumptions (about what it is to be human, for instance) before we can interpret the empirical data; such assumptions certainly have to relate to facts (about the kind of creatures that we are, about the kind of world in which we live), but they cannot be reduced to facts.
Questions of morality do not have objective answers in the way that scientific questions do, but neither are they merely expressions of subjective desire or taste. To say that torture is wrong or that charity is good is qualitatively different to saying that light travels at 299,792,458 metres per second or that DNA is a double helix. It is also qualitatively different from making saying that ice cream is good or Justin Bieber awful. If everyone thinks that ice cream is bad or Justin Bieber good, I might privately despair. But if everyone were to believe that charity is bad and torture good, then there would be a tear in the fabric of society.
What makes values non-arbitrary, I suggested earlier, is that they emerge through humanity’s collective judgment. What do I mean by that? I mean that they are the products of the constant conversations we have with each other, within societies, across societies, metaphorically with the past and with the future. Moral questions may not have objective answers, whether revealed by God or by science, but they do have rational ones, answers rooted in a rationality that emerges out of social need. That rationality can only be discovered through exercising the human potential for rational dialogue, the potential for thinking about the world, and for discussing, debating and persuading others. Values can never be entirely wrenched apart from facts; but neither can they be collapsed into facts. It is the existence of human as moral agents that allows us to act as the bridge between facts and values.
This might seem a highly precarious foundation upon which to ground our moral world. But precariousness is the condition of being human. The desire to look to science to define moral values, just like the desire to look to God, emerges from a desperation to set values in what we may call ethical concrete. It is a yearning for moral certainty, a fear that without external authority, humans will fall into the morass of moral relativism. But just as we do not need the false certainty of a divinely-sanctified moral code, neither do we need the false certainty of a morality rooted in science.
Creating a distinction between facts and values is neither to denigrate science nor to downgrade the importance of empirical evidence. It is, rather, to take both science and evidence seriously. It is precisely out of the facts of the world, and those of human existence, that the distinction between is and ought arises, as does the necessity for humans to take responsibility for moral judgment.
Humans are moral beings living within a web of reciprocal rights and obligations created by our capacity for rational dialogue. We can distinguish between right and wrong, accept responsibility and apportion blame. The responsibility that falls upon humans is not simply for our individual acts. Humans are responsible, too, in the sense that it is up to us, and only up to us, to make moral judgments. We cannot alienate that responsibility to another being or another sphere or another process. Humans are, as Sartre put it, ‘condemned to be free’. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our responsibility as human beings to make such judgments.
The human condition is that of possessing no moral safety net. No God, no scientific law, nor yet any amount of ethical concrete, can protect us from the dangers of falling off that moral tightrope that is to be human. That may seem a disconcerting prospect. Or it may seem an exhilarating one. In reality it is both. For that is what it is to be human.
.
The images are Angela Palmer’s Self Portrait and Connections by AmandPreet Badhwar, one of the winners of the 2014 Brain Art competition.The concept started out with identifying what makes space travel expensive and inefficient. “In space, the most expensive portions of travel are the acceleration and deceleration phases. The energy required for those portions is tremendous, especially for something as heavy as a space train. In addition, if you were to start hauling cargo, it would become very expensive,” he said on their website.
Imaginactive founder, Charles Bombardier, and his team aim to create Solar Express in a way were it could travel at around 1% the speed of light, which is 3,000 km (1,864 miles) per second.
It takes between three to six months for a probe to reach Mars from Earth. A new concept space train called Solar Express is challenging that time frame: it would, hypothetically, be able to transport people and cargo from earth to Mars in less than two days.
Solar Express plans to circumvent these inconveniences by eliminating the acceleration and deceleration phase—it will never stop once it’s up there. Instead, it will move back and forth in space as smaller capsules containing cargo and passengers dock onto it while still in motion.
Bombardier says: “once the train reached its cruising speed, its energy consumption would be minimal. That’s the idea behind the Solar Express concept. It would never stop; instead, space wagons/capsules would rendezvous with it.” The space train will use the momentum it gained from its initial launch, and rely partially on gravity thereafter, reducing the need to use fuel. It would, hypothetically, also be able to harness solar energy and pick up water from celestial bodies, which will be used by those on board and well as being converted into fuel.
Ambition is the New Normal
Seeing as this is just a concept, there are a lot of details that would still need to be figured out. Imaginactive, being a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring innovative, out-of-the-box concepts, encourages and welcomes innovators to think up crazy ideas—and then figure out details after. In fact, they are continuously on the lookout for more inventors and proposals are open to everyone.
To be clear, this is just an ambitious concept. The science and development to make this possible are nowhere near the levels of certainty that would be required to actually get this concept off the ground.Delta Electricity, a potential buyer, says either AGL or the commonwealth will have to take on costs of eventual rehabilitation
Extending the life of the Liddell coal-fired power station beyond 2022 could require the government to stump up the almost $1bn cost of rehabilitation after just five years of operation, according to the only Australian company that has declared an interest in buying the station.
Delta Electricity also says the biggest barrier to any such purchase is the government’s lack of commitment to a climate-energy policy such as the clean energy target.
Liddell, Australia’s oldest operating coal-fired power station, is now owned by AGL. It is due to close in 2022, taking out about 12.3% of capacity in New South Wales and reducing the reliability of electricity supply.
Renewables helping secure electricity but undersupply risk in short term, report says Read more
AGL’s rehabilitation report from June estimates that decommissioning Liddell and returning the land to near pre-development condition would cost about $510m in 2017 dollars, or $898m taking inflation into account over the rehabilitation period, which could be more than a decade.
The Australian Energy Market Operator has said Australia needs “new approaches” to ensure there is enough dispatchable electricity, but the Coalition has instead been seeking to keep Liddell open beyond its intended life of 50 years.
AGL has said it is not willing to do that, but has not completely ruled out selling the plant – and government ministers have said AGL’s chief executive, Andy Vesey, has committed to considering its sale.
But Delta says it would not be able to cover the cost of rehabilitating the site when the plant does eventually close.
“These are not small numbers. And would we take on a project for five years that came with a $500m liability and the answer is no,” the company secretary of Delta Electricity, Steve Gurney, told the Guardian. “You’d never recoup that liability in five years.”
Gurney said Delta would either need AGL to pay it upfront, or the commonwealth would have to take on the liability.
“There are questions of whether the commonwealth would step in – they want it kept open. Would they step in and meet that rehab [cost]?” Gurney said.
“So you’d then be talking about some sort of guarantee – or even an upfront payment from AGL. In other words you pay us that 500m, or net present value of that 500m now, and we’ll take on that liability.
“Or we’ll take it on for the extra five years but we will hand it back to AGL.”
On Friday, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, renewed his calls for the creation of a clean energy target to give policy certainty to business.
Liddell power station could be bought by Delta Electricity Read more
He called for an end to the “climate change wars” and offered to work with the government on establishing a target.
“The reason why the clean energy target is an important first step is that anyone who knows anything about energy prices – and the fact is, they’re out of control – says that it is the absence of a clear set of rules which is discouraging businesses from investing,” Shorten said.
“If business doesn’t invest in new forms of energy generation, what happens is that we’ve got less and less energy generation. So the real first thing to do is to get a common set of rules to make sure that we have a proper energy market.”
Gurney aired similar concerns. He said even approaching the question of buying power generation in Australia was made difficult by lack of policy action.
“I’m happy to say this on record,” Gurney said. “The biggest problem for – I’m not going to say just coal-fired, but the electricity sector – is government policy both at the state level and the federal level.
“For most of these projects – whether you’re talking new coal-fired, or refurbing existing coal-fireds to keep them going a bit longer, or new renewables – these are not cheap $5 jobs, they are hundreds of millions.
“As long as you have this flip-flop happening and uncertainty into the future, it’s very hard.”
In making a decision on whether Liddell had an economic life beyond 2022, “having at least a consistent firm bipartisan approached energy policy at least lets everyone make their assessments”, Gurney said. “At the moment everyone is flying in the dark.”
He said the key issue was getting some policy on the table, even if wasn’t Delta’s preferred one.
“Whichever the mechanism is, at least then we have certainty. Whether it’s the best one for us or not – at least we can then go forward and plan for the future knowing what that mechanism is.”
Energy regulators tell Coalition to create reserve of emergency power Read more
AGL said it wasn’t willing to comment much on the matter before a meeting with Malcolm Turnbull on Monday.
“We understand the importance of this issue and it’s right the government is focused on it. Therefore we will have that direct conversation on Monday and will come back to you with details after that,” an AGL spokeswoman said.
The treasurer, Scott Morrison, said on Friday that it was necessary to keep the Liddell plant open to put downward pressure on prices and secure supply over the mid- to long-term.
Morrison accused Shorten of selling out workers in the Hunter through his position on coal.
“They’ve put up the white flag on coal-fired power in the Hunter Valley and they’re selling them out,” he said.
Shorten again called for the triggering of gas export controls, to force prices lower.
“It is a joke that you can buy Australian gas cheaper in Japan than you can buy it in Australia,” he said.(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama visited military personnel and their families enjoying Christmas dinner at a Marine Corps base in Hawaii Thursday during his holiday vacation.
President-elect Obama shakes hands with troops having Christmas dinner at a military base in Hawaii.
Obama went to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay on Oahu where he mingled with Marines and sailors. Obama and the troops also had a traditional dinner including turkey, roast beef, ham and trimmings.
Obama, dressed casually in a blue polo shirt and dark khaki trousers, chatted casually, shook hands and posed for photos with men and women in the dining hall, which had been decorated with Christmas trees and Santa figurines.
Shortly before Obama entered the room, a Marine shouted to the crowd scattered across 25 tables, "You need to take you seats, the president-elect is going to be coming."
Obama, who spent about an hour at the Marine base, worked his way around the room, table by table.
"Just wanted to say, 'Hi, hey guys,'" Obama said at one point while reporters were allowed in the room.
"Hey guys, Merry Christmas," he said to another group.
Obama also highlighted the service of the country's military men and women now overseas in a holiday message to be broadcast on radio this Saturday.
"As we celebrate this joyous time of year, our thoughts turn to the brave men and women who serve our country far from home," he said in the message, which was posted online Wednesday.
"Their extraordinary and selfless sacrifice is an inspiration to us all, and part of the unbroken line of heroism that has made our freedom and prosperity possible for over two centuries." Watch Obama's holiday message »
More than 140,000 soldiers are currently serving in Iraq, as well as roughly 30,000 in Afghanistan.
In the broadcast message, Obama also called on Americans to "renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship."
"These are also tough times for many Americans struggling in our sluggish economy," he said.
"Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans -- that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper.... We must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country."
Obama said that notion "will guide my administration in the New Year. If the American people come together and put their shoulder to the wheel of history, then I know that we can put our people back to work... and reach the promise of a brighter day."
All About Barack ObamaUsually, the Internal Revenue Service is the one getting paid this time of year, but Uncle Sam will be lining someone else's pockets this tax season because of its attachment to Windows XP. In case you hadn't heard, support for XP officially stopped on April 8th, meaning that Microsoft will no longer provide support or security updates for the venerable OS. However, governmental computers can't be left vulnerable, so the IRS will be paying Microsoft millions of dollars for custom support to keep their machines secure and functional. Right now, over half the agency's PCs still run XP, despite Microsoft telling the whole world that it would stop support for the OS in 2014 six years ago. The plan is to have all IRS machines running Windows 7 by the end of the year -- at which point the clock starts ticking on the transition to Windows 8. No rush, though, Microsoft has pledged to support Windows 7 through 2020. Let the governmental procrastination begin!
[Image Credit: Alamy]Get everything you need from just a hash
My recent release of Mojolicious::Plugin::Routes::Restful inspired my to go a little beyond and create code that generates code.
I have never been a big fan of this getting something from nothing idea
I guess I can't understand the math, after I discovered that 6 x 9 = 42, it never seems to come out right.
I have used auto-generated of course and have never been that pleased with it. I have spent many a week trying to make some silly shlock together out of Dreamweaver work with real code.
I have also seen a front end just slapped onto a dump of a DB schema that was created with DBIX Class Schema Loader and even worse the same but using JAVA's Hibernate. How about a level of abstraction between??
So despite my misgivings I though I might as well do one for my routes restful code. To my surprise I have found it a really quick way to prototype out a web app and get a good working prototype in place without a good deal of fuss.
It also forces you to do a good design review of the flow of your app. Something to me that is always a weak point of most apps.
What I really liked is how much fun I had creating the generator code. It was quite simple and it really only took me a few hours to come up with both of them. It actually too me longer to fix my POD error than to write the code.
Seems the Mojo pattern for doing this type of thing is very easy to follow. Simply create a set of set of templates of what you want to create, then the process the data the user has inputted. Quick and easy with little fuss as all the funky file and folder creation commands are build into Mojo.
In Mojo parlance you are just creating a lite app to generate code which you then write to files ranter than serving it up to the web.
So go have a look at
if you want to create a prototype app from a hash
or
if you just need some route code go have a look at
and get just the code for your routes.
The only caveat I have with my code is the test suite is rather weak. I have not figured out how to easily test what the expected outcome of a script running this code is. Though I have a look at Test::Script but I did not want to create a test suite that was larger than my code-base.
Well maybe for version 02 and 03.Salute, dear comrades all around the world!
We are anarchists from the organization called Revolutionary Action from Belarus. Our main goal is anarchy worldwide, our main method to reach it is social revolution, our current activity is class struggle, agitation on the streets and the development of our own media. You can find our website here – https://revbel.org and you can find your principles and goals here: http://revbel.org/en/organizatsionnye-printsipy-i-tseli-revolyutsionnogo-dejstviya/
Our principles are: illegalism, anarcho-communism, revolutionary anarchism. We are close to neoplatformism practice, which was developed by the anarchists from Rio de Janeiro. We veil our names and the participation in the organization, we don’t sign any action with our organization name.
We have been organized since 2008 and we are still active. There was a big wave of repressions against us in 2010, but it didn’t stop us. Our comrades made symbolic actions, for example in this video you can see all activities of our close comrades in 2016:
https://revbel.org/en/2017/01/deyatelnost-anarhistov-za-2016-god/
Starting from February there has been the biggest wave of protests for almost ten years in Belarus. People of different ages and occupations went out and said their “NO” to Lukashenko and his dictatorship on the streets of their cities. The reason for these protests was the new tax for unemployed people, but people started to demand |
by late spring.
While information about the app is minimal, it’s described on the Volleypay website as allowing users to “accept ApplePay, credit cards and digital payments with only your iPhone. No bank required.”
“We’ve been building a prototype for the last couple of months, and we’re hoping to have this app out for the iPhone hopefully by summer,” Dumont said. “It’s been really fun. Being a musician is obviously very creative, and I feel like there’s so much going on in tech and software that it’s certainly an exciting world. I love all of that and putting my ideas into that world. Long Beach is very inspiring. I think downtown in particular has a little tech community that has sprouted up, and I would love to see us as a city do more and more of that, and I feel like the mayor knows that’s a really important thing. I would love to see bigger tech companies come downtown. If we could get our company to get a really good footing in the tech world and to hub it here in Long Beach, that would be really exciting. I think the city has a hype for that. Cities that aren’t as rich as say LA or OC, like Long Beach, are a magnet for creative people. They don’t have a lot of money, but they have a lot of ideas. When creative scenes take hold, it’s always in communities like Long Beach.”
Dumont also said he’s been working on a side music project, which he couldn’t discuss in detail, saying it’s still in a “secret stage.”
“I’ve been working on this project, so hopefully it will come out sometime by the end of the year,” he said. “It’s kind of like a side band thing that I’ve been working on and recording a lot, and it involves other musicians who are kind of well-known.”
Looking back, Dumont said he misses the old lifestyle No Doubt provided for him, but he’s also excited about his current endeavors.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “We were so fortunate that we went everywhere we could and almost everywhere we were offered to play concerts. We’ve been all over Europe, Israel, Asia, South America… It’s been an amazing thing to get to see the world that way. If it wasn’t for the band, I don’t know if I ever would have made it to New York, much less Europe or Hawaii. As a band, we just got to see everything together which is kind of amazing. In a way, I miss it a bit, but this is a new chapter in my life of being a parent. It’s just harder when you’re parents. Traveling becomes that much more expensive and challenging as a parent to have to work and be on the road at the same time. It’s just not the same as it used to be.”
No Doubt poses before headlining KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas last December. Photo courtesy of Tom Dumont.
Previously in this series: Retired Reel Big Fish Trombonist Dan Regan No Longer Feeling Like a Fish Out of Water in Hometown Long BeachJames McClean: Sky Sports commentator Alan Parry accused of 'trolling' West Brom's new signing BelfastTelegraph.co.uk It was a night to forget for Republic of Ireland international James McClean who was booed on his Premier League debut for West Brom on Monday night against Manchester City. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/james-mcclean-sky-sports-commentator-alan-parry-accused-of-trolling-west-broms-new-signing-31441617.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article31441607.ece/9e6cc/AUTOCROP/h342/SOCCER%20West_51.jpg
Email
It was a night to forget for Republic of Ireland international James McClean who was booed on his Premier League debut for West Brom on Monday night against Manchester City.
McClean was replaced by Claudio Yacob at half-time after a poor first half which saw Manchester City lead 2-0 at the break thanks to a brace of goals from Yaya Toure.
The NI Man from Londonderry?? More fuel on the fire? James McClean Rep Ireland player from Derry @SkySportsNewsHQ pic.twitter.com/iiRQ7Hwp79 — Ryan Stewart (@ryanmtstewart) August 10, 2015
Every touch from McClean was greeted with boos and this is undoubtedly linked to his decision to turn away from the Union Jack during the British National Anthem before a West Brom pre-season friendly.
The winger, signed from Wigan this summer, has previously refused to wear a Remembrance Day poppy out of respect for people killed on Bloody Sunday - reasons for which he later explained in an open letter to supporters and the club.
McClean became embroiled in another political furore after tweeting his views on the Derry/Londonderry debate last month.
He tweeted: "Training finished, gym finished, Derry's getting its rightful name back, have a great day folks", followed by a smiley face.
Read more
West Brom 0-3 Manchester City: Man City make perfect start to the new season
James McClean weighs into Derry name row
It came after the proposal by Derry and Strabane Council to officially rename the Maiden City as Derry.
There was some negative reaction on social media on Monday night when Sky Sports commentator Alan Parry referred to McClean as 'the Northern Irishman from Londonderry'.
Belfast Telegraph DigitalThe LA Galaxy have landed their Jelle Van Damme replacement and they did it with only nine games remaining in a season that is already over. The club, today, officially announced that they have signed 33-year old French defender, Michael Ciani. Ciani most recently played for FC Lorient in France’s Ligue 1 and has over 100 appearances in the top flight of French football.
Ciani has long been rumored a target for the Galaxy who acquire the defender on a free transfer because Ciani is currently out of contract and considered a free agent. This is also why the Galaxy were able to acquire him outside of any transfer window.
“We targeted and acquired Michael as a player who can immediately strengthen our backline,” said LA Galaxy General Manager Pete Vagenas in a team press release. “He is a valuable signing that will be an important piece of our roster. We are happy to add him to our team and look forward to him joining the squad next week.”
The Galaxy will now hope that Ciani, who’s likely to be on a contract through the 2018 season, will be a good replacement for Van Damme, who left the club on August 18, 2017.
Ciani is a physical central defender at 6 feet 4 inches tall and has loads of international experience playing in France, and Italy. He’s also made appearances in both the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.
“Michael is a strong, smart and talented player that we think can quickly integrate into our locker room and adapt to our league,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach Sigi Schmid. “He has spent time playing at the highest level during his career and his experience will be an asset to our team on and off the field.”
Name: Michael Ciani
Pronunciation: SEE-ah-nee
Position: Defender
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 190 lbs.
Born: April 6, 1984
Age: 33
Last Club: FC Lorient (France)
Birthplace: Clichy-sous-Bois, France
Citizenship: France
This could be one of the first pieces in an offseason “rebuild” that will be necessary to fill the gaps left by last years “rebuild” that left several clearly defined deficiencies within the team.
But with Van Damme’s unexpected departure — he told CoG prior to this season he would love to retire with the Galaxy — the club is now in a position of filling holes they thought they already had a handle on.
With Ashley Cole likely to end his time with the Galaxy this season, and Pele van Anholt suffering a season ending injury, the Galaxy are going to have to find replacements for almost the entire backline. With only Daniel Steres and Dave Romney battling it out for the other center back role.
Ciani is not without fault, however. He has dealt with injuries over his career and ended up missing five games with Lorient during the 2016-2017 season. And at 33-years old he’s not going to be the youngest guy on the field.
But the Galaxy are going to be dependent on him staying healthy in 2018 and giving the defense a much-needed veteran presence. Something that has been sorely lacking in 2017 and something Van Damme was supposed to provide before he had a fairly atrocious season for the Galaxy.
Will Ciani be any benefit to a team already locked in MLS’ basement? Unlikely. But the club should already be focused on the offseason and a new start in 2018. And this signing seems to point to that.
Ciani will be added to the Galaxy’s roster and will take up an international slot once he’s received his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and his P-1 Visa. His first media availability will be on Tuesday, September 5, 2017.
Comments
commentsGet 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
Aston Villa are eyeing a £4m move for QPR keeper Alex Smithies.
Villa boss Steve Bruce wants a new No.1 keeper to boost his squad and is keeping tabs on Smithies.
Smithies, 26, has been in excellent form for QPR this season and the Londoners face a battle to keep him.
Bruce believes a top keeper could help them push for the play-offs and wants to shake-up his squad in January.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
They could raise the cash by selling Jordan Ayew who is attracting interest from China and the Premier League.
West Ham and Marseille were both interested in the former Lorient striker last summer.The northeast portal to Camp Century, a U.S. Army base in Greenland, in 1964, shortly before the base was abandoned. Photo by U.S. Army
The northeast portal to Camp Century, a U.S. Army base in Greenland, in 1959, during construction. Photo by U.S. Army
TORONTO, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- United States military officials in the 1960s thought it could be thousands of years before an abandoned base in Greenland was again visible without a lot of digging, but that's only because they didn't count on the Greenland Ice Sheet melting so soon.
Global climate change now threatens to reveal the long-abandoned base, potentially exposing the environment there to biological, chemical and radioactive waste that was expected to be buried below snow and ice "forever," say researchers at York University.
In a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers lay out the history of Camp Century, built by the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about 125 miles inland from Greenland's coast and referred to as the "city under the ice."
The Army Corps started building the base in 1959 as part of top secret mission to explore the feasibility of launching nuclear weapons at Russia, if needed, from the area of the North Pole -- the most direct, shortest line of attack.
RELATED New map reveals ice flows on Antarctic Peninsula
While a full plan to create a nuclear base was rejected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1964, the camp housed between 85 and 200 soldiers researching Greenland and the feasibility of a 2,500-mile tunnel system housing around 600 nuclear weapons. Even without becoming a base for nuclear weapons, the camp was about the size of 100 football fields and powered by a nuclear reactor.
When the base was abandoned because the top secret reason for its existence had been eliminated, soldiers left behind just under 53,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 63,000 gallons of waste water, including sewage. Polychlorinated biphenyls and an unknown amount of low-level radioactive coolant from the generator also are believed to be there.
The thought was for soldiers to just leave, allowing the base to be buried under snow and ice, never to be seen again.
RELATED Collapsing ice sheet may double predicted sea level rise
"Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is modifying those sites," said William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at York University who led the new study, in a press release. "It's a new breed of climate change challenge we have to think about."
Colgan said estimates for a snow buildup to shift course to a snow melt could come as early as 2090, making it a waiting game for when Camp Century will re-emerge.
The concern is that, once that happens, chemicals will start seeping into waterways, affecting the environment in unknown ways, though a political battle about how to clean it up is sure to ensue -- and researchers say it is only a matter of time.
RELATED Giant Antarctic ice shelf collapsed at end of last ice age
"The question is whether it's going to come out in hundreds of years, in thousands of years, or in tens of thousands of years," said James White, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado who was not involved with the study. "This stuff was going to come out anyway, but what climate change did was press the gas pedal to the floor and say, 'it's going to come out a lot faster than you thought.'"Property Plan Takes Charge of Isla Vista Buildings in Hopes Of Fostering a Sense of Community Spirit
The state Department of Finance approved a plan allowing three Isla Vista properties on Embarcadero del Mar — previously a medical clinic, church and parking lot — to persist under control of Santa Barbara County, rather than being sold for development on Feb. 20.
The plan, called the Long Range Property Management Plan, was put forth by the Successor Agency to the Former Isla Vista Redevelopment Agency and the Oversight Board. With the three I.V. properties now being retained, the County will maintain the medical clinic at 970 Embarcadero del Mar and convert the church building at 976 Embarcadero del Mar into a community center; while the third property is the Solar Car Park located at 881 Embarcadero del Mar. The DOF’s approval has come after months of efforts by Isla Vista community members and local elected representatives.
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr helped local efforts to bring a community center to Isla Vista, as she said the beachside community’s relatively large population — 22,000 residents, as opposed to comparable local areas with just 5,000 to 6,000 people — necessitates such a communal resource.
“Isla Vista is just fighting to have what all the other communities in the county have,” Farr said. “Isla Vista is 22,000 [people] and it doesn’t have all the structure of city government; it just has county government. And we fight really hard, but it just takes a lot of resources.”
Farr also said the property’s preservation was due to the work of many longtime members of the Isla Vista community, such as Carmen Lodise and Frank Thompson, who helped organize community efforts, as well as UCSB students, represented by the Office of the Associated Students External Vice President of Local Affairs.
“Having so many members of the community come and speak to the board of supervisors made a world of difference,” Farr said.
A.S. EVPLA Alex Moore said he was relieved the DOF ruled in favor of retaining the properties, marking a huge victory for the Isla Vista community.
“This was our last chance to save public buildings from development. Look in Isla Vista; there is no open space,” Moore said. “Going into this, it was a 50/50 chance and everyone was telling us it’ll get knocked back down at DOF, so this is huge.”
According to Moore, his role in the negotiations was to represent the voice of students to the county and the various boards involved in the decision-making process.
“A stronger and better community of Isla Vista is better for the student body,” Moore said. “Studies show that communities or towns in which a centric community is stronger have lower crime and just in general better outcomes for their citizens.”
Local housing co-op expert and former Isla Vista Community Council representative Frank Thompson said the idea behind the community center is to establish a hub for Isla Vista residents to use and enjoy as their own.
“The general interest is to make a wide range of services available to Isla Vistans at that location, as well as meetings and performances and speaking events and birthday parties — those types of things that really make a community,” Thompson said.
According to Moore, a community center will help bring students living in Isla Vista closer together with other community members.
“Oftentimes, students and other community members don’t interface; they don’t interact at all,” Moore said. “Your community center gives you that opportunity to interface with the rest of your community.”
A version of this story appeared on page 3 of Wednesday, February 26, 2014’s print edition of the Daily Nexus.
PrintResolve to cut down on your electricity use in the new year, as hydro rates are among several fees going up in 2016.
The increased fees — most people can expect to pay around nine dollars a month more — are among a number of provincial changes that will take effect on Jan. 1.
Here's a look at what to expect:
Hydro bills going up
The Ontario government is ending the debt retirement charge for ratepayers, but a 10 per cent discount called the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit is also disappearing. Unfortunately, the two cancellations don't offset one another, leaving people paying more.
The Ontario Energy Board also raised time-of-use rates in November and is planning more rate changes in the new year.
Some people who qualify for the Ontario Electricity Support Program will pay less, however only some 19 per cent of the 500,000 Ontarians who qualify for the new program have applied. That program will be subsidized in part by a $1 per month fee on everybody else's hydro bill.
Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said the goal of that change is to "maximize the benefits for people who need it the most,"
Smoking rules get tougher
The province will crack down on smoking across the province, starting on hospital grounds where smoking will be completely prohibited.
The province's ban on the sale of flavoured tobacco — which experts say is aimed at youth — also comes into effect. Children will also be banned from buying e-cigarettes.
Earlier this month, the government backtracked on its plan to ban e-cigarette use in public.
Mind the crosswalks
Drivers who pass schools on their daily routes will have to pay more attention when students go back to class. Under new rules, drivers who encounter crosswalks with crossing guards or flashing overhead lights must wait until pedestrians make it all the way across the street before proceeding.
The rule does not apply to crosswalks at ordinary intersections.
There are also new regulations for drivers who rack up enough demerit points to be called to the Ministry of Transport for an interview. That service will now cost $50, and failing to pay or attend the interview means your driver's licence can be cancelled.
Fees for renewing licences for trailers, farm vehicles and dealer plates, meanwhile, are also set to climb as of Friday.
Insurance break for snow tire use
Did you put your winter tires on ahead of this week's storm? Good call. Also, call your insurance company in the new year, because they'll be mandated to offer you a discount for installing the seasonal tires.
Businesses face new rules
Large companies — those with 50 or more employees — will have to comply with new rules surrounding accessibility and hiring disabled people.
And speaking of large organizations, politicians will enter 2016 under more scrutiny. All MPPs will be required to post their expenses online as of Jan. 1.The first question for White House spokesman Jay Carney at Tuesday's press briefing went right to the heart of the growing crisis facing President Obama:
In the matters of the Benghazi terror attack, the IRS targeting conservative groups, the Justice Department going after AP phone records, “…doesn’t responsibility for setting tone, setting direction ultimately rest with the president?”
That question of “where the buck stops” harkens back to another Democrat who occupied the Oval Office some 60 years ago, “Give ‘em Hell” Harry Truman but the answer is as relevant today.
[pullquote]
Benghazi may not be "Obama's Watergate," as Sen. Lindsay Graham has called it, but what we have is an administration that is adrift and leaking more controversy and unanswered questions every day.
On Libya, a detailed examination of the record shows that the White House has had no consistent message on what happened on September 11. In fact, they changed their message from day to day -- and it's clear that the administration's actions in the days and weeks after the Benghazi tragedy was all political maneuvering.
The White House has been caught not telling the full story, and modifying the narrative for political ends.
But that’s just a piece of the troubling picture emerging from the West Wing.
We have Attorney General Eric Holder -- he who managed to dodge full responsibility for the “Fast & Furious” gun-walking debacle in the president's first term -- revealing Tuesday that he had recused himself from the investigation into Justice Department gathering of phone records from more than “20 separate telephone lines assigned to the AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012.”
The bipartisan response to Monday's disturbing challenge to press freedom was swift. Speaker Boehner's office said Monday, “they better have a damned good explanation.” And Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, acknowledge he’s “very troubled” by the allegations.
Then there is the very serious matter of the IRS singling out conservative Tea Party and Patriot groups, among others, for special scrutiny when they sought to apply for tax-exempt status. The president says he's “outraged” -- but also said Monday that he knows nothing about this news.
But “newly obtained documents” show the current IRS chief knew about the agency's targeting of Tea Party groups as early as May 2012, and other officials in Washington were clued in more than a year before that, as the scandal continued to spread.
Perhaps even more telling is White House spokesman Jay Carney’s acknowledgement to reporters Tuesday that the administration is getting its information on these matters from news reports.
Again, who’s in charge here?
And finally there's what appears, from the public record that has emerged so far, to be the prevarication, without any clear explanation, from the administration on Benghazi:
On November 28th, 2012, Carney stated that the State Department had only changed one word of Susan Rice's talking points -- we now know this not to be the case. We also know that within hours of the attack, the White House, the State Department and the FBI received emails saying that an Islamic group had claimed credit -- even going so far as to identify Ansar al-Sharia as the group.
This epidemic of evasions, and most likely falsehoods, only raises more questions. The White House, the State Department, Hillary Clinton and any additional officials involved have committed a serious breach of trust with regard to the American people, and moreover, their actions are an insult to the American citizens who died in Libya that night, on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
What’s next?
Just months into his final four years in office, President Obama is facing a credibility crisis, one that threatens his fundamental abilities to govern.
Congress needs to get to the bottom of not only Benghazi, but these other scandals so that the American people can regain some semblance of trust in a government that is seemingly run amok.
Perhaps it's time for the president to gather his inner circle to lay down the law -- clean house if and when necessary -- and to assure the American people that regardless of where these investigations may lead, ultimately: “The buck stops here.”ALBANY – New Yorkers like Gov. Cuomo’s new controversial gun bill – and most of the other proposals he unveiled in last week’s State of the State speech, a new poll out today found.
Support for the gun bill Cuomo signed Tuesday — which made New York the first state in the nation to act after last month’s Newtown elementary school massacre — was strongest (91-8 percent) for a provision toughening penalties for buying illegal guns or using guns on school grounds, the Siena College survey found.
That was followed by strengthening the state’s ban on assault weapons and limiting magazines to seven bullets (73-26).
New York voters opposed the National Rifle Association’s proposal — not in the Cuomo bill — to place armed guards in schools (52-46 percent) and more strongly opposed training and arming teachers (69-30).
The Jan. 10-15 telephone survey of 676 registered state voters found that while Cuomo’s favorability (71-24) and job approval (60-38) ratings remained strong, his support among fellow Democrats edged up while fewer Republicans backed the governor in the wake of what was widely viewed as a solidly Democratic 2013 agenda.
Voters supported numerous elements of the agenda, including increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 an hour (83-15), providing taxpayer money for state campaigns while limiting the size of contributions (59-36), allowing for early voting (67-30), providing state aid for schools to lengthen the school day or year (62-35) and decriminalizing up to 15 grams of pot in public (62-35 percent).
But by 53-44, voters oppose removing restrictions for college financial aid for undocumented immigrants — the “Dream Act.”
And they also backed a tough “bar exam” for teachers by 76-23 percent.
The poll also found New Yorkers narrowly turning against the controversial practice of fracking for natural gas upstate (44-40), a reversal from a Siena poll last month that found narrow support (42-36).
Support for legalizing casino gambling, another Cuomo priority, shrank a bit (52-43) from prior surveys — with city voters evenly divided and stronger support in the suburbs.
Voters continued to think the state is moving in the right direction by 57-33 percent, up slightly from last month.
But New Yorkers — after overwhelmingly voting to re-elect President Obama — said narrowly (49-46) that the nation is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.While much of Microsoft’s Ignite 2016 conference has focused on the company’s future in machine learning, artificial intelligence and business focused endeavors, there was still room to squeeze in a little water-cooler fun with the announcement of an NFL Fantasy Football Bot. Satya Nadella introduced Deion Sanders on stage during his Innovations Keynote to introduce a new tool for American football fans.
Aside from workspace gossip and intra-company news, some employees (particularly in the US) love to bet on things. Office pools for promotions, the NCAA tournament and especially Fantasy Football are among some of the top workplace activities that employees enjoy participating in, and Microsoft appears keen on that notion.
Soon Skype users will be able to get Fantasy Football news and notifications within the messaging app via a new Fantasy Football bot. The bot will include the ability for users to not only get updates and notifications on their Fantasy Football teams but also adjust rosters and receive pre-game recommendations based on the extensive Bing Knowledge graph.
Other Skype Fantasy Football Bot features in-app comparisons, analysis of weather conditions as well as a walkthrough of how fantasy points are applied all of which occurs in the app.
For those questioning the legitimacy of Skypes Fantasy Football Bot predictions, former player and NFL Hall of Fame receiver/cornerback Deion Sanders was brought out on stage to demonstrate and validate the bot’s accuracy. While the former player and current analyst Sanders didn’t agree with everything the Fantasy Football app had to offer, much of the bot’s predictions were in line with his own.
Unfortunately, neither Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Dion Sanders, nor the NFL had a date of release for the bot.
Once again, the Skype messaging app shows off its potential but leaves users waiting for its implementation. Hopefully, the Skype Fantasy Football Bot gets in users hands before their fantasy teams are beyond salvageable.
Share This
Further reading: BingDENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b (alias 2MASS J08230313-4912012 b) is a substellar object, classified as either an exoplanet or a brown dwarf, orbiting DENIS-P J082303.1-491201,[3] an L1.5-type brown dwarf in the constellation Vela.[2]
Discovery [ edit ]
DENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b was discovered by Sahlmann et al. (2013) using the ESO telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory.[1] It is part of an ultracool binary system.[1]
Properties [ edit ]
Physical [ edit ]
DENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b is located 20.77 parsecs (67.7 ly) from Earth. At 7001285000000000000♠28.5±1.9 M J,[2] it is listed as the second most massive planet in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
Orbital [ edit ]
DENIS-P J082303.1-491201 b orbits the nearby L1.5-type brown dwarf DENIS-P J082303.1-491201, which is 7000750000000000000♠7.5±0.7% the mass of our Sun,[1] and has an orbital period of about 246 days.[1][2]
See also [ edit ]When it comes to choosing a career, more choice isn’t always a good thing. We’re constantly told that doing what we love is the secret to a thriving career—but what happens when love comes in multiples?
If you have too many passions to count on two hands, you’re preaching to the choir. Throughout my career, I’ve wanted to do everything from running a nonprofit to becoming a genetic counselor to teaching yoga. And now? I work to help other people figure out what it is they want to do with their lives.
Along the way, I’ve learned a thing or two about dealing with too many career options. Consider the tips below to help if you’re dealing with this career conundrum.
1. Peek at the Job Market
A great first step is to do some really practical research about the career paths you’re considering. Speak to people who’ve made careers out of your passions, and ask how they did it. Find out what training is involved and how much that will cost you in both time and money. And, most importantly, start doing some early-stage job searching in your areas of passion and see what’s out there (don’t forget to look at starting pay).
This all sounds basic, but here’s a quick illustration of why it’s so important: As an undergraduate psychology major, I was obsessed with becoming a genetic counselor. I spoke to my lecturers, found the graduate program I needed to complete, and was thrilled I’d found my calling. Until a (frustratingly wise) friend suggested I see how many jobs were being advertised for genetic counselors. I spent three months looking and came up with exactly zero. In my entire country.
As I learned, it’s not enough to find the perfect job on paper—it needs to exist in the current job market. (And for the record, I still haven’t seen one of those jobs advertised.)
2. Think Long-Term
Sounds awfully unsexy, I know, but it’s also important to consider which of your passions is most compatible with your future lifestyle vision. Will you be able to find a job in a place you want to live? Will you be able to make enough money to support the kind of life you see yourself leading? If you want to start a family at some point, will your career allow for that?
When I was going through my humanitarian phase, I considered working for the Australian government. Until I found out I’d need to complete a rotational graduate program in our nation’s fine capital, Canberra. I don’t want to seem unpatriotic, but Canberra is not the type of place I want to live—not then and not now. Reaching that conclusion sooner rather than later saved me time, money, and eye-clawing boredom. And significantly narrowed my field of options (in a good way).
3. Step Into the Trenches
The idea of an epiphany—that “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life!” moment—is a myth. Clarity comes from action, not thought.
Translation: Find a few simple, low-cost ways to try out some of your career options for real: volunteering, shadowing, or even doing some freelance work. Actually getting your hands dirty will give you a sense of whether you like the daily realities of the job—or just the idea of that job.
At one point, I was convinced I needed to work for a global humanitarian organization and was offered an internship at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva. A move to Geneva isn’t exactly simple or low-cost, so I decided to volunteer one day a week with a local NGO first.
Thank goodness I did, because I ended up hating it. Despite wearing jeans every day and starting work when I wanted, I found the work itself dry and the constraints of nonprofit operations demotivating. I loved the idea of it, but the reality was completely different. Once I got clear on that (and was okay admitting it), I felt free to move forward and find a world-changing job in an environment that truly suited my personality.
4. Hobbies are Your Savior
Here’s a newsflash—you don’t have to turn everything you love into a career or a money-spinner. And in fact, it’s better that you don’t.
For example, when I was weighing up a career in instructing yoga, the low-stress chai-drenched lifestyle I imagined was a far cry from the practicalities of making a living out of my down dogs: unsociable work hours, unpredictable income, trading time and physical presence for money, and the repetition. I quickly realized that yoga was much better suited as a way to spend my time after work than as a long-term career path. And you know what? That’s just fine.
Think critically about what your passion will really look like when it’s your source of income, day in and day out. It may, in fact, be more enjoyable when you’re just doing it for yourself.
5. Remember That You May Never Choose (and That’s Okay)
So, what if you’ve gone through all of these steps, and you still have nearly a dozen career paths you’d love to pursue?
Well, I’m here to tell you that having an evolving bucket list or a career path that defies logic is 100% OK. After spending years envying the neatly defined careers of my friends, I came to the better-late-than-never conclusion that I wasn’t wired that way. As a multi-passionate, I found the concept of expertise in one specific area fascinating and enviable, but I couldn’t ever see myself acquiring it. I’m woefully indecisive with a low boredom threshold. Not exactly a recipe for deliberate practice, is it?
Once I stopped fighting who I was and relaxed into the idea that different was okay, all the possibilities before me were exciting, not stressful. I love what I’m doing now, but I also know that I’ll probably have multiple careers throughout my lifetime.
Bring them on, I say—just don’t give me too many choices at once.
Photo of woman thinking courtesy of Shutterstock.Last week a bill was tabled in the American senate that would allow the Department of Justice to take out a court order against sites accused of infringing copyright. Google’s Erik Schmidt came out strongly against the bill in London on the 18th. Is this an attempt on Google to do no evil, or is there more at stake for the company here?
The bill, called PROTECT IP, would allow the Department of Justice to seek a court order against sites accused of copyright violations. The order would be served against ISPs, internet advertisers, domain name providers and search engines. The site thus targeted would be required to disappear as soon as possible.
Eric Schmidt said that Google would not support the bill if it were to be passed. He said: “"If there is a law that requires DNSs to do X and it's passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President of the United States and we disagree with it then we would still fight it.”... “If it's a request the answer is we wouldn't do it, if it's a discussion we wouldn't do it."
On one hand, supporters of free speech are applauding Google’s stance. There are far too many stories of content creators who have had their content pulled due to DMCA violations that either were not violations or were an unfair use of a draconian law. Giving even more weight to that law seems unwise if your major concern is the freedom of information. Critics fear that the bill would give the government a way to vanish sites at will.
The central problem with Schmidt’s pronouncement is that Google’s stance has not been quite so clear in the past. Not long ago, the company was threatening to remove the Pirate Bay and other sites like it from AdSense, and attempting to stop block terms connected with piracy from the instant search function.
Even as recently as April, Google’s general counsel Kent Walker was in front of Congress testifying as to Google’s antipiracy solutions. He outlined what Google has done thus far, but did caution against strong antipiracy measures that might create problems of their own. He was not nearly as outspoken as Schmidt.
So, why the switch? Why is Google all of a sudden not quite so willing to give the boot to piracy sites? Could it have something to do with the fact that when it was in favor of restrictions on piracy sites, it was attempting to garner deals with the record industry for its music service? Now that it’s released the service without need for licenses, maybe it’s not quite so willing to play ball with the big label companies.
It’s refreshing to see someone willing to stand up to the government in favor of free speech. I only hope that Google’s motives have as much to do with rights as it does with their business strategies.
What are your thoughts? What do you think of Schmidt’s stance? What do you think of the US bill? Do you think the bill will pass?
AdvertisementGardai are investigating a disturbance between what appears to have been two rival groups at the Spring Lane Halting Site in Cork this afternoon.
There have been reports that two groups clashed on the Ballyvolane site with suggestions emerging that one man had a gun.
A garda car leaving Spring Lane Halting Site this afternoon.Picture: Eoin English
Spring Lane was opened as an emergency measure |
the 19th century, for example — but in decades to come, their minimalist aesthetic may prove to be just as defining.
You can check out more pictures from Luleå below:Reddit giving 10% of 2014 ad revenue to charity
When a company reports their earnings, we tend to marvel at the amount they brought in (or didn’t). From there, not much seems to happen, at least in view of the public. Reddit recently announced they pulled in $8.3 million in ad revenue during 2014. That’s interesting enough news, but what they’re doing with it is even more interesting. After their big win, Reddit is paying it forward, and will donate 10% of their ad income to charity. Best of all, you can help decide where the cash goes.
Reddit is taking votes for where the cash should go, and is planning to distribute the money to 10 different charities. Redditors can vote on which charities they would like to see funded, or submit one of their choosing.
The top ten charities, as chosen by Redditors, will earn a portion of Reddit’s 10% donation. The donation amount will be decided by the votes themselves:
At the end of this year, after closing our books, we will solicit nominations from all of you for non-profits and then hold an election based off of eligible nominees for where we should donate the funds. Funds will be disbursed proportionally based on percentage of votes amongst the top 10 non-profits.
This again placed Reddit in a positive light after their odd foray into crypto-currency. The aim there was to give users 10% equity via Notes, Reddit’s proprietary bitcoin kind of thing. Notes’ future is in jeopardy, but at least Reddit is still being charitable.
Source: RedditDajare (駄洒落, "wordplay") is a kind of comic Japanese word play, similar in spirit to a pun that relies on similarities in the pronunciation of words to create a simple joke.
Dajare are popular in advertising. Dajare are also associated with oyaji gags (親父ギャグ, oyaji gyagu), oyaji meaning "old man", as an "old man" would be considered by the younger generation most likely to attempt dajare, making them a near equivalent of what would be called "dad jokes" in English.
Examples [ edit ]
With one speaker [ edit ]
Example one:
アルミ缶の上にあるみかん (arumi kan no ue ni aru mikan)
Translation: A tangerine on an aluminum can. Explanation: アルミ (arumi) means "aluminum", 缶 (kan) means "a can", so arumi kan means "an aluminum can". Also ある (aru) means "exists" and みかん (mikan) means "a tangerine (mandarin orange)".
Example two:
ウランは売らん (uran wa uran)
Translation: I never sell uranium. Explanation: ウラン (uran) means uranium, and the second 売らん (uran) means "never sell".
Example three:
ニューヨークで入浴 (nyūyōku de nyūyoku)
Translation: Taking a bath in New York. Explanation: ニューヨーク (nyūyōku) means New York, 入浴 (nyūyoku) means taking a bath.
Example four:
レモンの入れもん (remon no iremon)
Translation: A container for a lemon Explanation: レモン (remon) means "a lemon", 入れもん (iremon) means "a container".
With two speakers [ edit ]
Example one:
A: 大食いのたけし君も、宇宙ではあまり物を食べられないよ。 (ōgui no takeshi kun mo, uchū dewa amari mono o taberarenaiyo) B: なぜ? (naze) A: 宇宙には空気(食う気)がない。 (uchū niwa kūki ga nai) Translation: A: In space, even a glutton like Takeshi can't eat anything. B: Why's that? A: In space, he has no appetite. Explanation: Kūki (くうき) can mean either "air" (空気) or "will to eat" (食う気), thus what sounds like a perfectly reasonable statement – "in space there is no air" – takes on a much stronger meaning when said in context.
Example two:
A: 向こうの通りにヘイができたんだってね。(mukou no tōri ni hei ga dekitan datte ne) B: へぇー。(hee...) Translation: A: I hear they finished the wall on the street over there. B: Well! Explanation: The word for "fence" or "wall" here (塀, hei) sounds very similar to the Japanese interjection hee (へえ, similar in usage to the phrases "oh yeah?" and "well!"), thus the answer sounds like a repeat of the information in the initial statement. Another version of this same joke replaces hei with kakoi (囲い), which sounds similar to a word meaning something like "cool" or "looks good" (かっこいい).
Children's dajare (with one speaker) [ edit ]
There are also some jokes mostly used by children that resemble dajare. These are also considered jokes that "everybody knows" in most parts of Japan. These are examples of ginatayomi (ぎなた読み), which relies on ambiguity in where one word ends and another begins.
Example one:
A: パンつくった事ある？ (pan tsukutta koto aru?) Translation: A: Have you ever made bread before? Can also be interpreted as: A: Have you ever eaten underpants before? (パンツ食った事ある？, pantsu kutta koto aru?)
Example two:
A: ねぇ、ちゃんとお風呂入ってる？ (nee, chanto ofuro haitteru?) Translation: A: Hey, have you been taking a bath (regularly)?
Can also be interpreted as:
A: Do you take baths with your (older) sister? (姉ちゃんとお風呂入ってる？, nee-chan to ofuro haitteru?; the casual nee combined with the adverb chanto sounds the same as nee-chan to meaning "with your (older) sister".)
See also [ edit ]Tension is high throughout the Greater Middle East region starting from Mauritania in North Africa all the way to Pakistan with terrorist attacks, uprisings and wars breaking out in various parts. There has never been a period in recent history where this region was so volatile. One might say it is nothing new to the troubled region. However, there are new factors that make this period different than what it was over the past decades. The most important one is the diminished role for the United States.
Looking closely at the situation in this region, starting with North Africa, the U.S. is hardly present in the most important battle on Al-Qaeda in Al-Maghreb with France leading the way in flushing the radical Islamic fighters from Mali. In the Levant, namely in Syria, Washington has rejected all calls for either intervention or assisting the rebels in their fight against an Iranian-backed regime, and has remained idle watching radical Islamic groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda establish a foothold in a highly strategic place like Syria. What is more astonishing to many observers is to see the Russian Navy move in full strength off the Syrian coastline conducting maneuvers and supplying arms to the Syrian regime. Even the Patriot missiles deployed under a NATO umbrella along the Turkish-Syrian borders are mostly supplied by European countries - Germany and the Netherlands. In the Arabian Gulf region the size of the U.S. fleet was reduced with the withdrawal of two aircraft carrier strike forces. Finally in Afghanistan the United States will soon start the drawdown of its forces that will lead for their full withdrawal by end of 2014.
As debate rages in the United States on sequestration - that could lead to $600-billion in defense budget cuts - observers in the Middle East wonder about the possible effect of this on the U.S. footprint in the region. U.S. allies in the region worry further when they hear American officials talk about their new priorities shifting towards Asia and the intention to reduce involvement in the Middle East. Significantly, this will feed into the Iranian propaganda that the United States is a fading power and Tehran will be the new rising dominant power in the region. Overall, Iran is likely to be very happy and deem the Islamic Republic's multi-year strategy of removing the U.S. from the region as a success, giving Tehran a needed boost as Syria falls into political chaos. For many years, the administration of President Mahmood Ahmadinejad, repeatedly called for the U.S. to leave the region, specifically the Gulf, and allow the countries of the region to guarantee their own security and to create a new Gulf security architecture minus America.
The United States and its allies have been locked in a Cold War with Iran and its axis allies in the Middle East. While Washington's Arab allies have been waiting to see whether U.S. predictions of the Iranian regime collapsing under the weight of economic sanctions, they are surprised to see the U.S. about to pull out due to economic strains and change in foreign policy priorities. This will be a big shock to a region that only ten years ago had over 200 thousand U.S. soldiers deployed in it, and hardly any presence of Russian or Chinese naval vessels. The situation now can best be described as moving from the extreme interventionist policies of the George W. Bush Administration to the extreme non-interventionist policies of the Barak Obama Administration that has been branded as "leading from behind," while some regional officials have called it "isolationist" policies. There must be a middle ground where the U.S. could lead collective efforts on the ground rather than intervene unilaterally or exclude itself completely.
There are regional concerns that there appears to be a new school of thought rising in Washington, to fit American foreign policy and military requirements in the second decade of the 21st century, is what some call "Neo-Isolationalism," which seeks to withdraw America from regional arenas but without a clear plan on who will fill the void. This Neo-Isolationalism school thinks that, over time, the U.S. will not need to be the dominant power in the Gulf region, mainly to protect oil supplies and their transit to customers and allies in the East. The reason behind the strategic shift is not just about money; the abrupt change is the reality that America cannot be everywhere at once, and also that energy resources are closer to home, particularly in extracting energy wealth from shale oil and gas.
Neo-Isolationalism in American foreign policy is also allowing Arab countries to police themselves when it comes to regional upheaval, leaving America happily on the sidelines. The Arab Spring allowed such countries as UAE and Qatar to demonstrate their air power capabilities in a NATO-led coalition against Libya leading to the ouster of Qaddafi. European allies also are increasing their share of responsibility despite economic problems at home. The trend is continuing with Syria, where Arab countries are carrying part of the burden, and Mali, where African troops are becoming more involved, as the Greater Middle East region undergoes tectonic shifts.
The rise of American figures like Senator Ron Paul and the impact of the Tea Party that advocate reducing U.S. involvement in international issues and concentrating instead on domestic issues could be an indication of things to come in Washington that officials in the Middle East should probably be prepared for. Their policies got America's number one ally in the region, Israel, very concerned. So America's Arab allies are worrying too. The GCC states are likely to be very unhappy with the U.S. strategic shift. Primarily, the Gulf States' worst nightmare is coming true: Not only will the U.S. footprint be reduced drastically but also that Iran will likely become a nuclear power and that Washington will be dealing directly with Tehran and bypassing key Gulf allies. The GCC states will be forced to turn to the East for security guarantees and it is likely that India and China will be the benefactors. Russia may not be far behind in the coming years.
Clearly, America is in strategic retreat in the region, and the lack of will for Washington to involve itself in future Greater Middle East contingencies is growing stronger. Sequestration, if fully implemented, will kill America's key tools for power projection-Air power, navy and special operations-if they are required. And the impact of sequestration will be global, not regional. Providing intelligence to allies and using drones from behind will only weaken America's voice when Washington needs to be heard during a crisis or a conflict. In the Greater Middle East, Washington will only be interested in keeping mil-mil relations healthy despite reductions, tolerate disruption in pol-pol discussions, and concentrate on developing a ballistic missile shield against Iranian or other missiles. Clearly, technology and robots-from afar-- is now America's weapons of choice.
Consequently, we need to ask ourselves: What will happen to the U.S. military presence in the Middle East if the sequestration is implemented? How much will the effect be on the Arab-Iranian balance of power? What will happen to NATO? How will NATO be perceived in the region taking into consideration that most Arab officials believe the U.S. is NATO? So there are many questions regarding sequestration's impact on U.S. foreign policy and Washington's international priorities that need to be addressed by the current Obama Administration. It is true that aggressive and unilateral actions often lead to troubles and wars, but also indifference and over caution sometimes leads to inviting undesired troubles and wars. A middle ground must be sought.Crossing to the Big Man
I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m a big fan of having strong, tall forwards. The smaller, agile and crafty forwards definitely have their place and are fun to watch. Watching Lionel Messi dribble through a series of defenders while keeping the ball taped to his shin is incredible, but I’m a sucker for the quick, unexpected goals that develop from target man.
For me, a big man up top is responsible for two things. First, he needs to be able to play with his back to goal. If he can do this, sliding quick passes to overlapping midfielders provides 1-2 passing options that are glorious to watch. Second, he needs to be able to win the crosses that the midfielders are able to swing into him. In order to with crosses, he needs service. Service has been something hard to come by for Heinemann.
It’s not really a secret that Michael Nanchoff is the engine that makes the Rowdies tick. As such, he leads the team in total crosses (and is second in the league) with 22. Out of those, only six have been from open play. Out of those six, only one has been successful. On the left side of the field, Khalif Alhassan hasn’t whipped in one successful cross and neither has the fullbacks – Ben Sweat or Zach Portillos – behind him.
Now, compare those “left-side” numbers to their counterpart. Eric Avila has sent in a team-high 10 crosses and three have been successful. Darnell King has sent in eight and connected on two. In all, the right side of the field has contributed to over twice the amount of crosses the left side has provided.
Positioning
While receiving proper service from your midfielders is important, it’s far more important to be in the right position to receive the cross. From Miami FC to FC Edmonton, Heinemann’s position was drastically different.
Against Miami, Heinemann’s average position was actually BEHIND Junior Burgos. If he’s behind the “attacking midfielder”, he can’t play into easy 1-2 passing. At least, he can’t if he wants to be in a decent position in the final third. On top of that, it’s difficult for midfielders to send him any crosses when he’s farther away from the 18-yard-box than he probably should be.
Things were very different against Edmonton. While the Eddies aren’t exactly playing well at the moment, Heinemann still did an excellent job of pressuring the backline and staying ahead of his midfield. While the goal didn’t come in from a text-book cross, Heinemann had several close calls that just as easily could have been goals.
Not only does this kind of pressure force the defense to play on their heels, it also creates valuable space for other midfielders to utilize. For a prime example of this, look no further than Alhassan. The 25-year-old constantly drifts into a middle role, overlapping (horizontally) with Heinemann. It’s this kind of space that has led to Alhassan’s team-leading (technically, he’s tied with Avila) six chances created.
A bit of the attacking increase comes down to the attacking midfielders, too. I love Junior Burgos, but Georgi Hristov helped to push Heinemann up the field in a way he didn’t do against Miami.
The Point
My point is this: Currently, the Tampa Bay Rowdies attack is a bit predictable. Crosses come from the right side of the field. The left side of the field pinches inward. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s something the team needs to even out as the season goes on.
Heinemann has shown that if crosses are sent into the box, he can handle it from there. The left side of the field needs to help supply that service a little more, either from overlapping fullbacks or Alhassan staying out wide more often.
Share this:
Tweet
Email
Pocket
PrintSeoul Public Bike, Ttareungyi, after 14 months into service, has recorded 1.72 million rentals at 450 rental spots across 11 autonomous districts throughout Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) will increase the number of rental bikes from 5,600 to 20,000 by the end of 2017. With 20,000 bikes, Seoul will become the city with the second largest number of public bikes after Velib in Paris (23,600 as of 2016), which operates the most popularized public bike service in the world.
To that end, the SMG will announce the “Expansion and Improvement Measures for Seoul Public Bike, Ttareungyi” and implement five measures in order to establish public bikes as a practical means of public transportation for the 21st century. The five measures include: ① Increasing the number of bikes to 20,000, ② Formation of the first ‘Seoul Bike Special Zones,’ ③ Improvement of user services, ④ Expansion of the safety infrastructure for bikes including roads dedicated to bikes, and ⑤ Promotion of safety culture.
< Increasing the number of bikes to 20,000 >
The SMG will add 14,400 new public rental bikes in 2017 to provide a total of 20,000 bikes. This will increase the number of bikes per 10,000 citizens from 15 to 20. The number of rental spots will also be expanded from 450 in 11 autonomous districts to 1,300 in all 25 districts. In consideration of the floating population and demand for public bikes and also to allow people to get to the bike soon after transiting from public transportation, new rental spots will be located within 10 to 20 meters away from subway entrances, bus stops or taxi platforms and be placed at intervals of 500m.
< Formation of the first ‘Seoul Bike Special Zones’ >
The SMG will form three Ttareungyi special zones in Seoul. The special zones will allow citizens to navigate their commute to work and school and shopping on the public bike. The goal is to work in connection with urban development projects to start building various infrastructure such as bike roads and rental spots at the planning stage to form residential districts that are optimized for public bike usage.
< Improvement of user services >
Using public bikes will become a lot easier. Starting in June, the ‘self-verification’ stage, which was mandatory for foreigners and non-members of the ‘Seoul Public Bike, Ttareungyi’ app, will be lifted. From then on, anyone can use the public bikes by simply going through the three stages of ‘Mobile Webpage access → Payment for voucher → Rental’ using their credit card or mobile phone. An English service will also be available on the mobile app for foreign tourists.
< Expansion of safety infrastructure for bikes including a road dedicated to bicycles >
Safety regulations for bicycle usage will be reinforced along with the increase in the number of public bikes in Seoul. New bicycle roads will be built across 84.4 kilometers by 2020 with a focus on safety over quantitative expansion. Also, the first bicycle traffic light (bikes can go straight when the light turns green on the bicycle-shaped traffic light) in Seoul will start test operations on Gosanjagyo Bridge in Cheonggyecheon Stream in the first half of 2017 to ensure pedestrian and biker safety.
< Promotion of safety culture >
Lastly, the SMG will promote a safe bicycle culture to reduce accidents and improve the awareness of safety. The SMG will expand upon the ‘Children’s Bike Certification System,’ which grants a license to children who passes written and field tests for bicycles, and target all 300,000 children who attend the 60 elementary schools in the city in 2018. To prevent accidents and promote a healthy bicycle culture, the SMG will expand upon the proportion of customized bicycle safety training programs for children, students, and adults and raise their effectiveness.
The SMG will create safety manuals and videos that contain information on safety instructions as well as laws governing bicycles and distribute them to the Office of Education and autonomous districts in Seoul and also post them on the websites of related organizations.Indications have emerged in the media that three of the biggest Japanese banks are already doing effective business with Iran – what could show a major portion of post-sanctions banking problems in dealing with the Islamic Republic has been removed.
Farhad Taqizadeh-Hesari, an economist and a senior associate to the head of Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), told Iran’s domestic media that Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank had already started transactions with Iranian banks.
This could be a crucial development given that the international banks had been so far complaining that the remaining US sanctions on Iran – particularly a ban on any US dollar transactions – were still obstructing business with Tehran.
Taqizadeh-Hesari emphasized that several other signs had also appeared that showed Iran’s banking relations with Japan had returned to normalcy.
Those signs, he said, included launching a credit line worth $10 billion between Iran and Japan, a whopping increase of 130 percent in Japan’s imports of oil products from Iran and the signing of an agreement between the two countries to support mutual investments and bilateral trade.
Taqizadeh-Hesari further told Iran’s ISNA news agency that the risk for financial transactions between Iran and Japan had decreased after the two countries were able to establish banking transactions based on Japan’s national currency – the yen.
BTMU, Japan's largest bank that handled most of Japan's payments for Iranian oil prior to the sanctions in mid-2012, announced in early 2016 that it had resumed transactions with Iranian banks, including payments for Iranian crude oil bought by Japanese refiners.
The announcement came within a few weeks after a series of draconian economic sanctions – that included bans on banking activities with Iran – were lifted as a result of the implementation of a nuclear deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.Local Man's Bible Excited To Be Read For Whole First Week Of January Again
COTTONWOOD, AZ—The leather-bound Bible owned by local man Kurt Ryder for over ten years reported Monday that it was “super pumped” to participate in Ryder’s resolution to read his Bible every day, until he inevitably shelves it in the latter half of the first week of January, sources confirmed.
“It’s such an honor to open my sacred pages to Ryder, so he can get through around a quarter of Genesis before abandoning his attempt to read through me,” the Bible said in a statement. “Our time together is precious—I wait almost twelve months for this week every year.”
“Any second now. It’s devo time!” it added.
The printing of the Scriptures also stated it was hopeful that Ryder would make it all the way to Exodus this year.
“I have a feeling this year’s going to be special. I don’t want to jinx it, but we could even sniff Leviticus,” the Scriptures said excitedly, though it admitted that Ryder’s making it through the third book of the Pentateuch would be a “pipe dream.”SHARE
WHEN ASKED ON Thursday about the November ballot question to raise the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts, Sen. Elizabeth Warren sounded a note of caution about the initiative.
“You know, I’m just concerned about the proposal and what it means for the children all across the Commonwealth,” Warren told reporters after delivering a speech at Roxbury Community College in Boston on the economic plight of the middle class. “Public officials have a responsibility not just to a small subset of children but to all of the children, to make sure that they receive a first-rate education.”
Get the Daily Download Our news roundup delivered every weekday.
Email *
It sounded a lot like the argument of charter opponents, who have said any success of charters comes, literally, at the expense the district schools most students attend, since public funding follows students to whatever school they enroll at.
But Warren stopped short of saying she’ll vote no on the question. “Well, I want to hear more about what the plans are from this group that’s proposing it,” she said when asked how she plans to vote.
What may be giving Warren some pause is her longstanding embrace of a principle that is at the heart of arguments made by charter school proponents – that students’ ability to secure a quality education shouldn’t be dependent on where they live or their families’ income.
Charter school supporters say the publicly-funded, but independently-run, schools offer an alternative to families who live in a community with low-performing schools, most of whom do not have the financial wherewithal to move to another district with better schools.
The same argument is the basis for a proposal Warren made more than a decade ago that is even more disruptive of the educational status quo than charter schools – school vouchers.
In her 2003 book The Two-Income Trap, Warren offered a full-throated endorsement of a voucher system that would allow children to enroll at any public school within a large geographic region that crosses municipal boundaries.
Warren’s book, which she coauthored with her daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, focuses the economic stress facing middle-class families. The book argues that part of that financial burden is brought on by the pressure to buy a costly home in a community with well-regarded schools.
The concept of public schools is “deeply American” and embodies “the notion that merit rather than money determines a child’s future,” Warren writes. “But who are we kidding? As parents increasingly believe the differences among schools will translate into differences in lifetime chances, they are doing everything they can to buy into the best public schools.”
She mocks the idea of even calling schools in more affluent communities truly public, since they are only open to the families with the financial means to live there, with poorer families locked out.
“At the core of the problem is the time-honored rule that where-you-live dictates where-you go to school,” she writes. Warren says the solution is to break up the “ironclad relationship” between location and school and declares, “A well-designed voucher program would fit the bill neatly.”
Warren goes on to lay out a plan for a system of fully-paid vouchers to support attendance at any public schools in the region. “Tax dollars would follow the children,” she writes, adding that students who need extra resources, such as those requiring special education services, would get larger vouchers. “Every child would have a valuable ticket to be used in any school in the area,” she writes.
“An all-voucher or all-school choice system would be a shock to the educational system, but the shake out might be just what the system needs,” she writes. Over time, “the whole concept of ‘the Beverly Hills schools’ or ‘Newton schools’ would die out.”
Warren acknowledges another sector that would also feel a big shock from such a change: “If a meaningful school voucher system were instituted, the U.S. housing market would change forever.” She says some communities might see housing prices drop, while others would see increases. But she says the market would “re-normalize” after such a “one-time readjustment.”
Meet the Author Michael Jonas Executive Editor, CommonWealth About Michael Jonas Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section. Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston. Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters. About Michael Jonas Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section. Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston. Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.
Warren has had little to say since her election four years ago about the ambitious voucher school proposal laid out in The Two-Income Trap. But the idea seems driven by the same sense of outrage at the disparate education opportunities students have based on family income that has stirred the charter school movement.
It would certainly enliven the debate over equal opportunity in Massachusetts if Warren were to put this “shock to the educational system” on the table.
SHAREOAKLAND, Calif. -- Make it two 50-game suspensions in exactly one week -- both starters for contending teams from the Bay Area, both for testosterone.
Former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon of the Oakland Athletics was suspended for 50 games Wednesday after a positive test, joining San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera on the suspended list for the rest of the regular season.
Major League Baseball made the announcement of Colon's penalty a week after All-Star Game MVP Cabrera received his 50-game suspension
"I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A's," Colon said in a statement released by the players' association. "I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the joint drug program."
He will miss the final 40 games of the regular season and the first 10 games of the postseason if Oakland advances that far. Any remainder of the suspension would be served in a future season, if Colon signs another major league contract.
"It's a shock," Oakland reliever Grant Balfour said. "He's a guy that we're definitely relying on right now. I guess you could say it's bad timing any time, but especially now."
Oakland, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2006, began Wednesday a half-game out in the AL wild-card race. The A's were preparing for an afternoon series finale against Minnesota when they got the news from clubhouse televisions. A closed-door team meeting was called.
"The Oakland Athletics are disappointed to learn of today's suspension," the team said in a statement.
Starter Brandon McCarthy took that a little further.
"You can say someone's a good teammate, but it has to extend in all facets," McCarthy said after a 5-1 win. "Off the field, on the field and how you are in the clubhouse, no matter how look at it, we've now lost a really important part of our team to his actions."
General manager Billy Beane received word from MLB earlier Wednesday and began searching for a starter to take Colon's turn in the rotation Thursday at Tampa Bay. Tyson Ross will be called up from Triple-A Sacramento. Ross arrived to the Coliseum and moved into Colon's locker.
"It shocked all of us just the fact someone got caught for that," Ross said.
Beane addressed the A's in the clubhouse before the team took the field for pregame warmups.
"Listen, it's disappointing. From a baseball standpoint, we're scrambling," Beane said. "We're all disappointed, not just for the Giants and the A's, but for baseball."
The 39-year-old Colon is 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA in 24 starts this season, his first with the A's, and has a 171-122 record in 15 big league seasons. A two-time All-Star, the burly right-hander won the 2005 AL Cy Young Award after going 21-8 for the Los Angeles Angels.Officials have confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the phone on Monday evening. Putin is said to have called Trump to congratulate him on winning last week’s presidential election.
The two are said to have agreed on the need to resolve “extremely unsatisfactory” Russo-American relations, planning for a personal meeting and joint work toward the normalization of ties between the two major nations. According to the Kremlin, the agreement was for a dialogue “on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and non-intervention in each other’s domestic affairs.”
Such a productive first phone call is unsurprising, as during the campaign Trump had talked of improving relations with Russia, and since the election Russian government officials have said they saw the election of Trump as America’s rejection of Hillary Clinton’s calls for further hostility toward Russia.
This is the first major attempt to improve relations between the two sides since the 2009 “reset,” which came in the wake of President Obama’s election. That reset was mostly forgotten by the late years of the Obama presidency, with the US launching a massive military buildup along Russia’s border in Eastern Europe, and the two sides engaged in a virtual proxy war in Syria.
While the 2009 “reset” was mostly aimed at getting access to Russian airspace for supply shipments for the Afghan War, the Trump normalization effort is likely to be much more ambitious, with Trump expressing his aversion to hostility toward nuclear-armed Russia, and already talking about a dramatic shift in Syria policy which would see the US ending support for the rebellion against Syria, a key Russian ally.
All conversations between Putin and Trump are likely to be heavily scrutinized, however, as the Clinton campaign didn’t just campaign on its own hostility toward Russia, but accused Russia of plotting to get Trump elected. With post-election acrimony within the US still high a week later, those allegations arr likely to remain a talking point for many opposed to normalization.
1
Last 5 posts by Jason DitzVOL. 129 | NO. 40 | Thursday, February 27, 2014
The bill for the three-day Memphis in May Beale Street Music this year features a new night of late night dance music from a stage in Tom Lee Park and a 69-act lineup in which Memphis artists are nearly a third of the diverse set of performers.
The music festival lineup, May 2-4 in Tom Lee Park, ranges from jazz great Chick Corea & The Vigil to Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts to rhythm and blues diva Patti Labelle to hip hop’s Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
The Friday and Saturday dance music performances by Big Gigantic and Beats Antique, respectively, are an expansion of a concept that worked well last year on a single night.
Other performers include Jerry Lee Lewis, performing at his 11th Beale Street Music Festival, Avenged Sevenfold and Jason Isbell.
Memphis rappers Three-6 Mafia won’t have a set under that name this year, but Juicy J and Project Pat are on the bill opening night along with Snoop Lion.
Fitz and The Tantrums along with Pretty Lights also perform May 2 as well as 90s alt-rockers 311 and Third Eye Blind and blues act Ana Popovic.
Joining Lewis and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on the May 3 line up are rockers Wolfmother and Joan Jett along with St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Carolina Chocolate Drops.
The final day of the festival, May 4, includes the North Mississippi All Stars making another festival appearance along with Memphis’ own Freeworld and Alabama Shakes.
Also on the Sunday bill are rockers Motorhead, funk pioneer Bootsy Collins, swamp rocker Tony Joe White and Los Rabanes, a Latin rock act representing the Memphis in May International Festival’s honored country of Panama.
The Memphis performers across the three days of the festival include Surrender the Fall, Ghost Town Blues Band, Memphis Dawls, Lord T & Eloise, Reba Russell and guitarist Eric Gales.
Here is the entire line-up:
FRIDAY, MAY 2ND LINE-UP
FOSTER THE PEOPLE • PRETTY LIGHTS • SNOOP DOGG AKA SNOOP LION
311 • FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS • JUICY J • THIRD EYE BLIND • DROPKICK MURPHYS
GROUPLOVE • DICKEY BETTS • MS MR • ANA POPOVIC • PROJECT PAT • WILL TUCKER
LUCKY PETERSON • KENNY BROWN • ROBERT “ |
served) Wednesday. Ambrose provided alcohol to MSU student Olivia Pryor, who was raped by Marquez Cannon and was later found dead of alcohol poisoning. Picture taken Wednesday 9/3/2014. (Lansing State Journal | Rod Sanford) (Photo: Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal)Buy Photo
MASON – A 21-year-old Detroit man who admitted providing alcohol to a Michigan State University freshman who died from alcohol poisoning was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation.
Dishon Ambrose — described in court as a close, family friend of 18-year-old Olivia Pryor — pleaded guilty to furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death. The felony charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Olivia Pryor (Photo: Courtesy photo )
Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette also sentenced Ambrose to 90 days in jail, which he already served after his arrest.
In handing down the sentence, Collette said: "I've got a kid here who's never been in trouble in his life, who has gone to school and taken care of his affairs."
Collette noted that Ambrose was once considering a career in the military. "I've got a young man here who I can do something for in a positive way, for once in my life," he said.
Buy Photo Cynthia Pryor, right, mother of Olivia Pryor, and other family members listen in court as Dishon Ambrose is sentenced in Ingham County Circuit Court in Mason to 3 years of probation and 90 days in jail (credited for 90 days already served) Wednesday. Ambrose provided alcohol to MSU student Olivia Pryor, who was raped by Marquez Cannon and was later found dead of alcohol poisoning. Picture taken Wednesday 9/3/2014. (Lansing State Journal | Rod Sanford) (Photo: Rod Sanford | Lansing State Journal)
The incident dates back to March 2012. It involved a shot-drinking contest.
Another man, Marquez Cannon of Eastpointe, admitted raping Pryor after she was incapacitated. He pleaded guilty last year to first-degree criminal sexual conduct and is serving six to 20 years in prison.
Neither Cannon, now 20, or Ambrose were MSU students.
They were drinking with Pryor, who was from Detroit, and her roommate in their South Hubbard Hall dorm room. Pryor passed out. She was found unresponsive the next morning with a blood-alcohol level of 0.349, which could have been higher before her death.
Pryor's mother, Cynthia, talked about her daughter's dreams that will go unrealized.
Pryor was studying broadcast journalism. One of her goals, her mother said, was to become a "best-selling author."
"These were her dreams and aspirations that she...will never get the chance to...accomplish," she said.
"There are no words that can express the emptiness our family feels," she added. "We are no longer ourselves because of Olivia's death."
Read or Share this story: http://on.lsj.com/1rN04noMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption James Cook looks back at the life of former First Lady Nancy Reagan
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan has died at home in California at the age of 94.
Mrs Reagan, who had been living in Bel Air, Los Angeles, died of congestive heart failure, the Reagan library said.
Her 52-year marriage to Ronald Reagan was once described as the US presidency's greatest love affair.
From 1981-89 she was one of the most influential first ladies in US history; initially criticised for an expensive renovation of the White House, but later becoming a much-loved figure.
Nancy Reagan: Her husband's greatest supporter
Tributes to 'devoted' First Lady
She will be buried next to her husband, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, the library said in a statement.
US President Barack Obama said Mrs Reagan "redefined the role" of First Lady.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Nancy Reagan was always her husband's strongest supporter
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mrs Reagan had been in failing health in recent years
Image copyright AP Image caption Her husband Ronald Reagan died in 2004
Reaction
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama: "Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House. She was right, of course. But we had a head start, because we were fortunate to benefit from her proud example, and her warm and generous advice. Our former first lady redefined the role in her time here."
Image copyright Twitter
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted that "with the passing of Nancy Reagan, God and Ronnie have finally welcomed a choice soul home".
Stepson Michael Reagan tweeted: "I am saddened by the passing of my stepmother Nancy Reagan... She is once again with the man she loved. God bless..."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "I remember Nancy as a noble woman who supported President Reagan and stood by his side. She will be remembered as a great friend of the State of Israel,"
Tributes to 'devoted' First Lady
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The couple were married in 1952
Like Ronald, Nancy was a former Hollywood performer who made it all the way to the White House.
As Nancy Davis, she was an actress during the 1940s and 1950s and married Reagan, a prominent film actor, in 1952.
She served as first lady of California during her husband's stint as California governor from 1967 to 1975 before moving into the White House after his decisive victory over Democratic President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
As first lady, she sought to emulate the style of one of her predecessors, Jackie Kennedy.
To this end, she extensively redecorated the White House, and accepted designer dresses worth $1m (£600,000) and a 4,732-piece set of china worth $209,000.
But this spending spree provoked a huge outcry from people outraged by what they saw as profligacy and waste while millions of Americans were losing their jobs.
Public opinion was also swayed by accusations that Mrs Reagan had a frosty personality, often consulted astrologers, and ordered the dismissal of White House chief of staff Donald Regan in 1987.
"I see the first lady as another means to keep a president from becoming isolated," she once said.
"I talk to people. They tell me things. And if something is about to become a problem, I'm not above calling a staff person and asking about it. I'm a woman who loves her husband and I make no apologies for looking out for his personal and political welfare."
Nancy Reagan's best-known project as first lady was the anti-drugs "Just Say No" campaign.
After her husband died of Alzheimer's in 2004, she became a champion for Alzheimer's patients, raising millions of dollars for research and breaking with fellow conservative Republicans to argue for stem cell studies.Please enable Javascript to watch this video
AUBURN, Wash. – Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that happened Wednesday afternoon in Auburn.
No officers were injured in the shooting, which happened near 9th St. NE and Auburn Way N., near the Fred Meyer store.
Police say a detective attempted to pull over a stolen Acura earlier, but the driver fled and a short pursuit ensued. During the chase, another officer tried to hit the fleeing car to make it spin out, but that maneuver was unsuccessful.
Due to the busy nature of Auburn Way, officers stopped the chase.
But witnesses said the driver of the stolen Acura ran a red light at 9th St. NE hitting several cars.
"The driver of the car sprinted out of the car, hit and run, then he ran down that way and the cops were trying to stop him and all I heard was gunshots," Carline Penor, who saw the incident told Q13 News.
Police say the suspect, who is a man in his 20s, pulled a gun on the officers. They fired back.
No word on the suspect's injuries, but he was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The Auburn Police Department said the officer who shot the suspect had been with the department for several years and is part of the department's Proactive Detectives Unit that works undercover.
"They're detectives that would target areas with certain crime. If they're having a lot of criminal activity in a certain area maybe they'll work in that area," Commander Mark Caillier explained. "They're detectives that don't have a normal caseload."
No word on the conditions of the people who the suspect hit with the stolen Acura, but their injuries were said to be minor.
We'll update this article when more information becomes available.Photo
A four-decades-old study — recently discovered in a dusty basement — has raised new questions about longstanding dietary advice and the perils of saturated fat in the American diet.
The research, known as the Minnesota Coronary Experiment, was a major controlled clinical trial conducted from 1968 to 1973, which studied the diets of more than 9,000 people at state mental hospitals and a nursing home.
During the study, which was paid for by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and led by Dr. Ivan Frantz Jr. of the University of Minnesota Medical School, researchers were able to tightly regulate the diets of the institutionalized study subjects. Half of those subjects were fed meals rich in saturated fats from milk, cheese and beef. The remaining group ate a diet in which much of the saturated fat was removed and replaced with corn oil, an unsaturated fat that is common in many processed foods today. The study was intended to show that removing saturated fat from people’s diets and replacing it with polyunsaturated fat from vegetable oils would protect them against heart disease and lower their mortality.
So what was the result? Despite being one of the largest controlled clinical dietary trials of its kind ever conducted, the data were never fully analyzed.
Several years ago, Christopher E. Ramsden, a medical investigator at the National Institutes of Health, learned about the long-overlooked study. Intrigued, he contacted the University of Minnesota in hopes of reviewing the unpublished data. Dr. Frantz, who died in 2009, had been a prominent scientist at the university, where he studied the link between saturated fat and heart disease. One of his closest colleagues was Ancel Keys, an influential scientist whose research in the 1950s helped establish saturated fat as public health enemy No. 1, prompting the federal government to recommend low-fat diets to the entire nation.
“My father definitely believed in reducing saturated fats, and I grew up that way,” said Dr. Robert Frantz, the lead researcher’s son and a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. “We followed a relatively low-fat diet at home, and on Sundays or special occasions, we’d have bacon and eggs.”
The younger Dr. Frantz made three trips to the family home, finally discovering the dusty box marked “Minnesota Coronary Survey,” in his father’s basement. He turned it over to Dr. Ramsden for analysis.
The results were a surprise. Participants who ate a diet low in saturated fat and enriched with corn oil reduced their cholesterol by an average of 14 percent, compared with a change of just 1 percent in the control group. But the low-saturated fat diet did not reduce mortality. In fact, the study found that the greater the drop in cholesterol, the higher the risk of death during the trial.
The findings run counter to conventional dietary recommendations that advise a diet low in saturated fat to decrease heart risk. Current dietary guidelines call for Americans to replace saturated fat, which tends to raise cholesterol, with vegetable oils and other polyunsaturated fats, which lower cholesterol.
While it is unclear why the trial data had not previously been fully analyzed, one possibility is that Dr. Frantz and his colleagues faced resistance from medical journals at a time when questioning the link between saturated fat and disease was deeply unpopular.
“It could be that they tried to publish all of their results but had a hard time getting them published,” said Daisy Zamora, an author of the new study and a research scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The younger Dr. Frantz said his father was probably startled by what seemed to be no benefit in replacing saturated fat with vegetable oil.
“When it turned out that it didn’t reduce risk, it was quite puzzling,” he said. “And since it was effective in lowering cholesterol, it was weird.”
The new analysis, published on Tuesday in the journal BMJ, elicited a sharp response from top nutrition experts, who said the study was flawed. Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, called the research “irrelevant to current dietary recommendations” that emphasize replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat.
Frank Hu, a nutrition expert who served on the government’s 2015 dietary guidelines committee, said the Minnesota trial was not long enough to show the cardiovascular benefits of consuming vegetable oil because the patients on average were followed for only about 15 months. He pointed to a major 2010 meta-analysis that found that people had fewer heart attacks when they increased their intake of vegetable oils and other polyunsaturated fats over at least four years.
“I don’t think the authors’ strong conclusions are supported by the data,” he said.
To investigate whether the new findings were a fluke, Dr. Zamora and her colleagues analyzed four similar, rigorous trials that tested the effects of replacing saturated fat with vegetable oils rich in linoleic acid. Those, too, failed to show any reduction in mortality from heart disease.
“One would expect that the more you lowered cholesterol, the better the outcome,” Dr. Ramsden said. “But in this case the opposite association was found. The greater degree of cholesterol-lowering was associated with a higher, rather than a lower, risk of death.”
One explanation for the surprise finding may be omega-6 fatty acids, which are found in high levels in corn, soybean, cottonseed and sunflower oils. While leading nutrition experts point to ample evidence that cooking with these vegetable oils instead of butter improves cholesterol and prevents heart disease, others argue that high levels of omega-6 can simultaneously promote inflammation. This inflammation could outweigh the benefits of cholesterol reduction, they say.
In 2013, Dr. Ramsden and his colleagues published a controversial paper about a large clinical trial that had been carried out in Australia in the 1960s but had never been fully analyzed. The trial found that men who replaced saturated fat with omega-6-rich polyunsaturated fats lowered their cholesterol. But they were also more likely to die from a heart attack than a control group of men who ate more saturated fat.
Ron Krauss, the former chairman of the American Heart Association’s dietary guidelines committee, said the new research was intriguing. But he said there was a vast body of research supporting polyunsaturated fats for heart health, and that the relationship between cholesterol-lowering and mortality could be deceiving.
People who have high LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad kind, typically experience greater drops in cholesterol in response to dietary changes than people with lower LDL. Perhaps people in the new study who had the greatest drop in cholesterol also had higher mortality rates because they had more underlying disease.
“It’s possible that the greater cholesterol response was in people who had more vascular risk related to their higher cholesterol levels,” he said.
Dr. Ramsden stressed that the team’s findings should be interpreted cautiously. The research does not show that saturated fats are beneficial, he said: “But maybe they’re not as bad as people thought.”
The research underscores that the science behind dietary fat may be more complex than nutrition recommendations suggest. The body requires omega-6 fats like linoleic acid in small amounts. But emerging research suggests that in excess linoleic acid may play a role in a variety of disorders including liver disease and chronic pain.
A century ago, it was common for Americans to get about 2 percent of their daily calories from linoleic acid. Today, Americans on average consume more than triple that amount, much of it from processed foods like lunch meats, salad dressings, desserts, pizza, french fries and packaged snacks like potato chips. More natural sources of fat such as olive oil, butter and egg yolks contain linoleic acid as well but in smaller quantities.
Eating whole, unprocessed foods and plants may be one way to get all the linoleic acid your body needs, Dr. Ramsden said.
Related:
For more fitness, food and wellness news, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up for our newsletter.Whether you have an in-house dev team, you hired a consultant to build your backend, or you’re using a hosted backend like Parse, Firebase, or Telerik, it’s important to have a good feel for what the current state of your backend is. I put together a quick list of 9 of the questions you should be asking about your app’s API layer.
1. Where’s it hosted?
This is an important one to know: where is your app physically hosted? Make sure you know what service you’re using (AWS, Heroku, etc.), and that you have the credentials needed to log in to their admin panel. While AWS is probably the most popular service out there, there are plenty of good options available for hosting. You may also be using a Backend as a Service (BaaS) provider like Parse, Firebase, or Telerik.
2. How’s your data being stored?
Along the same lines of where it’s hosted, you should know how your data is being stored, since it can affect what you’re able to do with it. If you’re hosting on AWS, it’s likely you’re using a MySQL or PostgreSQL database, and you can easily export and move the data. If you’re on a BaaS provider, you’re probably not able to access the data directly, and it’ll be harder to export and move elsewhere.
3. Are there backups?
This is critical, especially if you’re on a more self-serve host. Make sure your data is being backed up regularly. If it’s not, you’re constantly at risk of losing everything. Along with setting up backups, make sure they’re actually running, and you should schedule a dry run every so often to test how the restore process works.
4. Can you scale when needed?
As you get more traffic, you’ll need to scale. It’s a good idea to find out what kind of headroom you have, and what potential bottlenecks/costs you’ll encounter as you start to scale. For instance, how much free disk space is there on your database? How much would it cost to add another application server? Knowing where your potential pain points are ahead of time can save you headaches and surprise costs when you need it.
5. Can you access an admin panel?
Along with your host’s admin panel, do you have a way to access your app’s data and information? Not all apps need this, but if you do have some sort of admin access, make sure you know how to access it, and that it’s properly password protected.
6. What framework is your app using, and is it up to date?
Your app is likely built on some sort of software framework, whether it’s Ruby on Rails, Node.js, or something else. The framework you’re using isn’t super important (though we like Rails), but what is important is that it’s up to date. Make sure you’re current on all of the latest security patches, so your backend remains secure from attacks.
7. Are you using SSL?
These days, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be using SSL for every connection to your server, to keep your users’ data secure. Find out if your application is using SSL for everything, and if it’s not, start looking into how you can set it up. It’s actually not too expensive, and it goes a long way in improving the security of your API calls.
8. Is there any monitoring set up?
Do you get alerted if your API goes down? If not, you could be losing money and customers without even knowing it. At the very least, you should set up something like Pingdom to get alerted as soon as your app is down. Beyond that, you can use a tool like New Relic to get deeper insight into downtime and performance degradations. Make sure you at least have email alerts set up, and if you really need to know right away, use a tool like PagerDuty to get alerted the instant something goes down.
9. How’s the performance?
Have you noticed any slowdowns recently? Is your app taking longer to load? It might not just be you! If you’ve recently gotten an influx of new users, it could be affecting the performance of your backend. Try to isolate what part of the app is running slow, and have your developers investigate what might be causing the issue. There’s always something to improve performance-wise.As workers race to stave off further melting at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in Japan, several robots there are waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity to help. Questions remain, however, regarding how these units might assist in an ongoing emergency at a site contaminated with radiation and deluged with tons of corrosive seawater.
Concrete pump trucks sprayed about 130 tons of water into Daiichi's No. 4 reactor on Wednesday, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) reported (pdf). Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) injected about 35 tons of seawater into the spent fuel pool of the No. 3 reactor to keep the fuel rods there from overheating, according to NISA, which also observed "slightly blackish" smoke generated from the building housing that reactor. Seawater is also being injected into the No. 1 reactor as well as the spent fuel pool of the No. 2 reactor.
TEPCo summoned a small corps of military-grade robots last week from iRobot Corp. in Bedford, Mass. Japan's Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. last week sent its Disaster Monitoring Robot, or Moni-Robo, to the Daiichi site as well. Other robotics companies, including Canada's Inuktun Services, are also fielding inquiries about how their technology might be of use. Each of the robots of interest moves on tracks and features a mechanical hand that can be used to lift and manipulate objects.
The roles that robots might play in Japan will depend upon the emergency responders' priorities, whether this includes handling intensely hot or radioactive materials or, later removing sludge from the site or drilling core samples to determine how deeply radiation may have penetrated the facility's walls and floor, says William "Red" Whittaker, a Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor and director of the Field Robotics Center at the school's Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh. Whittaker and several Carnegie Mellon colleagues built robots in the late 1970s and early 1980s to inspect and perform repairs in the basement of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station following the near meltdown there in 1979.
The robots
Mitsui's 600-kilogram Moni-Robo is reportedly on site at Daiichi. The one-armed robot is designed to be operated remotely—from as far as a kilometer away—and includes a camera that can take video as well as 3-D thermographic images. The 150-centimeter-tall Moni-Robo rolls along on tracks and also features sensors for measuring radioactivity and detecting combustible gases.
Inuktun, based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, specializes in making remote-controlled video cameras and "crawler" robots in a variety of sizes, ranging from the Versatrax 100 (which fits in a pipe 10 centimeters in diameter) to the Versatrax 450 TTC (which is 38 centimeters in diameter). These crawler bots are used primarily to inspect confined spaces such as pipes and sewers. "We have not sent any equipment to Japan specifically for the earthquake or Daiichi reactor site, but we do have a representative company in Tokyo that has some of our demonstration equipment," Inuktun president Colin Dobell says. "We believe it is being deployed, but we have not been able to confirm anything."
Four iRobot systems—two Packbots and two Warriors—reached Tokyo Monday night along with six of the company's engineers, who spent Tuesday unpacking the bots, installing batteries and running tests, says Tim Trainer, iRobot's vice president of operations. Given that the Packbot is designed primarily for explosive ordinance disposal and the Warrior is a prototype that will not be commercially available until this summer, iRobot's engineers still need to discuss the robots' capabilities, operation and limitations with TEPCo personnel, he adds.
The 68-kilogram iRobot Warriors were modified so they could carry a 6.4-centimeter fire hose should more water be needed somewhere. Each unit features an arm that can lift up to about 100 kilograms as well as an adjustable track system that allows it to climb stairs and travel up to 12.9 kilometers per hour.
One of the Packbots was fitted with a sensor that can detect radioactivity. Each 10.9-kilogram Packbot is equipped with a three-link arm that can lift up to about 13.6 kilograms, move debris and potentially relocate hazardous materials. In addition to being able to negotiate stairs, the Packbot can travel at up to 9.3 kilometers per hour and climb grades as steep as 60 degrees.
Undefined mission
It is unclear what role, if any, the Packbots and Warriors will play in TEPCo's efforts to restore power to its nuclear reactors and cool its on-site nuclear fuel rods. "We sent the robots without a defined mission in place but to assist where appropriate, whether this means delivering water to the fuel rods, moving equipment within the facility or cleaning up the facility once fuel has become stable," Trainer says.
Ultimately, the goal is to send the robots into the hazardous environment and keep those controlling the robots at a safe distance. "What we don't know is, what are the environments that we're talking about, can the robot sustain operations in those environments and, if they can, what value will they provide to the effort?" Trainer says. "Those things are all being figured out right now as the team is on the ground in Japan over the next several days."
All told, iRobot estimates that it is spending about $500,000 to $1 million worth of robots and spare parts to Japan, as well as several days' access to the company's engineers. Trainer made it clear that those engineers will pass along their knowledge of the robots to TEPCo and will not be going into the nuclear exclusion zones surrounding the reactors.
Radiation woes
Electronics can be made more radiation tolerant in a number of ways, Whittaker says. One is to keep the conductors and insulators on a device's silicon chips farther apart so that heat can more easily dissipate and the chip is more resilient. Another approach to keeping a system functioning in high-radiation environments is to implement redundant systems so it can function even if one of those systems is damaged.
As with most military equipment, the iRobot's units have integrated electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding to cover the wiring, circuit boards and anywhere else the robot might be susceptible to such interference. The company was concerned that the robots might not be able to operate wirelessly due to radiation interfering with radio signals to and from the robots, so it added fiber-optic tethered spoolers so the Packbots and Warriors could be tele-operated from up to 220 meters and 500 meters, respectively, Trainer says.
With the exception of its charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras and embedded electronics, Inuktun's crawlers are capable of operating in a medium-level radiation field and dosage, says Dobell. For high-radiation situations, the company typically installs radiation-tolerant cameras on its crawler equipment in order to get into the more dangerous areas. The robots themselves are built using stainless steel, which Dobell says allows for easier decontamination.
Water world
It is common in nuclear recovery to operate in shallow water, where a robot might need to be able to withstand being submerged, Whittaker says. This was the case in the basement of the Three Mile Island facility, where several hundred thousand liters of heavily contaminated cooling water had washed through the reactor, he adds. Even if the robot is not completely submerged in water, it will be working in a very wet environment. "In order to interface with humans [again] these robots also have to able to tolerate a high-pressure wash down," he says
Inuktun makes several submersible models. Neither the Packbot nor the Warrior was designed to work in extreme heat or to be submerged in water, though they are able to function in up to meter or so of water, Trainer says. These limitations could pose challenges, especially given TEPCo's ongoing efforts to deliver water to its overheated fuel rods by any means, including fire hoses and airplane drops.Seahawk starting left tackle George Fant suffered a potentially serious knee injury in Friday's preseason game against the Vikings.
The Seahawks suffered one potentially serious injury in the first half of Friday’s preseason game against the Vikings when left tackle George Fant was carted off the field with his right knee in an air cast.
The team announced after the game Fant will require surgery for an ACL injury and miss the 2017 season.
“Really broken hearted,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
Fant was injured on a play midway through the second quarter when quarterback Russell Wilson completed a nine-yard slant pass to tight end Marcus Lucas.
Fant was engaged with Minnesota defensive end Tashawn Bower when teammate Justin Britt, who was helping teammate Luke Joeckel with a block,, rolled into the back of Fant’s leg.
Fant went down quickly with teammates signaling to trainers. An air cast was then placed on his knee and Fant was carted off with Fant receiving sympathetic fists bumps from some teammates.
“It didn’t sound good, it didn’t look good,” said Joeckel. “It was tough to see. He’s going to be in my prayers. He is going to be in my family’s prayers. You never want to see that out on the field.”
Fant, in his second season, has emerged as the front-runner for the left tackle spot with coaches raving about his weight gain — roughly 25 pounds — and improved football sense after having spent most of his college career at Western Kentucky playing basketball. Fant started 10 games at left tackle last season as a rookie when injuries hit other players but this year appeared to be earning the job with his own play.
“He has worked so hard,” Wilson said. “He has done everything he could to prepare at the highest level this whole offseason.”
Second-year player Rees Odhiambo replaced Fant at left tackle for the rest of the first half.
But the Seahawks could also look to veteran free agent Luke Joeckel to play left tackle as well. Joeckel has been playing left guard and stayed at that spot in the first half after Fant was injured.
Offensive line coach Tom Cable earlier this week talked about his happiness with Fant’s progress this preseason.
“Just like you would hope that was a, really didn’t get to talk about it, that’s probably my biggest question going in is how would all this fit now?,” Cable said. “What would it feel like to him? How would be able to display it? And it was really exciting to see what came of what he’s done in terms of his learning curve and his training and all those things.”
Head coach Pete Carroll on Thursday had essentially named Fant and Joeckel as the starting left side of the line for the regular season.
“Luke Joeckel is going to start at left guard,” Carroll said. “George is starting at left tackle and we think that that’s a really good combination there at the left side. I feel really good about that right there, going into the next game. We are always growing with information, but I see Luke as our starting left guard and I see George as our starting left tackle right now.”
Wilson said he talked briefly to Fant after the injury.
“I talked to George in the training room about him just being upbeat and continuing to learn everything he can learn even though he is going to be out for a bit here,” Wilson said. “We don’t know exactly what is going on but he wants to continue to learn the game and that is key.”© AP Photo/Ng Han Guan Men gather on an elevated highway near the smoking remains of an explosion in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015. New explosions and fire rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin on Saturday, where one survivor was pulled out and authorities ordered evacuations within a 1.8-mile radius to clean up chemical contamination. TIANJIN, China (AP) — State media say the death toll from massive blasts in the Chinese port of Tianjin has risen to 104.
The new toll Saturday came rescuers scour the warehouse district devastated by a fire and series of explosions late Wednesday at a warehouse for hazardous chemicals.
Rescuers also found an additional survivor Saturday as authorities evacuated much of the area to clean up dangerous chemical contamination. Several additional small explosions rocked the disaster zone as the clean-up continued.
The toll includes at least 21 firefighters — making the disaster the deadliest for Chinese firefighters in more than six decades. Several remain missing.
A total of 720 people were injured in the disaster in Tianjin, a key port and petrochemical hub east of Beijing.Image copyright Getty Images
Ireland's pubs and beer are legendary, but the country's traditional drinking holes are experiencing a new phenomenon - the 12 days of Christmas have turned into the 12 pubs of Christmas... visited all in one night.
To pass the threshold of a true Irish pub is to enter a blessed world far from our darkest, modern woes. The burgundy colours of wood along with the stained and etched glass create a comforting, seductive atmosphere.
After four years spent real-pub-less abroad, I have returned to Ireland for the run-up to Christmas, my throat almost cracking with emotion, it emits the magical words: "Two pints, please."
The barman pours my pint slowly, with thought, and rests it on the long, stony counter together with others nestled on the bar like debutantes awaiting their first dance of the night.
My thirst quenched by the sweet, burnt, velvety black liquid, I notice the sounds and lights of the pub, the low mahogany tables and fire glowing in the hearth - a warm bower concealed from the icy storm outside.
Image copyright Erich Hartmann/Magnum Photos Image caption Ballad singers in a traditional Dublin pub, 1964
But suddenly, a hollering collection of young yahoos in garish Christmas jumpers adorned with flashing lights descends and I am abruptly jolted out of my reverie.
What on earth are they doing in what is affectionately known as an old man's pub, bereft of loud muzak, glassy fixtures, and wall-to-wall TVs? Their presence jars insanely with the aged, nicotine-consecrated walls I love so well.
"That will be the 12 pubs of Christmas brigade," explains my patient companion.
"They go from pub to pub taking a drink in each - 12 like the Christmas carol. Instead of the 12 days of Christmas it's visiting 12 pubs in one night. For the last three years it's grown to be a tradition in Ireland and is now massive."
We adjourn to a quieter pub but again find more seasonal sweaters and foolhardy souls up for the 12 pubs challenge. This group of about 20 from University College Dublin who have finished their exams are relatively quiet and considerate.
Image copyright Michael Fitzpatrick
"First you plan your route of 12, then you agree on rules," says one of them, John Hanney, who is on his sixth Guinness of the night.
Rules? "Oh yes, we have to have rules - for the banter, for the craic."
A quick search online brings some up:
Left-handed pub - drink only with your left hand
No swearing pub - no swearing
Silent pub - no speaking
Swapsies pub - swap shoes with someone in your group
I love my brick pub - you say a Father Ted phrase every time you drink
Moving-a-bit-of-furniture-from-one-pub-to-the-next pub
As for the route there are, rather like the 12 days of Christmas song itself, local variants and adaptations.
"The standard route in Dublin is to start at Upper Baggot Street, in the southern suburbs, and end up in Town - Grafton Street or even Temple Bar," adds Hanney referring to what's known as the Baggot Street Mile.
Dublin seems to be taking this mass phenomenon in its stride, perhaps because many, despite starting as early as 5pm, simply don't always manage the full monty.
Newsagent Dave Collins only reached six drinks last weekend. His excuse: "Distractions, like pretty girls, and the slow pace of some. The Irish are not fond of rushing as you know.
Image copyright Michael Fitzpatrick
"The 12 pubs offers us an excuse, and likewise our wives, to get together for an occasion. Do we do the 12? Does anyone? Probably not. With the distractions of modern life it's a welcome 'official' night out."
I couldn't find anyone in Dublin against the 12 pub challenge but the Irish health authorities warn about the harmful effects of heavy drinking.
"There remains a consistent trend for drunkenness among young Irish people," reads a statement from Alcohol Action, an Irish charity for alcohol-related issues.
"Until we legislate to protect them by addressing the pricing, availability and marketing of alcohol in Ireland then we will continue to see many of them drinking in a way that is harmful to their health and wellbeing," it warns.
While just over a third of the Irish population binge drink, 25% never drink alcohol at all, according to a survey by the Health Research Board of Ireland.
Perhaps the biggest casualty of what some see as 12 pubs "faux, forced-craic" is the dignity of these lovely old pubs themselves.
The Real Irish Pub (RIP) is under threat from commercialisation and the curse of wall-to-wall sport on flatscreen TVs that loom incongruously among the still-pots and shillelaghs (traditional sticks or cudgels).
But, by God, the stout is mighty and while the 12-pubbers come and go, the pub abides.
When drinking, you hear the blessing of good health, "Slainte!" And I often add a silent prayer of my own: "Please, if there is a God, make him Irish and never take this away."
Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inboxOlivia Judson on the influence of science and biology on modern life.
This is my last column for the time being: from today, I’m taking a year’s sabbatical.
Writing in this space is the most gratifying job I’ve ever had, but also the toughest. It’s like owning a pet dragon: I feel lucky to have it, but it needs to be fed high-quality meat at regular intervals... and if something goes wrong, there’s a substantial risk of being blasted by fire. And so, to ensure a supply of good meat in |
million in revenue. In August, Hubble raised $10 million, valuing the company at $210 million. In January, Hubble will use those funds to expand its business to Continental Europe. Its advertising strategy? Robo-Dan, with some help from Rosen. As Hubble advances into new territories, Facebook and the algorithm will be tagging along with them.SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Shelby Township police are looking for help in finding out where 28,000 pounds of stolen nuts ended up.
Police said a semitruck and its trailer were stolen last week from the area of Auburn and Ryan roads. The truck and trailer were found in Detroit, but they were empty.
Police said the trailer had been packed with 18 pallets, or 28,000 pounds, of packaged walnuts and other snack nuts.
The value of the nuts is more than $128,000, police said.
The department on Tuesday issued an appeal for information on its Facebook page — posting a mug shot of a squirrel along with details of the case.
Anyone with information on the theft of the semitruck or the location of the stolen nuts, is asked to call the Shelby Township police department at 586-731-2121, ext. 315.
Copyright 2015 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Soaring incidence of AIDS among circumcised populations …
… shows that foreskin not the problem and circumcision not the answer
Reports from the United States and several African countries show that, despite the WHO push for circumcision as the key strategy against AIDS in underdeveloped countries, HIV infection rates are increasing rapidly among circumcised populations. The most recent evidence to undermine the hypothesis that circumcision is the most effective preventive intervention against AIDS is a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, which reveals an HIV epidemic in the (largely circumcised) USA that rivals the problem in (largely circumcised) regions of Africa.
The NEJM reports that more than 1 in 30 adults in Washington, D.C., are HIV-positive — a prevalence higher than that found in Ethiopia, Nigeria, or Rwanda. Among men who have sex with men, the study reveals that in some parts of the USA as many as 30 per cent of active men are infected. With the overwhelming majority of adult males in the USA circumcised in infancy, these figures cast serious doubt the case that circumcision is a useful strategy against AIDS.
In other news, we find that 6 out of 10 new HIV cases in British Africans are among Muslims (almost all circumcised), and that in Uganda “confused” young Muslim men are having to be reminded that circumcision is not an adequate protection against sexual diseases. In Kenya, where mass circumcision of young men has been funded by the WHO and touted as the solution to the AIDS problem, it has been revealed that in two areas of almost universal male circumcision, HIV infections are rising rapidly – reaching 8.3 percent in Kenya’s coastal province. On top of that, women are complaining that circumcision is giving promiscuous men a false sense of security, and discouraging condom use.
The authors of the NEJM report suggest that ideology is hampering America’s approach to HIV prevention and point out that “Preventive interventions must be rooted in science, not driven by ideological concerns.” They mention homophobia as one of these ideologies, but we would suggest that posthephobia (irrational hatred of the foreskin) should also be listed among the ideological obsessions that hamper the fight against AIDS.
Most recently, a study of 4,889 men published in the journal AIDS has shown that circumcised gay men are not less likely to become infected with HIV. Headlined in the press as “Circumcision may not cut HIV spread among gay men”, the study in fact showed that HIV infection was higher among circumcised men than among the uncut After controlling for sexual behaviours and demographic factors the report concluded there was no difference between the two groups.
On this page
1. Rising incidence of HIV-AIDS in the United States
2. 60 per cent of new AIDS cases among British Africans affect Muslims
3. Kenya: Rapid rise in AIDS cases in areas of universal circumcision
4. Uganda: Muslim youth reminded that circumcision does not stop AIDS
5. Circumcised gay men at greater risk of AIDS
6. British researchers attack foreskin fetishism
7. Malawi bucks the WHO witchdoctors
8. Malaysia: AIDS more prevalent among (circumcised) Muslims
9. Swaziland: AIDS more common among circumcised men
10. Kenya: Circumcised men just as likely to be HIV-positive
11. Uganda: Circumcision campaign increases HIV infections
12. Zambia: Another study fails to find that foreskins increase risk of HIV
13. Zimbabwe: Despite circumcision propaganda, circumcised men still get AIDS
1. HIV and circumcision in United States
Social disadvantage and sexual networks to blame for AIDS spread, not foreskins
Despite Americans’ faith in circumcision as the most reliable form of health insurance known to man, and the high incidence of circumcision among American males, the prevalence of AIDS in some part of the United States now exceeds the infection rate in several hard-hit African countries. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports (18 March 2010) that the incidence of HIV infection in New York is 1 in 40 among Blacks, 1 in 10 among men who have sex with men, and 1 in 8 among injection drug users. In Washington DC the prevalence is 1 in 30 adults. In some urban areas the HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men is as high as 30 per cent – many times higher than the over all incidence of 7.8 per cent in Kenya and 16.9 per cent in South Africa.
The authors of the report attribute the high incidence of AIDS to promiscuity within specific communities, associated with interlocking sexual networks; social disadvantage, meaning poor education, less access to safe sex information, and greater probability of spending time in prison (where unsafe sex is the rule); and various health or moral ideologies that generate inappropriate control strategies.
The following extracts from the article make clear that the authors do not consider that “lack of circumcision” (i.e. normal male anatomy) is part of the problem, and hence do not believe that yet more circumcision is part of the solution.
1. Promiscuity and sexual networks
“Unlike the generalized HIV epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S. epidemic primarily affects certain discrete geographic areas — especially urban areas of the Northeast and West Coast and cities and small towns in the South (see U.S. map). Within these areas, specific neighborhoods are often disproportionately affected (see New York City map), in part because of residents’ engagement in unprotected sex within relatively insular social– sexual networks. Many of the populations most affected tend to have limited social mobility; thus, partner selection tends to concentrate transmission patterns and amplify spread within defined geographic areas. …
“The extent of the risk of acquiring HIV in the United States today is largely defined by a person’s sexual network rather than his or her individual behaviors. Understanding the context and settings in which risk is increased may lead to more robust and effective preventive interventions. For example, black men who have sex with men are at increased risk for HIV infection in part because of its high prevalence in their sexual networks and their likelihood of choosing racially similar partners; they have also been shown to be less likely than their white counterparts to be aware of their HIV status and thus are more likely to unknowingly transmit HIV.”
2. Social disadvantage
“Most glaringly, HIV disproportionately affects poor black Americans who have substandard education, unstable housing, and limited social mobility. This confluence of factors may result in high rates of incarceration, which threaten a community’s social fabric. Such vulnerable populations must be engaged in research, program development, and interventions that are culturally relevant and address the socioeconomic milieu in which HIV transmission occurs. …
The situation is similar for black and Hispanic women, whose increased risk of HIV acquisition is attributable in greater part to their vulnerable social and economic situations and their sexual networks than to their own risky behaviors. Socioeconomic disadvantage and instability of partnerships due to high rates of incarceration among men in their communities may lead women to engage in concurrent relationships or serial monogamy. In addition, they may be unaware of their partners’ HIV status or may be involved in abusive or economically dependent relationships and thus be unable to negotiate safer sex with their partners.”
Prison = unsafe sex
As the authors of the report acknowledge, the large number of Blacks and Hispanics in American prisons is a significant factor in the high and increasing incidence of AIDS among the Black and Hispanic population. A recent article in the New York Review of Books on the problem of rape and other sexual abuse in American gaols and juvenile detention centres points out that sexual contact, both forced and otherwise, is rife in such institutions, and that authorities, in their anxiety not to “condone” such practices, refuse to make condoms available. They thus ensure that most of the sexual contact that occurs is of the unsafe variety. The authors of the review quote the Report of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission as suggesting that the increasing incidence of HIV among American Blacks is the result of rape and other unsafe sex in prisons:
“In 2005–2006, 21,980 State and Federal prisoners were HIV positive or living with AIDS. Researchers believe the prevalence of hepatitis C in correctional facilities is dramatically higher, based on [the] number of prisoners with a history of injecting illegal drugs prior to incarceration. … The incidence of HIV in certain populations outside correctional systems is likely attributable in part to [sexual] activity within correctional systems. Because of the disproportionate representation of minority men and women in correctional settings it is likely that the spread of these diseases in confinement will have an even greater impact on minority men, women, and children and their communities.” (National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report, pp. 129–130).
The commissioners seem to be saying here, as delicately as they can, that they suspect prisoner rape has contributed to the way HIV infection in this country has shifted demographically: i.e., to the way in which AIDS has changed from being a predominantly gay disease to a predominantly black one.
David Kaiser and Lovisa Stannow, The rape of American prisoners, New York Review of Books, 11 March 2010.
3. Ideology
"Preventive interventions must be rooted in science, not driven by ideological concerns. Homophobia may have impeded the development of sexually appropriate prevention studies among men who have sex with men. Reluctance to fund studies of needle exchange or conditional cash transfer (providing financial incentives for healthy behavior) or to support work in high-risk venues, such as bathhouses, has hampered progress."
The authors of the article discuss homophobia (hostility to men who have sex with men) and moralistic objections to people who take injecting drugs as obstacles to the development of effective strategies to control the spread of AIDS. They might also have mentioned the moralistic objections to sex education that have hindered instruction in safe sex and distribution of condoms, and the diversion of funds to laughably ineffective “abstinence education"; and the posthephobia (irrational hatred of the foreskin) that has caused medical bureaucrats to focus on lack of circumcision as the most important factor in susceptibility to HIV infection, and thus on yet more circumcision as the most promising intervention.
But as officials in Africa have finally admitted (see below), circumcision is not sufficient to give immunity to AIDS. Only consistent use of condoms and practice of other forms of safe sex and the avoidance of promiscuity can guarantee that a person will remain uninfected; and if he is doing all that, there is no need for circumcision at all. He might as well hang on to his foreskin and exploit its vast potential for safe sex.
Source: Wafaa M. El-Sadr, Kenneth H. Meyer and Sally L. Hodder, AIDS in America: Forgotten but not gone, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 362, 18 March 2010, 967-970
2. Britain: 60 per cent of new AIDS cases among Africans are among African Muslims
Meanwhile in Britain, the British Broadcasting Corporation reports that six out of ten new AIDS cases among British African men are among Muslims. Since the vast majority of these men were circumcised as infants or children in accordance with Islamic custom, it is evident that circumcision has done nothing to protect them from the disease.
The BBC reports: According to Dr Shima Tariq, who has studied the transmission of HIV, more than half of newly diagnosed patients caught HIV through heterosexual sex, and two-thirds of them are of black African origin or descent. But most of this group are not Christian: six out of 10 are Muslim. Ibrahim, a Muslim who came to Britain from the Ivory Coast, is HIV positive. “It’s quite difficult for me because the thing is I can’t tell anybody. Because my family...nobody knows. None of my friends know. Nobody. Because if I tell them they will leave me alone and I will have to live alone and it will be a hard life for me.”
Along with a conservative African culture, religion has played a significant role in creating this taboo. Ismael is 40 and originally from Sudan. “The imams don’t talk too much about it, but they start off by saying ‘this is a taboo, this is a sin, a punishment from Allah’. When you disclose it, straight away they think you are gay, or maybe you got it from a prostitute or you did something bad and Allah is punishing you. That is why it has to be kept secret.”
The African HIV Policy Network has asked imams to break the taboo by talking openly about HIV. One of them, Mohamed Bashir of the North Brixton mosque in London, says imams need to acknowledge “that not everyone practises their religion to the letter”. There are Muslims who go to the mosque, who pray. They do everything similarly nicely and they suffer moments of lapse in judgement. They have extra-marital relations that they will not speak about, and engage in risky behaviour. Some imams might not want to admit that.”
Mohamed Bashir has agreed to train other imams on how to tackle the taboo. He accepts that in the face of HIV, condoms may be the lesser of two evils, but says communicating that to a congregation is a sensitive issue. “It won’t be considered responsible for an imam to say ‘when you’re making a mistake make sure you use a condom’, because that could be misunderstood as condoning that particular activity. In our awareness programme, literature is presented to members of the Muslim community. They can go to GM clinics, they can anonymously stock up on condoms. But to actively share them out, that wouldn’t be proper for an Islamic centre or an imam probably to do that.”
BBC World News, 1 December 2009
3. Kenya: Rapid rise in AIDS cases in areas of universal circumcision
And in Kenya, where circumcision is already practised on most boys as a matter of tribal custom or adherence to Islam, and uncircumcised men have been assaulted in the streets and forcibly circumcised by angry mobs, the incidence of AIDS is rising rapidly in regions where circumcision is near universal.
All Africa News reports
Nairobi: As thousands of young men in Nyanza Province troop to health centres to be circumcised in hopes of fending off HIV, new studies show it might be too early to claim victory. Although circumcision has been touted as one of the ways to prevent HIV infection, recent findings show an increase in HIV infection in regions where most males are circumcised. According to findings of the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey (Kais) released last week, North Eastern and Coast provinces, where 97 per cent of males are circumcised, registered an increase in HIV prevalence.
Within a span of five years, HIV prevalence in North Eastern and Coast provinces increased from 0 to 1.0 per cent and from 5.8 per cent to 8.3 per cent respectively. In the same period, HIV prevalence in Nyanza Province, where about 48 per cent of males are circumcised, stood at 15 per cent, the highest in the country.
These are sobering statistics for young men who have rushed to get circumcised in he belief that doing so would provide complete protection from HIV infection. The new findings of growing HIV prevalence among circumcised males indicates the practice cannot completely protect an individual from HIV infection unless it is combined with other practices including using condoms, being faithful to one partner, or abstaining from sex.
[In fact, using condoms, being faithful to one’s partner or consistently practising safe sex would provide near total protection from AIDS without the need for circumcision and all the risks, cost and loss that this surgery entails. The versatility, sensitivity and mobility of the foreskin provide greatly enlarged scope for safe sex practices.]
Health officials acknowledge that getting people to look at circumcision in the larger context of other factors and strategies can be challenging. “The figures from these two provinces are sending a warning that circumcision alone is not the magic bullet to controlling the disease. Other methods have to be used in combination,” said Dr Ibrahim Mohammed, Head of National Aids and STD Control Programmes in the Ministry of Medical Services.
The increase in prevalence in communities that circumcise indicates there are other factors that contribute to the spread of the disease among males in addition to being uncircumcised. Multiple sexual partners, low condom use and alcohol and drug abuse are some of the factors. “Unless we address all the reasons predisposing people to HIV infection, we might not make much headway,” said Judy Adero, who has lived with the virus for nine years. But scientists still believe circumcision will result in the lowering of HIV prevalence in provinces such as Nyanza.
[No real scientist would continue to believe something if the evidence against it started to pile up, or if a hypothesis was not consistently confirmed by subsequent experience. Belief in the superior effectiveness of circumcision against AIDS is actually concentrated more among public health and medical bureaucrats who are under pressure to produce quick fixes. Their continuing faith in circumcision is a typical prejudice, driven more by religious belief, tribal custom and American cultural commitment to circumcision than by genuine scientific open-mindedness.]
Women complain that circumcised men believe they are immune to AIDS and do not need to use condoms
Following the World Health Organisation’s policy decision to pour billions of medical aid money into circumcision, clinics offering free operations have been opened in many African countries. Vigorous propaganda campaigns urge uncircumcised men to get themselves done at these centres.
In Kenya, more than 30,000 men have been circumcised since the call first went out; the target of 100,000 circumcised men is expected to be reached by year’s end. Female activists, however, have criticised the way the whole operation is being carried out, arguing that it is making women more vulnerable as men engage in more frequent sex with multiple partners in the belief that their recent circumcision has made them immune to infection with HIV.
Circumcision not enough to stop AIDS, experts warn, All Africa News, 26 September 2009
4. Uganda: Muslim youth reminded that circumcision does not stop AIDS
In Uganda, to, circumcised Muslim men are having to be reminded that circumcision does not give them immunity to HIV infection. As East Africa News and Entertainment reports:
The Muslim Youth League has launched a campaign to fight against the spread of HIV among Muslims in the country. The Chairperson of the Youth League, Abdalla Karim Musitwa says the campaign will mainly target preventing HIV infection amongst the Muslim youths. Musitwa says recent researches showing circumcision helps to protect men from HIV infection has confused some Muslims to go on rampage having multiple sexual relationships without any protection hoping that they are safe because of being circumcised.
He says the campaign will among others convince Muslims that circumcision is not a guaranteed protection against HIV infection. Musitwa says the Muslim Youth League will be promoting abstinence and being faithful as the major means of protection against HIV infection. He says without a HIV cure in place, prevention of infections remains the key intervention against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Uganda Health News: Muslim youth launch campaign against HIV/AIDS
Ugpulse: East Africa News and Entertainment, 7 June 2009
5. Circumcised gay men at greater risk of AIDS
A study of 4,889 men published in the journal AIDS has shown that circumcised gay men are not less likely to become infected with HIV. Headlined in the press as “Circumcision may not cut HIV spread among gay men”, the study in fact showed that HIV infection was higher among circumcised men than among the uncut After controlling for sexual behaviours and demographic factors the report concluded there was no difference between the two groups.
See abstract of article below.
This result is similar to a British study of 12,433 gay men published in 2001 by Sigma Research, which indicated a significantly higher risk of HIV among circumcised men. After controlling for factors likely to influence circumcision status – such as age and living in London – the authors found no association between circumcision status and HIV.
David Reid, Peter Weatherburn, Ford Hickson, Michael Stephens, Know the score: Findings from the National Gay Men’s Sex Survey 2001 (Sigma Research: University of Portsmouth, 2002) Full text available here.
Later report here: Hickson F, Weatherburn P, Reid D, et al, Consuming passions: Findings from the United Kingdom Gay Men’s Sex Survey 2005. London: Sigma Research, 2007. PDF available from Sigma research
See below for letter from Sigma researchers to Sexually Transmitted Infections criticising the current foreskin obsession.
Circumcised men may be at greater risk of AIDS
Gust, Deborah A; Wiegand, Ryan E; Kretsinger, Katrina; Sansom, Stephanie; Kilmarx, Peter H; Bartholow, Brad N; Chen, Robert T
Circumcision status and HIV infection among MSM: Reanalysis of a Phase III HIV vaccine clinical trial
AIDS (Official Journal of the International AIDS Society), On-line publication, 17 February 2010
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Determine whether male circumcision would be effective in reducing HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM).
DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of the VAXGen VAX004 HIV vaccine clinical trial data.
METHODS: Survival analysis was used to associate time to HIV infection with multiple predictors. Unprotected insertive and receptive anal sex predictors were highly correlated, thus separate models were run.
RESULTS: Four thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine participants were included in this reanalysis; 86.1% were circumcised. Three hundred and forty-two (7.0%) men became infected during the study; 87.4% were circumcised. Controlling for demographic characteristics and risk behaviors, in the model that included unprotected insertive anal sex, being uncircumcised was not associated with incident HIV infection [adjusted hazards ratio (AHR) = 0.97, confidence interval (CI) = 0.56-1.68]. Furthermore, while having unprotected insertive (AHR = 2.25, CI = 1.72-2.93) or receptive (AHR = 3.45, CI = 2.58-4.61) anal sex with an HIV-positive partner were associated with HIV infection, the associations between HIV incidence and the interaction between being uncircumcised and reporting unprotected insertive (AHR = 1.78, CI = 0.90-3.53) or receptive (AHR = 1.26, CI = 0.62-2.57) anal sex with an HIV-positive partner were not statistically significant. Of the study visits when a participant reported unprotected insertive anal sex with an HIV-positive partner, HIV infection among circumcised men was reported in 3.16% of the visits (80/2532) and among uncircumcised men in 3.93% of the visits (14/356) [relative risk (RR) = 0.80, CI = 0.46-1.39].
CONCLUSIONS: Among men who reported unprotected insertive anal sex with HIV-positive partners, being uncircumcised did not confer a statistically significant increase in HIV infection risk. Additional studies with more incident HIV infections or that include a larger proportion of uncircumcised men may provide a more definitive result.
Real conclusion
The real conclusion is that circumcision probably makes no difference to the risk of contracting HIV during male/male sex, but may increase the risk. Being Americans, these researchers are determined to go on wasting public money until they have manufactured enough verbiage to get the foreskin convicted.
6. Sigma researchers attack obsession with foreskin
The authors of the Sigma Research study are critical of the current obsession with circumcision as the magic bullet against AIDS. In 2008 they pointed out he flaws in an editorial in the British journal Sexually Transmitted Infections that called for circumcision of men who have sex with men as a means of reducing their risk of infection with HIV. The editorial was just the sort of opinion piece – long on rhetoric and short on evidence – that newspapers love to headline, and blithely oblivious to the fact that most men who have sex with men find the presence of their foreskin an important component of their sexual experience. The Sigma researchers expressed concern at the medical researchers’ focus on the innocent foreskin at the expense of “much more promising interventions than circumcision”.
Their letter was not published in the print edition of the journal, but only in the on-line edition, accessible only to subscribers. It is reproduced in full here in order to make it more readily available.
The editorial to which Hickson et al replied was Abigail MacDonald, Joanna Humphreys, Harold W. Jaffe, Prevention of HIV transmission in the UK: What is the role of male circumcision?, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Vol. 84 (3), 2008, 158-160.
Dear editor, If MacDonald, Humphreys and Jaffe (2008, STI, 84) are correct in their contention that circumcising men who have sex with men will result in a reduction in HIV incidence among this population, then we would expect circumcised MSM in the UK have a lower incidence of HIV than uncircumcised MSM. This should be reflected in HIV prevalence and since there is no reason to think that circumcision promotes diagnoses of HIV, this difference should be reflected in the prevalence of diagnosed HIV.
In 2001 we carried out a short, community-based, self-completion survey among 12,433 White British men aged 16 and over, living in the UK, who had sex with another man in the last year and/or identify as gay or bisexual. Fieldwork was conducted over the summer at Gay Pride events (52.1% of respondents), on-line through commercial gay web sites (31.6%) and through community based HIV prevention organisations (16.3%). Self report is a valid measure of circumcision in MSM (Termpleton et al., 2008, STI, 84).
Overall, 0.5% (n=64) indicated they did not know whether they had been circumcised or not. Excluding these men, 18.6% (2438/13,127) of respondents said they had been circumcised.
Circumcised men were as a group, older than un-circumcised men (mean age 36.5 years, sd 12.0, median 35, range 16-82 compared with mean 32.3, sd 10.2, median 31, range 16-79). The proportion of men who were circumcised increased step-wise with increasing age (11.9% of teens, 14.7% among those in their 20s, 16.8% in the 30s, 21.7% in the 40s and 38.1% among those 50 and older). More of the circumcised men lived in London (24.8% compare with 19.6% of un-circumcised men ).
Overall, 4.6% of respondents indicated they were living with diagnosed HIV infection. Circumcised men were not more or less likely to be living with diagnosed HIV (5.2% compared with 4.5% in un-circumcised men: chi squared = 1.84, p=0.175). In a multiple logistic regression controlling for age and living in London, the odds ratio of a circumcised man living with diagnosed HIV to an un-circumcised man doing so was 1.01 (95% confidence interval 0.81-1.25).
This suggests that circumcising MSM will make no difference to HIV incidence in this population. Since HIV acquisition in the UK is highly concentrated in MSM (HPA, 2008) and since identification of future MSM pre -puberty is not feasible, this suggest circumcision has little part to play in the UK HIV epidemic. Those concerned with the UK epidemic should be looking elsewhere for solutions. We have no doubt that a multi-pronged approach to minimising HIV infections is required. We also have little doubt that maximising circumcision is not one of them among MSM in the UK. Minimising nitrite inhalant use during unsafe sex might, on the other hand, have a very real effect (McDonald et al. 2008, STI, 84). We support MacDonald, Humphreys and Jaffe's call for more experimental research about HIV among MSM in the UK but stress that these have yet to be done for much more promising interventions than circumcision.
Source: Ford C.I. Hickson, David Reid, Peter Weatherburn, Michael Stephens, Circumcised MSM in the UK no less likely to be living with HIV, e-letter, Sexually Transmitted Infections, 5 August 2008.
Sexually Transmitted Infections can be searched here. Articles published pre-2006 are freely available; after that, a subscription is required.
7. Malawi bucks the WHO witchdoctors
Malawi is a small country in east central Africa, sandwiched between Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. The Secretary to the Office of the President, responsible for HIV/AIDS and Nutrition, Dr. Mary Shaba, has said Malawi cannot follow World Health Organisations recommendations to adopt widespread circumcision of men as a weapon to reduce the spread of HIV through heterosexual contact.
Although the WHO claims that circumcised males are 60 percent less likely to contract HIV through sexual intercourse, Shaba points out that Malawi is not a circumcised country and that those cutting off their children’s foreskin are doing it for religious and cultural reasons. “So it is mainly the Moslems and the Yaos who are doing circumcisions and some of the Lhomwe group,” she said in Capital Radio interview. “Malawi the way it is when you look at the statistics, you find that the majority would already be asking “Are we all becoming Moslems?” if you go that line.”
Shaba said Malawi has no policy and guidelines on circumcision. She said she has been asking for a report to study what condition circumcisions are done in countries doing it and what practices were followed after circumcision. “I have been asking for a report from all those people who have claimed that people are being protected, nobody has been able to give me the report. I want the report. I need to look at the methodology. I need to look at the cultural practices surrounding circumcision," said the free-speaking Shaba.
She pointed out that in Malawi HIV is most prevalent in areas where circumcision is practiced, and that many have died of AIDS in those particular districts.
“We are not a circumcised country as a nation. Circumcision is mainly practiced on a religious basis, and very few of the tribes practice circumcision. You can’t take what is done elsewhere and say we are going to do in Malawi.” She also pointed out that male circumcision will not be effective to fight HIV/AIDS because the new infection rate is highest among women.
Shaba also noted that circumcision can cause some problems for the penis.
Shaba says Malawi cannot follow Rwanda on circumcision to fight Aids, Nyasa Times, 26 January 2010
Officials annoyed by local reluctance, as private clinics try to take advantage of foreign health aid money
LILONGWE, 13 April 2010 (PlusNews): Circumcision is controversial in Malawi and the government has yet to implement a program. But a chain of private clinics run by Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM) – Future Family in the local Chichewa language – has rolled out the procedure at its network of 30 national clinics in 2009. It is the only organization offering circumcision as part of an HIV prevention package.
Following WHO directives, Malawi’s National HIV Prevention Strategy 2009-2013 acknowledges the role of circumcision, but it falls short of outlining a clear policy, and Brendan Hayes, the head of BLM, has admitted that circumcision has been a hard sell. “In Malawi, you’ve got very big differences in the HIV epidemic from north to south, and those differences don’t correlate to differences in circumcision prevalence. High HIV prevalence rates are in the southern part of the country, which is also where we have the most circumcision,” he told IRIN/PlusNews. “These differences aren’t totally inexplicable but I think it’s made people more cautious about moving forward with male circumcision.”
Confusion and controversy
Southern Malawi has a large migrant labour population and an HIV prevalence of about 18 percent, accounting for almost 70 percent of the country’s HIV infections, according to government figures. Circumcision is culturally less prominent in northern Malawi, where the prevalence of HIV is also lower.
The mismatch between HIV prevalence and circumcision incidence has raised doubts among some high-level health officials, particularly Principal Secretary for HIV and AIDS within the Presidency, Dr Mary Shawa [or Shaba]. Earlier this year, Shawa argued that she had not yet been presented with enough clinical evidence on circumcision, and that its efficacy was questionable given the high HIV prevalence among traditionally circumcising populations in the south. Shawa also questioned the acceptability of the practice among ethnic groups that did not traditionally perform the procedure.
Source: PlusNews
8. Malaysia: AIDS most prevalent among (circumcised) Muslims
In Malaysia, the local AIDS Council reports that 72 per cent cent of AIDS/HIV Sufferers in Malaysia are Muslims. In view of the facts that only 60 per cent of the Malaysian population is Muslim, and that nearly all Muslim malls are circumcised when young boys, this figure must mean that the majority of AIDS cases there are found in circumcised men.
KUALA TERENGGANU, June 9 (Bernama) -- More than 70 per cent of the 87,710 HIV/AIDS sufferers in the country are Muslims, Malaysian AIDS Council vice-president Datuk Zaman Khan said on Wednesday. Therefore, he said, the celebration for this year's World AIDS Day would emphasise efforts to enhance the participation of and awareness on AIDS among Muslims. He said what was more worrying a report by the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS)on AIDS which stated that nine Malaysians were infected with the disease everyday. Also of concern was the spread of the disease among women, from 9.5 per cent in 2000 to 20 per cent last year, he said when speaking at a function to commemorate World AIDS Day here Tuesday night.
He said that in 2000 the main cause of women being infected with HIV/AIDS was drug addiction, but lately, it had been attributed to heterosexual sex (30 per cent). This happened because of lack of concern and cooperation from the society to protect women from the disease, he added. On HIV/AIDS sufferers in Terengganu, he said, a total of 315 new cases were reported last year. Kelantan recorded the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases at 596, followed by Pahang (431) and Selangor (378), he added.
Bernama: Malaysian National News Agency, 9 June 2010
Further information
Studies casting doubts on wild claims of African "circumcision to stop AIDS" experiments
9. Swaziland: Circumcised men more likely to have AIDS
Despite the hype about circumcision as the magic bullet against HIV infection, new figures from Africa show that AIDS is more common among circumcised men.
Australian circumcision promoters are hitting the headlines with demands for mass circumcision of baby boys in Australia as a precaution against HIV acquired from unprotected heterosexual intercourse. In support of this proposal they refer to old evidence from Africa as to the protective effect of circumcision against heterosexually acquired HIV infection, as shown in three clinical trials. While the World Health Organisation rolled out circumcision programs with funds provided by Bill Gates and President Bush, sceptics warned that the trials were riddled with scientific flaws and that it was far too early to tell whether circumcision would have a significant protective effect in the real world - quite part from the vast cost and serious ethnical doubts. Recent news from Africa is proving the sceptics correct, as the incidence of AIDS in many Africa countries continues to rise among circumcised populations.
In Swaziland, a small nation in south central Africa, where the government is planning particularly ambitious programs, it was recently revealed that the incidence of HIV infection was significantly higher among circumcised men. According to government figures, the incidence of HIV among circumcised men is currently at 22 per cent, but among uncircumcised men at only 20 percent. These are both astronomical figures (nothing like the situation in Australia), but they do not show any evidence of circumcision having a protective effect against HIV; on the contrary, looking at these figures, you would have to conclude that circumcision increased the risk of infection with AIDS.
What is even more scandalous is that the Swaziland government was perfectly aware of these figures when it decided to roll out the circumcision programs. Makes you wonder how some of the Gates/Bush billions have been spent.
Swaziland: Incidence of AIDS higher among circumcised men
Times of Swaziland, 19 September 2010
MBABANE – Even though male circumcision is considered to have a protective effect for HIV infection, circumcised men have a slightly higher HIV infection than those who are not. The Times SUNDAY can today reveal that government has known this for close to three years. It is contained in the Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey (SDHS) of 2007 which still prevails. This report summarises findings of the 2006 survey carried out by the Swaziland Central Statistical Office (SCO). The report places the infection rate for circumcised males at 22 per cent while for those uncircumcised stands at 20 per cent.
The report states that the protective aspect of male circumcision is based in part because of the physiological differences that increase the susceptibility to HIV infection among uncircumcised men. However, the relationship between |
to the South at the secluded facility outside Seoul for as long as six months for debriefing and to ferret out spies. Human rights researchers and opposition lawmakers have quoted some former inmates as saying they were subjected to abusive language, violence and threats of deportation while they were held there.
The agency has responded that it honors all inmates’ human rights.
But three years ago, events inside the facility, once called the Joint Interrogation Center, became the focal point of a scandal that eventually led to the resignation of the government’s intelligence chief.
In 2013, a court threw out a spy charge that the intelligence agency had built against a refugee from North Korea. The charge relied on confessions the defector’s sister had made at the facility. But the sister later said that she had been coerced into making false accusations against her brother while being held for 179 days in near isolation and without legal representation.
President Park Geun-hye later apologized for the scandal, and the facility was renamed the Center for Protection of North Korean Refugees.
Some of the lawyers who exposed that scandal are among those demanding access to the 12 waitresses as part of a campaign to make the location more transparent.
They have also faced a backlash. The conservative news media in the South has accused them of abetting North Korea’s tactic of using the women’s families as leverage against them. Outside the courthouse on Tuesday, conservative activists and defectors rallied, calling the lawyers “commies.”
“Their power of attorney is not from the women’s families but from the North Korean government,” said a statement from the Solidarity of Lawyers for Liberty and Unification, which criticized the other lawyers’ group.Wanderlei Silva will headline Bellator's most important card in the promotion's history in June at Bellator 180 and will finally get the chance to go head-to-head with longtime rival Chael Sonnen in an MMA cage.Although there won't be a belt on the line, Silva vs. Sonnen will be the last of a big night of fights in New York City, as three title fights dot the show. Not yet able to produce superstars at the same rate as it snatches fans around the globe, MMA still often relies on its veterans and pioneers to generate crowds and numbers, even though many of those legends are past their prime and unable to perform at the level that made them popular years -- or decades -- ago.With that in mind, Vitor Belfort recently revealed his desire to create a "Legends League," a veteran's division of sorts. It's an idea that his old rival Silva can get behind."A 'Legends league' of fighters at our age, over 40, is very interesting," Silva told AG. Fight. "Suddenly, with rounds that are a little bit shorter and a little bit of a longer break (in between rounds), there are a lot of good guys that could make our sport grow. (It's a) great idea, it's very good for the fans to see those fighters live who they never could. I had the honor of seeing Royce Gracie against Ken Shamrock live. Fans appreciate the quality of the fight, but more important is to be part of the story."Not currently showing the desire to win a belt once more in his career, "The Axe Murderer" already has three names in mind for after his fight against Sonnen: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort -- all former rivals Silva sees as potential opponents after facing them back in Pride FC, the UFC or both promotions.While Jackson, whom Silva fought three times already, now also fights for Bellator but recently went up to the heavyweight division, Henderson retired last October. And while compatriot Belfort has already stated he will be making his last UFC appearance in June before hanging up his gloves, nothing seems to shake Silva's belief that he'll get his revenge against Belfort, who famously knocked him out in 44 seconds at UFC Sao Paulo in 1998."These three fights are the kind of fights that I would like to do," Silva said. "Renowned names, fights that are going to have an audience (…). I have a story with each one of them."Back in 2014, when they coached the third season of "The Ultimate Fighter Brazil," Silva and Sonnen briefly fought each other on set during filming. With one punch being thrown and one takedown being landed before the scuffle was broken up, there is clearly a lot of bad blood left between the two rivals."It's the same feeling," Silva said. "The rivalry is stronger than ever, it's one of the only fights I would like to have done and I did not do it. I'm very happy to make this fight and, more than that, this guy... I'm glad I did not go to the press conference. I'm focused, and the next time I see him, I will get to put my hands on him. I don't like this talking. [Jose] Aldo and [Conor] McGregor, I don't know how Aldo managed to control himself. I don't have that kind of control. If you say bullshit, I'll put my hands on you."Viktor Belenko’s military ID
Viktor Ivanovich Belenko (Russian: Виктор Иванович Беленко, born 15 February 1947) is a former Soviet pilot who defected to the West while flying his MiG-25 'Foxbat' jet fighter and landed in Hakodate, Japan. George H. W. Bush, the Director of Central Intelligence at the time, called the opportunity to examine the plane up close an "intelligence bonanza" for the West.[1] Belenko later became a U.S. aerospace engineer.[citation needed]
Early life and defection [ edit ]
Belenko’s knee pad notebook with flight data
Belenko was born in Nalchik, Russian SFSR, in a Ukrainian family. Lieutenant Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment, 11th Air Army, Soviet Air Defence Forces based in Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai. On 6 September 1976, he successfully defected to the West, flying his MiG-25 "Foxbat" jet fighter to Hakodate, Japan.[2]
This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, and it revealed many secrets and surprises. His defection caused significant damage to the Soviet Air Force.[3] Belenko was granted asylum by U.S. President Gerald Ford, and a trust fund was set up for him, granting him a very comfortable living in later years. The U.S. Government debriefed him for five months after his defection, and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter. Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 "Foxbat", expecting to assist U.S. pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft.
Belenko was not the only pilot to have defected from the Soviet Union in this way, nor was he the first such to defect from a Soviet-bloc country. He may have been aware of the U.S. government's policy of awarding large cash prizes to defecting pilots of communist countries [1]. In March[4] and May 1953,[5] two Polish Air Force pilots flew MiG-15s to Denmark. Later in 1953, North Korean pilot No Kum Sok flew his MiG-15 to a U.S. air base in South Korea;[6] this MiG is on permanent display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.[7] Later, Soviet Captain Aleksandr Zuyev flew his MiG-29 to Trabzon, Turkey on 20 May 1989.[8] That MiG-29 was promptly returned to the Soviets.
Post-defection life in the United States [ edit ]
In 1980, the U.S. Congress enacted S. 2961, authorizing citizenship for Belenko. It was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on 14 October 1980, as Private Law 96-62.[9][10]
After his defection, he co-wrote a 1980 autobiography, MiG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko with Reader's Digest writer John Barron.[11]
While residing in the United States, Belenko married a music teacher from North Dakota, Coral, and fathered two sons, Tom and Paul. He later divorced. He also has a son from his first marriage. Belenko has never divorced his Russian wife.[12] After the breakup of the Soviet Union, he visited Moscow in 1995 on business.[13]
Belenko almost never appears in interviews. However, in a brief and informal bar interview in 2000 where he posed for pictures and responded to questions, he stated that he was happy in the United States, remarking that "[Americans] have tolerance regarding other people's opinion. In certain cultures, if you do not accept the mainstream, you would be booted out or might disappear. Here we have people, you know, who hug trees, and people who want to cut them down -- and they live side by side!"[14][15]
The Soviet Union repeatedly spread false stories about Belenko being killed in a car accident, returning to Russia, being arrested and executed or otherwise brought to justice.[16]
Aftermath [ edit ]
The MiG-25's arrival in Japan was a windfall for western military planners. The Japanese government originally only allowed the United States to examine the plane and do ground tests of the radar and engines, but subsequently invited the U.S. to examine the plane extensively. It was dismantled for this purpose in Japan.[17] The plane was moved by a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft from Hakodate to Hyakuri Air Base on 25 September, and by this time experts had determined that the plane was an interceptor, not a fighter-bomber, which was a welcome reassurance for Japanese defence.[18]
The Japanese government laid out a plan on 2 October to return the aircraft in crates from the port of Hitachi and bill the Soviets US$40,000 for crating services and airfield damage at Hakodate.[19] The Soviets unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a return via one of their own Antonov An-22 aircraft and attempted to organize a rigorous inspection of the crates, but Japan refused both demands and the Soviets finally submitted to the Japanese terms on 22 October.[20] The aircraft was moved from Hyakuri to the port of Hitachi on 11 November on a convoy of trailers. It left in 30 crates aboard the Soviet cargo ship Taigonos on 15 November 1976 and arrived about three days later in Vladivostok.[21] A team of Soviet technicians had been allowed to view subassemblies at Hitachi, and upon finding 20 missing parts,[22] one being film of the flight to Hakodate,[21] the Soviets attempted to charge Japan US$10 million. Neither the Japanese nor Soviet bill is known to have been paid.[19]
A senior diplomat described the Soviet position as "sulky about the whole affair".[23] The CIA concluded at the time that "both countries seem anxious to put the problem behind them" and speculated that the Soviets were reluctant to cancel a series of upcoming diplomatic visits because "some useful business is likely to be transacted, and because the USSR, with its political standing in Tokyo so low, can ill afford setbacks in Soviet–Japanese economic cooperation."[24]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]Two al Qaida-linked rebel groups in Syria appear to be distancing themselves from each other in what may be an effort by the Nusra Front, which the United States has branded as an international terrorist organization, to remain relevant amid signs that major portions of the Syrian population are chafing under harsh rule by conservative religious fighters.
A series of incidents in which residents and fighters in rebel-held areas have protested what they say is a heavy-handed approach to a raft of issues have put Nusra and the other group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, on the political defensive even as the umbrella group of rebels that the West recognizes, the Free Syrian Army, comes under pressure by the United States to reduce the groups’ influence.
“The jihadists are rightly worried that the U.S. will demand action against jihadists as a vetting bottom line. They talk a lot about the FSA being recruited by the CIA to fight them,” said Joshua Landis, an associate professor at University of Oklahoma who’s an expert on Syria.
When the Obama administration agreed last month to supply weaponry to the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council, it quickly became clear that ensuring that those weapons didn’t go to Nusra or the Islamic State was a major condition of the aid, which nevertheless has been slow to materialize. Adding to the tensions has been the killing by an Islamic State member of a commander from a pro-Free Syrian Army unit in the mountains along the Syrian coast, allegedly in a dispute over a checkpoint.
In an effort to tamp down the perception that the Free Syrian Army was powerless over these al Qaida-linked groups, a commander in the area said the Free Syrian Army had demanded an arrest. The Islamic State’s response was to order the arrest and trial of the suspected shooter.
That hasn’t yet happened. “There has been no reaction from his group,” said Tasmim al Laathiqiyah, a member of the Khalwah Bin al Azwar Battalion, a rebel unit affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.
In another incident, disgruntled civilians in the northern city of Aleppo demonstrated over the weekend to protest Islamic State checkpoints that prohibited them from visiting government-controlled portions of the city.
The issue for Nusra is to not become the target of that bitterness. Nusra was created by veterans of al Qaida in Iraq, the jihadi organization that gained fame during the U.S. occupation of Iraq by opposing the American presence and later battling that country’s Shiite Muslim majority in a bitter sectarian war.
Nusra’s approach in Syria – many of its members are Syrians who fought against the American presence in Iraq – has been shaped by what happened to al Qaida in Iraq, whose harsh policies eventually turned Sunni Muslim tribal leaders against it. Once the tribal leaders rebelled, they joined with the United States to push the group out of Iraq’s largest province, Anbar.
While the United States has said Nusra and al Qaida in Iraq are indistinguishable from each other – the U.S. designation of Nusra as a terrorist organization declared it to be simply an alias for al Qaida in Iraq – some analysts say Nusra has adopted more palatable policies, even as its leader, Abu Mohamed al Jawlani, has pledged allegiance to al Qaida and its leader, Ayman al Zawahiri.
Analysts and Free Syrian Army commanders in Syria say Nusra has avoided the grisly executions of regime figures and its suicide operations have generally been smaller than the massive attacks on civilian targets that al Qaida-style groups favor. They say it’s clear Nusra wants to be thought of first as an organization that’s fighting President Bashar Assad rather than one that’s pressing an international radical Islamist program.
“It’s always been obvious that Nusra has been presented as a Syrian organization dedicated to fighting the regime of Assad,” said Charles Lister, an analyst with IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in London. “They’ve focused on fighting and assisting the population and have maintained they’re open to local and national government policies. This is clearly part of the lessons they’ve learned in the past” in Iraq.
The al Qaida connections to Nusra and the Islamic State, whose membership includes many non-Syrians, were made clear in April, when Zawahiri intervened in a dispute between the groups over whether they were one group or two separate ones. That dispute arose after the Islamic State, which is headquartered in Iraq and is a successor organization to al Qaida in Iraq, announced that it and Nusra were one. Many in Nusra objected to the pronouncement, and to demonstrate its independence, Jawlani announced his allegiance to Zawahiri within days.
Zawahiri settled the dispute by decreeing that the two groups are separate and that Nusra’s area of operations was Syria, while the Islamic State should operate primarily in Iraq.
Laathiqiyah, the Free Syrian Army official, said it remained unclear how independent the two groups were but that Nusra received less criticism from rebels and civilians alike.
“We no longer know (the difference), but what people say on the ground is that Nusra is better,” he said. “We no longer know the truth, sadly.”
Laathiqiyah also acknowledged that Nusra remains the most effective anti-Assad military force, spearheading most of the anti-Assad victories, a fact that’s given potential international supporters of the rebels pause. “From a jihadi point of view, it seems to be that where there is (Nusra) there is progress in our favor,” he said.
In the eastern city of Raqaa, which Nusra seized earlier this year, a Free Syrian Army commander reached by phone said the differences between the groups were abundantly clear and that the Islamic State had abused its power over civilians with summary executions that circumvented the area’s concept of tribal justice.
“Two days ago, for example, a youth was held by (the Islamic State) and they executed him in front of the people without referring to the Shariah Commission that was in the city or even the military or civilian council in the city,” said the commander, who calls himself Abu Bakr. “Now they are spreading pamphlets with prayer times.”
Lister, of IHS Jane’s, said that while the groups shared a nearly identical ideology, Nusra was trying hard to argue that it was different in an effort to compete for influence.
“How much they militarily coordinate is unclear in some cases but they’re rivals in recruitment and for influence,” he said. So far, the two groups haven’t clashed with each other, he added, but the disagreement that broke out in April made it clear “that Nusra wants to be the only al Qaida group in Syria.”MSNBC host Rachel Maddow had bad news for Sen. Rand Paul on Friday: she noticed him trying to bury his underwhelming fundraising performance in a “Friday night news dump.”
The Tea Party senator quietly announced on Friday that two super PACs supporting his campaign had raised just $5 million through the first half of the year, with 40 percent of that coming from just two donors — putting him between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, which is not a position any would-be serious contender wants to be in.
Considering that Paul is an object of fascination by Washington media, she added, that lack of support also undermined the notion that he would be able to capitalize on the donor network his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, built during his own career.
“Rand Paul’s not supposed to be any other Republican candidate — he’s supposed to be the leader of a movement of diehard followers who would have done anything for Ron Paul, and they’ll do anything for Rand Paul,” Maddow said. “Well, it turns out one of the things those people will not do for Rand Paul is send him any money.”
While the younger Paul is having trouble raising money, Maddow said, supporters for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have bought $250,000 worth of advertising time on Fox News in an effort to boost his national profile ahead of the first GOP candidate debate.
The conservative network has already said it would allow just the top 10 candidates in the polls to participate, Maddow said, effectively forcing them to buy national ads instead of focusing on traditional campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“It’s a great racket that Fox has set up,” she said, adding, “Ka-ching! Must be very nice for Fox.”
Watch Maddow’s commentary, as aired on Friday, below.Shia identity is rooted in victimhood over the killing of Husayn, the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, in the seventh century, and a long history of marginalization by the Sunni majority. Islam’s dominant sect, which roughly 85 percent of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims follow, viewed Shia Islam with suspicion, and extremist Sunnis have portrayed Shias as heretics and apostates.
Sunni and Shia Muslims have lived peacefully together for centuries. In many countries it has become common for members of the two sects to intermarry and pray at the same mosques. They share faith in the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed’s sayings and perform similar prayers, although they differ in rituals and interpretation of Islamic law.
Alongside the proxy battle is the renewed fervor of armed militants, motivated by the goals of cleansing the faith or preparing the way for the return of the messiah. Today there are tens of thousands of organized sectarian militants throughout the region capable of triggering a broader conflict. And despite the efforts of many Sunni and Shia clerics to reduce tensions through dialogue and counterviolence measures, many experts express concern that Islam’s divide will lead to escalating violence and a growing threat to international peace and security.
Islam’s schism, simmering for fourteen centuries, doesn’t explain all the political, economic, and geostrategic factors involved in these conflicts, but it has become one prism through which to understand the underlying tensions. Two countries that compete for the leadership of Islam, Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, have used the sectarian divide to further their ambitions. How their rivalry is settled will likely shape the political balance between Sunnis and Shias and the future of the region, especially in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen.
An ancient religious divide is helping fuel a resurgence of conflicts in the Middle East and Muslim countries. Struggles between Sunni and Shia forces have fed a Syrian civil war that threatens to transform the map of the Middle East, spurred violence that is fracturing Iraq, and widened fissures in a number of tense Gulf countries. Growing sectarian clashes have also sparked a revival of transnational jihadi networks that poses a threat beyond the region.
Source: Pew Research, The Future of the Global Muslim Population, 2011
Mohammed unveiled a new faith to the people of Mecca in 610. Known as Islam, or submission to God, the monotheistic religion incorporated some Jewish and Christian traditions and expanded with a set of laws that governed most aspects of life, including political authority. By the time of his death in 632, Mohammed had consolidated power in Arabia. His followers subsequently built an empire that would stretch from Central Asia to Spain less than a century after his death. But a debate over succession split the community, with some arguing that leadership should be awarded to qualified individuals and others insisting that the only legitimate ruler must come through Mohammed’s bloodline.
A group of prominent early followers of Islam elected Abu Bakr, a companion of Mohammed, to be the first caliph, or leader of the Islamic community, over the objections of those who favored Ali ibn Abi Talib, Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law. The opposing camps in the succession debate eventually evolved into Islam’s two main sects. Shias, a term that stems from shi’atu Ali, Arabic for “partisans of Ali,” believe that Ali and his descendants are part of a divine order. Sunnis, meaning followers of the sunna, or “way” in Arabic, of Mohammed, are opposed to political succession based on Mohammed’s bloodline.
Ali became caliph in 656 and ruled only five years before he was assassinated. The caliphate, which was based in the Arabian Peninsula, passed to the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus and later the Abbasids in Baghdad. Shias rejected the authority of these rulers. In 680, soldiers of the second Umayyad caliph killed Ali’s son, Husayn, and many of his companions in Karbala, located in modern-day Iraq. Karbala became a defining moral story for Shias, and Sunni caliphs worried that the Shia Imams—the descendants of Husayn who were seen as the legitimate leaders of Muslims (Sunnis use the term “imam” for the men who lead prayers in mosques)—would use this massacre to capture public imagination and topple monarchs. This fear resulted in the further persecution and marginalization of Shias.
Even as Sunnis triumphed politically in the Muslim world, Shias continued to look to the Imams—the blood descendants of Ali and Husayn—as their legitimate political and religious leaders. Even within the Shia community, however, there arose differences over the proper line of succession. Mainstream Shias believe there were twelve Imams. Zaydi Shias, found mostly in Yemen, broke off from the majority Shia community at the fifth Imam, and sustained imamate rule in parts of Yemen up to the 1960s. Ismaili Shias, centered in South Asia but with important diaspora communities throughout the world, broke off at the seventh Imam. Most Ismailis revere the Aga Khan as the living representative of their Imam. The majority of Shias, particularly those in Iran and the eastern Arab world, believe that the twelfth Imam entered a state of occultation, or hiddenness, in 939 and that he will return at the end of time. Since then, “Twelvers,” or Ithna Ashari Shias, have vested religious authority in their senior clerical leaders, called ayatollahs (Arabic for “sign of God”).
Many Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian converts to Islam chose to become Shia rather than Sunni in the early centuries of the religion as a protest against the ethnic Arab empires that treated non-Arabs as second-class citizens. Their religions influenced the evolution of Shia Islam as distinct from Sunni Islam in rituals and beliefs.
Sunnis dominated the first nine centuries of Islamic rule (excluding the Shia Fatimid dynasty) until the Safavid dynasty was established in Persia in 1501. The Safavids made Shia Islam the state religion, and over the following two centuries they fought with the Ottomans, the seat of the Sunni caliphate. As these empires faded, their battles roughly settled the political borders of modern Iran and Turkey by the seventeenth century, and their legacies resulted in the current demographic distribution of Islam’s sects. Shias comprise a majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and a plurality in Lebanon, while Sunnis make up the majority of more than forty countries from Morocco to Indonesia.
Modern TensionsLos Angeles-based stylist Veronica Nunez is known for creating "effortless" waves and "I woke up like this" styles on the models and clients she works with. Here, she gives us a step-by-step on one of her most requested looks (not to mention, the same one that racked up more than 8,000 likes when reposted to MODERN SALONS' Instagram page).
"This look marries perfectly with color melt trends like the ombre, sombre, bayalage and flamboyage," Nunez says. "I love this look because you see the person and not a hairstyle, and your client can rework the texture with her hands without tools. Every decade has a definitive trend, and these deconstructed waves the wispy texture, which I refer to as 'tousled tresses', is in-demand at the moment."
Products used (in order):
Credits:
Hair: Veronica Nunez for T3 Micro @veronica_nunez
Makeup: Courtney Hagen for NARS @courtneyhagenmakeup
Photographer: Beth Sternbaum @bethsternbaum
Model: Alex Jay @_alexjay_(Photo: ROCKSTAR GAMES)A tuned up Rhapsody and Warrener hit the streets for GTA Online I'm Not A Hipster.
Despite changes enforced in GTA 5 Online in a May system update, cheats and hacking is still running rampant.
Some players have aired complaints regarding the persistence of modders and hackers in support forums for DLC update "I'm Not a Hipster."
One player noted:
"I no longer feel safe in freeroam or invite only sessions anymore thanks to modders and hackers."
During the last month, Rockstar Games uncovered a number of instances in GTA 5 Online of modding RP and exploiting glitches to make GTA$, prompting the developer to implement a system-wide update.
"In order to keep Grand Theft Auto Online fair for everyone, we are removing illegitimate RP from the accounts of players who hacked or modded to get ahead."
However, they assured that those who gained RP without hacking or modding will not be included in the rounds of adjustments.
"Your RP should only be adjusted if you participated in mods, hacks, DNS redirects, manipulation of cloud files, or other similarly nefarious behavior. If you grinded short legitimate missions or otherwise gained a small amount of RP without modding, your RP should not be affected by this correction."
Meanwhile, GTA 5 Online cheats also continue to plague the game's player community.
In fact, there are a number of websites that are dedicated to broadcast cheats for GTA 5, "gta5cheats" being one of the most notorious.
They claim that they have a comprehensive list of all cheats for GTA 5 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The cheats they publish are divided into four categories, namely: player effects, item cheats, world effects and spawn vehicles.
The catch here is that GTA 5 cheats are only for single player mode, so they can basically only offer hints and tips for those who want to rule the online realm.
One of the main issues facing GTA 5 Online today is that they do not have a tool to authenticate game files when users go online.
However, hackers and modders can easily be reported to Rockstar Games.Bastion available on Steam August 16 Bastion will be coming to Steam on August 16 with 1080p resolution, remapped controls, and Steamworks support. Developer Supergiant Games also released the soundtrack CD today.
Bastion kicked off this year's XBLA Summer of Arcade, but PC gamers won't have to wait much longer to play the indie hit. Developer Supergiant Games has announced that the game will hit Steam on August 16, and other digital distribution platforms later this year. It will cost $14.99.
This version will add 1080p resolution support, remapped controls for PC along with gamepad support, and Steamworks for your cloud saves, leaderboards, and achievements. The Steam page is open for pre-orders and lists the system requirements.
Supergiant Games has also released the Bastion soundtrack for $10 as a digital download. It includes music from the game, plus a new track titled The Pantheon (Ain’t Gonna Catch You). The CD ($15) will come out in September, but PAX Prime attendees can get it early at the event and have it signed by composer Darren Korb. Supergiant warns, though, that music is "key to the experience" of Bastion, so they recommend waiting until you've finished the game to listen to the soundtrack.
Bastion received a positive reception, including our own review, so it's an easy recommendation no matter which platform you choose to play it on.Liverpool and Manchester City have both missed out on Dutch youngster Richairo Zivkovic after he decided to follow Luis Suarez’s career path.
The FC Groningen starlet, aged 17, was wanted by both Premier League sides but has instead decided to join Ajax at the end of the season.
That mirrors the route taken by Reds star Luis Suarez, who also played for Groningen before moving on to Ajax, so Liverpool will be hopeful they might still get their man at some stage.
Zivkovic told Groningen’s official website: “Initially, it was the intention to stay at Groningen for a longer period and become a regular member of the starting XI in the first team.
“But I also have ambitions and, when this chance came, I wanted to take it.
“But before I will talk about Ajax, I first want to finish the season at FC Groningen in a good way.”
Zivkovic has signed a three-year contract with the Amsterdam giants. Groningen will receive a fee of around £2.1m, plus 10 per cent of any future transfer fee.Albert Castel
NO president ever became president under more dramatic and tragic circumstances than did Andrew Johnson. On the night of 14 April 1865, Johnson, recently inaugurated as vice president, went to bed in his hotel room in Washington, D.C. Scarcely had he gone to sleep when he was awakened by a friend who informed him that President Lincoln had just been shot by an assassin at Ford's Theater. Johnson promptly dressed and hastened to the boardinghouse where Lincoln lay dying. He remained awhile and then left when it became apparent that the distraught Mrs. Lincoln resented his presence. At 7:30 on the morning of 15 April church bells tolled, signaling Lincoln's death. Shortly after 10 a.m. Johnson took the oath of office as the seventeenth president of the United States.
Personal and Political Background
No president, not even Lincoln, rose from lower depths of poverty and deprivation to reach the height of that office than did Johnson. He was born on 29 December 1808 in a two-room shack in Raleigh, North Carolina; his parents were illiterate tavern servants; and he never attended school. In 1822 he became a tailor's apprentice, learned that trade, and managed to acquire a rudimentary knowledge of reading. At the age of seventeen he moved to east Tennessee, where in 1827 he opened a tailor shop in Greeneville and married Eliza McCardle, a shoe-maker's daughter who taught him to write and cipher.
His business prospered, but as soon as he was old enough to vote, he became active in politics, first as an alderman and mayor in Greeneville, then as a state legislator, and next as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1853. In 1853 and again in 1855 he won election as governor of Tennessee, and in 1857 he went to the United States Senate. By then he was a well-todo man, owned a few household slaves, and entertained presidential aspirations.
A tireless campaigner, an unsurpassed stump speaker, and a man both shrewd and courageous, Johnson was a staunch advocate of Jacksonian democracy and the champion of the "plebeians" (the small farmers and tradesmen of Tennessee) against the "stuck-up aristocrats" (the wealthy, slaveholding planter class). He also possessed, in the words of a fellow Tennessean who knew him well, a "deep-seated, burning hatred of all men who stood in his way." For him political combat was personal combat, and he engaged in it with uncompromising ferocity.
During the winter of 1860–1861, Johnson strongly opposed secession, both by the South as a whole and by Tennessee. Although he believed in states' rights and defended the right of slavery, he placed preservation of the Union above all else, argued that slavery could be best protected within the Union, and denounced the Confederacy as a conspiracy by the planter aristocracy. For a while he succeeded in keeping Tennessee in the Union, but following the outbreak of war in April 1861, the state seceded and Johnson had to flee for his life to the North. His valiant struggle against secession made him the leading Unionist of the South, won him the acclaim of the North, and caused the South to condemn him as a renegade.
In March 1862, after federal forces captured Nashville, Lincoln appointed Johnson military governor of Tennessee. During the next three years he strove against great obstacles to establish a pro-Union civil government, a goal that was finally achieved early in 1865, when a new state constitution abolishing slavery went into effect. Realizing that the war doomed slavery, Johnson supported Lincoln's emancipation policy and told the blacks of Tennessee that he would be the Moses who led them into the promised land of freedom.
Meanwhile, Lincoln, hoping to attract support from northern prowar Democrats and border-state Unionists, arranged for Johnson to be his running mate in the 1864 presidential election. Hence, Johnson returned to Washington, where on 4 March 1865 he was inaugurated as vice president. Unhappily, prior to the ceremony Johnson, who recently had been ill and was feeling faint, drank some whiskey and then delivered a rambling, maudlin, almost incoherent inaugural address. Later on, enemies would seize upon this incident to denounce Johnson as "the drunken tailor," but there is no evidence that he habitually overindulged. As it was, he realized that he had disgraced himself and that there was little chance he would ever again play an important role in national affairs. Then came Lincoln's assassination, and suddenly he was the most important man in the nation.
Johnson's Task
With Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox on 9 April 1865, the Civil War to all intents and purposes ended, leaving in its wake over six hundred thousand dead Union and Confederate soldiers, a devastated and demoralized South, and an exultant and dominant North. The great issue now was Reconstruction. The Union was preserved and slavery was destroyed. But by what process and under what terms would the seceded states come back into the Union? And what would be the future legal, political, and social status of blacks? Johnson faced the task of dealing with these questions; on his success or failure in doing so depended the success or failure of his presidency.
During the war both Lincoln and Congress had wrestled with Reconstruction. In 1863, Lincoln instituted in Louisiana and Arkansas a program whereby 10 percent of the voters, on taking an oath of allegiance, could form state governments and elect congressmen; once the latter were seated, these states again would be in the Union. The Republican majority in Congress, feeling that the Ten Percent Plan was inadequate and overly lenient, refused to seat the congressmen elected under it and declared that Reconstruction should be carried out by the legislative, rather than the executive, branch.
In July 1864, Congress passed the Wade-Davis bill, which disfranchised all high-ranking Confederates, required 50 percent of the voters in a rebel state to take a loyalty oath before elections could be held, and made abolition of slavery a condition for read-mission to the Union. Lincoln in turn pocket vetoed this measure on the grounds that Reconstruction policy should be flexible—that is, carried out by the president. Finally, to confuse matters even more, just before his death Lincoln hinted that with the coming of peace he might take a different approach to Reconstruction, one in which voting rights would be given to blacks who had served in the Union army or who were "very intelligent."
Thus, April 1865 found the government without an established Reconstruction policy and with the Republicans divided over what the policy should be. One faction, the Radical Republicans, of whom Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania were the outstanding spokesmen, contended that the Confederate leaders should be punished severely, that the rebel states should not be restored to the Union until their future loyalty was assured, and that blacks should receive full civil and political rights both |
arbitrage in revenue-sharing.
Please read our terms of use before posting commentsI wanted to share a little bit about what I’ve been working on over the past month, since it will probably have some impact on anyone playing the game… and we like to share with you guys, of course.
Specifically, I’m talking about graphics.
It’s not entirely surprising that’s what I am going to talk about. That’s pretty much all I do here at Uber… that, and drink a lot of coffee. Oh, and play the game a bunch, too.
Anyway, it became clear a little while ago we’d accumulated quite a bit of technical debt in the graphics engine, specifically because the engine evolved really, really quickly. To make progress, and get performance to where it should be, I decided it was time to pay back some of that debt. This involved a pretty extensive low-level re-write of the core graphics engine.
The best analogy I can think of (for the non-graphics programmers out there) is this: imagine you are building a house. The foundation is in place, the walls are up, the roof is on, the windows are in, and you’re about to put finishing touches in. Then you realize… hey, we actually want 3 floors in this house, not 2. Darn. The foundation won’t take the weight of 3 floors…. So, to stretch this analogy to breaking point, I basically had to go in and rebuild the foundation of our graphics engine/house, so it would fit the existing structure, but support future growth. And allow it to go really, really fast (OK, we’re not talking about houses any more. The only time houses go fast is in a tornado.)
Hopefully that made some kind of sense.
Anyway, this is done, and you’ll see the results in the next release. Now, bear in mind, you will not see miraculous improvements in performance. I readily admit that there’s still a long way to go. But you should see some (we’ve seen some good improvements in our internal testing).
I’ve also been talking a bunch to folks from NVidia (and more recently have engaged in a dialog with AMD). They’ve given me a bunch of pointers on (some of) the internals of how the drivers work, and the kinds of things we’ve been doing that the driver finds upsetting. I’ve only scratched the surface of improvements we need to make here; expect to see some big gains over the coming months.
The upshot here is, things will be a little better in the next release. We’ve tested quite a bit, and it looks pretty solid, but it’s more than possible some issues might come up (this is a major rewrite of some pretty core systems, after all). If you *do* have issues with graphics, I apologize in advance. But let us know, and we’ll fix them. We’re always working hard to make sure the game is as awesome as possibly for absolutely everyone.
For the terminally curious out there, here’s some down-and-dirty details of what’s changed:
· I added a “hardware abstraction” concept, that basically provides an ultra-thin layer between the graphics API (in this case, openGL) and the game. In doing so, I improved the way we do some things, that massively reduces the number of API calls we make, which in turn improves performance.
· The above hardware abstraction also provides more flexibility in how we do our rendering. From this, it will be possible to make our code even more efficient.
· The “effects” system (the system we use to manage materials and shaders) is now entirely high-level on top of the hardware abstraction. It also pulls in data from JSON files, meaning the effects as well as the shaders will be entirely customizable.
· I’ve added code-paths to support more advanced API features in OpenGL. Up to now, we’ve only had code-paths that support the lowest common denominator that we support (which was OpenGL 2.1). This has been limiting. By providing optional codepaths to leverage more advanced features, this helps us get more from the hardware. I’ve done this whilst still providing the fallback code-paths, so we’ll still run on older systems (albeit with less awesome than on newer hardware).
· I made the HDR luminance phase live entirely on the GPU (instead of round-tripping from the GPU to the CPU to perform the tone-mapping calculations). This makes life better on certain video cards. However, this wasn’t ready in time for the upcoming release, so you won’t get the benefit of that quite yet.
· And lots more. I could go on, but I have code to write…
Click to expand...Starting June 30, gamers can take advantage of great deals on Xbox games and accessories during the Ultimate Game Sale. This year, Ultimate Game Sale is four days longer than previous years, running from June 30 to July 10. With saving up to 65% on Xbox games, and Xbox Live Gold members saving up to an additional 10% on the deals, now’s the best time to pick up the games you’ve always wanted to play.
With more than 300 popular Xbox games and add-ons including Injustice 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, Prey, Rocket League, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Legacy, and many more. And don’t forget the many Xbox 360 fan favorites on sale — playable on Xbox One via Backward Compatibility — like Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, Skate 3, and more.
Amp up your storage this year thanks to deals on Seagate Xbox Game Drives. You’ll also find deals on the Turtle Beach Stealth 420X gaming headset and Turtle Beach Stream Mic. And when the Ultimate Game Sale beings on June 30, you can get free rubberized grips with the purchase of any Xbox Design Lab controller.
There’s plenty for PC gamers too on the Windows Store. Find great deals on Windows 10 games, gaming PCs, and accessories. Save big on hit games like Gears of War 4, Halo Wars 2, Resident Evil 7, Fallout Shelter, Dead Rising 4, and more. And be sure to check out the great deals on select gaming PCs, mice, keyboards, and headsets from Dell Alienware, Asus, MSI, Lenovo, Razer, Logitech, and Kingston.
To help celebrate the Ultimate Game Sale, we’re giving away two ultimate gaming prize packs. Whether you play Xbox or PC, enter for a chance to win the ultimate equipment, cash cards, and more! From now until July 10, make your best game face and share on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtags #UltimateGameFace and #XboxSweepstakes2017 or #PCSweepstake2017. Learn more about the Ultimate Game Face Sweepstakes by visiting microsoft.com/ultimategameface.
Ultimate Game Sale starts Friday, June 30, so check out Xbox.com to take advantage of the deals before they end on July 10.Image caption The SpaceX concept is for a capsule called Dragon
The four companies that recently won Nasa funds to develop astronaut "taxis" say they are convinced there will be a market to sustain their businesses.
SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corporation are in line to receive $270m to help refine their spacecraft designs over the next year.
They plan eventually to sell seats in these ships to Nasa and other agencies wanting to put humans in orbit.
But the firms believe further Nasa seed funds are critical to that outcome.
"We still believe we can have people in a crewed Dragon capsule three years from right now," said Garrett Reisman, former astronaut and senior engineer at SpaceX.
"However, we would need additional support from Nasa to get us through those last two years."
Three of the companies confidently predict they will have people in orbit in 2014 or 2015. Only Blue Origin is reluctant at this stage to discuss timelines.
The US space agency believes its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) programme can make the post-shuttle era a more affordable way to get astronauts into low-Earth orbit (LEO).
It is giving payments to the four companies to help them mature their vehicle concepts. The firms will only get the funds if they meet set milestones, and they also have to invest their own money towards the projects.
This represents a big change to the old way of doing business for Nasa. In the past, it has simply covered contractors' costs, plus a mark-up.
The four companies in this latest round of CCDev funding have differing ideas on how best to get people into space.
Image caption The shuttle programme has proven to be a very expensive way of getting people into space
SpaceX, from Hawthorne, California, has already flown a rocket called Falcon 9 and a capsule called Dragon.
Boeing's Houston, Texas, team has a capsule design called CST-100 which could transport up to seven astronauts to the space station. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) of Louisville, Colorado, is working on a shuttle-like vehicle called the Dream Chaser.
And Blue Origin, of Kent, Washington, is developing a cone-shaped crew vehicle that could also carry seven astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
"For customers in the future, safety is the absolute," said Rob Meyerson, president and programme manager at Blue Origin. "After that it's going to be price, and customers will be picking based on price. And I believe there is a market for multiple suppliers launching people into orbit, so long as the price is competitive."
The four companies have all been speaking here at the Kennedy Space Center ahead of the final launch of shuttle Endeavour.
They all expect to be using facilities and workers previously employed on the shuttle programme.
But they all anticipate a market in the future for their services that goes well beyond just Nasa.
"Nasa is but one customer and taking people to space is but one activity for our vehicle," said Mark Sirangelo, the chairman of Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems.
"We're designing a vehicle that has multiple purposes. We think there are other things we can do in space. The servicing mission [of satellites] in LEO, for example, is a big market. Having a shuttle-like vehicle that is modernised by 30 years and has the capabilities to do new things gives us other markets that we can look towards."
Image caption Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser would be a flexible vehicle, the company says
Nasa awarded about $50m in its first round of CCDev contracts, and it plans to substantially increase this funding next year to $850m.
John Elbon, the programme manager of commercial crew transportation at Boeing, said that support is essential if the companies are to close the gap between shuttle retirement and the launch of the next American crewship.
"Would we continue without Nasa funding?" he pondered. "I will tell you that our business model is dependent on government funding. That's just the way we structured it, the way it's laid out. If that funding were not there, we would continue at some very reduced level, I would assume, but certainly not at a level that would allow us to meet the dates [in our development schedule]."
Not included in the latest round of funding were the rocket companies that might lift the new entrants' vehicles into space. SpaceX has its own rocket, but SNC, Boeing and Blue Origin are all dependent on an independent rocket partner.
Nasa said it chose on this occasion not to give CCDev funds to these rocket partners because the limited money available meant it had to be spent in areas where it was most needed to advance the commercial crew concept.
"We felt the portfolio of companies we selected significantly advances the capability and availability of commercial crew systems. But actually there will be launcher work done as part of their overall system," explained Phil McAlister, the acting director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at Nasa headquarters. "If you look at Boeing and SpaceX, they have integration milestones where they're integrating the spacecraft with the launch vehicle," he told BBC News.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.ukNumerous sources are reporting Mitt Romney will endorse Sen. Marco Rubio. That’s a story Rubio denies:
“That report is false, I have no reason to believe he’s anywhere near endorsing anyone. I would love to have his endorsement. It’s important to nominate someone who can bring everyone together … and that’s one reason I think I’ll be the nominee, and Romney could be a part of that,” Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The Establishment hesitated to rally behind Rubio as long as Jeb Bush remained in the race. The Republican Establishment, seeing the Bush campaign’s inability to gain traction, actually began to rally around Rubio last week. At the New York Times’ “FiveThirtyEight,” Harry Enten noted the Establishment movement to endorse Rubio:
Rubio has picked up the endorsements of Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina this week. Indeed, Rubio has greatly increased his endorsement pace since the Iowa caucuses, picking up 42 weighted endorsement points in the past two-and-a-half weeks, according to the FiveThirtyEight endorsement tracker. That’s nearly half of the 85 points he has overall.
FiveThirtyEight’s system gives 10 points for endorsements from governors, five points for endorsements from U.S. senators and one point for endorsements from U.S. representatives.
It’s not clear how much endorsements help, But there can be little doubt that having Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott and Congressman Trey Gowdy, all TEA Party favorites, was a big boost for Rubio in South Carolina. But can you really consider that Establishment support?
Will Romney’s support help Rubio? It may make him more acceptable to the Establishment voters — the nearly half of the Republican primary electorate not voting for Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, giving Rubio an edge over Kasich. Politico is calling Rubio Romney 2.0:
But strip away Rubio’s rags-to-presidential contender biography, and his candidacy has more than a little in common with Romney’s — from policy platforms that are largely in sync to a braintrust that boasts a number of the same key figures. When it comes to the substance of what he’d try to do in the job, at least, Rubio is not promising a sharp break from the last establishment favorite the party put forward. “I think that they are very much on the same place on most of the issues,” Vin Weber, a former House member and special adviser to Romney in 2012, said approvingly. On foreign policy, taxes and economic growth, “their positions are very similar, and on most of the other domestic and social issues they come down the same place as well.”
Romney’s former political director Rich Beeson serves as deputy campaign manager for Rubio. Lanhee Chen of the Hoover Institute worked as Romney’s policy director and now serves as a policy advisor to Rubio. And Rubio’s political director, Jessica Ennis, was Romney’s deputy operations director. Rubio’s finance people, Annie Baker and Eli Miller, also worked for Romney’s 2012 campaign. And Rubio’s outside strategists, including Poolhouse Digital, which is run by two Romney alums: Will Ritter and Tim O’Toole.
The difference between Rubio and Romney is the messenger. It’s Rubio’s American Dream story versus Romney’s silver spoon and Rubio’s gift of being perhaps the most articulate candidate since Ronald Reagan. As Politico puts it:
At every campaign stop, Marco Rubio calls it “the biggest lie in American politics” – the notion that Republicans are the party of the super wealthy, and hopelessly out of touch with the working class and minorities. The party, in other words, that Democrats eviscerated with Mitt Romney at the helm in 2012. [...] We can’t afford to keep being your father’s Republican Party. And if you want to stop talking about expanding the GOP tent and actually do it – without compromising on principle – I’m your guy.
Sure, there is a huge connection between the defeated Romney campaign and Rubio campaign, But that hardly makes the once TEA Party favorite Rubio Romney 2.0. As Rubio continues to morph into the Establishment favorite the question remains, can he make a dent in the Trump and Cruz anti-Establishment voters. Will enough of those voters give up the grudge they continue to hold against Rubio for his Gang of Eight work on comprehensive immigration reform? Or as those voters refer to it — Amnesty.Marketers are always stressed out at the beginning of a new year. They are either worried that a client will not renew their services due to a lack luster year or even more terrifying.. they will have to improve on stellar numbers from last year. So the internet marketing world goes a blaze with tactics to kick the year off right. No topic has been more discussed (at least in the blogs that I follow) than incentivized marketing, or selling at a discount. The experts seem to split down the aisle more than a senate hearing. Some say it can save your business while others says its the worst thing you can do for your business. To explain my point of view I would like to discuss my drinking habits, happy hour pricing and double shots.. I mean double selling.
My drinking habits are probably pretty similar to other 25 year old males that work from home with little responsibility outside of my future wife’s happiness, my dog’s happiness and bills. I usually complete most of my day’s work early in the morning. Waking up early has always motivated me to get things done throughout my life. Getting my chores done early as a kid meant my parents would drop me off at the local public golf course. Now the reward has changed a little. (Golf is mad expensive)
Usually around 3 PM I will get bored with whatever task I am doing and want to go out to do something. That something is usually a long walk on the beach, a cheap round of golf or a cool dive bar with a crazy happy hour special. While not the noblest of pursuits it is one which passes the time at a reasonable return on investment. Happy hour pricing is really the only reason I would go out to a bar. It sure isn’t for the amazing atmosphere or possible networking connections.
Happy hour pricing is the PBR of incentivized marketing. Meaning its the lowest common denominator (this coming from an ardent PBR supporter) and easiest to understand for non marketers (and me). You take money off your normal price to attract more customers. This can relate to startups or even established brands that offer 30% off to sign up for a membership or buy their product. Seems like a great idea right?
Well no. Let me first outline why happy hour pricing fails to actually incentivize people as a loyal customer. In the 4 years that I have been of legal drinking age I can count on one hand the number of times I have bought a drink at a bar outside of the happy hour or current drink special price. Bars’ margins on their happy hour pricing around my neck of the woods are extremely low. Rents are high and tourists are cheap. Welcome to a Florida beachside community.
Even though bars around here may be busy during these happy hour special times they are not making money. After talking with a few bar owners they seem to agree that it is a loss leader. Meaning that they take a loss on some items in hopes of drawing in more business at other times leading to sales that have higher profit margins. we can relate this to 30 day free trials or giving away a gift to sign up for a newsletter. Seems like an ok strategy right?
Well no. The more I probed the bar owners about the actual results of this incentivized marketing process the more I learned that it wasn’t a brilliant marketing ploy. It just lead to losses with no leaders to other more profitable items. Their bars would empty out during fully priced times and the losses would continue.
This got me interested in learning how incentivized marketing works for startups and entrepreneurs trying to grow their businesses. All over the web we see deals like 75% off your first month, 30% off when you refer a friend and other seemingly great deals.
While interviewing a few startup owners and marketing leads I saw a pretty consistent trend. The trend can be broken down into two main problems. I have listed them out in detail below:
Lower prices don’t mean anything if your product sucks.
Most businesses assume that if they lowered their prices more people would automatically become interested in their product. This isn’t the case. You might be offering me 30% off of a product that is inferior to a competitor whose price is twice as much. When it comes to SaaS based businesses or most other tech startups their product is more important than their price. You might get someone to purchase the product with the lower price, but once they realize it is inferior they will jump ship to your competitor.
You have to convince people not once but twice
So you proved my first point wrong. You got someone to sign up for your service at an incentivized price. Awesome! You convinced your lead into purchasing your product. Now what happens when the special pricing runs out? You now have to convince them again that you are worth an even higher price. Remember my ramblings about bars emptying out after happy hour pricing? That is the last thing you want to see happen to your business.
So just as bars draw in tons of traffic with special deals yet more often than not get little in return, your startup or small business might see a hike in 30 day trials or special pricing, but your churn (customer retention) will go through the roof.
Successful incentivized marketing really relies on having a great product with a price point option that makes sense for every type of possible successful customer in the market. Even if you get more signups at a price point that is lower than you would like, you still have the opportunity to wow them and prove yourself worthy to upgrade to a package with more features.
So the only incentive or discount you should promote is the usefulness of the actual product or service. If you have a product that helps people make money or saves them from a certain pain you can always find more customers and turn your existing customers into loyal higher paying customers.
In conclusion:
Instead of offering a discounted price for your product as an incentive, strip out some of the features and offer it at a lower price point. I guarantee your churn rate will be lower and you will have more opportunities to have clients interested in your upsells. None of the bars that I would actually go to for a late night full priced drink offer a happy hour special. They instead focus on providing a better product, atmosphere and level of service.Earlier today, head coach Mike McCarthy said the goal is always to keep your own players in free agency.
After losing several of their own earlier this week, the Packers are getting two of their own back. Hours after wide receiver James Jones re-upped with the team, fullback John Kuhn re-signed. The contract is a three-year deal and will make Kuhn one of the highest-paid fullbacks in the league, according to agent Kevin Gold.
Kuhn rushed for 281 yards on 84 attempts with four touchdowns last year, often lining up at tailback with Ryan Grant (ankle) lost for the season. He also caught 15 passes for 97 yards and two scores. After fellow fullback Korey Hall left for the New Orleans, the odds of Kuhn sticking around increased. All along, he hoped to remain in Green Bay, where he has stayed all offseason.
He tested the market and decided to stay home.
This move makes plenty of sense for the Packers. Once Brandon Jackson left for Cleveland, the possibility of keeping four tailbacks on the roster decreased dramatically. Now it appears the team could go with the dual-threat Kuhn and the bruising Quinn Johnson again at fullback.
Obviously there's plenty of practice to go here, but re-signing Kuhn maintains a sense of continuity for an offense that was firing on all cylinders by season's end. In spot action, the former Shippensburg back holds value. His fourth-quarter running helped Green Bay secure a 28-26 win over the Detroit Lions last October.
Terms of the deal are unknown but Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach reached a three-year, $11 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In an interview with ABC television news, President Obama said South Korea was an ally of the US
US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong island in South Korea and said the US would defend South Korea.
Mr Obama told ABC News that North Korea was "a serious and ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with".
The attack near a disputed sea border was also denounced by Russia, Japan and the European Union.
South Korea returned fire and threatened missile strikes if there were "further provocations".
President Obama described South Korea as an important ally and "a cornerstone of US security in the Pacific region".
He said: "We strongly affirm our commitment to defend South Korea as part of that alliance.
"We want to make sure all the parties in the region recognise that this is a serious and ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with."
He called on North Korea's ally China to communicate to Pyongyang "that there are a set of international rules they need to abide by".
Yeonpyeong island Lies 3km (2 miles) from disputed Yellow Sea border and 12km from North Korean coast
Houses military installations, a permanent marine detachment and a small civilian population
Rich fishing grounds in surrounding waters
Scene of inter-Korean naval clashes in 1999 and 2002
In the 2002 exchange of fire, 13 northern sailors and five southern sailors were killed In pictures: Korean shelling Possible triggers for attack Your reaction to the clashes
In a telephone conversation, Mr Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to hold combined military exercises in the days ahead to underscore the strength of their alliance, the White House said in a statement.
The US has 28,000 troops stationed in the South.
South Korea's military had been carrying out an exercise near Yeonpyeong, but it denies opening hostilities by firing towards the North.
Two South Korean marines died when dozens of artillery shells landed on the island - most of them hitting a military base. Both soldiers and civilians were wounded.
The South fired back some 80 shells. Casualties on the northern side are unknown.
South Korea's stock market opened sharply lower on Wednesday, with the benchmark index falling 3.3% in the opening minutes of trading.
'Colossal danger'
United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was "deeply concerned by the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula".
"The secretary general condemns the attack and calls for immediate restraint," he added.
The current president of the Security Council, British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, said he was in touch with other members about what to do next.
Russia's foreign minister warned of a "colossal danger", and said those behind the attack carried a huge responsibility.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he had ordered ministers to "make preparations so that we can react firmly, should any unexpected event occur".
Analysis Nobody needed any reminder of the volatility of the relations between North and South Korea, nor of the sensitivity of their disputed maritime border. In March, a South Korean warship was sunk by an explosion and an investigation indicated strongly that the North was responsible. The shelling of Yeonpyeong fits into the same pattern. From the North Korean viewpoint, this is about establishing deterrence over the South and defending its interests. But it is also a wider demonstration to the world of the North's power and an indication of some kind of political transition. N Korea seeks attention through force
The EU and the UK also condemned the North, but China - the North's main ally - refused to apportion blame.
The South Korean president called the incident "an invasion of South Korean territory", and warned that future provocations could be met with "enormous retaliation", including missile strikes on North Korean positions.
Seoul has suspended shipments of flood aid to North Korea, the unification ministry aid.
South Korea had promised a 1bn won ($8.3m) aid package including rice, cement and medical supplies after North Korea was hit by severe floods in August.
Rising tension
North Korea's military command blamed South Korea for the incident.
"The South Korean enemy, despite our repeated warnings, committed reckless military provocations of firing artillery shells into our maritime territory near Yeonpyeong island beginning 1300 (0400 GMT)," the state-run KCNA news agency quoted it as saying.
The North will strike back if South Korea "dares to invade our sea territory by 0.001mm", it warned.
North Korea: Timeline 2010 26 March: South Korean warship, Cheonan, sinks, killing 46 sailors 20 May: Panel says a North Korean torpedo sank the ship; Pyongyang denies involvement July-September: South Korea and US hold military exercises; US places more sanctions on Pyongyang 29 September: North holds rare party congress seen as part of father-to-son succession move 29 October: Troops from North and South Korea exchange fire across the land border 12 November: North Korea shows US scientist new - undeclared - uranium enrichment facility Koreans angry and worried Brief history of the Korean War
There have been occasional cross-border incidents since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty in 1953, but the latest comes at a time of rising regional tension.
North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il is thought to be ill and trying to ensure the succession of his youngest son.
The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says the heir apparent may be trying to build a reputation with the country's hardline military elite - suggesting a period of further provocation towards the South.
On Saturday, it emerged that Pyongyang had shown off what it claimed was a new uranium enrichment facility to an American scientist.
The move prompted the US to rule out the resumption of six-party talks on nuclear disarmament that Pyongyang abandoned two years ago.
The western maritime border, also known as the Northern Limit Line, has been the scene of numerous clashes in the past.
In March, a South Korean warship sank near the border with the loss of 46 lives. International investigators say a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, although Pyongyang has denied any role in the incident.North Korea has repeated its desire to participate in the Incheon Asian Games through the North Korean website Uriminjokkiri.
"Our athletes and cheering squads will help the Inchon Asian Games thrive. It will be a good opportunity to improve North-South relations," according to a post on the website.
"Our athletes and coaches are training with the motivation that an international display of conduct, passion, dedication and humility will lead to friendly relations and peace with other nations around the world."
Uriminzokkiri is a state-controlled website that provides Korean language news from North Korea's Central News Agency.
It also criticized the South Korean government for using the Games for political gains, saying, "The upcoming Asian Games are an event with peace, friendship and unity in mind. It should not be misused for political ends."
Although Uriminjokkiri does not carry as much weight as other North Korean media outlets such as Rodong Shinmun, the article has drawn attention for emphasizing the improvement of North-South relations in its title.
Uriminjokkiri initially expressed the North's willingness to send players and cheering squads to the Asian Games in a post titled, "We cannot become political toys."
Rhee Myung-gook of the Pyongyang Sports Club said, "I believe that sports are primarily a means of bringing national unity and prosperity, rather than a means of political cajolement."
The post stated, "We will train night and day to achieve good results at the Asian Games and foster the reconciliation and unity of our people."
North and South Korea were last in contact on July 17 to discuss the participation of North Korean athletes and cheering squads in the Asian Games, but have been unable to maintain further communications due to disputes over the use of the North Korean flag.
North Korea has clarified its desire to participate, but has not followed through. South Korea has declared it will not reinitiate communication with the North.Walkthrough, Part 17
Path to Area 3, still
And just a little bit further up is the exit, which will lead you outside. Climb up the rope, and talk to the rock. It is actually a secret stash in disguise, giving youGo right. Watch the cutscene. Interact with the mask to pick up. Enter the cave, watch cutscene. Before you leave again through the exit on the left, explore the cave by going through the small hole in the wall to the right.In this cave, you'll come across a bizarre NPC who'll inexplicably know Brad's name. It doesn't matter what you choose (he won't take your mags). At the very bottom of the cave, just two steps right from the doorway, you can pick up. You may equip it, but it's pretty bad. The doorway itself is blocked (presumably, this is the blocked doorway from Area 2).Return to the top of the cave and leave. Right as you enter the outside again, your party will be knocked out. A cutscene happens, and Buzzo forces you to overdose on Joy pills. There is one positive side to this: From this point on, Brad will be able to stay Joyed much longer in battle (like other characters do).You're in a creepy drug hallucination thing now. Go right, go up the ropes, and facein combat. You're alone, but it's virtually impossible to lose this fight.You'll wake up, and there'll be two new NPCs to talk to left of here. One of them says something about the blockade (the screen right from the main screen of Area 2). Use your Truck Keys to return to Area 2, and then go to the right screen. As I wrote earlier, there's two guys blocking your path, wanting to buy some TNT for. If you give them the TNT, they will kill all of the NPCs in Sub-Area 7 (Karate Village). I guess you might as well do that now, but you can also choose to pass them by going over the ledges above them. To return to Area 2, you will need to use your Truck Keys.So now that you're here, you'll see the aftermath of the war between Buzzo's and Rando's armies. On the ground, you can pick up a, which is the best hat in the game, and from the corpse at the right cliff, you can pick up a, which is the second best poncho in the game.Go up the rope, watch the cutscene. At this point, if you have chosen to sacrifice Terry earlier, you will now face Terrible Terry, Lord of Hurt. Aka. He has a good chance of using, a perma-kill move, but he only has 10,000 HP, low defenses. Is resistant to Paralysis and Sleep, but can be Tripped. Gives you 6,000 EXP,, andAfter beating him (or if you didn't sacrifice Terry at all), you will fight, and. They can do some decent damage on your team, but they die pretty quick. They're all immune to being Tripped. The fight will give you 4000 EXP, and they will dropAfter that's done, enter the cave. Go through the cave, bringing you to a dream/flashback thingy. Go right, interact with the coffin, then return the way you came. You'll be on the outside now. Just right of here, if you're playing on Pain Mode, you will encounter a gun-wielding man (), who will attack your party. He's pretty easy. Gives 2000 EXP and dropsTo the right is the EWC, Eternal Wrestling Congregation. There's actually a lot of content in this part of the game, but we will skip all that for now--just trust me on this one. In fact, you might want to read ahead on the details of the next two decisions you get to make in this game (they're pretty brutal).But before we do go on to Area 3, there's acrow here at the EWC, and you can rest at the first house. But to be able to rest there, you first have to join the EWC; to do so, enter the house on the right, and talk to the guy. You will be facing off against, who will later go on to become your archrival at the EWC. You have to lose this fight; you can either have your HP drop to 0, but it's much faster to just Escape from the fight.After that's done, you may now rest at the house on the left, for free, whenever you want, without any risks. That is pretty excellent.One more thing before we continue: On the screen to the right of the EWC, there's a village. At the top, there's a shop, where you can buy some of the best equipment in the game. Depending on what choice you plan to make for the next two decisions that are coming up, you might want to spend all your mags to buy armor for your characters (and don't forget to have them equip it).Also, there's a bar tent to the right, where you can buy some restorative items, and there's aNow, we are ready to complete the journey to Area 3. On the EWC screen, enter the doorway on the very right, which leads you to a shadowy tunnel (although this one doesn't have Shadowy Figures). Nothing in here but a small hole in the wall, which leads you outside to purple mountains. Just below, there is anothercrow.Go right, and you'll come across a half-dead Sticky. Also, Rick appears. You now have the choice to either kill the two of them or to let them live (this isone of the big decisions I talked about earlier). If you choose to kill them, they will simply die, and you will get nothing out of it. If you choose to let them live, you also don't really get anything; however, much later in the game, you will fight Sticky again. He isn't very difficult, can't perma-kill, drops some stuff, but at that point in the game, it doesn't matter anymore. So choose however you like.Proceed. Mid-way through the next screen, you'll get ambushed by Buzzo's men. And now we're getting the first of the two bigbefore Area 3: All three companions you have with you die permanently, or one of Buddy's nipples gets cut off. You may try to fight Buzzo, or not--it doesn't matter.The latter choice actually doesn't matter in the story, really. Buddy is a tough girl, I guess. Still a pretty messed up choice to make.If you choose the latter, you gain aYou can equip it as an accessory.Proceed to the next screen, and there he is again: Buzzo. Good news is that Buddy got away. But now you will get to make the second: one of Brad's arms, orthe items you have (that aren't currently equipped on your characters). The latter choice appears to be bugged; it will unequip all of Brad's stuff, but it doesn't seem to take away any of your weapons or armor (and |
lyn St.
Mr Loveridge had been at Belmore Oval watching a friend play football, although reports emerged last night that he had been watching a training session of the Canterbury Bulldogs.
He was handcuffed and taken from the ground.
Sources said that while Mr Loveridge spoke with police as he was being driven to the station, he declined to be interviewed.
Mr Kelly finished high school at The King's School last year and had an accounting cadetship while also studying commerce at Macquarie University at night.
Mr Kelly's shocking death has also led to an urgent review of safety along the notorious Golden Mile.
Gambling Minister George Souris ordered a four-day compliance blitz of 58 late-trading pubs and clubs.
The operation, which started on Tuesday, aims to assess the effectiveness of security, surveillance and incident reporting.
Mr Loveridge will face Burwood Local Court today.From Shakespeare to the Symphony, Cesar Chavez Park Packed with Summer Programming
Kathleen Irvine, one of Willmore City’s most dedicated advocates and peacemakers, is deeply troubled by Wastefulness. And we mean that with all the weight of a capital W because that is why she, along with the entirety of Willmore City Heritage Association (WCHA)’s arsenal of tireless volunteers, have taken on Cesar Chavez Park, resulting in new programming for the park.
New programming, of course, didn’t instantly come to Cesar Chavez Park; after all, it was a space that was widely devoid of human activity. Irvine and crew initially struggled with the fact that such a great park wasn’t used on multiple levels: from its inaccessible amphitheater to unused space, Irvine didn’t question the community not participating more than the space’s usability.
”The reason that it all started was of course, my thing about wasting,” Irvine said, “the wasting of lives, talents, opportunities… It just leads to questions and concerns. The amphitheater was a great resource that was being wasted. Why? There’s this great Community Center that is not open on weekends when there are so many families that could use it. Why? It was all beyond me.”
But not beyond her desire to do something: applying for grants after grants—from our own Placemaking Grants to Walmart funds to the Knight Foundation—WCHA has managed to not only alter the physical space itself but generate programming. This provides a win-win with accessibility and activities, with the Children’s Gateway Garden—Long Beach’s first ADA-accessible garden—and the new amphitheater—ditching spikey terrain and, again, adhering to ADA principles—acting as new-but-not-really spaces that intelligently used existing infrastructure to help activation.
Irvine is keen to point out that one is faced with a Long Beach parks system that has little money. However, if you create a space which is simultaneously accessible and reaches all areas of the parks—with an infrastructure that is practically entirely there already—money can thereafter be generated through the creation of classes, senior and children programming, and performance art while losing money can be lessened by focusing first (even before aesthetics) on maintenance.
Those principles have now been tested and their theory proved correct. Look at this inaugural programming that has been created:
Saturday, April 16: CAMS Kids Dance Troupe with the Jazz Angels
Saturday, June 11: Jazz Angels and Long Beach Swing Dance Community
Saturday, July 9: Long Beach Symphony
Sunday, July 17: Khmer Arts and Kayamanan Ng Lahi
Sunday, July 31: Shakespeare By The Sea – Othello
Saturday, August 13: MOLAA Sugar Skull Workshop and Mariachi Festival
Friday, August 19: Musical Theater West
Saturday, September 3: Jazz Angels Jazz Bands Extravaganza
Fridays, June 17, July 29, and August 26: Chef Isaac Salgado: Kids Kwizine, a small children’s event integrating the Children’s Gateway Garden and healthy items that can be made from what is growing there.
Applause, applause. Now go get your park on, DTLB.Presbyterians Overwhelmingly Approve Marriage Equality
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will soon allow its ministers to perform same-sex marriages.
The largest Presbyterian denomination in the nation, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Tuesday approved a marriage resolution on that amends its constitution to accept same-sex marriages.
A voice vote held in New Jersey had 86 regional bodies approving the new resolution and 41 opposed (one presbytery had a tie vote), reports The New York Times. The church, which claims 1.8 million members and is based in Kentucky, has been moving to the left in the past few years; it cleared the way for partnered gay and lesbian pastors, elders, and deacons four years ago.
The latest change in policy also means Presbyterian ministers who previously performed same-sex marriages will not be prosecuted for ecclesiastical crimes by the church.
The new policy is a measured change. Conservative ministers will not be forced to perform same-sex marriages, while the new constitution will not be altered that drastically. The church previously considered marriage as between "a man and a woman," while the new language considers marriage as a union of "two people, traditionally a man and a woman."
The Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and the Quakers are some of the other denominations that have opened the door to same-sex marriage. The Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism have also hopped on the bandwagon.Yelp can be hit or miss, but it comes in handy when you want to answer the age-old question: where should we eat? They’ve recently added an incentive: Yelp Cash Back. It’s your standard rewards program that lets you save up to ten percent at restaurants.
Advertisement
Once you sign up for the service, you link your credit and debit cards, and anytime you use that card at a participating business, you’ll automatically get cash back on your purchases. When you search Yelp, you can now see which restaurants and retailers offer this incentive, as pictured in the screenshot above.
In a blog post, Yelp reported:
Today, Yelp Cash Back is available at a variety of restaurants and bars across the US through our partnership with Empyr. There are tons of great options in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, and more. Just search for “Cash Back” on Yelp to find those nearby. We’ll be adding more types of businesses soon so that Yelpers can get cash rewards on even more kinds of local purchases.
Advertisement
The program isn’t available for online orders or food delivery. Of course, in order to use the program, you have to link your credit cards, and that means your credit card issuer will share transaction details with Yelp. As for security, Yelp says it follows “generally accepted industry standards” but doesn’t detail what those standards are. However, you can read their full terms here and their privacy policy here.
To check it out for yourself, head to the links below.
Earn Rewards and Save at Local Businesses With Yelp Cash Back | Yelpeight.png
(NFL game film)
DETROIT -- Through seven weeks, the Lions were getting off the field on third down just 52 percent of the time. Which meant nobody was worse at getting off the field on third down. Nobody. But the last four weeks, they've slashed that figure all the way to 33 percent. And they were especially good on Thanksgiving, holding Minnesota without a conversion until the third quarter and just 2 of 10 for the game. So what's changed? A lot, obviously. Josh Bynes has replaced Kyle Van Noy at linebacker (and is playing much better). Ezekiel Ansah is getting healthier. But
has helped as much as anything. The rookie out of Southern Utah didn't play much to open the season -- just two snaps the first three weeks -- but has become a staple as a third safety in Detroit's third-down package the last couple weeks. He played 12 snaps against Jacksonville, all on third down, and finished with a team-high five tackles. All but one forced a punt. That's exceptionally efficient work -- and then he did the same thing on Thanksgiving against the Vikings. He played just nine defensive snaps, but made four tackles, three of which forced punts. The numbers were so impressive, I decided to look at each of those third downs against Minnesota to get a feel for how Detroit is using Killebrew. The answer: Pretty much everywhere. He lined up at linebacker, on the line and even at defensive back. But more than anything, it seemed he was tasked with matching up with tight end Kyle Rudolph (and the occasional back leaking out of the backfield). And Killebrew was excellent. In fact, none of his assignments achieved a first down. Here's a closer look at what I saw. (And feel free to scroll to the bottom if you're just looking for the conclusions.)
Situation:
Third-and-3 at DET 27
Play:
(3:00 - 1st) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass incomplete short left to K.Rudolph [E.Ansah] (no play)
Killebrew:
The play didn't count because of a holding penalty on Nevin Lawson, but let's take a look anyway because it typifies what we'll see the rest of the day from Killebrew. He lines up in a de facto linebacker position and is matched up with Rudolph in man to man coverage. Rudolph dropped the pass, but would have been tackled short of the sticks even if he made the play. This was good coverage by Killebrew.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-8 at DET 20
Play:
(2:10 - 1st) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short right intended for L.Treadwell INTERCEPTED by G.Quin (D.Slay) at DET 10. G.Quin pushed ob at MIN 19 for 71 yards (M.Asiata). PENALTY on DET-D.Slay, Defensive Pass Interference, 5 yards, enforced at DET 20 - No Play
Killebrew:
Again, the play didn't count because of a penalty. But again, Killebrew executed his assignment to perfection. He tracked Rudolph as the tight end motioned from right to left before the snap, then smothered him on a little out route. QB Sam Bradford went the other way to Laquon Treadwell.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-8 at MIN 14
Play:
(10:32 - 2nd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short left to M.Asiata to MIN 20 for 6 yards (T.Whitehead)
Killebrew:
This time Rudolph splits out wide on the left side of the offensive formation. Killebrew showed some versatility by lining up across from him, and again blanketing him. Bradford goes underneath to Asiata instead, and Tahir Whitehead drops him well short of the sticks.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-9 at DET 48
Play:
(4:30 - 2nd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short left to A.Thielen to DET 41 for 7 yards (T.Whitehead)
Killebrew:
Rudolph isn't on the field this time, so Killebrew drops back into zone coverage. He helps Nevin Lawson in coverage, and appears to be responsible for Matt Asiata leaking out of the backfield as well. Bradford again goes the other way, and Thielen is taken down just short of the sticks by Whitehead.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-14 at MIN 45
Play:
(1:20 - 2nd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short left to K.Rudolph to 50 for 5 yards (M.Killebrew)
Killebrew:
He lines up at a traditional linebacker spot, but appears to be assigned to Rudolph again. Rudolph gets the ball this time too, Killebrew closes quickly for the easy tackle well short of the first-down marker.
Below, this is a look at where Killebrew was when Rudolph caught the ball. He's in outstanding position for the tackle.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-9 at MIN 36
Play:
(12:47 - 3rd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short left to J.McKinnon to MIN 38 for 2 yards (M.Killebrew)
Killebrew:
Killebrew appears to be working in a zone again, and passes off Rudolph to the defensive backs behind him. Bradford passes to McKinnon, and Killebrew is in good position -- once again -- to close quickly for the tackle short of the sticks.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-5 at DET 15
Play:
(7:50 - 3rd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short middle to M.Asiata to DET 12 for 3 yards (M.Killebrew)
Killebrew:
Killebrew was assigned to Asiata leaking out of the backfield, and for the third straight time on third down, makes the tackle to force a punt. Good reads, sound tackling.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-7 at MIN 30
Play:
(3:14 - 3rd) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short left to C.Patterson to MIN 40 for 10 yards (M.Killebrew)
Killebrew:
He's back in man coverage on Rudolph, who runs a slant from the right side of the formation to the middle of the field. Killebrew's all over it, so Bradford hits Patterson on a deeper route instead along the left sideline. But Killebrew still manages to be part of the play anyway, hustling from the hash to the sideline to drop Patterson after Nevin Lawson overpursued on a would-be tackle.
Below, this is the moment Bradford threw the ball. Notice Killebrew's tight coverage on Rudolph, and how far he had to run to tackle Patterson.
*****
Situation:
Third-and-goal at DET 16
Play:
(13:21 - 4th) (Shotgun) S.Bradford pass short middle to K.Rudolph to DET 10 for 6 yards (T.Whitehead)
Killebrew:
Drops back into coverage near the end zone, and wasn't involved in the play.
*****
Conclusions:
Killebrew has become a regular on Detroit's third-down defense, and it's easy to see why. He has the versatility to operate like an extra linebacker, but does so with more speed than your average linebacker. And Detroit has used that speed to help fortify its weakness against the tight end. That position was killing the Lions earlier in the year, and even Killebrew too. But he's gotten better, and against Minnesota, he neutralized a really good one in Kyle Rudolph. Minnesota converted only one third down with Killebrew on the field, and did so by targeting Nevin Lawson. Then Killebrew made that tackle, too. Of course, it helped Detroit got Minnesota into so many third-and-longs too. Killebrew's third downs were from 8, 14, 9, 5, 7 and 16 yards (plus the third-and-3 and third-and-8 that were nullified by penalty). When the Vikings got into a third-and-short, the Lions subbed Killebrew with Brandon Copeland for a bigger, more physical look. But this three-safety package was lights out, and I would expect to see more of it this week when Detroit travels to New Orleans to take on a Saints offense that just hung 49 points on Los Angeles. Their tight ends, Josh Hill and Coby Fleener, combined for 10 catches (on 10 targets) and 133 yards. The key to stopping them? It could be Killebrew, at least on third down.How to search and download unpopular and old files on the internet
ValdikSS Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 13, 2017
Mostly media files. Totally legit, no kidding.
As sometimes happens, you want to download music album from 2007, of the artist known by 3.5 people, like a Spanish Ska-punk or a less-known European speedcore. Got torrent file, import it into client, quickly download up to 14.7% and… that’s it. The day, week passes by, but the percentage of downloaded data is not increased. You’re searching for that album in search engine, stumble upon forums with links only for registered users with “useful messages”, you register there, quickly flood 5 messages in deadly old topics, and finally get links for file sharing sites like rapidshare and megaupload, which are hundred years dead from now.
Unfortunately very common situation when you try to download something old.
That happens. Lately, unfortunately, it happens more and more often: copyright holders and law-enforcement authorities have taken up file sharing seriously; last year we seen closed or seized KickassTorrents, BlackCat Games, what.cd, btdigg, torrentzeu, EX.ua, fs.to, torrents.net.ua and all other websites. While you likely won’t face huge problems in finding fresh movie and TV/animated series rips even despite the repeatedly increased removal of content from search engines, torrent trackers and file sharing, searching for movie source (DVD or Blu-Ray) or just non-English and non-Russian 7-year-old TV rips could be challenging.
Why would you ever need that?
Lack of DVD releases for some series
The film could have been dubbed and aired on TV in some country, but never get on DVD. Cappers rip it and upload to file sharing sites or via Bittorrent, then DVD is released in another country without capped audio dub, for example, a French one. People are forced to download high quality DVDRip without French dub or relatively low quality TV rip with it.
As the times go by, less and less people download French TVRip, it got deleted from file sharing sites due to file inactivity. Downloading this release become rather nontrivial task.
One can solve the problem by muxing audio from TV rip to DVD video, but nobody did that and TV version died.
The film could have been dubbed and aired on TV in some country, but never get on DVD. Cappers rip it and upload to file sharing sites or via Bittorrent, then DVD is released in another country without capped audio dub, for example, a French one. People are forced to download high quality DVDRip without French dub or relatively low quality TV rip with it. As the times go by, less and less people download French TVRip, it got deleted from file sharing sites due to file inactivity. Downloading this release become rather nontrivial task. One can solve the problem by muxing audio from TV rip to DVD video, but nobody did that and TV version died. Different TV and DVD content
For example, Daria lost almost all music from TV version due to legal problems with re-licensing it for DVD. For a long time people were facing a choice between watching full version with all music and bad video quality or nice-looking DVD version, but without music.
For example, Daria lost almost all music from TV version due to legal problems with re-licensing it for DVD. For a long time people were facing a choice between watching full version with all music and bad video quality or nice-looking DVD version, but without music. Regional difference
These are true for both video and music. W.I.T.C.H. series has aired with 4 different openings, only one of which got into DVD.
Japanese versions of music albums are known for bonus tracks, which are missing in any other edition.
As you may already understand, everyone have own reason. Where do we download unpopular and old files?
Usenet
Usenet is a distributed network of servers which synchronize data between them. Usenet structure resembles something in the middle between forums and email: so-called “newsgroups” (Usenet categories) have tree-style structure. Usenet users can join groups, read and write to it. Just as in email, Usenet messages have subject, which helps to organize discussion topic.
Nowadays Usenet is primarily used for file sharing.
Usenet history
Emerged in 1979, network used direct modem connections to transfer information using UUCP and was generally an instrument for text communications. That time Usenet was a BBS competitor; there was special gateways between Usenet and Fidonet.
As internet come, Usenet messaging switched to TCP/IP stack, using NNTP, which is still used even outside of Usenet (for example, you can read lots of public mail lists using gmane and RSS feeds via gwene, and unlike usual mail list, you can always go back into history, before you subscribed to that list.)
With more line speed, modern modems and its’ protocols, in early 90-s Usenet became a ground for file transfers: warez, music, videos. The algorithm is similar to one in Email: file is cut into several pieces (volumes), encoded using printable characters in 7-byte encoding using Base64 or uuencode, and sent to the newsgroup.
7-bit encoding adds about 30% file transfer overhead. Usenet specification allowed using most ASCII symbols, not just printable ones, thus new file encoding algorithm yEnc emerged in 2001, adding only 1–2% of overhead. It quotes only newline symbols, NULL bytes and equal sign (=). yEnc is still the main algorithm of Usenet file transfers.
Integrity check and corrupted volume recovery is achieved with Parchive
Before 2008 big Usenet providers stored binary files for only 100–150 days (“retention time”). Since 2008 the biggest providers stopped deleting anything and store files forever, so one can download 8-year-old files without any problem, while mid-sized providers store files for 1000+ days which is not exactly bad also. Nowadays, text communication over Usenet is almost non-existent; the network is used primarily as file storage.
Circa mid 2001 the network has been spotted by copyright holders, forcing Usenet providers to delete copyrighted content, which largely influenced release consistency. Some providers created automatic systems to delete files under copyright, allowing copyright holders to delete information on their own. To stop or at least decelerate file deletion, enthusiasts begin to upload files with obfuscated file names or use password-protected archives, adding them into private, invite-only file index websites afterwards. These releases cannot be found or downloaded by usual means.
In modern Russia Usenet is known by only a few people, despite it was among two working links with the west in 1991 coup (the second is Fido).
Nowadays Usenet is most popular in countries with strict copyright laws with fines for downloading or uploading copyrighted content. Germany is an example of such country.
Unlike Bittorrent, you cannot determine users’ IP address in Usenet, unless with cooperation with ISP or Usenet provider.
Connect to Usenet
Most likely, you won’t be able to join the network for free: you either would get low retention time (10–30 days) or low speed, or even access to text-only newsgroups. You need to buy access from any Usenet provider or reseller. Most providers offer two types of access: monthly subscription with unmetered data (unlimited) and data plan without time limit (block). If you’re interested in downloading files a few times a month, block access is good to go.
Largest providers are: Altopia, Giganews, Eweka, NewsHosting, Astraweb.
Now you somehow need to get nzb file with metainformation. This is something like a.torrent file for Usenet. Let’s use indexer search engine if you don’t have one.
Indexers
Public indexers are full of spam and viruses, their search capabilities are mediocre, but, nevertheless, they are good for old files uploaded 5 years ago or more.
Here are some of them:
Free indexers with registration requirement are more suitable for fresh files. Their catalog structure is good, the releases have not only the name but the description and picture.
I especially recommend the last two, they are capable of searching obfuscated releases.
There are indexes focused only one subject, for example, anizb for anime and albumsindex for music.
Downloading from Usenet
Let’s try to download The FP, an unpopular and mostly unknown movie from 2011, the 1080p BDRip of which cannot be found in the usual internet.
You need to find nzb file and import it into downloading program like NZBGet or SABnzbd.
Go to nzbking.com, search for “the.fp.2011”.
This file has only 1 part of 3867. You cannot download such file, the indexer shows this in red.
Password protected files are usually fakes.
Second page shows us a sign of proper DVDRip — the filesize is good, no password.
Third page shows us BDRip and several DVDRips, which looks good (based on file size and upload date).
Choose files you want to download, press “Download NZB”, import.nzb into NZBGet or SABnzbd with configured Usenet account data.
The file is being downloaded with full ISP link speed.
As file finished downloading, NZBGet would automatically unpack archives and delete them, keeping only unpacked data. You’ve got 6.74 of data, which was uploaded 4.5 years ago, in only 15 minutes, hooray!
IRC / DCC / XDCC
Internet Relay Chat is an old protocol for text communications which is still popular among open-source software developers, torrent trackers administrators, anime lovers and authors of botnet CnCs, because of its simplicity. Emerged in 1989, IRC quickly became the standard for text chats on the internet for a long years, and conceded its popularity to ICQ and Jabber only in mid 2000s. IRC support file transfer using DCC, which was first used for automatic file sharing by Xabi, in Xabi DCC (hence the name — XDCC).
Now you have IRC channels and even whole servers only for file transfers using XDCC. Almost any anime release group, sometimes even without a website, have it’s own bot, which serves all group’ files. XDCC popularity is driven by ease of using and administrating file sharing bots: uploader need only to upload the file itself using FTP for example, and bot will automatically add that new file to index and notify channel users of it (if it’s a new episode of a TV series as an example).
Special private IRC networks are used for warez, fresh and not so movies, music, games, boots. XDCC is hardly known by copyright agencies, that’s why you can find lots of stuff you cannot find in other places.
Indexers
Most (but not all) XDCC bots are indexed with special scripts, providing web interface for search engine.
Indexers of generic content:
Anime indexers:
How to download from IRC
You’ll need IRC client. Almost any client will work, overwhelming majority of clients support DCC. Join the server depending on the content you’re interested in, and download.
The biggest servers with books:
irc.undernet.org, #bookz room
irc.irchighway.net, #ebooks room
Warez:
irc.criten.net, #elitewarez room
irc.infatech.net, #elitewarez room
irc.scenep2p.net, #the.source room
Movies:
irc.abjects.net, #moviegods room
irc.abjects.net, #beast-xdcc room
Western and Japanese animation:
irc.rizon.net, #news room
irc.xertion.org, #cartoon-world room
All bots accept!find or @find commands for searching files, sending you search results with a direct message. Searching for a popular query will get you literally spammed with search results, that’s why it’s sane to use @search command where available. This command will trigger special indexer bot to send you search results in one file over DCC.
Let’s try to download “How Music Got Free” — a great book about music industry, music sharing technologies and a person who stole almost 2000 different albums and uploaded it to the internet.
The bot reacts to @search request and sends results in a zipped text file over DCC.
Let’s send download request query to the bot.
And accept it!
If you found a file using file indexer, you don’t need to search for it on the channel. Just send download query to the bot right away using the command from indexer site.
DC++
Direct Connect network is based on client-server architecture, where all the non-filesharing communications are done via server, which is called hub. DC++ supports sharing the whole directories, can search for exact file types (audio, video, archives, documents, disk images), and has search engine which is not bound to file name. DC++ is most known for build-in chat, which was very handy in local networks of early days.
Such hubs were popular in Russia, some of them were maintained by ISPs themselves. Siberian “GoodLine” ISP advertized own DC++ hub on advertising hoardings and even had a special software inside set-top boxes to deliver users new movies right to the TV.
That was the biggest hub of the world, with more than 100000 users.
Due to ease of file sharing (you need only to put a tick against directory to be shared), you can find weird, exotic junk, which is, as the user thinks, nobody even remember, but he still share it with others, just in case.
11-year-old videotutorial is seeded by 3 persons. Nobody would ever want to watch it, believe me.
How to download from DC++
You’ll need any DC++ client. FlylinkDC++ is a good to go for Windows (it supports Bittorrent, too). Linux users choose EiskaltDC++ or AirDC++ Web.
Join some DC++ hubs, the more the better. DC++ hublist is available in the clients itself, but you can also access it using this special web page and copy address from there.
I highly recommend you to configure “Active Mode” and set up port forwarding, otherwise you won’t be able to download files from users in “Passive Mode” and your search results would be limited.
Searching and downloading is self-explanatory: type search query, choose content type if you want, press “search”, double-click search result to download. You can also see a list of all shared files of exact user (and download all files from selected folder) by right-clicking search result and selecting corresponding menu item.
If the file you were searching for is not found, it’s worth to repeat your search query from time to time. People tend to start DC client only when they need to download something, so you need to catch the wave to find files from such users.
Simultaneous search for multiple files may be hard due to NMDC protocol limitations. Search results may intermix and show up for different search queries, that’s why it’s safer to perform only one search at a time. ADC hubs don’t have such limitation, but they are dismally non-existent (their URI starts with adc://, not dchub:// ).
Indexers
Built-in search finds files only in online users’ lists, that’s why indexers are very convenient for searching rare files.
As far as I know, the only DC++ indexer is spacelib.dlinkddns.com (and it’s other address is dcpoisk.no-ip.org). Search is build upon Sphinx engine with morphology support. Search results consists of magnet links you can add to download queue in DC++ client.
Sometimes it’s down for long times. For example, last time it was down for 2 months straight.
eDonkey2000 (ed2k), Kad
ed2k is a protocol of decentralized file transfer with centralized hub for search queries and establishing connection between users, just like DC++. Itr used to be #1 protocol for file sharing for all social groups before seizure of the most popular server, Razorback 2, back in 2006, and increasing popularity of BitTorrent.
eDonkey 2000 is still alive. Merely because of decentralized Kad protocol, which was implemented right before Razorback 2 and original client server went out of service.
You can find almost the same content as in DC++: old TV series with different dub, various music, games, warez, old programming books, math and biology books. Of course, new released are here too. The protocol supports chat functionality, but you’re unlikely would be able to use it as it’s disabled by default in all clients, your messages just won’t be shown.
How to download from eDonkey2000/KAD
As you may guess, you’ll need ed2k client. aMule is a good choise for Linux. Windows users should probably use eMule, although it’s not being updated since 2011.
It’s highly recommended to set up port forwarding to be able to download from users behind NAT (LowID).
Searching and downloading process is very similar to one in DC++. Type search query, get results from online users, double-click on the file to begin download.
Query result would be shown even if none of the users have it in full, but only parts of it.
Let’s find “We Live In Public”, a less-known documentary from 2009 about the internet of 90s. A part of this movie tells about pseudo.com video streaming service from 1993, which is partially foretold modern internet.
Just type search query, press the button and wait for results:
Double-click to begin download.
Downloading one file can take weeks or even months. For some unknown reason, most ed2k users have disgusting internet speed and show up in the network for only some hours per week, or even less. Be patient.
Soulseek
Soulseek is a centralized network for p2p music sharing, created in 2000 by one of Napster developers. It’s known in IDM community, and is still in active development. Group and private chats, friend-to-friend only file sharing, tag and bitrate-aware search are among the other things of this network.
Some search queries are censored.
The official proprietary SoulseekQt is the most popular one, with two unofficial clients also available: Nicotine+ and Museek+.
BitTorrent DHT
All modern BitTorrent clients are able to find peers using distributed hash table (DHT). This feature is used not only by copyright-oriented companies to monitor users and send them copyright infringement messages, but also by DHT indexers, to receive torrent file with infohash from third-party DHT query and save it to the database. Such indexers could be handy to find rare or unpublished torrents by file or directory name, or to search similar torrents with potentially more seeds.
The most known but nowadays dead indexer is btdigg, the other sites came to replace it:
DHT indexers are known to live short lives: two of my favourites, fastbot and BTKitty.red, are inaccessible when I write this article.
File sharing sites and FTP servers
Almost every region has it’s own local file sharing site, which is popular among exact lingual group. For example, you can find lots of Czech and Slovak content on uloz.to; zone-telechargement.ws is good for French content, while chomikuj.pl is for Polish media.
FTP indexers don’t find requested file so often, but give it a try nevertheless:
File sharing websites search engines are also not so effective, but don’t forget about them:
You could find lots of content on ex.ua until very recently, but unfortunately it’s closed now, what a pity.
How to search scene releases
It’s not always sufficient to just search for content name, you could let scene releases slip though your fingers.
The Warez scene, often referred to as The Scene, is an underground community of people that specialize in the distribution of copyrighted material, including television shows and series, movies, music, music videos, games (all platforms), applications (all platforms), ebooks, and pornography. The Scene is meant to be hidden from the public, only being shared with those within the community. However, as files were commonly leaked outside the community and their popularity grew, some individuals from The Scene began leaking files and uploading them to filehosts, torrents and ed2k.
Scene releases are known for short or intentionally garbled names to prevent it from searching with usual means by file name. To determine proper name, you have to search for the scene release in a special scene release indexers: layer13.net, pre.corrupt-net.org and predb.me.
Let’s determine scene release name of We Live In Public from PUZZLE, using Layer13:
NFO name is “puzzle-wlip.nfo”. Archive names are in 99% cases are the same as NFO name, so let’s try to search for “puzzle-wlip” on a Usenet indexer:
How we can download a DVD image, hooray!
Usual search engines like Google are not always your helpful friend. First, Google follows DMCA and deletes (hides) copyright-restricted content. Second, it could be rather nontrivial to find content with special symbols: try search for W.I.T.C.H., and you’ll get Witch, The Witch and Blair Witch results.
I prefer DuckDuckGo, Bing and meta search engine SearX — sometimes you find materials unavailable anywhere else.
If you’re interested in a release of exact language, it’s sane to search by localized name which you can get from Wikipedia, IMDb or other similar websites.
Anime loves are free to use anidb, which stores all the information about all releases. Group information is usually contains the website link or IRC channel where you can talk to its members and download files using XDCC.
Beside the source, video resolution, audio and subtitle language, anidb stores TTH hash for DC++ and ed2k link for eDonkey2000 of each known file.
The end
That’s how I search for files on the internet. This article does not contain obvious things like ordering disks from Amazon or Ebay or searching on popular Torrent trackers. All described methods are good for European and USA media content, but I didn’t have the opportunity to search for Arab or Indian content, so I can’t say would it be effective or not in that case.UNWANTED: A Russian convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine drives along a road near the city of Yelets on Monday.
Russia's emergency services ministry has dispatched a 280-truck convoy said to be carrying humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine - but officials in Kiev warned that Russian military vehicles and personnel won't be allowed through the border.
The International Committee of the Red Cross also warned Moscow that it had yet to receive details of the convoy's contents, its travel route or how it intends the 2000 tons of food, water, medicine and other essentials to be distributed to those in need in separatist-held Luhansk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been pushing for weeks |
frustration; with all that we've been told and yet occasionally suspect we may be better off never having learnt. So I wrote a little manual that tries to complicate a habit that, at present, has come to seem a little too normal and harmless for our own good. In what follows, I play the role of my own interlocutor in order to make clear just why I believe this to be so urgent.
What do you find most troubling about the way that news is reported in our culture?
I'd say there were three things. Firstly, we've got a real problem popularising important news. Serious journalists often think that what is central to their jobs is to go out and find out "the truth," and then everything in society will change. But in my view, in this distracted, sensation hungry age, the real task is subtly but importantly different. There are lots of truths out there already that people don't care much about at all. This is really fatal in a democracy, because politicians have to rely on people caring about issues in order that they can have the popular mandate to change things. So in my eyes, a really important task for journalists is to learn how to make what's important seem interesting - to a large audience. We have too many stories that are "important" but entirely boring to us, because journalists haven't worked hard enough to connect them to our own interests.
Secondly, it's so hard to focus on what matters, because we have a news agenda which deluges us with information, but makes it extremely unlikely that we can track an issue across time and keep an eye on it. It's almost as if there were two ways to render a society supine, apolitical and resigned to the status quo: either you censor all news, or else you flood people with so much news, they can't focus on anything. We're in danger of this latter scenario.
Thirdly, we have political news that is obsessed with a Watergate-style of journalism which identifies what's wrong in society with active skullduggery: it's always looking out for crooks. The problem with this is that a lot of what's wrong in society is the work, not of crooks, but just people who have the wrong ideas or a lack of imagination, or who have grown stale and uninspired. The point of journalism shouldn't always be to flush out scandal, because errors don't crop up in "scandal"-shaped forms all the time. What's important is to look for errors in more subtle, pervasive but invisible forms.
Do you think there is too much ridicule focused on people in the media when they make a mistake?
There is a species of what I might call gaffe journalism, which locks onto an error made quite innocently by someone, and it takes this error to be the truth about a situation, even though it's clear to all parties that this is never what was meant. This is adolescence having a second life through journalism. It's particularly sad, because there are real errors out there. One doesn't need to hunt for gaffes; one should be out discerning and analysing the true mistakes, which have nothing in common with gaffes.
Do you think the news can be changed for the better?
Journalism can definitely be changed for the better - that's what my book is about. But whereas many people focus on changing the producer, my emphasis is on changing the consumer. Think of an analogy with food. One way to get food consumption to improve is to legislate and control the producers, but another - and, in my view, better - way is to educate consumers into what is genuinely good. Right now, we tend to be very undiscerning consumers of news, not quite understanding what went into producing it or grasping its full effect on our psyches.
Why choose the news as the topic of your book?
There's no more powerful force in modern society than the news. It shapes how we see the world, what we judge to be good and bad, important or silly, right or wrong. And yet too often, we don't see the extent to which the news is forming our mentalities.
No one teaches you this at school. It is deemed more important for us to know how to make sense of the plot of Othello than how to decode the front page of the New York Post. We are more likely to hear about the significance of Matisse's use of colour than to be taken through the effects of the celebrity photo section of the Daily Mail. We aren't encouraged to consider what might happen to our outlooks after immersion in Bild or OK! magazines, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung or the Hokkaido Shimbun, the Tehran Times or the Herald Sun. We are never systematically inducted into the extraordinary capacity of news outlets to influence our sense of reality and to mould the state of what we might as well - with no supernatural associations - call our souls.
For all their talk of education, modern societies neglect to examine by far the most influential means by which their populations are educated. Whatever happens in our classrooms, the more potent and ongoing kind of education takes place on the airwaves and on our screens. Cocooned in classrooms for only our first twenty years or so, we effectively spend the rest of our lives under the tutelage of news entities which wield infinitely greater influence over us than any academic institution can. Once our formal education is over, the news is the teacher. It is the single most significant force setting the tone of public life and shaping our impressions of the community beyond our own walls. It is the prime creator of political and social reality. As revolutionaries well know, if you want to change the mentality of a country, you don't head to the art gallery, the department of education or the homes of famous novelists; you drive the tanks straight to the nerve centre of the body politic, the news HQ.
This, I hope, helps to explain why I wrote the book: to make sense of one of the most powerful forces at work in the world today.
Do you think people are more cynical about trusting news sources after the phone-hacking scandal, the rise of social media and citizen journalism? Or, do these just show that the news is even more ubiquitous and powerful in modern society?
The UK phone hacking scandal revealed a deep longing for a better kind of news - a news that wouldn't be so cynical and so destructive. We know in our hearts that this isn't doing our national life any good. Yet, we keep taking in the news as much as we ever did.
What does all this news do to us over time? What remains of the months, even years we spend with it in aggregate? Whither those many excitements and fears - about the missing child, the budget shortfall and the unfaithful general? To what increase in wisdom did all these news stories contribute, beyond leaving behind a vague and unsurprising sediment of conclusions - for example, that China is rising, that Central Africa is corrupt and that education must be reformed?
It is a sign of our mental generosity that we don't generally insist on such questions. We imagine that there would be something wrong in simply switching off. It is hard to give up on the habit first established in our earliest years, as we sat cross-legged during school assembly, to listen politely to figures of authority while they tell us about things they proclaim to be essential.
Why does the news play such a significant role in people's lives today?
Societies become modern, the philosopher Georg Hegel suggested, when news replaces religion as our central source of guidance and our touchstone of authority. In the developed economies, the news now occupies a position of power at least equal to that formerly enjoyed by the faiths. Dispatches track the canonical hours with uncanny precision: matins have been transubstantiated into the breakfast bulletin, vespers into the evening report.
But the news doesn't just follow a quasi-religious timetable. It also demands that we approach it with some of the same deferential expectations we would once have harboured of the faiths. Here, too, we hope to receive revelations, learn who is good and bad, fathom suffering and understand the unfolding logic of existence. And here too, if we refuse to take part in the rituals, there could be imputations of heresy.
The news knows how to render its own mechanics almost invisible and therefore hard to question. It speaks to us in a natural unaccented voice, without reference to its own assumption-laden perspective. It fails to disclose that it does not merely report on the world, but is instead constantly at work crafting a new planet in our minds in line with its own often highly distinctive priorities.
Does the news work for us, against us, or both?
It does both, because the news both informs us of some very important things and then very quickly also distracts us by changing the subject and introducing a myriad of other concerns.
It would be easy to suppose that the real enemy of democratic politics must be the active censorship of news - and therefore that the freedom to say or publish anything would be the natural ally of civilisation. The modern world is teaching us that there are dynamics far more insidious and cynical still than censorship in draining people of political will: these involve confusing, boring and distracting the majority away from politics by presenting events in such a disorganised, fractured and intermittent way that most of the audience is unable to hold on to the thread of the most important issues for any length of time.
A contemporary dictator wishing to establish power would not need to do anything so obviously sinister as banning the news: he or she would only have to see to it that news organisations broadcast a flow of random-sounding bulletins, in great numbers but with little explanation of context, within an agenda that kept changing, without giving any sense of the ongoing relevance of an issue that had seemed pressing only a short while before, the whole interspersed with constant updates about the colourful antics of murderers and film stars. This would be quite enough to undermine most people's capacity to grasp political reality - as well as any resolve they might otherwise have summoned to alter it. The status quo could confidently remain forever undisturbed by a flood of, rather than a ban on, news.
You're aiming to "make the news better" - how do you think this can be done?
The news is one of the most important and powerful forces in society. Every day, it shapes our sense of what matters, what's important, admirable, scandalous or normal. This is why the news should be a major target of concern for all real philosophers. A country can only ever be as good as its news outlets. I suggest a very particular strategy for the ideal news outlet of the future. This would start not with the big worthy stories, but with the stories a lot of people already love to read and talk about. The ideal news would be generous to people's natural inclinations to:
look at sexy images;
read celebrity gossip; and
read shock stories.
And it would be very sympathetic to popular biases like:
anxiety about whatever feels foreign;
a taste for vengeance;
lack of empathy for the very poor;
envy of the rich;
resentment of the powerful;
suspicion of those who seem clever; and
dislike of awkward truths.
So one wouldn't start with the wise, good or serious outlooks. There are plenty of people already doing this (for example, the Economist or New York Times). The epochal challenge is to reach people who don't engage with complex news. Though it's fashionable to knock the Daily Mail, it's far better to emulate its success, but with an ulterior motive. Plato wrote that society wouldn't come right until kings were philosophers or philosophers kings. I believe society won't come right until media owners become philosophers - or philosophers become media owners.
We're constantly inundated with information via the internet, Twitter, Facebook - is this overkill? Is it mentally bad for us? Should we be constantly connected (virtually) to events that take place all across the world or is this a burden to the mind and our communities?
We can't find everything we need to round out our humanity in the present. There are attitudes, ideologies, modalities of feeling and philosophies of mind for which we must journey backwards across the centuries, through the corridors of reference libraries, past forgotten museum cabinets filled with rusting suits of medieval armour, along the pages of second-hand books marked with the annotations of their now-deceased owners or up to the altars of half-ruined and moss-covered temples. We need to balance contact with the ever changing pixels on our screens with the pages of heavy hardback books that proclaim, through their bindings and their typefaces, that they have something to say that will still deserve a place in our thoughts tomorrow.
We need relief from the news-fuelled impression that we are living in an age of unparalleled importance, with our wars, our debts, our riots, our missing children, our after-premiere parties, our IPOs and our rogue missiles. We need, on occasion, to be able to rise up into space in our imagination, many kilometres above the mantle of the earth, to a place where that particular conference and this particular epidemic, that new phone and this shocking wildfire, will lose a little of their power to affect us - and where even the most intractable problems will seem to dissolve against the aeons of time to which the view of other galaxies attests.
We should at times forego our own news in order to pick up on the far stranger, more wondrous headlines of those less eloquent species that surround us: kestrels and snow geese, spider beetles and black-faced leafhoppers, lemurs and small children - all creatures usefully uninterested in our own melodramas, and counterweights to our anxieties and self-absorption.
A flourishing life requires a capacity to recognise the times when the news no longer has anything original or important to teach us; periods when we should refuse imaginative connection with strangers, when we must leave the business of governing, triumphing, failing, creating or killing to others, in the knowledge that we have our own objectives to honour in the brief time still allotted to us.
Alain de Botton is the best-selling author of The News: A User's Manuel, Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion, and (with John Armstrong) Art as Therapy. He will be visiting Australia in March to discuss his iseas about the uses and abuses of the news.The grasping socialist government of Venezuela is doing what grasping socialist governments do when things get desperate: accusing the opposition of crimes. Yahoo News reports Nicolas Maduro’s government is actually moving to have the entire opposition party banned because of alleged voter fraud:
The Venezuelan government asked electoral authorities Tuesday to ban the opposition coalition seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro in a recall vote, accusing them of massive fraud. Ratcheting up the tension in a country pushed to the brink of collapse by an economic crisis, Maduro’s camp hit back with a vengeance on the same day the opposition was hoping to get a green light to go ahead with its bid to hold a recall referendum. “We have just asked for the cancellation of the registration of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), for being involved in the worst vote fraud in the country’s history,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Maduro’s designated aide to monitor the recall process.
The opposition party has been trying to get the government to approve a referendum on removing Maduro, something which is allowed under the country’s constitution. The first step in that process was collecting enough signatures to start the referendum process. Only 200,000 signatures were required for that initial step and, back in May, the opposition party turned in 1.8 million signatures, way more than what was required.
Yahoo News reports the socialists in power are now claiming to have found 11,000 signatures which they claim belong to dead people, children or convicts. The opposition disputes this but even if it’s true what about the other 1,789,000 signatures? Are all of those invalid too? Based on a claim to have invalidated a tiny fraction of the signatures the socialists are attempting to ban the entire opposition party.
Meanwhile, people stuck living under this horrible regime are starving, unable to find enough food to feed their families. As many as 100,000 people crossed the border just to shop a couple weeks ago. And the situation is worse for children who must go without needed medicines. Many of them will simply die while Maduro continues to stall and play for more time. If Maduro refuses to allow a constitutional challenge to his authority, he may find an unconstitutional one comes next.With the average Major League Baseball game soaring past three hours despite decreasing offensive numbers in the game, the league announced Monday that it will test out various experimental rules changes during Arizona Fall League play to improve the sport’s pace.
They include some dramatic changes, like eliminating the need to actually throw four balls to intentionally walk a batter, and some obvious ones, like limiting the amount of time a pitcher can take between pitches.
The full list of rules to be tested are as follows, from a Major League Baseball press release.
1. Batter’s Box Rule: “The batter shall keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout his at-bat, unless one of a series of established exceptions occurs, in which case the batter may leave the batter’s box but not the dirt area surrounding home plate.”
2. No-Pitch Intentional Walks: “In the event a team decides to intentionally walk a batter, no pitches shall be thrown. Instead, the manager shall signal to the home plate umpire with four fingers, and the batter should proceed to first base to become a runner.”
3. 20-Second Rule: (To be used only at AFL games played at Salt River Fields) “A modified version of Rule 8.04, which discourages unnecessary delays by the pitcher, shall apply. Rule 8.04 requires the pitcher to deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball with the bases unoccupied. The penalty prescribed by Rule 8.04 for a pitcher’s violation of the Rule is that the umpire shall call ‘Ball.’
“In the AFL games at Salt River, a clock will be displayed in both dugouts, behind home plate, and in the outfield. The clock will be operated by an independent operator, who is not a member of the umpire crew. A pitcher shall be allowed 20 seconds to throw each pitch…. The clock will stop only when the pitcher begins his motion to deliver the ball (and not ‘when the pitcher releases the ball’ as prescribed in Rule 8.04). Beginning the motion of coming to the set position shall be sufficient to stop the clock. If the pitcher maintains possession of the ball without beginning his pitching motion for more than 20 seconds, the Umpire shall call ‘Ball.'”
4. 2:05 Inning Break Clock: “There shall be a maximum 2:05 break between innings. Hitters must enter the batter’s box by the 1:45 mark. When batters violate this rule, the Umpire may call an automatic strike. When batters are set by the appropriate time and pitchers fail to throw a pitch before the conclusion of the 2:05 period, the Umpire shall call a ball.”
5. 2:30 Pitching Change Break Clock: “There shall be a maximum 2:30 break for pitching changes, including pitching changes that occur during an inning break. The first pitch must be thrown before the conclusion of the 2:30 period or the umpire shall call a ball. The clock shall start when the new pitcher enters the playing field (i.e., crosses the warning track, or foul line).”
6. Three “Time Out” Limit: “Each team shall be permitted only three ‘Time Out’ conferences per game (including extra innings). Such conferences shall include player conferences with the pitcher (including the catcher), manager or coach conferences with the pitcher, and coach conferences with a batter. Conferences during pitching changes, and time outs called as a result of an injury or other emergency, shall not be counted towards this limit. A manager, coach or player will not be permitted to call a fourth time out in violation of this Rule. In such cases, the game will continue uninterrupted, and offenders may be subject to discipline.”
Great. None of the proposed changes interfere at all with actual gameplay. No one’s talking about shortening games to seven innings or changing the strike zone or limiting pitching changes.
Of the six rules above, the last looks most likely to prove controversial among players and coaches. Though it makes sense to limit the number of mound conferences, it seems like the pitch clock might have the same effect. And the first time a catcher loses a breaking ball in the dirt because of confusion over signs with runners on base, you will inevitably hear griping about his inability to sync up with the pitcher beforehand.
The no-pitch intentional walk rule will look funny to anyone who hasn’t seen it used in an amateur game. But though throwing the intentional balls does sometimes provide an offensive team opportunity to advance on the bases, ultimately, who cares? Intentional walks will always be a necessary strategy at certain points in the game, and no one’s watching baseball to see a fireballing reliever try his best to lob four straight pitches five feet off the plate.
Adding the batter’s box rule and pitch clock alone should push all games to a more reasonable pace. And though limiting the amount of time between innings and during pitching changes may at first concern some sponsors, it seems likely that shorter commercial breaks will ultimately lead more people to tune in to games and stick around through the ads.
The league last used the Arizona Fall League as its testing grounds for expanded instant replay in 2013 before implementing the system in the Major League game in 2014.Support us! GearJunkie may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more
Just as the snow is beginning to fly, a St. Paul company is rolling out a new fat bike. Aptly named “The Minnesota,” it comes in two models and starts at $799.
The Minnesota-based distributor is not Quality Bicycle Products, which readers may know sells multiple fat bike models from names like Surly and Salsa. The new fat bikes, which are among the least expensive on the market, come from The House Outdoor Gear.
The House is one of the largest online retailers of snowsports gear in the country. The brand has giant warehouse buildings in the Twin Cities and each year sells hundreds of thousands of snowboards, skis, and other winter gear items.
But the company also has an in-house bike line, Framed. The fat bikes are the newest addition to the Framed stock.
The Minnesota 1.0 model is an entry-level fat bike that costs $799. This nine-speed aluminum fatty has disc brakes, 100mm bottom bracket, and SRAM X5 components.
For $100 more you can upgrade to the Minnesota 2.0, which offers a few upgraded specs, like lighter tires and 18 speeds.
Both come with 4-inch-wide Mission tires from Vee Rubber. The 1.0 comes with the wire bead model, and the 2.0 gets the more lightweight folding bead. The brand states that this upgrade takes about one pound off the total weight of the bike.
They will be available for pre-order online within the next couple of days. Shipping will start in late January. The House will sell them online and in its retail store in St. Paul.
We’re looking forward to testing these two budget fat bikes this winter. Fat bikes are trending, and it’s great to see some more affordable options in the genre coming to market to give more people a chance to hop on a fatty and ride.
—Amy OberbroecklingHome
Missions
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (AS-510)
Exploration of Hadley-Apennine Region
Apollo 15 was the fourth mission to land men on the Moon. This mission was the first flight of the Lunar Roving Vehicle which astronauts used to explore the geology of the Hadley Rille/Apennine region. The LRV allowed Apollo 15, 16 and 17 astronauts to venture further from the Lunar Module than in previous missions. Total surface traverses increased from hundreds of meters during earlier missions to tens of kilometers during Apollo 15 and 16 and just over 100 kilometers during Apollo 17.
Summary of Events
The successful Apollo 15 manned lunar landing mission was the first in a series of three advanced missions planned for the Apollo program. Its primary scientific objectives were to observe the lunar surface, survey and sample material and surface features in a preselected area of the Hadley-Apennine region, setup and activate surface experiments, and conduct inflight experiments and photographic tasks from lunar orbit.
Apollo 15 LaunchThe space vehicle with a crew of David R. Scott, commander; Alfred J. Worden, command module pilot; and James B. Irwin, lunar module (LM) pilot, was launched on schedule from the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 9:34:00 a.m. EST on July 26, 1971.
At 22:04:09 GMT on July 30, the LM descent propulsion system was fired for powered-descent initiation. The LM landed approximately 12 minutes later with sufficient propellant remaining to provide an additional hover time of 103 seconds, had it been required.
During a lunar stay of 66 hr 54 min 53 sec, a 33-min standup extravehicular activity (EVA) and three periods of surface EVA totaling approximately 18.5 hr were performed.
The astronauts were able to collect samples from the low dark plains (maria), the Apennine highlands, and the area along Hadley Rille, a long, narrow winding valley.
Approximately 76 kg of lunar material including soil, rock, core-tube, and deep-core samples were returned to Earth.
Traverses during the three EVA periods were enhanced by use of a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). An average speed of 9.6 km/hr was achieved, and speeds up to 12 km/hr were attained over level lunar terrain. The total distance traveled, was 27.9 km, corresponding to a map distance of approximately 25.3 km.
Liftoff of the LM ascent stage occurred at 17:11:23 GMT on August 2 and was monitored by the ground-command television assembly mounted on the LRV. Commanded from Earth, the television assembly was planned to provide coverage after liftoff of the lunar surface and of a lunar eclipse on August 6. Although the television assembly operated successfully during all three EVA periods, the elevation clutch began to slip during the second EVA, and operation deteriorated during the rest of the mission. When activated about 40 hr after LM liftoff, the unit operated satisfactorily for 13 minutes then failed.
Although entry was nominal and all three main parachutes deployed initially, one parachute collapsed before spashdown. However, the CM was landed safely at 20:45:53 GMT, August 7, 1971.
From NASA SP-289, Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report.Zrana Profile Blog Joined August 2010 United Kingdom 698 Posts #2 This is cool and all, but could you explain where you put things like attack, stim, hold pos etc and hotkeys for upgrades like +1?
thezanursic Profile Blog Joined July 2011 5446 Posts #3 That's pretty nice actually I personally won't change my hotkey layout because I am way to used to it, but somebody who hasn't played a lot yet could findthis very useful http://i45.tinypic.com/9j2cdc.jpg Let it be so!
Shikyo Profile Blog Joined June 2008 Finland 24337 Posts #4 Some of your ideas are quite interesting, even though I'm not sure how effective it is having CGs 6-10 bound to a modifier key combination.
However, no matter how good the layout itself is, those master sheets are incredible. 10/10 production. League of Legends EU West, Platinum III | Yousei Teikoku is the best thing that has ever happened to music.
DanceSC Profile Blog Joined March 2008 United States 725 Posts #5 It looks nice and all, but I'm still trying to imagine what how the hotkey combinations would be for protoss. Normally one would 1a2a3a, and in this it looks like 1t2t3t (which is nice!). But what about 1 set to blink, 2 for force fields, 3 for psionic storm, and 5 for photon over charge / time field. Would I be pressing 1z2x2z3z5c5z? it seems kind of tedious to press the top keys and then the ones on the very bottom. Also what would the warpgate button be? Dance.943 || "I think he's just going to lose. There's only so many ways you can lose. And he's going to make some kind of units. And I'm going to attack him, and then all his stuff is going to die. That's about the best prediction that I can make" - NonY
Chungis Profile Joined March 2013 1 Post #6 Seems like a great setup, but I can't find the folder for hotkeys on my Mac.
Anybody know where the files would go? "Chungis has come!" - Mothership
ProbeEtPylon Profile Joined October 2010 156 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-23 19:27:01 #7 Great layout, thank you!
Especially binding locations and warp-ins to alt is genious.
Although I am a lefty, this layout works great for me (except the space button, my poor thumb has to make awkward movements in order to reach it)
I use a German qwertz-keyboard (switching to the qwerty-layout via windows-key+space for SC2 though) and it seems that selecting idle workers/all units does not work properly (the hotkeys were bound to "alt+;"). Its easy to fix that, though.
One suggestion: Swap " ` " and " alt+` ", since comfortably selecting your army is more important than selecting idle workers.
Edit: This layout works great for me not 'although' but 'because' I am a lefty. Alt, Ctrl, Tab etc. are much better accessible when having your right hand on the keyboard (using the right thumb is more comfortable, using the forefinger instead of the pinky is also beneficial for most(?) people). Maybe you should consider moving the keys from the left- to the right-hand side of the keyboard in order to improve the layout for righties. beer
Metak Profile Joined August 2011 296 Posts #8 On March 24 2013 02:29 Chungis wrote:
Seems like a great setup, but I can't find the folder for hotkeys on my Mac.
Anybody know where the files would go?
~/{username}/Library/Application Support/Blizzard/Starcraft II/Accounts/{bunch of numbers}/Hotkeys ~/{username}/Library/Application Support/Blizzard/Starcraft II/Accounts/{bunch of numbers}/Hotkeys
Metak Profile Joined August 2011 296 Posts #9 I tried this playing Protoss, it's nice though I found one thing annoying; pressing alt deselects the current unit in order to warp in. Selecting unit -> Go to camera location -> Click does not work.
eneyeseekay Profile Joined March 2013 239 Posts Last Edited: 2013-05-01 11:23:36 #10
Ok, I'm back! I'll try to respond to these in order. On March 24 2013 01:20 Zrana wrote:
This is cool and all, but could you explain where you put things like attack, stim, hold pos etc and hotkeys for upgrades like +1?
You don't necessarily assign the keys you mentioned. I mean you can, but being grid-based, Fleet Keys handles that in a very universal way. For example, take a look at the image in the "Grid Overview" section. It shows how unit command cards are treated, what commands are bound where, and how it's applied to each race (it doesn't change!). Move, Stop, Hold Position, Patrol, Attack, these are the same for all units across each race (Q,W,E,R,T, respectively). If you're still unsure, skim through the "Grid Overview" section to get a better understanding. As for the question about Stim, etc. Z is by default bound to Space bar (Z still works as Z should, Space Bar only acts as an alternate). Z, when using Grid, covers a wide range of abilities. Grid is soooo simple once you realize how it works, much more so than Standard. You don't necessarily assign the keys you mentioned. I mean you, but being grid-based, Fleet Keys handles that in a very universal way. For example, take a look at the image in the "Grid Overview" section. It shows how unit command cards are treated, what commands are bound where, and how it's applied to each race (it doesn't change!). Move, Stop, Hold Position, Patrol, Attack, these are the same for all units across each race (Q,W,E,R,T, respectively). If you're still unsure, skim through the "Grid Overview" section to get a better understanding. As for the question about Stim, etc. Z is by default bound to Space bar (Z still works as Z should, Space Bar only acts as an alternate). Z, when using Grid, covers a wide range of abilities. Grid issimple once you realize how it works, much more so than Standard.
eneyeseekay Profile Joined March 2013 239 Posts #11 On March 24 2013 01:34 Shikyo wrote:
Some of your ideas are quite interesting, even though I'm not sure how effective it is having CGs 6-10 bound to a modifier key combination.
However, no matter how good the layout itself is, those master sheets are incredible. 10/10 production.
Thanks a lot, the production and presentation was very important. I included a lot of text for those who care to be proactive about what they may consider using, but I also decided to include simple/basic images to paint a quick picture of what I'm talking about. If you only look at the image spoilers, it's pretty easy to see what I'm communicating.
Having 4 (it's actually 4 not 6) of the 10 CG's bound under a modifier is not bad at all, especially if it means avoiding having to press 6-0 constantly throughout the game. Consider your average setup, not many players I've seen (although they do exist) manage to successfully harness 10 CG keys and make consistently efficient use of them. The default Fleet Keys configuration merely arranges them in a way that reduces jumping around too much on your keyboard, and gives you access to them all should you need them. Tab is always a good candidate for a production a structure, Q,W,E,R are convenient enough to press to dedicate CG's to, and 1-5, well, they behave as standard hotkeys do, so there's that old-fashioned appeal that's ever-present. I believe it provides you with the most in terms of power provided, without disorganized convolution. If you think of it in terms of "My armies and units go in this row, my production goes here" then it makes a lot more sense. Alt being the modifier is also the most functional one to choose, and easiest to press, so it was the only good option.
I had originally designed Fleet Keys to use Shift or Caps Lock as the modifier because if a bit smoother, but unfortunately, I couldn't find a legal way to implement this for a tournament setting, as I used Sharpkeys to re-bind Alt to Caps Lock through a registry change.. Thanks a lot, the production and presentation was very important. I included a lot of text for those who care to be proactive about what they may consider using, but I also decided to include simple/basic images to paint a quick picture of what I'm talking about. If you only look at the image spoilers, it's pretty easy to see what I'm communicating.Having 4 (it's actually 4 not 6) of the 10 CG's bound under a modifier is not bad at all, especially if it means avoiding having to press 6-0 constantly throughout the game. Consider your average setup, not many players I've seen (although theyexist) manage to successfully harness 10 CG keys and make consistently efficient use of them. The default Fleet Keys configuration merely arranges them in a way that reduces jumping around too much on your keyboard, and gives you access to them all should you need them. Tab is always a good candidate for a production a structure, Q,W,E,R are convenient enough to press to dedicate CG's to, and 1-5, well, they behave as standard hotkeys do, so there's that old-fashioned appeal that's ever-present. I believe it provides you within terms of power provided, without disorganized convolution. If you think of it in terms of "My armies and units go in this row, my production goes here" then it makes a lot more sense. Alt being the modifier is also the most functional one to choose, and easiest to press, so it was the only good option.I had originally designed Fleet Keys to use Shift or Caps Lock as the modifier because if a bit smoother, but unfortunately, I couldn't find a legal way to implement this for a tournament setting, as I used Sharpkeys to re-bind Alt to Caps Lock through a registry change..
eneyeseekay Profile Joined March 2013 239 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-24 01:22:46 #12 On March 24 2013 01:46 DanceSC wrote:
It looks nice and all, but I'm still trying to imagine what how the hotkey combinations would be for protoss. Normally one would 1a2a3a, and in this it looks like 1t2t3t (which is nice!). But what about 1 set to blink, 2 for force fields, 3 for psionic storm, and 5 for photon over charge / time field. Would I be pressing 1z2x2z3z5c5z? it seems kind of tedious to press the top keys and then the ones on the very bottom. Also what would the warpgate button be?
1t 2t 3t 4t is how you would issue attack commands, yes.
With Grid, your spells, are laid out across z,x,c,v,b, although most units don't go past c. I found Z to contain some of the most important spells for Protoss, not to mention Chronoboost is also a Z command. So I bound Z to Space Bar (as an alternative to Z, Z is still left untouched) to get the most out of those commands. Z in Grid covers A LOT of useful commands, I list them in the Protoss sub-section labeled "Space Bar being bound as an alternate Z key."
As far as Warp-in is concerned |
run by AOL. However, a big new branding campaign is expected in the coming weeks, along with more details about the new company.
Yahoo declined to comment on the new name. While an AOL spokeswoman neither confirmed nor denied the new name, she told us to watch for the "launching" of the new company.
"In the summer of 2017, you can bet we will be launching one of the most disruptive brand companies in digital," she said.
The Yahoo-Verizon deal is supposed to close in the second quarter of 2017, perhaps on or before April 24. After April 24, the parties can seek a three-month extension, but there's also an opening for either party to terminate the deal.
Update: AOL CEO Tim Armstrong confirmed the new name, posting on his Twitter account Monday afternoon: "Billion+ Consumers, 20+ Brands, Unstoppable Team. #TakeTheOath. Summer 2017."ES Football Newsletter Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account
Former France international Zinedine Zidane believes Angel Di Maria would prove to be a perfect signing for PSG.
The Argentine international failed to report for Manchester United’s pre-season tour of the United States after being given extended leave following his exploits in the Copa America, sparking speculation that his time at Old Trafford could be over after just one year at the club.
Considered one of Louis van Gaal’s marquee signings last summer when he arrived for a cool £57.9 million from Real Madrid, the winger start promisingly in the Premier League with some scintillating displays.
Nonetheless, personal problems and loss of form saw his transition stagnate in Manchester and, with PSG long term admirers of his talents, a move to Paris was mooted in the French press.
That talk has since been backed-up by head coach Laurent Blanc's confirmation of his interest in the winger, and Zidane – himself a former Real Madrid star – believes he would be a perfect signing for the club.
"He's the kind of player that can take you to the next stage. That's what they need to go further in the Champions League," he told BFM TV.
"Angel Di Maria can contribute his energy, the difference he makes when he accelerates, he has the quality to do something. I think that it will happen in the coming days."GM’s record earnings announced just ahead of the Michigan GOP primary have put Republicans in general and Mitt Romney in particular in a political bind. Romney famously opposed the GM and Chrysler bailouts saying that failing companies should be allowed to fail. In recent days, Romney has been forced to defend his view that the free market should have been allowed to work in the case of the U.S. auto industry. Meanwhile, President Obama is taking victory laps over the success of the government’s (taxpayers’) infusion of capital that saved both GM and Chrysler from imminent bankruptcy.
This debate over government bailouts to save failing industries has rekindled discussion of whether the nation needs a so-called “industrial policy.” The president doubled down on the side of such a policy during the State of the Union address, proposing government incentives either to bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S. or keep them here.
Because it has become commonplace to bemoan the erosion of this nation’s manufacturing might, Obama’s pleas for more such jobs seems to have resonated positively with many Americans. But, the reality is that industrial policies have been tried before and have sometimes failed badly. The example most often cited is Japan, which threatened to overtake the U.S. in areas such as integrated circuit production and had become known as Japan, Inc. because of its government-supported industrial policy.
Story continues below Go Beyond the Two-Sided Narrative! Get IVN’s weekly round-up of news and information for independent-minded voters in your inbox. Thanks for signing up! An unknown error occured :( Please try again later First Name* Last Name* Email Address* I accept IVN's terms and conditions? Sign Up
Writing in The Fiscal Times, economist Bruce Bartlett recalled:
“Even among Republicans there was admiration for the Japanese model. During the George H.W. Bush administration, where I worked in the Treasury Department, it had strong supporters at the Commerce and Defense departments.”
But Japan fell on hard times and is no longer the economic powerhouse that once struck fear in the hearts of American businesses. The fault for Japan’s problems may not be its industrial policy, but the fact remains that industrial policy was unable to prevent the implosion of the Japanese economy.
However, Dani Rodrick writes in Project Syndicate that industrial policies remain alive and well among worldwide economies:
“China is a case in point. Its phenomenal manufacturing prowess rests in large part on public assistance to new industries. State-owned enterprises have acted as incubators for technical skills and managerial talent. Local-content requirements have spawned productive supplier industries in automotive and electronics products. Generous export incentives have helped firms break into competitive global markets.”
Rodrick, a professor of international economics at Harvard University, says that the United States, despite its devotion to free markets, has relied heavily on aspects of industrial policy:
“US Department of Defense contracts played a crucial role in accelerating the early growth of Silicon Valley. The Internet, possibly the most significant innovation of our time, grew out of a Defense Department project initiated in 1969.”
That kind of government incentive continues even today, with massive Department of Energy grants for the development of renewable forms of power generation. But, Bartlett warns of the dangers of top-down decision making on free market issues. He cites the development of High Definition Television (HDTV) as an example of a push by Commerce to support a specific technology:
“Years later, one of the people at Commerce who supported subsidies for HDTV admitted to me that the technology that it wanted to support turned out to be inferior to that which ended up being the standard. It also turned out that the real money was not to be made manufacturing HDTV’s, but in producing the programming, an area where the U.S. remains dominant.”
Rodrick sees it differently:
“The standard rap against industrial policy is that governments cannot pick winners. Of course they can’t, but that is largely irrelevant. What determines success in industrial policy is not the ability to pick winners, but the capacity to let the losers go – a much less demanding requirement. Uncertainty ensures that even optimal policies will lead to mistakes. The trick is for governments to recognize those mistakes and withdraw support before they become too costly.”
As the United States economy recovers, it may become difficult to distinguish success that is purely free market driven from success that comes with a government nudge or two. The reality is that this country must compete with worldwide industries that have a multitude of government support programs and funding behind them. Can we afford to do less than fight fire with fire?In the wake of Tesla’s first recorded autopilot crash, automakers are reassessing the risk involved with rushing semi-autonomous driving technology into the hands of distractible drivers. But another aspect of autopilot—its ability to hoover up huge amounts of mapping and “fleet learning” data—is also accelerating the auto industry’s rush to add new sensors to showroom-bound vehicles. The race to turn everyday vehicles into vast, data-collecting repositories is becoming a great technological opportunity for legacy carmakers. But in order to earn the enthusiasm of consumers, automakers and startups must first earn their trust.
Tesla’s sensors are constantly recording information about its environment and how the driver is navigating through it.
Tesla’s much-discussed autopilot system consists of two elements: a suite of sensors and the software system that actually helps drive the car. In order to use the autopilot’s functions, a Tesla customer must pay for the software system. But even if they don’t choose this option, the built-in sensors are constantly recording information about its environment and how the driver is navigating through it. This enables every vehicle it makes to become a mobile data collector (whether the owner pays for the autopilot functions or not), and has allowed Tesla to begin catching up to Google, which has a significant head start on autonomous drive technology but a limited fleet with which to test and train its system.
Established automakers have taken notice of Tesla’s bold play and are seeking to leverage the same strategy across their even larger fleets. In the last year General Motors, Volkswagen, and Nissan-Renault have all signed partnerships with the sensor supplier Mobileye, and will integrate its camera-based “Road Experience Management” system into non-autonomous vehicles in order to jumpstart their crowdsourced mapping efforts. Toyota has announced an in-house effort to turn onboard cameras into mapping sensors, and the self-driving startup Comma.ai is even trying to encourage motorists to feed their driving data into its algorithms using a dashboard-mounted smartphone app.
Like Tesla, these companies lag behind Google in their autonomous technology development, but their massive scale could allow them to generate fleet and mapping data even faster than the Silicon Valley upstart. But extracting this personal data also runs the risk of upsetting the established relationship between carmakers and their customers. A 2015 Pew Research Center poll shows that Americans do not want cars to monitor their driving habits, even if such monitoring would lead to discounts on their auto-insurance rates.Of course certain technophile consumers will be eager to do whatever they can to help accelerate the advent of autonomous vehicles. But in order to foster this attitude, automakers and startups alike will have to be very careful about how they inform consumers about their data collection techniques and adhere to clear guidelines governing the use of such data.
Extracting this data runs the risk of upsetting the established relationship between carmakers and their customers.
So will they be up to the task? As with its rapid deployment of autopilot functions, Tesla’s fleet data collection is already demonstrating the risks involved as well as the rewards. In several instances, the electric car maker has publicly released characterizations of data captured by onboard sensors in order to fight the perception that its driver assistance system is unsafe.
This may surprise some users: Tesla’s Terms of Use (TOU) does not explicitly state that the company will release information captured by its vehicles when there is no clear legal need for it. That doesn’t mean they can’t, however, it all comes down to how you interpret the wording. Whether or not Tesla’s public disclosures of vehicle data fall under a reasonable interpretation of its TOU is a matter of legal interpretation. As a practical matter, however, the company’s failure to clearly disclose that it could publicly release characterizations of owner driving data could potentially lead to a backlash from privacy-minded consumers, especially as Tesla attempts to bring its technology to a mass market.
Others in the auto industry seem to be at least slightly more aware of the need for clear disclosure guidelines, as evidenced by the voluntary privacy principles drafted by the Auto Alliance trade group in 2014, which were signed by many of the largest automakers. But even these principles fall short of what consumer advocates have pushed for in the past following controversies involving vehicle data collection.
In 2011 one signatory to the Alliance principles, General Motors, generated a wave of controversy and calls for an FTC investigation when it quietly started tracking the vehicles of customers who had canceled their OnStar subscriptions. Following criticism, GM quickly reversed that decision, allowing customers who canceled OnStar service to opt-in to the tracking program rather than forcing them to opt-out. While the controversy has since subsided, GM’s new MobilEye camera-based mapping capabilities mean GM’s disclosure and opt-in policies deserve new scrutiny.
Combining powerful data generation capabilities with poor disclosure and a weak opt-in system is a potentially risky recipe.
As of a 2014 revision of its policies, GM now includes five years of free OnStar Basic plan services “on most 2015 and newer vehicles,” meaning new vehicles using MobilEye technology could send mapping and driving data to GM’s servers for five years. OnStar plans must be activated, which technically makes even the basic service “opt-in.” But customers who verbally activate the OnStar system will be doing so without a full copy of the service’s privacy policy or TOU. Furthermore, using the OnStar RemoteLink smartphone app (which offers free services like remote door locking and unlocking) makes owners automatically subject to the OnStar privacy policy via the app’s End User License Agreement—even if they have not opted in to OnStar’s services.
Combining powerful data generation capabilities with poor disclosure and a weak opt-in system is a potentially risky recipe. The only situations where Auto Alliance signatories require “affirmative consent” for the collection and sharing of geolocation, biometric, or driver behavior information are when automakers wish to use that information for marketing or to share it for marketing purposes. Otherwise, vehicle data may be collected or shared without the owner approving a “clear, meaningful, and prominent notice” for a wide variety of uses, including “safety, operations, compliance, warranty, internal research, and product development.”
It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. Europe’s tough General Data Protection Regulation requires a far higher standard for transparency and customer choice. OnStar’s European customers are able to turn off vehicle tracking at any time with a single “privacy button” that does not affect the service’s ability to alert emergency responders during a crash.
GM doesn’t offer a “privacy button” on its US OnStar systems in part because it isn’t required to do so by law. Such lax legal standards are certainly part of the problem. But automakers that understand the long-term opportunities afforded by vehicle data should not risk souring such a powerful tool by sinking to the lowest legal standard; rather, they should be competing to offer consumers the most value and candor for their service as driving data generators.
This is a pivotal moment for the vehicle data economy. It’s up to consumers to demand stronger, clearer privacy standards—after all, automakers want our vehicle data more than we want any of the services they are offering in return. For the first time since the birth of the personal data economy, consumers may actually have the upper hand. Let’s not give it back to automakers just yet.
This article is part of Quartz Ideas, our home for bold arguments and big thinkers.Red Wings general manager Ken Holland disagrees with the notion that his team is “a million miles behind everyone else.” (Photo: David Guralnick / Detroit News)
From one vantage point, the Red Wings look doomed. They don’t have stars in their prime or a stocked farm system, and they don’t have loads of salary-cap space. They also don’t have a proven history of rebuilding because, well, they haven’t done it in 25 years.
Ken Holland has heard the yelps and knows the odds, and he’s not giving in or giving up. He’s also not interested in defending his record of success or belaboring the rough reality of the Wings’ current circumstance. They’re stuck in a difficult spot partly because they’ve avoided it for so long, and Holland takes a lot of the heat. He gets it, agrees with some, vehemently disagrees with some.
The Wings’ longtime GM is digging in, and sticking to the plan for digging out. The Wings won’t make a big splash when free-agency opens Saturday. They won’t trade future picks or prime young assets. They will sign one or two stopgap veterans — possibly a defenseman such as the Penguins’ 33-year-old Trevor Daley — with the goal of reaching the playoffs in their first season at Little Caesars Arena.
That sounds stubborn to some, even though the touted alternative — the unseemly notion of “tanking” for better draft position — provides no clear timetable for success. The Wings are adjusting some elements but Holland isn’t altering his basic philosophy. He loves the size of 6-6 center Michael Rasmussen, taken ninth in the first round of the entry draft. The Wings added bulk and defense with their 11 picks, and when their draft class was ripped as underwhelming by many experts, Holland didn’t fire back.
“If you think we’re a million miles behind everyone else, I disagree,” Holland said Thursday. “It’s a league of parity. I’m not tanking; people pay a heavy price to go to the rink, and I’m trying to put a product on the ice. The plan is to compete for a playoff spot, while not spending any futures. I’m hunkering in and trying to build this thing, and oversee a group that at some point can compete for the Cup.”
‘No shortcuts’
It seems a long way off. The Wings have a terrific captain in Henrik Zetterberg, a three-man core of dynamic youngsters in Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou, and not a lot more.
That’s the basic definition of rebuilding, with one caveat. It indeed might take the Wings several years to be a legitimate contender again, but Holland isn’t begging for the time, and deep down, knows there’s no guarantee he’ll get it. This is a franchise that went to the playoffs 25 consecutive years, won four Stanley Cup championships and isn’t willing to slide quietly into oblivion — even if a significant slide is unavoidable.
Ken Holland was named Red Wings GM in July 1997. (Photo: David Guralnick, Detroit News)
New owner Chris Ilitch hasn’t publicly stated a shift in competitive expectations, although he surely is realistic. He also hasn’t extended Holland’s contract beyond this upcoming season. Holland is aware of the criticism from fans and media, and to a certain extent, has retreated into his work. There’s not much more to explain. If you admit to a complete rebuild when the franchise is moving into a fantastic new arena, you’re devaluing the product at the precise moment it’s gaining more attention.
If you suggest you’re still trying to win right now, you sound huckster-ish. So Holland and coach Jeff Blashill are required to do what many GMs and coaches around the NHL are forced to do — work with what they have and make your own players better.
I doubt Holland will even sniff at a high-priced free-agent this weekend; adding big contracts isn’t the ideal way to manage a roster with too many big contracts. I don’t think he’ll even make another run at Thomas Vanek, whom he signed a year ago and then traded away. There’s no sense in clogging the pathway for younger players unless the addition is a huge upgrade.
“There are no shortcuts,” Holland said. “If we’re going to head this thing up, realistically it’s gotta be done with young people. We had a number of players that didn’t play to their level last year and we’re expecting them to bounce back.”
No saviors on market
Improvement had better come from within, because there aren’t any stars riding into town. When the league’s biggest free-agent prize is Capitals’ defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, you know there aren’t many quick fixes.
Oh, big names are available — Alexander Radulov, Radim Vrbata, Patrick Sharp, Joe Thornton, Jaromir Jagr, Patrick Marleau — that would be fine signings if this were 2010 and the Wings were flush with cap space. They don’t have much, thanks partly to bad contracts.
Holland has made mistakes, certainly. He’s also been GM since 1997, during the greatest 20-year stretch in franchise history. You can pin much of the success on Scotty Bowman, Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and others, but to overlook Holland’s role is petty.
That said, there’s a lot he still can prove, to quell the noise. When he exposed Petr Mrazek, 25, in the expansion draft instead of Jimmy Howard, 33, the complaints were silly. Howard had a tremendous season when healthy. Mrazek struggled mightily and wasn’t even selected by Las Vegas, and now the Wings theoretically have a more-motivated goalie, and perhaps a less-entitled one.
That’s how it is when a franchise wins one playoff round in six years — every decision is magnified and scrutinized. The Wings aren’t good enough, and Holland and his staff haven’t defied the odds and gotten better without high draft picks. Larkin rebounded nicely at center late last season and the 6-5 Mantha scored 17 goals. The selections of Rasmussen and second-rounder Gustav Lindstrom were panned by some observers, but showed the Wings recognize their weaknesses.
They were too small and tried to get bigger. They were too old and tried to get younger. Holland respectfully disagrees with those who plopped the Wings in the "losers" category after the draft.
"I think it’s easy for people to find reasons to not like players,” Holland said.
“I certainly understand, when dealing with 18-year-olds, you’re gonna miss more than you’re gonna hit. We like the picks. I think most players we took are good skaters in a league that’s fast.”
Everything moves faster now and the Wings are trying to keep up, even as dire assessments pile up. Holland hears them and understands them, and still believes in his plan to change them.
bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @bobwojnowski(UPDATED) 'It does not solve the problem, but further exacerbates the problem of having an utter lack of safe, reliable, and convenient transportation options for our people,' says Senator Grace Poe
Published 7:56 AM, August 15, 2017
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The public is the victim in the government’s decision to suspend transport network company (TNC) Uber for one month.
Senators said this after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) penalized Uber for defying the board's order, directing all TNCs to stop accrediting drivers into their systems. (READ: What's the fuss about the Grab, Uber regulation issue?)
Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services committee, slammed the LTFRB decision, calling it "cruel and absurd." She said she is set to call LTFRB officials to a meeting on Wednesday, August 16. (READ: Online outrage as LTFRB suspends Uber)
Poe said the agency only made the situation much worse with its decision, as it disenfranchises close to 200,000 riders a day.
"The decision of the LTFRB to suspend Uber is both cruel and absurd, to say the least. It does not solve the problem, but further exacerbates the problem of having an utter lack of safe, reliable, and convenient transportation options for our people," Poe said in a statement.
Senator Joel Villanueva called on both parties to settle the issue immediately, saying the public will be left to "suffer."
"At the end of the day, the riding public will suffer the most from a failure to reach a workable solution. We also want the LTFRB to clearly define the 'predatory actions' of Uber which warranted the suspension," Villanueva said in a statement.
Suspension is too much?
Poe said the penalty is not commensurate to the "administrative" violation committed by Uber. Instead of suspension, the senator said the LTFRB should have introduced an "innovative" solution without harming riders.
"The issue is not about roadworthiness but one that involves a mere administrative violation. Why can't the LTFRB be innovative in coming up with an appropriate penalty that is fair and that will not prejudice the riding public? Is there no other less crippling penalty at our disposal? Thirty days is a long time," Poe said.
"Could not the LTFRB just consider imposing a fine commensurate to whatever violation Uber has committed? Or at worst, just consider suspending the units that the agency said were accredited much later after having determined their identities?" she added.
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto also thinks imposing a fine or suspending only the units "with so-called licensing deficiencies" would have been better.
"If the intent is to punish, then do it in a way that will hurt Uber, the company, and not the tired and harassed riding public," he said. "So instead of suspension, can the penalty be in the form of a fine? If legally feasible, make it in the 7 figures again, as a painful reminder to comply with regulations."
Recto added: "Uber can take a hit. A fine in the millions of pesos is more of a pinch for a global conglomerate which grossed $20 billion last year. It is not a big haircut, just the pulling of a few strands."
While the LTFRB acknowledged the concerns of the riding public, the board said it was confronted with the issue of striking a balance between innovation and laws governing public transport services. (READ: Uber to LTFRB: Don't impose ancient rules on technological innovations)
But the LTFRB said Uber's actions were "not about pushing innovation in the context of fair regulation, but it is about unduly challenging the limit of fair regulation to continue to engage in business in this country, thereby compromising sound business practices."
Aside from imposing the one-month suspension, the LTFRB warned that Uber would be held responsible for all accredited vehicles found accepting passengers during the suspension period. – Rappler.comThe State Department said a clerical error on its end is to blame for the confusion that arose Tuesday over when officials first withheld an email that revealed Hillary Clinton was using a private email address.
Tuesday morning, the watchdog group Judicial Watch said it got a letter from State that said it withheld that email in November, 2014. That prompted Judicial Watch to claim that State appears to have withheld the email to keep it from seeing Clinton's private email address.
The group noted that State's failure to release the email in late 2014 meant everyone had to wait until early March, 2015, when Clinton's private email was first reported.
But State told the Washington Examiner that due to a low-level clerical error, its letter should have said that State withheld the email on July, 2015. That date implies that State had no reason to withhold the email to keep Clinton's email a secret, since it was already publicly known at that point.
"[T]here is confusion arising from an administrative error in recent correspondence in which the Department said that the document in question was withheld in November 2014," a State Department official told the Examiner. "That is incorrect."
"The department regrets any confusion and will be sending corrected correspondence to Judicial Watch," the official added.
The official provided the Examiner with a copy of a filing State delivered to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which stated that the department never received the email in question from Clinton's lawyers until late June 2015.
In the July filing, State still refused to hand it over, but said its reason is that it revealed too much of the deliberative process among officials. But the official stressed that the reason was not because it revealed Clinton's personal email address, " hdr22@clintonemail.com."
At State's daily press briefing, spokesman Mark Toner said officials were still trying to understand the confusion surrounding the issue, but he was not aware of State's clerical error at the time.
Toner did, however, say that he doubted State was purposefully trying to hide Clinton's email address.
"I would... be highly suspect that there's any truth to this allegation that we were trying to bury this or somehow hold it back," Toner said.
Judicial Watch told the Examiner that it's not satisfied with State's response.
"Whatever statement they issue, they're again misleading people," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. "They can't track their own coverups, and this is why we have discovery."
"These changing stories," he added. "We should believe which story?"
Fitton also argued that State's explanation for withholding the email in mid-2015 isn't satisfactory either. While most of the email is redacted, Fitton noted that it shows that State appeared to be massaging its reaction to the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.
The top of the email, for example, says the subject is "REVISED Key points," and lower down in the chain, it includes another set of redacted "tp's," or talking points about the incident.
Read the redacted email chain here:THQ have just revealed that Xbox 360 will be getting exclusive downloadable content for the upcoming RPG South Park: The Stick of Truth. Not only that but Kinect will also be integrated into the game. You can check out the official press release below.
• Good Times With Weapons Pack
THQ is happy to offer exclusive weapons and costumes when you preorder South Park: The Stick of Truth. The Good Times With Weapons Pack, based on one of the most popular South Park episodes of all time, includes destructive items no fourth-grade martial artist should be without. With the Bulrog Chicken Attack, summon the devastating ninja powers of Bulrog and turn your feeble enemies into chickens! BLAM! “Nya-nya-nya-nya-na naa! Now you are a chicken!”
With Cartman’s Kick-Ass Sai, the ultimate weapon of destruction, penetrate even the most evil of villains! Harness the fiery sting of the Sai to slash and cut your way through South Park!
Rounding out the Good Times With Weapons Pack is the Samurai Costume. Show off your brute muscle with this bad-ass getup, complete with samurai headgear, a super-sweet cape, and the toughest cardboard armour this side of Takagawa. Suit up, and prepare to unleash the ultimate pwnage!
• Mysterion Superhero Pack (Xbox 360 Exclusive)
THQ and Microsoft are proud to announce Xbox 360 exclusive pre-order items for South Park: The Stick of Truth: The Mysterion Superhero Pack. With your Superhero Costume, suit-up as the next South Park superhero! It’s the perfect disguise for fighting your mortal enemies and keeping South Park safe!
Also, harness the elusive power of Mysterion with the Mysterion Special Attack! South Park’s protector unleashes a deadly combination of stealth and firepower — your enemies won’t know what hit them!
Finally, slash the darkness with the diabolical switchblade, the Dagger of Cthulhu! It’s the same weapon used to stab and kill Mysterion in the twisted classic episode “Mysterion Rises.” And now… the fate of the Cult of Cthulhu lies in your hands!
• South Park DLC on Xbox 360 First
The first three downloadable episode packs for South Park: The Stick of Truth will be available first on Xbox 360. These episodes are standalone adventures featuring their own stories, taking you to places in South Park you’ve never been before.
• South Park: Better With Kinect™ for Xbox 360
Taunt your enemies, and launch attacks with your voice. Finally, for the first time in South Park history, you can call Cartman a “fat ass,” and he’ll respond.
AdvertisementsHello everyone, how are you all doing today? I decided to relax over the weekend and I didn’t feel like doing anything but watch Wrestle-mania, NBA and March Madness games and boy was I entertained! Anyway, I am sure a lot of you know what I am talking about, with that said, today we look at some new features coming your way thanks to the hardworking staff at Google, read on…
Google Now cards part of Chrome Launcher 2.0 which is expected to be rolled out to us in the upcoming Beta release coming next week.
According to Chrome Community Manager Ernest Cabrera:
The new launcher is the best way to start new activities on Chrome OS, like performing a Google search or launching apps. It’s fast, simple, and helps you get things done. We’ve enhanced search to help you find what you are looking for faster, put the apps you most often use right at your fingertips, and brought the power of Google Now to your Chromebook. Rolling out to Beta within the week.
But that’s not all! They have more amazing updates coming to your Chrome OS powered machines including:
Password-protected ZIP support
You can now unzip password-protected ZIP files in a snap.
Timezone Autoupdate
Users travelling with a Chromebook are now in for a treat! Chrome OS will automatically detect a change in location and update your system’s timezone.
Material Design
Files App is the first app to get a fresh coat of paint. Be on the lookout for others soon.
Remember to like our facebook and our twitter @geekchrome for a chance to win a free android tablet every month!
Quick Links: Top 5 iTunes Alternatives On Chrome OS | ASUS Chromebook: To Launch The Most Affordable Chromebook | Top 5 Action Games On Chrome and Chromebook | Best Photoshop Alternatives On Chromebook | Download Intel Linux Graphics Drivers For Ubuntu | Download NitroShare App
Today’s Popular Chrome Article: ASUS Chromebook: Download Google Data Saver AppOur design, balance and QA team are experts at Path of Exile. I would not accept any less. They put substantial work into each change, planning out not only what it affects now, but what it affects in the future. These changes are all considered in the big picture of the other planned changes.
While processing player feedback in preparation for 3.0.0, we found four requests that we could address simultaneously with our proposed charge changes:
Nerf total crit chance available. It was getting too close to cap, too easily.
Nerf the Assassin. This was frequently requested.
Provide more uses for power charges on spellcasters (especially non-crit ones).
Make it less mandatory for general damage dealers to invest in frenzy charges.
We recently made these charge changes in the beta, and received an immediate negative reaction from a vocal portion of the community. While we firmly stand behind the intention of this change, it's very clear that the community not only misunderstood a lot of the consequences, but also generally didn't like the direction of the change.
We make this game for you guys, so if you don't want the change, we aren't going to force it in purely to solve long-term problems. The short-term and build continuity do matter as well. We hope to get feedback from your playtesting in the next few days of the beta, so that we can make a decision this week about whether it remains in this form, is reverted, or is made in another form.
We communicated poorly about the changes and their motivation. While we may lament the community misunderstanding the consequences of the change, it is clearly our fault for confusing the community. While it has been crazily hectic recently, we do need to stop and take the time to more clearly explain what we are testing, and why.
Almost all of these changes are on Beta. Please playtest them and let us know the results of what you find. We'll post again after the weekend with our findings also.
Thank you for your time, support and occasional overreactions. We expect nothing less <3 There's a common misconception in the community that our balance team doesn't play Path of Exile. They actually do play it, a whole lot. We have people with level 100 hardcore characters, multiple famous community members who have come to work for us and you may not even know it. The minimum requirement to join our QA team is 1000 hours of PoE experience, and we still turn people with that prerequisite away if they're not good enough at the game.They put substantial work into each change, planning out not only what it affects now, but what it affects in the future. These changes are all considered in the big picture of the other planned changes.While processing player feedback in preparation for 3.0.0, we found four requests that we could address simultaneously with our proposed charge changes:We recently made these charge changes in the beta, and received an immediate negative reaction from a vocal portion of the community. While we firmly stand behind the intention of this change, it's very clear that the community not only misunderstood a lot of the consequences, but also generally didn't like the direction of the change.We make this game for you guys, so if you don't want the change, we aren't going to force it in purely to solve long-term problems. The short-term and build continuity do matter as well. We hope to get feedback from your playtesting in the next few days of the beta, so that we can make a decision this week about whether it remains in this form, is reverted, or is made in another form.Almost all of these changes are on Beta. Please playtest them and let us know the results of what you find. We'll post again after the weekend with our findings also.Thank you for your time, support and occasional overreactions. We expect nothing less <3 YouTube |
Lead Developer. Follow us on: Twitter Facebook | Contact Support if you need help! Last bumped on Apr 12, 2018, 3:31:16 AM Posted by Chris
on Grinding Gear Games on Quote this Post
Shock and Chill
The changes to Shock and Chill needed more balance put into them and I regret and apologize that we couldn't have delivered it with more accurate values at the time. We of course will be making these ailments much better than what is currently on Beta. This includes changes to Skills, Passives and to the values for determining the strength of applied Shocks and Chills. It should be the case that with builds that rely on hits for dealing damage you can apply reasonably powerful Chill and Shock values to Map Bosses (even with their increased life values) with well-built characters. It should also be the case that normal, magic and on occasion rare monsters with that same level of character power will frequently be getting shocked as they were prior, for full value but with more reliable durations.
There will be more details to come on the Chill and Shock changes as mentioned above soon. We have discussed them thoroughly and I will be making those changes within the next day or two.
Flasks
The Vessel of Vinktar now applies a much weaker Shock Aura to enemies, and no longer has mana leech during the flask effect. To confirm, we have not made any surprise changes to Diamond Flasks.
Charges
We will re-evaluate the Power and Frenzy charges situation over the weekend. It would be very useful to hear your explanation of why certain builds or items have been damaged (or improved too much) by the change, with specifics and explanations. Many of the posts so far have just said "X is ruined". While the initial feedback has been somewhat helpful, proper discussion and analysis from the community will really help us fine-tune (or abandon) this change.
Posted by GGG_Neon
on Grinding Gear Games on Quote this Post
I have 100% faith in you guys.
Edit: As long as you don't nerf my favourite build : Hideout Warrior https://www.youtube.com/c/EndsTonightEnzomyte Last edited by Zynamo on Jul 28, 2017, 2:07:20 PM Posted by Zynamo
on on Quote this Post
" Chris
While processing player feedback in preparation for 3.0.0, we found four requests that we could address simultaneously with our proposed charge changes:
Nerf total crit chance available. It was getting too close to cap, too easily.
Nerf the Assassin. This was frequently requested.
Provide more uses for power charges on spellcasters (especially non-crit ones).
Make it less mandatory for general damage dealers to invest in frenzy |
.
So when are premium prices justified in my camp?
When the cost of production is high. The fact that Matthews and Briand mention 1er Cru Burgundy and German whites as examples of expensive wines worth the money suggests that they might be in my camp too, because these are particular examples of wine regions in which grapes are often harvested from small plots with very low yields. In the case of German TBA, for instance, the harvesting is often done on steeply terraced slopes that are extremely difficult to work. Ice wines and botrytized wines — the priciest of German whites — are indisputably more difficult and expensive to produce than almost any other type of wine.
In short, while spending $50 or $75 or even $100 on a good Sauternes, TBA, or top red Burgundy might not always make economic sense for the buyer — particularly if it’s a buyer without much experience in wine — it’s at least justifiable from a supply-side pricing perspective. The $150 you’ll pay for a bottle of Opus One or Krug, meanwhile — never mind the $5,000 you’ll pay for a bottle of 2005 Pétrus — has little to do with the cost of production.CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
MAYOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
For Immediate Release: October 12, 2016
Contact: Ajeenah Amir, 215-686-6210, Ajeenah.Amir@phila.gov
Mayor Kenney Issues Statement on Proposed Jewelers Row Project
PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Jim Kenney has issued the following statement on the Toll Brother’s proposed Jewelers Row condominium project.
“I share the frustration of the Philadelphians who have called out in recent weeks for historical protection of Jewelers Row. Regrettably, we have reviewed the current law at length, and the developer has proceeded in accordance with City Code.
“However, I have spoken with representatives from Toll Brothers, and I asked them to go above and beyond what the law requires in preserving the historic nature of these properties. I strongly requested that they preserve the buildings' second and third floor facades, and I would also ask that they adopt the recommendations of the Civic Design Review Board. They have given me and Councilman Squilla their word that they are committed to maintaining Jewelers Row as a historic, cultural gem for future generations of Philadelphians to enjoy.
“Moving forward, there is no question that we have to increase resources to protect Philadelphia's historic buildings. We expect to introduce legislation on that matter in the coming weeks."
###The State Government has announced four new road rules including on-the-spot fines for cyclists using phones, new give-way rules for vehicles at intersections with bike crossing lights, and cyclists and charter coaches being allowed to use bus lanes.
The new rules are in addition to the recently announced rule that drivers must slow to 40km/h for emergency services vehicles.
RACV has called on the State Government to give road users more notice of changes to road rules.
The new rules came into effect on 1 July, just days after being announced.
A subsequent trawling of the VicRoads website and 547 pages of road rules by RACV staff has unearthed further changes.
New road rules explained
The State Government has announced five new road rules that will affect most road users.
Drivers must slow to 40km/h for emergency services vehicles
On-the-spot fines for cyclists on phones
Give way to bicycles when turning
Bicycles/coaches allowed in bus lanes
Empty bicycle carriers allowed
Slow down for emergency services with flashing red, blue or magenta lights or sirens
Road users will need to slow to 40km/h when driving past stationary or slow-moving emergency or enforcement vehicles with flashing red, blue or magenta lights, or sounding an alarm.
Emergency and enforcement vehicles include police, ambulance, fire services and State Emergency Service vehicles, as well as VicRoads truck enforcement vehicles that have magenta flashing lights.
When emergency or enforcement vehicles are displaying flashing red, blue or magenta lights, or sounding their alarm, drivers must:
Approach at a speed that allows the driver to stop, if necessary, before passing the vehicle and give way to any emergency or enforcement worker on foot in the vicinity;
Not drive past or overtake the vehicle at a speed of more than 40km/h;
Not increase speed until the driver is a sufficient distance past the vehicle to not cause danger to workers in the immediate vicinity.
This rule does not apply on a road with a median strip, where the vehicle is on the other side of the median strip.
The rule applies when the emergency vehicle is in a service road adjacent to a main road – if you are passing on the main road you will still need to slow down.
The rule applies to the driver despite any other road rule.
We have received many questions about this rule, and have answered the most common ones here.Syrian warplanes bombed the nation’s largest city Tuesday, activists said, a dramatic escalation in the 16-month uprising and a stark sign of the government’s growing desperation as it tries to reverse the recent momentum of rebel forces.
Aleppo, like Damascus, the Syrian capital, had long been seen as a stronghold of support for President Bashar al-Assad. But the unrest has spread to the city, Syria’s commercial capital, in recent days, adding to a sense that the regime is losing control after the assassinations last week of four of its top security officials in a bombing.
Tuesday’s aerial bombing of Aleppo, the first of its kind in the conflict, was part of a coordinated assault by government forces that included heavy artillery shelling and rockets launched from military helicopters. The attacks targeted Tariq Bab, a residential area east of Aleppo, as well as the neighborhoods of Sakhour and Masaken Hanano in Aleppo, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network.
Although helicopter gunships have been used in the past, the government’s decision to deploy fixed-wing aircraft appeared to be an effort to intimidate the rebel forces by signaling that the regime had yet to use its full military arsenal. Syria has one of the largest air forces in the Middle East, and its use in battling the rebels could give the government a critical advantage over a rebel force that has struggled to acquire heavy weapons.
Meanwhile, Syria’s northern neighbor, Turkey, announced Wednesday morning that it will close all the border gates to truck traffic between the two countries, effectively blocking vital supply routes into Syria, but keeping them open for refugees. Last week, Syrian rebels seized control of several border gates through which thousands of refugees have been crossing into Turkey.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that despite Tuesday’s massive assault, rebel fighters have been gaining control of swaths of territory and are establishing “a safe haven” within the country. She also called on the opposition to begin working on “interim governing entities” and to pledge to protect the rights of all Syrians.
Clinton urged the Syrian rebels to safeguard the regime’s chemical and biological weapons. After recent reports that the government has been moving its vast stockpiles of sarin, mustard gas and VX nerve gas, there has been growing speculation that the military might use chemical weapons against the rebels. During a news conference Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the Syrian military’s stocks of chemical and biological weapons would be used only against external enemies.
A BBC reporter who was on the outskirts of Aleppo at the time of Tuesday’s assault reported seeing what appeared to be Russian-made MiG fighter jets streaking across the sky. “We watched as they dropped in, bombing and strafing rebel positions,” Ian Pannell wrote in an online account of the attack. “Dead and wounded civilians and fighters were taken to hospitals and makeshift clinics as the human cost of this conflict continues to grow.”
Fighters from the Free Syrian Army had spread out in at least six neighborhoods by Tuesday evening, setting up checkpoints and digging in, according to an activist in Aleppo who uses the name Mohammed Halabi. There was also heavy fighting in the Salahuddin neighborhood near the city center. “This area is under heavy shelling with tanks, mortars and helicopter fire,” Halabi said.
At the same time, thousands of Syrian troops pulled out of a strategic plateau in the northwestern province of Idlib and headed toward Aleppo, opposition activists said, according to a Reuters report, adding to the sense that a showdown for control of the city was imminent.
Many civilians were caught up in the fighting. “At night, we hear shelling all the time, and in the day, we’re hearing the sound of bullets all over the city,” said a young woman in Aleppo who was reached by phone and spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her safety.
The woman went to an airline office Tuesday to buy a ticket to Beirut, but clashes broke out and she had to escape the area on foot. “I wasn’t very scared at the beginning,” she said. “But today, when I was in the middle of shooting and I saw people running scared, I was scared, too. I want to get out of here now.”
Inmates in the central Aleppo prison also protested against the government Tuesday, and guards reportedly cut off water and electricity to the facility before attacking prisoners, according to al-Jazeera. The crackdown left at least eight prisoners dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group based in Britain. The group reported that 86 people were killed across the country Tuesday, including 26 in Aleppo.
Soldiers and the pro-government shabiha militia also carried out a deadly attack on a mosque in the village of Sharia, near Hama, during the Ramadan evening prayers, leaving at least 30 dead, according to opposition groups.
The most high-profile defector from the Syrian government, Manaf Tlas, a brigadier general who was a close confidant of Assad’s, released a video statement that aired on al-Arabiya on Tuesday in which he called on Syrians to unite against the government. “We must all unite to serve Syria and promote stability in the country, rebuilding a free and democratic Syria,” he said.
The Syrian government suffered another loss Tuesday with what al-Jazeera reported was the defection of the country’s ambassador to Cyprus, Lamia al-Hariri.
Suzan Haidamous and Ahmed Ramadan contributed to this report.Edin Dzeko: Has been linked with a January move to Italy
The agent of Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko has rubbished reports suggesting his client would be interested in a move to Juventus.
The Bosnia international made a flying start to the 2011/12 campaign, netting six times in City's opening three matches of the Premier League season.
He has gone off the boil somewhat since, with Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli having outshone him in the scoring stakes of late.
It has been suggested that Dzeko could be tempted to move on in January, just 12 months after his arrival at the Etihad Stadium.
City spent big to lure him away from Wolfsburg, but reports claim the 25-year-old may be willing to start afresh elsewhere.
Happy
A switch to Juventus has been touted, with Dzeko said to have discussed a move to Turin with his former Wolfsburg colleague Andrea Barzagli.
His representative has, however, dismissed the speculation and insists the burly frontman has no plans to turn his back on City.
"I know news has been circulating that there have been telephone conversations between Dzeko and Barzagli, but it is not possible to negotiate," Irfan Redzepagic told tuttomaercatoweb.com.
"Juventus cannot negotiate and neither can Inter or AC Milan.
"Edin is happy in England and at City he has everything that he wants."Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych denounces 'coup d'etat' after protesters take control in Kiev
Updated
Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych has made a brief television appearance to deny rumours that he resigned and to denounce what he described as a coup.
Mr Yanukovych's appearance on the state broadcaster ICTV came after anti-government protesters seized his offices in Kiev on Saturday and received assurances from the country's interior ministry and the heads of several key security agencies.
In the interview, which was also reported by Interfax, Mr Yanukovych was quoted as saying: "The events witnessed by our country and the whole world are an example of a coup d'etat".
Ukraine protesters earlier celebrated in the capital amid reports the embattled president had promised to resign in response to violence during anti-government unrest that left nearly 100 dead.
Key points: Protesters seize the Kiev offices of president Viktor Yanukovych.
Mr Yanukovych's residence outside Kiev appears abandoned.
Police pledge allegiance to "the people".
Parliament votes overwhelmingly to release jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko calls for elections on May 25.
The parliament has voted to hold early presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Mr Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfil his duties as president.
The resolution said that Mr Yanukovych "is removing himself (from power) because he is not fulfilling his obligations, and (that parliament) is setting elections for May 25."
And a member of Ukraine's parliament, Mykola Katerynchuk of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) opposition party, said Mr Yanukovych had promised to submit his resignation in a conversation with protest leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Ukraine's opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, sentenced to a seven-year jail term in 2011 for abuse of power, has been released.
She waved to her supporters as she was driven out of a hospital where she had been placed under guard while being treated for severe back injury.
Hundreds of supporters chanted "Free Yulia" as the fierce rival to embattled President Viktor Yanukovych drove past in dramatic scenes laden with heavy political consequences for Ukraine.
"The dictatorship has fallen," Ms Tymoshenko said in a statement released on her official website.
"It fell thanks to those people who came out to defend themselves, their families and their country."
The motion to free Ms Tymoshenko "based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights" was backed by 322 deputies of the 331 registered for Saturday's parliamentary session.
Philip Williams reports from Kiev:
"It appears that there is a takeover of sorts in some areas, but particularly in the capital.
"I'm standing outside the presidential palace, the administrative heart of the president's government, and I can tell you there is no presence of any troops.
"It's totally in control of the protesters.
"They have constructed barriers and they're stopping anyone getting close, apart from a few journalists like myself, and they are protecting these buildings.
"They're making sure they are not burnt, they're not ransacked.
"We are told in other parts of the city there is total control by the rebels, certainly in the streets we've been through.
"In the last few hours we've seen not a single policeman, not a single sign of authorities.
"So things in the capital and beyond are moving extremely quickly."
Meanwhile, the interior ministry said on Saturday that the country's police now stand by "the people" and want "rapid changes".
The assurance comes just days after the country's security forces fired on protesters in clashes that killed as many as 77 people.
"The police is at the service of the people and completely shares its aspirations for rapid changes," the ministry said.
"We pay homage to the dead," it added.
Separately, the heads of four Ukrainian security bodies, including police anti-riot and military paratrooper units, appeared in parliament on Saturday and declared they would not take part in any conflict with the people.
And the military general staff said in a statement posted on the website of the defence ministry that the armed forces would not become involved in any political conflict.
"The armed forces of Ukraine are loyal to their constitutional obligations and cannot be pulled into domestic political conflict," it said.
Protesters control 'large areas of central Kiev'
A line of anti-government demonstrators, many in hard-helmets and holding bats, were guarding the entrance to Mr Yanukovych's compound on Saturday.
Security guards were present inside the building but reportedly not trying to expel the protesters.
They are very determined that the buildings here will not be touched, will not be ransacked, that there'll be no revenge attacks if they can avoid it. ABC correspondent Philip Williams
The ABC's Philip Williams reported from outside Mr Yanukovych's office that "all sense of the administration within central Kiev has disappeared".
"I am literally standing a few metres from the front door of the presidential palace," he said.
"I could not have got anywhere near here until this morning, but this area and large areas of central Kiev are firmly in control of the protesters.
"It appears at the moment that Kiev gradually bit by bit is being taken over by the protesters and this is happening, we're told by the protesters, in other cities as well."
Ostap Kryvdyk, who described himself as a protest commander, said some protesters had entered the offices but there was no looting.
"We will guard the building until the next president comes," he told Reuters.
"Yanukovich will never be back."
Williams said the protesters' takeover of the compound was "very orderly".
"It is very impressive the way people have organised themselves here," he said.
"It is really a military-style operation, literally, the communications and the set-ups.
"There are divisions, there are units, there are lines of authority, it's not disorganised at all.
"They are very determined that the buildings here will not be touched, will not be ransacked, that there'll be no revenge attacks if they can avoid it."
Yanukovych'still in Ukraine'
Mr Yanukovych's residence outside the capital was also reportedly abandoned, and journalists were freely able to enter.
A security source said of Mr Yanukovych: "Everything's okay with him... He is in Ukraine."
Asked whether the leader was in the capital, the source replied: "I cannot say."
The UNIAN news agency, meanwhile, cited Anna Herman, a lawmaker close to Mr Yanukovych, as saying the president was in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.
However Ukraine's government, although still led by an ally of Mr Yanukovych, says it will ensure a smooth handover of power to a new administration.
"The cabinet of ministers and ministry of finance are working normally," the government said in a statement released on Saturday.
"The current government will provide a fully responsible transfer of power under the constitution and legislation."
Mr Yanukovych, who enraged much of the population by turning away from the European Union to build closer ties with Russia three months ago, made sweeping concessions in a deal brokered by European diplomats on Friday after days of violence that killed as many as 77 people.
But the deal, which called for early elections by the end of the year, was not enough to satisfy demonstrators who wanted him out immediately after bloodshed that saw his police snipers shooting from rooftops.
Parliament quickly acted to implement the deal, voting to restore a constitution curbing the president's powers and change the legal code allowing for Ms Tymoshenko's release.
It has also elected a close ally of Ms Tymoshenko - senior Fatherland party member Oleksander Turchynov - to the powerful speaker's post, replacing a Yanukovych loyalist who resigned on Saturday, citing ill-health.
Mr Turchynov was elected by 288 votes in the 450-seat parliament.
Events are moving at a rapid pace that could see a decisive shift in the future of a country of 46 million people away from Moscow's orbit and closer to the West, although Ukraine is near bankruptcy and depends on Russian aid to pay its debt.
World leaders call on parties to respect peace deal
Saturday's peaceful mood was a marked difference to Thursday, when at least 39 people were killed in clashes in the square.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday urged the Ukrainian government and the opposition to respect their peace deal.
"It is now up to the two sides in the conflict - the government as well as the opposition - to stick to what was agreed and to begin building a relationship of trust," he said in a statement.
British prime minister David Cameron said the deal signed was a real chance to stop the "downward spiral into the nightmare" otherwise facing the country.
US president Barack Obama has discussed the European Union-brokered agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The State Department says their hour-long phone call was constructive, with both leaders urging all sides to refrain from more violence.
White House spokesman Jay Carney says Washington's focus is now on working with its European partners as well as the government and opposition in Ukraine to ensure the agreement is implemented.
"It is in Russia's interest for the violence to end in Ukraine, as it is in the interest of the United States and our European friends, and of course, most importantly, the Ukrainian people, and we welcome the cessation of violence, and we welcome the agreements that have been reached," he said.
"And the measures that have been passed through the parliament, we're still at an implementation stage, and we monitor this very closely."
ABC/Wires
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, ukraine
First postedMARK LEVIN: They've got this massive debt reduction bill that cuts $23 billion over ten years and no future Congress will change its mind. Ever, never. He promises this. This would be the same Johnny Boehner who just two years ago -- really almost two and a half years ago -- signed off on the debt ceiling deal. Remember that one that had the sequestered cuts in it? And they're not going to back off of that, until they back off of it.
No, ladies and gentlemen I will repeat what I told Paul Ryan yesterday. And you've heard it all day long by other hosts, I'm sure. We have over $90 trillion unfunded liability. You know where they come up with that number? From me, it's in the Liberty Amendments because I calculated it. And ladies and gentlemen, soon it's $100 trillion.
You know what that means? That means our kids and their kids and every future generation is going to be destroyed because there's not enough currency on the face of the earth to address that. Then we have what's called the fiscal operating debt and I distinguish that from the unfunded liabilities, the entitlements.
The fiscal operating debt -- built up from one budget after another -- not even counting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, is almost $17.3 trillion. When my book came out in August, it was $17 trillion. $17.3 trillion. And as a nation, we're focused on $23 billion over ten years, which is never going to happen. And the media running around talking about, 'Wow, Washington actually works.' And the Republicans saying, 'Anything but a government shutdown.'
Do they not understand that the whole damn thing is going to shut down and collapse. And it won't just be 17% of the federal government. It'll be your savings, it'll be your mutual funds, it'll be your pensions, it'll be the value of your paycheck, it'll be your college fund. It will be everything. Because once the spiral occurs, there is no undoing it because man a situation that cannot be fixed until there is an ultimate collapse. It's called the laws of economics, and they are as serious and real as the laws of physics. (Mark Levin Show, December 11, 2013)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Jan. 17, 2015) – A bill filed in the Florida House this week would effectively nullify some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules that prevent treatments from being used by terminally ill patients.
Rep. Ray Pilon (R-Sarasota) introduced the Florida Right to Try Act on Jan. 14. HB269 serves as the latest pushback against the FDA and its controversial methodology of approving drugs for mass consumption.
If passed, a patient suffering from a terminal disease attested to by a physician and who has considered all other approved treatment options would be able to try experimental treatments or drugs not yet approved by the FDA. The patient must give written, informed consent before undergoing the treatment, and the legislation provides an extensive definition of “informed consent. The legislation stipulates that “a manufacturer is not required to make an investigational drug, biological product, or device available to a patient,” and provides legal protections for medical professionals and manufacturers.
HB269 makes up part of a greater trend promoting medical freedom sweeping the nation. During this most recent November election, Arizona residents approved Prop. 303, known as the Arizona Terminal Patients’ Right to Try Referendum. The proposition allows investigational drugs, biological products or devices to be made available to eligible terminally ill patients, not permitted under the FDA.
Legislatures in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Louisiana, have already passed Right to Try Laws similar to the Arizona amendment.
Although these laws only address one small aspect of FDA regulation, they provide us with a clear model demonstrating how to nullify federal statutes that violate the Constitution. The strategy narrows the influence of nullification to limited aspects of the law itself. The strategy works because it focuses on ending specific federal policies large numbers of Americans from across the political spectrum oppose.
Dying dying people should not be deprived of their right to any means that might ease their pain or keep them alive, and it is extremely difficult for opponents to argue that dying people should be forced to use only drugs approved of by bureaucrats who are incapable of empathizing with their possible suffering.
In Louisiana, for example, the law received 80 percent approval, according to one survey. In three of the states that passed “Right to Try” laws, not a single politician voted nay. In Michigan, the entire state House voted yea with no abstentions, while only two senators voted against it.
The cumbersome bureaucratic process deployed by the FDA makes Right to Try laws necessary. It can take more than a decade and a billion dollars to get new medications on the market, according to Lucy Caldwell, communications director for the Goldwater Institute.
Mikaela Knapp provides a compelling real-life example.
According to a World Net Daily report when Knapp was diagnosed with kidney cancer, she and her husband, Keith, launched a social media campaign to lobby drug firms and the FDA to give her access to a new gene therapy. Their efforts gained national attention and generated 200,000 signatures on a petition at Change.org but failed to win access to the treatment. The 25-year-old newlywed died April 24.
The ugly truth is she died waiting for somebody’s permission that never came.
This serves as yet another example of failure in Washington D.C. The FDA shows no inclination to change its rules, and Congress has not made any move to loosen restrictions, despite countless stories like Knapp’s The courts haven’t helped either. In 2003, a federal judge ruled that terminally ill people do not have a right to access to investigational medicine. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal on that ruling.
The fact that federal regulatory agencies and federal courts refuse to show compassion for terminally ill patients make state Right to Try bills crucial. HB269 would bypass stubborn federal bureaucrats and give hope to those suffering from terminal illness.
The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee.
ACTION ITEMS
In Florida: Support this bill by following the action steps at THIS LINK
In Other States: Take the steps to get a similar bill passed in your state at this link.A group of progressive activists from the group Humanity for Hillary has created a viral video of its recent “Pantsuit Power” flashmob in New York City’s Union Square.
It has only taken three days for 2.2 million people to watch activists dance to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. An event last Sunday to “counter false narratives” about the candidate was organized and a professional edit was uploaded to Facebook within 48 hours.
“Partners & Filmmakers Mia Lidofsky and Celia Rowlson-Hall and hundreds of dancers made this insanely beautiful blast of PURE JOY! We cried. It’s amazing. Share, share, share!” the group wrote.
Mrs. Rowlson-Hall, who has worked on HBO’s “Girls” series starring Lena Dunham, told the Washington Post on Friday that the effort was made to “bring some kind of humanity” to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign because “humanity and love and humor tend to get lost” during election season.
The event required 170 dancers — one with a shirt reading “The Future is Female” — but only a few hours of rehearsals. Some of the moves, like a raised fist, are meant to pay tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement, while others knelt in solidarity with NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest.
“We were terrified we’d get shut down by the cops,” Ms. Lidofsky told the newspaper. “We really hope [Hillary Clinton] saw this, and felt the love.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Retro sci-fi shooter Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is an over-the-top take on '80s and '90s action movies — "a little Terminator, a little Alien, and a whole lot of neon." So, naturally, the next step was to turn the game into an equally ludicrous real film, or at least a live-action trailer for one. Prolific YouTube filmmaker Mike Diva has reimagined Blood Dragon as a gritty futuristic detective story along the lines of Judge Dredd, though it's such a high pastiche of cop movie and science fiction cliches as to defy any real categorization.
It's also, behind the laser shows and VHS tracking errors, quite well-made, with solid choreography and a tone that perfectly skewers all the scenes you remember from terrible late-night movies. The only downside is envisioning the inevitable full-length studio film we assume will someday come of Blood Dragon, and the corresponding video game adaptation it will presumably receive. Look out for Far Cry 3: Ouroboros sometime in 2015.BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Belt and Road initiative is “fantastic” but obstacles could arise from some countries who see it as a potential threat, a senior official from Venezuela said on Sunday.
“We wish for those other countries in the world not to make any obstacles to the success of this initiative,” said Felix Gonzalez, vice minister of foreign affairs for Middle East, Asia and Oceania, on the sidelines of a two-day Belt and Road summit in Beijing.
Gonzalez declined to name specific countries that may look to hinder China’s Silk Road programme.
Venezuela’s trade and investment with China is “gigantic and enormous” and more was expected from Asia’s top economy, as well as from other Silk Road members, he added.
He didn’t give any specific investment figures for new projects expected to be signed under the initiative.Tinakori Bistro, Thorndon, head chef Josh Baxter and new owner Asher Boote work to create a French-inspired New Zealand cuisine for the opening in October.
Wellington's Tinakori Bistro is set to reopen after the former business that ran the eatery went into liquidation earlier in the year.
Old table clothes and crockery – the remains of the old company are strewn throughout the empty rooms that were shut up on June 9.
Business owner and chef Asher Boote wants to breathe new life into the two-storey, Victorian building under the Sidney George Hospitality Group.
MONIQUE FORD / STUFF Tinakori Bistro owner and chef Asher Boote and head chef Josh Baxter work to have the Wellington restaurant open by October.
Customers can expect the doors at 328 Tinakori Rd, in the central Wellington suburb of Thorndon, to reopen by mid-October.
READ MORE:
* Wellington restaurant Tinakori Bistro in liquidation
* Life Story: Pierre Meyer, the restaurateur with a gentleman's Continental charm
* Consistency is the key to popular bistro's longevity
Boote bought the place, in its entirety, earlier this month. He saw the venue as the perfect opportunity to honour the restaurant's former glory, with splashes of new.
He plans to give the place a slight facelift and bring in raw wood materials for a rustic/modern feel.
The young restaurateur has lived in Wellington for five years. Before that he worked in European restaurants, before returning home to New Zealand.
Boote runs three other restaurants in the city: The Hillside Kitchen and Cellar just down the road, The Ramen shop in Newtown, and Cult Wine on Murphy St.
Each site was unique and this one would be like a Parisian bistro, he said.
"[Bistros] are the hub of a neighbourhood. We want to take it back to its heyday but understanding that times have changed."
Tinakori would be a place to visit after work for a glass of wine or snacks, or intimate lunches and dinners, and a venue for larger functions with the upstairs areas to be reopened for groups.
Wellington foodies will be offered French-inspired New Zealand cuisine like ratatouille tarts, coq au vin blanc and banana souffles made by head chef Josh Baxter.
Baxter has worked in Wellington for eight years. He worked his way through "Wellington institutions" like Floriditas on Cuba St, and later Capitol Restaurant in Mt Victoria before signing up to work with Boote.
The restaurant has been around for more than 40 years and was first converted into Le Beauchamp by Celine Cartier in 1974.Even Harley-Davidson doesn’t talk very much about it. The history of the MX-250 is very confusing because it involves not only Harley – at that time under the control of AMF – but also Aermacci bought later by Cagiva.
In 1975/1976, Harley-Davidson built a few MX-250 motocross prototypes (it seems less than 90) distributed via a selection of HD dealers to be raced in local markets. Initially, there was no Harley marking on the frame made by Champion in California. In 1976 the Factory Race Program went with a C&J motocross race frame. The only “original” Harley-Davidson part was the Italian made Aermacchi MX-250 engine equipped with an Italian Dellorto carburetor.
Confusion about the history of the Harley MX-250 starts with the fact that Aermacchi had its own motocross racing program and produced more MX-250 engines than there was MX-250 motocrossers. In 1978, Harley-Davidson officially started its own factory racing program and went from prototypes to mass production of the MX-250. MSRP was $1150.
It was considered a great motocross machine, but there was very little interest in the USA in what Harley was doing. Although there are no officially published production records, it seems certain than less than 1000 have been produced. The same year, Aermacchi closed its doors to be bought a few months later by Cagiva. Cagiva made a few engines similar to the MX-250 and because Harley-Davidson had so many left over parts sold a few more of these machines until 1980.
Because spare parts are so rare, because many confuse (including medias of the time) the prototype and production machines when as a matter of fact they used different markings, frames and parts and also because VIN numbers from Cagiva don’t match the Harley sequence, those looking for an original MX-250 to restore face big headaches. (photos 1978 production model)Tiffany Rose admitted she was "stressed out" in the days before her baby was taken to hospital with severe brain injuries.
Money was tight, she hadn’t slept much and six-week-old Kurious George Rose-Desmanche "cried all the time."
The baby’s father and her partner, Rourke Desmanche, 23, who is charged with manslaughter in Kurious’s death, wasn’t pulling his weight and they "argued every single day."
"I was getting overwhelmed," she said Tuesday during cross-examination at Desmanche’s trial.
"He cried all the time. He was never happy," she said.
During her second day of testimony, Rose, 29, was caught in contradictions from police statements and preliminary hearing testimony.
She admitted to flagrantly violating court orders to have Desmanche live with her and Kurious and lying to the police about the circumstances surrounding Kurious’s death.
Also, through questioning from defence lawyer Carolyn Ayre, Rose was under treatment for mental illness since she was nine. At the time of Kurious’s death, she was prescribed Ritalin and an anti-psychotic medication, but wasn’t taking them.
When Ayre asked if she was selling her Ritalin, Rose paused. "Yeah, I might have."
She found relief smoking marijuana and admitted she was addicted to Oxycontin.
She agreed with Ayre she was the primary caregiver to Kurious. She sometimes gave herself "time-outs" because of anger issues and had punched holes in walls.
Desmanche, who dealt drugs, wasn’t always around and didn’t spend as much time with the baby. When he did, Rose said, she never had concerns about him with the baby and agreed he was generally more patient.
On Aug. 2, when she said she was trying to wean herself off drugs, she agreed she would have been sick, sleepy and vomiting.
Later in her testimony, she said she described how her collicky baby was more whiny and agitated than usual the day he fell ill. "He was having problems," she said. "When he was awake he was miserable."
Rose agreed at least five people visited the house that day.
Ayre questioned how Rose could be so "pill sick," yet after Desmanche woke her up with the lifeless baby she was able during her call to 911 to quickly make up a story about the baby choking and lie to the dispatcher that she was alone.
She maintained the lies to the hospital staff before coming clean with the police that Desmanche had been living with her.
Desmanche never saw Kurious in the hospital and didn’t attend his funeral. He was arrested in September 2010 near Saskatoon.
Assistant Crown attorney Karen Bellehumeur reviewed some of the text messages between Rose and Desmanche while he was evading police, where Desmanche described his plan for them to take on new identities.
Rose said she never planned to follow through on the scheme but wanted to keep track of Desmanche.
Rose admitted she still loved him but didn’t want to be with him. "I don’t fall out of love easily with people," she said.
The trial continues today.
jane.sims@sunmedia.ca
twitter.com/JaneatLFPress
– – –
THE CASE IN A NUTSHELL
Rourke Desmanche, 23, has pleaded not guilty to assault and manslaughter |
kickoff return team has averaged more than 24 yards per return in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1963 and 1964.
With Cobb's increasing importance on offense, however, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in February he wanted to move Cobb off specials teams. But McCarthy backpedaled a bit at the NFL owners meetings in April.
"We have to look at special teams and wide receiver and be smart there, whether we fully take him off special teams or only partially," McCarthy said. "That's a decision we're talking through right now. Everyone wants to know: 'Why wouldn't you just do it?' I look at decisions like that as a responsibility to the locker room. It's a responsibility of the players. It's about opportunities."
In the wake of the ankle injury, the Packers teased switching out Cobb for first-year returner Jeremy Ross, who showed good instincts and explosiveness in relief during the final 5½ quarters of the regular season.
During the Packers' 45-31 NFC divisional playoff loss to San Francisco, however, Ross muffed a critical punt that led to a 49ers touchdown, resulting in Cobb's reinsertion.
The Packers have several players on their off-season roster with return experience, including Ross, but Cobb's impact on special teams has gone a long way toward improving a unit McCarthy often credited as the team's most consistent phase of the game throughout 2012.
"If I'm able to do it and they want me to do it, perfect. If not, perfect," Cobb said. "We have one goal and that's to bring the title back home. Whatever it's going to take to bring us there, if that's me returning, if that's me not returning, that's something we'll figure out over the next few weeks going into training camp and early on in the season."
Even without Jennings, the Packers' array of offensive weapons remains one of the league's most formidable with Cobb, Nelson, tight end Jermichael Finley and Jones, who led the league with 14 touchdown receptions last season.
Cobb was 20 when he was drafted at the end of the second round by the Packers in 2011. Kansas City, Detroit and Cleveland all passed on the 5-foot-10, 192-pound receiver out of Kentucky in favor of wideouts Jon Baldwin, Titus Young and Greg Little.
Two years later, Cobb has outperformed all three and isn't too far behind the 2011 draft class' top two receivers, Cincinnati's A.J. Green and Atlanta's Julio Jones, both top-10 picks.
"I really don't think I've peaked yet. I'm 22 years old," Cobb said. "I've got a lot of learning still to do. I have a long way to go and I just hope I continue to get better over the next years."
Weston Hodkiewicz writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, a Gannett property.A behind the scenes story about the #SunLifeAgainstDiabetes campaign.
We’re really lucky.
In a creative business, like all creative businesses, there are projects we pursue for the opportunity to work with a brand, others are pursued for the challenge they’ll bring, and others still (if we’re being honest) simply for the budget – but on too seemingly rare of occasions we’re able to peruse a project simply for the love of it.
And that brings us back to why we’re so lucky. Because on these projects, the projects we pour ourselves into, fully commit to, and do whatever it takes to make it everything it could possibly be, for these projects it takes an equally committed and bold client.
In our second year working with Sun Life Financial’s Philanthropy, Global Marketing department and Hope Air, a national charitable organization that provides free flights for financially burdened Canadians in need of medical treatment outside their local communities, we once again found those clients: committed, bold, and willing to fully embrace the creative.
Sun Life teams up with Hope Air: #SunLifeAgainstDiabetes
You see, early on in the project we developed a creative that envisioned having rural Hope Air clients who live with diabetes speak about the impact of flying while sitting in an airline seat. These interviews would be juxtaposed against that of urban people who also live with diabetes. Simple enough.
That is, until our client at Sun Life asked if we could brand the airline seat. As a production company, with that one request the project totally changed. First, it meant we couldn’t beg, borrow or simply rent an airline seat to use as a set piece for the production. We had to source, buy, ship, reupholster, store, and transport a custom set piece.
Of course our team got quickly to work, sourcing available airline seats from airplane “graveyards” in the southern US. Ensuring we could have everything shipped up to Canada, reupholstered at a Toronto area upholsterer who actually had experience with airline seats, and completed within our target production window.
I’m extremely proud of the final project.
Everything from the volunteers who agreed to share their personal stories on camera, to the locations we were able to shoot at, to the bitterly cold winter conditions that our crew agreed to work within. And while each of these elements, including the 7 months the project was in development, contributed to the quality of final video, in our line of work that is all fairly standard. Every project we work on has time commitments, pressure, worry, excitement, creativity, and more, baked right into it. It’s the nature of creative work. But for us as a team, the airline seat became a physical representation of the amount of work we put into the project. It challenged us to ensure all areas of the project matched the quality of the set piece. It held us to a higher standard – and we didn’t want to fall short.
For us, the work we did with the #SunLifeAgainstDiabetes campaign and its Yellow Chair (as it became known) perfectly represented who we are, what we do and what we want to be known for, the #Extraordinary.
Here is some of our team saying goodbye to the chair that has now gone to live at Sun Life’s head office.
Here are some additional behind the scenes photos from the production.Looking for news you can trust?
Subscribe to our free newsletters.
Update: Adams has appended a note to the story that likened journalists to Nazis: “After careful analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the Monsanto Collaborators website is a bait-and-switch trap engineered by the biotech industry in an effort to lure in support from GMO skeptics and then discredit them with some sort of insane ‘call to action’ of some kind….For the record, in no way do I condone vigilante violence against anyone.”
For years, Natural News—a conspiracy-minded alternative medicine website that attracts roughly 7 million unique visitors each month—has been crusading against the practice of genetically modifying food. But this week the site’s proprietor, Mike Adams, took the campaign to new extremes with a post comparing journalists who are critical of GMO activists to “Nazi collaborators.” Adams also urged readers “to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity.” Below is a snippet from his anti-media diatribe:
Monsanto is widely recognize as the most hated and most evil corporation on the planet. Even so, several internet-based media websites are now marching to Monsanto’s orders, promoting GMOs and pursuing defamatory character assassination tactics against anyone who opposes GMOs, hoping to silence their important voices. These Monsanto collaborator sites tend to be “leftist” publications but also include at least one prominent business and finance publisher on the political right. All of them are Monsanto collaborators who have signed on to accelerate heinous crimes being committed against humanity under the false promise of “feeding the world” with toxic GMOs.
The rambling post goes on to compare the agrochemical giant Monsanto to IG Farben, a “chemical conglomerate run by Nazi collaborators” that “used Jewish prisoners as human guinea pigs in horrific medical experiments.” And it calls on readers to target journalist who Adams views as pro-GMO by publicly listing their names:
Just as history needed to record the names and deeds of Nazi war criminals, so too must all those collaborators who are promoting the death and destruction caused by GMOs be named for the historical record. The true extent of their collaboration with an anti-human regime will all become readily apparent once the GMO delusion collapses and mass global starvation becomes an inescapable reality. I’m hoping someone will create a website listing all the publishers, scientists and journalists who are now Monsanto propaganda collaborators. I have no doubt such a website would be wildly popular and receive a huge influx of visitors, and it would help preserve the historical record of exactly which people contributed to the mass starvation and death which will inevitably be unleashed by GMO agriculture (which is already causing mass suicides in India and crop failures worldwide).
Adams, a self-proclaimed nutritionist who was featured on Dr. Oz earlier this year, is famous for his far-fetched ideas. He believes, for example, that Americans are being poisoned by lead-infused “chemtrails” and that Microsoft is developing infertility drugs that “target specific races.” David Gorski of the website Science-Based Medicine has dubbed Natural News “a one-stop shop” for “virtually every quackery known to humankind, all slathered with a heaping, helping of unrelenting hostility to science-based medicine and science in general.”
Still, Adams has a large pool of readers who take his ideas seriously. After he published his screed likening journalists to Nazi sympathizers, a “Monsanto Collaborators” website appeared with images of Nazi soldiers and emaciated corpses alongside a list of reporters whom Adams accuses of being in the GMO industry’s pocket. The heading reads “Journalist Collaborators.”The last Biosphere 2 project ended 18 years ago. Correction: The failed Biosphere 2 project ended 18 years ago. That's right, our only real attempt to create an artificial, materially closed ecological system ended in complete failure. As it stands, we still do not know how to create a viable self-sustaining ecosystem — a frightening prospect given the current state of our environment and considering our future plans in space. It's time that we revived the Biosphere projects — and here's why.
For all our accomplishments as a species, we have yet to develop a closed ecosystem that can support human life for the long term. The task of building a functioning biosphere has proven to be exceptionally difficult and it's obvious that there are some major gaps in our understanding of how ecosystems work — gaps that are holding us back.
Advertisement
But it's not been for a lack of trying. To date there have been two major biosphere projects, both of them failures — and both of them offering important insights to the challenges ahead.
BIOS-3
Advertisement
The first real effort was conducted by the Soviets in a series of experiments in BIOS-3 from 1972 to 1984 at the Institute of Biophysics in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. It was an 11,124 square foot facility that could house up to three persons. BIOS-3 was comprised of four compartments: a crew area, an algal cultivator, with the remaining two sections serving as a ‘phytron' where wheat and vegetables could be grown. Sunlight was simulated with 20 kW xenon lamps.
That said, it was not technically speaking a completely isolated biosphere. It drew energy from a nearby power source, dried meat was imported from the outside, and human waste was dried and stored instead of being recycled. BIOS-3 was used to conduct 10 human-occupied closure experiments, with the longest stint lasting for 180 days. Among its successes, the Soviets were able to produce oxygen from chlorella algae and recycle up to 85% of their water.
Biosphere 2
More recently there was the $200 million Biosphere 2 project in Oracle, Arizona. Equipped with a desert, rainforest, and ocean, Biosphere 2 explored a number of life-system interactions within a closed structure. It included five biome areas, an agricultural section, and a human living/working space. The experiment was also an attempt to determine if and how people could live and work together in close confines over a long term period.
Advertisement
Organizers conducted two sealed missions: the first for two years from 1991 to 1993 and the second for six months in 1994.
Soon after the launch of the first mission, it became obvious that setting up and managing the parameters that drive a functioning ecosystem was going to be exceptionally difficult. Oxygen levels began declining at a rate of 0.3% per month, and eventually the internal atmosphere matched that of a community at an elevation of over 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Oxygen levels eventually settled at a dangerously low level of 14% (rather than the nominal 21% found on Earth) and team members started to become ill.
Advertisement
In order to keep things going, organizers started to pump in pure oxygen and bring in other supplies from the outside. Biosphere 2 ceased to be a closed system and was subsequently branded a failure.
And as it turned out, oxygen was not the only problem. Biosphere 2 also suffered from wildly fluctuating CO2 levels. Most of the vertebrate species and all of the pollinating insects died, while cockroaches and ants started to take over the place. The ocean eventually became too acidic and the internal temperature became impossible to control.
And just to make matters worse, the team started to experience health and psychological issues. The four men and four women left Biosphere 2 depressed and malnourished after nearly two years of isolation. Interpersonal relationships had regressed over the course of the two years, creating what the biospherians called a 'dysfunctional family.'
Advertisement
After the first experiment, the Biosphere 2 organizers conducted a shorter six month stint that ended in 1994. After the completion of this more focused experiment the owners decided to change directions and asked Columbia University for advice. Today it is largely a place where students can conduct experiments and tourists can loiter.
It's not like us to give up
Biosphere 2 was an important and eye-opening project because it revealed to us not only the difficulty of managing a closed ecosystem and the fragility of human psychology, it also showed us how challenging it will be for us to manage Biosphere 1 — the Earth's biosphere — should things really start to get out of whack.
Advertisement
Consequently, Biosphere 2 should not be considered a failure, but rather a wake-up call to scientists, environmentalists, politicians and the general public. Cynicism should be replaced with the understanding that it was an idea ahead of its time — but an important idea nonetheless. As Allen G. Breed reported:
[Jane] Poynter, chairwoman and president of Tucson-based Paragon Space Development, bristles at such talk. "I just am so sick of that sort of snarky way that a lot of people talk about the Biosphere in its early years," says Poynter, who still visits B2 often and sometimes leads tours. "The fact is that we built this unbelievable place that no one had ever done before.... We were a very forward-thinking, very unusual group of people - pulled off an unbelievable feat. But, somehow, the unbelievable feat gets lost in the rest of the story."
Advertisement
The failure of Biosphere 2 should have resulted in the immediate creation of similar projects and related research. Today, it should be considered a matter of great scientific importance, as any insights gained are sure to have profound implications across many disciplines. Without overstating the issue, a renewed Biosphere program should be approached with the same enthusiasm and fervor as a mission to Mars.
And indeed, it should be a matter of great concern to people working in the space industry — both in the private and public sectors. Visionaries in both space exploration and space tourism would most certainly benefit from the creation of a working biosphere; humans will not go very far in space without a self-sustaining ecosystem around them.
Moreover, given the rate of global warming, we may start to lose the only functional bisophere we have. And if we have any hopes of getting our geoengineering projects to work, we should probably figure out how to create a working biosphere before we start messing with our own.
Advertisement
Sources: Here, here, here.
Images courtesy here, here, here, and here.Marc Spears breaks down the 76ers' interest in signing Harrison Barnes, as well as the Warriors' scenarios regarding Barnes' free agency. (0:49)
The Philadelphia 76ers intend to make a serious push for Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Harrison Barnes when the NBA's offseason marketplace opens Friday at 12:01 a.m. ET, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Sixers have Barnes high on their list of potential targets and know the Warriors will not be able to retain him -- despite their right to match any offer Barnes gets -- if Golden State manages to win the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.
The Warriors will have to match the Mavericks' max offer sheet to Harrison Barnes if they want to keep the versatile forward in Oakland. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
If Barnes signs an offer sheet with another team July 8, when the league's annual moratorium on signings and trades is lifted, Golden State would have three days to match the offer or lose Barnes.
Sources said Tuesday that the Warriors, however, rate keeping Barnes as a top priority in the event they are unable to lure Durant away from the Thunder.
ESPN reported last week that Golden State is "all-in" on the pursuit of Durant, but sources said this week that the 2015 champions plan to retain Barnes and try to sign a proven big man -- sources say Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, David West and Timofey Mozgov are all potential targets -- if Durant stays with Oklahoma City or chooses to sign with another team.
Editor's Picks Top 25 free agents: Predicting who plays best Free agency officially begins Friday, and Kevin Durant is the big prize. Kevin Pelton provides the list of the most coveted players on the market.
The Warriors would also like to retain free-agent center Festus Ezeli, but how they fare in the Durant chase will play a big role in determining his fate.
A four-year max deal for Barnes would cost the Sixers in excess of $90 million, but Philadelphia must spend more than $40 million before the end of the next season to reach the league's projected salary floor of $80-plus million. It is also conceivable, if things get that far, that Philadelphia and Golden State could strike a sign-and-trade arrangement if the Sixers sign Barnes to an offer sheet and the Warriors decide not to match.
Sources say Golden State also intends to keep Shaun Livingston on its books for next season. The Warriors could save a full $2.7 million if they release Livingston by Thursday, but sources confirmed Tuesday that the club is definitely keeping the veteran point guard, who will thus earn a guaranteed $5.7 million next season.
"I would love to be back with Warriors next year and feel there is something special cultivating with the organization," Livingston said via text message. "The time spent there has allowed me the platform to see the ingredients of winning and the importance of culture.
"With KD, the ball is in his court and it should be. He's earned this right and he has to make the best decision for him and his family."Video showing supporters of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump pushing a woman out of Tuesday's rally in Louisville has gone viral.Several people can be seen shoving the protester until she leaves the Kentucky International Convention Center after Trump told the woman to leave the rally.Multiple people were escorted out during Trump's speech, some by force.The woman in the video told WLKY that many people at the rally yelled racial slurs at her.She said she's OK and is still processing what happened.The man shown wearing a Korean War Veterans Association uniform is from Cincinnati. He served in the Army in Korea. He told WLKY he was pushed first. He said he is not a racist. And he said the entire Trump rally was chaotic and got out of hand."What's not difficult to tell, is that she's being assaulted and the assaults appear to have been incited by Mr. Trump in the first place," said Louisville attorney Daniel Canon.Canon doesn't know what led up to the incident that unfolds on camera, but said nothing in the constitution protects assault."What you have on the video is not people acting in self defense, it's essentially a white mob shoving a black woman out and assaulting her basically," said Canon.
Video showing supporters of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump pushing a woman out of Tuesday's rally in Louisville has gone viral.
Several people can be seen shoving the protester until she leaves the Kentucky International Convention Center after Trump told the woman to leave the rally.
Multiple people were escorted out during Trump's speech, some by force.
The woman in the video told WLKY that many people at the rally yelled racial slurs at her.
She said she's OK and is still processing what happened.
The man shown wearing a Korean War Veterans Association uniform is from Cincinnati. He served in the Army in Korea. He told WLKY he was pushed first. He said he is not a racist. And he said the entire Trump rally was chaotic and got out of hand.
"What's not difficult to tell, is that she's being assaulted and the assaults appear to have been incited by Mr. Trump in the first place," said Louisville attorney Daniel Canon.
Canon doesn't know what led up to the incident that unfolds on camera, but said nothing in the constitution protects assault.
"What you have on the video is not people acting in self defense, it's essentially a white mob shoving a black woman out and assaulting her basically," said Canon.
AlertMe"Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin weighs in on "The Interview." Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images "Games of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin is the latest to weigh in on "The Interview" being pulled from theaters.
In a LiveJournal post titled "Corporate Cowardice," Martin says: " The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me."
He adds that his own independent theater in Santa Fe, the Jean Cocteau Cinema, would have been more than happy to screen "The Interview."
Read Martin's post below:
This one is surreal...
I mean, really? REALLY?? These gigantic corporations, most of which could buy North Korea with pocket change, are declining to show a film because Kim Jong-Un objects to being mocked? The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me. It's a good thing these guys weren't around when Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR. If Kim Jong-Un scares them, Adolf Hitler would have had them shitting in their smallclothes. Even Sony, which made the movie, is going along. There are thousands of small independent theatres across the country, like my own, that would gladly screen THE INTERVIEW, regardless of the threats from North Korea, but instead of shifting the film to those venues, Sony has cancelled its scheduled Christmas rollout entirely. I haven't seen THE INTERVIEW. I have no idea how good or bad a film it is. It might be hilarious. It might be stupid and offensive and outrageous. (Actually, I am pretty sure about the 'outrageous' part). It might be all of the above. That's not the point, though. Whether it's the next CITIZEN KANE or the next PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers. For what it's worth, the Jean Cocteau Cinema [Martin's theater in Santa Fe] will be glad to screen THE INTERVIEW (assuming that Sony does eventually release the film for theatrical exhibition, rather than streaming it or dumping it as a direct-to-DVD release), should it be made available to us. Come to Santa Fe, Seth, we'll show your film for you.
Martin owns the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, where, in a follow up blog post, the author says he tried to show "Team America" instead of the yanked "Interview."
But that all fell apart on Thursday when that movie was pulled, too. He writes:
The cowardice is contagious, it would appear. In the comments to my last post, several of my readers suggested that we follow the lead of the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin and show TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE at the Cocteau, since Sony has wimped out and pulled THE INTERVIEW. It sounded like a great idea, so we took immediate steps to do so. Only to learn that Paramount has now decided to withdraw TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE from exhibition. We won't be allowed to show the film, and neither will Alamo, nor any of the other independent venues that wanted to use TA:WP to replace THE INTERVIEW. Regal. AMC. Cinemark. Sony. And now Paramount. Where does it end? I guess I should contact our new North Korean masters to ask them what movies we will be allowed to show at the Cocteau.
Check out more of George R.R. Martin's opinionated LiveJournal here. Current mood: "pissed off."Winston Peters
The plummeting Fonterra forecast milk solids payout threatens an economic storm, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says.
The New Zealand dairy cooperative yesterday announced it was dropping its forecast $4.60 per kilogram of milk solids to $4.15.
• Dairy income cut $800m
Mr Peters said the nation would suffer from this further hit.
"Our Government has done less than nothing to help provincial New Zealand, which is the foundation of our export wealth. Historically, this must be the worst National government for farmers and with the chickens coming home to roost, they're paying the price for what is now a party dominated by city slickers.''
The solution always was to focus on exporting dairy products, not at the minimum added value but maximum added value, such as the infant formula industry which, in less than three years, had slipped from New Zealand to Chinese control, he added.
Labour finance spokesman Grant Robertson said Fonterra's news came a day after Fitch ratings revised New Zealand's near-term growth prospects downward because of declining prices for dairy exports and on the same day the Reserve Bank said dairy prices remained a risk.
John Key's Auckland-focused announcements on infrastructure spending would not be well received in regions mostly reliant on dairy farmers succeeding.
Despite more than a year of warnings as dairy prices plummeted, there had been no effort from the Government to invest in job-rich industry and support companies to move up the value chain, he said.Transmission is a BitTorrent client for the Mac and Linux operating systems. It is the most popular client on Mac OS X and the default BitTorrent client on many Unix and Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, Mandriva, Fedora and OpenSuse. Although open source and technically cross-platform in nature, the developers of Transmission have not released a Windows version of the software yet.
Transmission-Qt Win is an unofficial Windows build of Transmission which features a simple interface on top of the cross-platform back-end. The interface and functions of the Windows port is identical to that found on the Mac and Linux counterpart. Transmission is a pretty advanced BitTorrent client with powerful features, most of these already available on uTorrent and similar software with the exception of blocking bad peers with a blacklist.
Download: Transmission-Qt Win 2.52 | (12.7 MB) Open source
View: Homepage | Release NotesLung transplantation Illustration showing the process of a lung transplant. In figure A, the airway and blood vessels between a recipient’s diseased right lung and heart are cut. The inset image shows the location of the lungs and heart in the body. In figure B, a healthy donor lung is stitched to the recipient’s blood vessels and airway. ICD-9-CM 33.5 MeSH edit on Wikidata]
Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which a patient's diseased lungs are partially or totally replaced by lungs which come from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living donor or a deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one lung lobe. With some lung diseases, a recipient may only need to receive a single lung. With other lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, it is imperative that a recipient receive two lungs. While lung transplants carry certain associated risks, they can also extend life expectancy and enhance the quality of life for end-stage pulmonary patients.
Qualifying conditions [ edit ]
Lung transplantation is the therapeutic measure of last resort for patients with end-stage lung disease who have exhausted all other available treatments without improvement. A variety of conditions may make such surgery necessary. As of 2005, the most common reasons for lung transplantation in the United States were:[1]
Contraindications [ edit ]
Despite the severity of a patient's respiratory condition, certain pre-existing conditions may make a person a poor candidate for lung transplantation:[2]
Concurrent chronic illness (e.g., congestive heart failure, kidney disease, liver disease)
Current infections, including HIV and hepatitis However, more and more often, hepatitis C patients are both being transplanted and are also being used as donors if the recipient is hepatitis C positive. Similarly, select HIV-infected individuals have received lung transplants after being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. [3]
Current or recent cancer
Current use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs
Age
Psychiatric conditions
History of noncompliance with medical instructions
History [ edit ]
The history of organ transplants began with several attempts that were unsuccessful due to transplant rejection. Animal experimentation by various pioneers, including Vladimir Demikhov and Henry Metras,[4] during the 1940s and 1950s, first demonstrated that the procedure was technically feasible. James Hardy of the University of Mississippi performed the first human lung transplant on June 11, 1963.[5][6][7] Following a single-lung transplantation, the patient, identified later as convicted murderer John Richard Russell,[8] survived for 18 days. From 1963 to 1978, multiple attempts at lung transplantation failed because of rejection and problems with anastomotic bronchial healing. It was only after the invention of the heart-lung machine, coupled with the development of immunosuppressive drugs such as ciclosporin, that organs such as the lungs could be transplanted with a reasonable chance of patient recovery.
The first successful transplant surgery involving the lungs was a heart-lung transplant, performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of Stanford University in 1981 on a woman who had idiopathic pulmonary hypertension.[9][10]
1983: First successful long-term single lung transplant (Tom Hall) by Joel Cooper (Toronto) [11]
1986: First successful long-term double lung transplant (Ann Harrison) by Joel D. Cooper (Toronto) [12]
1988: First successful long-term double lung transplant for cystic fibrosis by Joel Cooper (Toronto).
In 1988, Vera Dwyer, a woman from County Sligo in Ireland, was diagnosed with an irreversible, chronic and fibrotic lung disease. Later on that year, she received a single lung transplant in the UK. In November 2018, Ms. Dwyer was recognized as the world's longest surviving single lung transplant recipient in an event at the Mater Hospital in Dublin.[13][14]
Transplant requirements [ edit ]
Requirements for potential donors [ edit ]
There are certain requirements for potential lung donors, due to the needs of the potential recipient. In the case of living donors, this is also in consideration of how the surgery will affect the donor:[2]
Healthy
Size match The donated lung or lungs must be large enough to adequately oxygenate the patient, but small enough to fit within the recipient's chest cavity
Age
Blood type
Requirements for potential recipients [ edit ]
While a transplant center is free to set its own criteria for transplant candidates, certain requirements are generally agreed upon:[2]
End-stage lung disease
Has exhausted other available therapies without success
No other chronic medical conditions (e.g., heart, kidney, liver) Some patients with these diseases, if their condition can be made to improve to the point where they are stable enough to survive the operation, are granted an exception- many individuals with end-stage lung disease will have acute or chronic illnesses in other organs);
No current infections or recent cancer. Some patients, on a case by case basis, with lung cancer or other cancers, may be allowed. There are also certain cases where pre-existing infection is unavoidable, as with many patients with cystic fibrosis. In such cases, transplant centers, at their own discretion, may accept or reject patients with current infections of B. cepacia or MRSA
or No HIV or hepatitis, although some recipients with the same type of hepatitis as the donor can receive a lung, and individuals with HIV who can be stabilized and can have a low HIV viral load may be eligible;
No alcohol, smoking, or drug abuse (some individuals who can cease these habits and comply with treatment may be given the chance)
Within an acceptable weight range (marked undernourishment or obesity are both associated with increased mortality)
Age (single vs. double tx)
Acceptable psychological profile
Has a social support system
Financially able to pay for expenses (where medical care is paid for directly by the patient)
Able to comply with post-transplant regimen. A lung transplant is a major operation, and following the transplant, the patient must be willing to adhere to a lifetime regimen of medications as well as continuing medical care.
Patients who are being considered for placement on the organ transplant list undergo extensive medical tests to evaluate their overall health status and suitability for transplant surgery.[15]
Lung allocation score [ edit ]
Before 2005, donor lungs within the United States were allocated by the United Network for Organ Sharing on a first-come, first-served basis to patients on the transplant list. This was replaced by the current system, in which prospective lung recipients of age of 12 and older are assigned a lung allocation score or LAS, which takes into account various measures of the patient's health. The new system allocates donated lungs according to the immediacy of need rather than how long a patient has been on the transplant list. Patients who are under the age of 12 are still given priority based on how long they have been on the transplant waitlist. The length of time spent on the list is also the deciding factor when multiple patients have the same lung allocation score.
Patients who are accepted as good potential transplant candidates must carry a pager with them at all times in case a donor organ becomes available. These patients must also be prepared to move to their chosen transplant center at a moment's notice. Such patients may be encouraged to limit their travel within a certain geographical region in order to facilitate rapid transport to a transplant center.
Types of lung transplant [ edit ]
Lobe [ edit ]
A lobe transplant is a surgery in which part of a living or deceased donor's lung is removed and used to replace the recipient's diseased lung. In living donation, this procedure requires the donation of lobes from two different people, replacing a lung on each side of the recipient. Donors who have been properly screened should be able to maintain a normal quality of life despite the reduction in lung volume. In deceased lobar transplantation, one donor can provide both lobes.
Many patients can be helped by the transplantation of a single healthy lung. The donated lung typically comes from a donor who has been pronounced brain-dead.
Certain patients may require both lungs to be replaced. This is especially the case for people with cystic fibrosis, due to the bacterial colonization commonly found within such patients' lungs; if only one lung were transplanted, bacteria in the native lung could potentially infect the newly transplanted organ.
Some respiratory patients may also have severe cardiac disease which would necessitate a heart transplant. These patients can be treated by a surgery in which both lungs and the heart are replaced by organs from a donor or donors.
A particularly involved example of this has been termed a "domino transplant" in the media. First performed in 1987, this type of transplant typically involves the transplantation of a heart and lungs into recipient A, whose own healthy heart is removed and transplanted into recipient B.[16]
Procedure [ edit ]
While the surgical details will depend on the type of transplant, many steps are common to all these procedures. Before operating on the recipient, the transplant surgeon inspects the donor lung(s) for signs of damage or disease. If the lung or lungs are approved, then the recipient is connected to an IV line and various monitoring equipment, including pulse oximetry. The patient will be given general anesthesia, and a machine will breathe for him or her.[17]
It takes about one hour for the pre-operative preparation of the patient. A single lung transplant takes about four to eight hours, while a double lung transplant takes about six to twelve hours to complete. A history of prior chest surgery may complicate the procedure and require additional time.[17]
Incision scarring from a double lung transplant
In single-lung transplants, the lung with the worse pulmonary function is chosen for replacement. If both lungs function equally, then the right lung is usually favored for removal because it avoids having to maneuver around the heart, as would be required for excision of the left lung.[2]
In a single-lung transplant the process starts out after the donor lung has been inspected and the decision to accept the donor lung for the patient has been made. An incision is generally made from under the shoulder blade around the chest, ending near the sternum. An alternate method involves an incision under the breastbone.[1] In the case of a singular lung transplant the lung is collapsed, the blood vessels in the lung tied off, and the lung removed at the bronchial tube. The donor lung is placed, the blood vessels and bronchial tube reattached, and the lung reinflated. To make sure the lung is satisfactory and to clear any remaining blood and mucus in the new lung a bronchoscopy will be performed. When the surgeons are satisfied with the performance of the lung the chest incision will be closed.
A double-lung transplant, also known as a bilateral transplant, can be done either sequentially, en bloc, or simultaneously. Sequential is more common than en bloc.[2] This is equivalent to having two separate single-lung transplants done.
The transplantation process starts after the donor lungs are inspected and the decision to transplant has been made. An incision is then made from under the patient's armpit, around to the sternum, and then back towards the other armpit; this is known as a clamshell incision. In the case of a sequential transplant the recipients lung with the poorest lung functions is collapsed, the blood vessels tied off, and cut at the corresponding bronchi. The new lung is then placed and the blood vessels reattached. To make sure the lung is satisfactory before transplanting the other a bronchoscopy is performed. When the surgeons are satisfied with the performance of the new lung, surgery on the second lung will proceed. In 10% to 20% of double |
news conference Monday announcing plans for the festival, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh challenged others to get involved.
"I need every business to figure out — downtown especially — how you light up your buildings to contribute to the growth of Light City. Do that for me please," she said.
Pugh also encouraged people to visit Neighborhood Lights, the festival's artists-in-residence program in areas outside the Inner Harbor, which will expand from five to eight city neighborhoods. Locations include Hampden, Hamilton-Lauraville, Station North, Little Italy, Waverly, Sandtown-Winchester, Greater Mondawmin and Coldstream Homestead Montebello. For more info on which artists will be featured, click here.
Light City will once again include a conference portion, this year called Labs@LightCity. Running April 3 through April 8 at the IMET Columbus Center, the conference will explore social change in different industries, including health, design, social, environment, education and food. Notable guests will include New York Times best-selling author and blogger Luvvie Ajayi, Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist Siddhartha Mukherjee, and local author and columnist D. Watkins.
The free lighted arts festival debuted in Baltimore last spring, drawing some 400,000 attendees. Its return comes amid a legal dispute between BOPA and the couple who came up with the idea for Light City over who owns the name, logo and other aspects of the event.
The city filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking sole ownership of the festival for BOPA and Baltimore Festival of the Arts, nonprofits that throw events for the city. Brooke and Justin Allen, the married couple who came up with the idea and helped plan the inaugural Light City, filed a countersuit seeking to bar the city from using trademarks associated with the festival.
Baltimore Sun reporter Natalie Sherman contributed to this article.Hereford Films’ Jonathan Sothcott, alongside Carry On Films, is to produce a slate of brand new “Carry On” films, started with “Carry On Doctors,” which will be written by Tim Dawson and Susan Nickson, the writers of hit BBC sitcom “Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.”
“Carry On Doctors” is the first of a slate of “Carry On” films planned by Hereford Films, with the second instalment titled “Carry On Campus.” The films will be executive produced by Brian Baker of Carry On Films, owner of the rights to the new “Carry On” pics.
The original “Carry On” franchise is the most successful British comedy film series of all time. It ran from 1958-92, encompassing 31 movies, all on low-budgets. The films, produced by Peter Rogers, were known for their double entendre and outlandish plots, and became an institution in the U.K., where they are still regularly shown on TV. “Carry On” historian Robert Ross is attached to the project as an advisor.
Baker said: “I’m very excited for the project to go into production, and to honor Peter Rogers’ legacy. He was a cornerstone of the British film industry for many years and it is a privilege to continue the ‘Carry On’ tradition.”
Related 'Birth of a Nation's' Nate Parker Writing Paralympic Wrestling Movie 'Carry On'
Nickson commented: “I’m thrilled to be involved in perhaps the biggest comedy franchise in Britain. I grew up watching these films and to be working on this project feels like coming home. They’re peculiarly British but the appeal of the humor and the ever-present message that good people always win is absolutely global.”
The original pics, which included “Carry On Up the Khyber,” “Carry On Cleo” and “Carry On Camping,” were directed by Gerald Thomas, and writers included Norman Hudis and Talbot Rothwell. The ensemble casts was built around a core of actors led by Kenneth Williams and Sid James.
Dawson said: “These films are a part of British culture and to be carrying on the legacy of Norman Hudis and Talbot Rothwell is a thrill and a responsibility. We intend to be sympathetic to the heritage whilst being unafraid to modernize the franchise for a whole new audience. This is my dream job.”
Cast and filming dates on the new film are to be announced. Sothcott said the new addition would be in the spirit of the original franchise: “‘Carry On’ is a national treasure: the most successful British comedy film series of all time. We are making a new entry in the series with love and care: it isn’t a remake or an attempt to reinvent the wheel. We won’t be trying to find new Sids or Kenneths — we’re looking to create a whole new ensemble of brilliant British comedic actors. No stunt casting. No big American stars. This will be British film at its best, as the truly remarkable heritage deserves.”
Hereford Films slate includes the U.S. horror films “Memorial Day” and “Night Hag,” as well as the London thriller “Head Hunter.”The Commission on Presidential Debates often argues that it is not an arm of government and therefore has a right to set its own standards on who can be admitted to the general election presidential debates. However, federal law mentions the Commission on Presidential Debates and says that the CPD’s decision on whom to invite will help determine federal government policy toward particular presidential candidates.
The federal law is 3 USC 102, and includes a 2010 amendment titled the “Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010”, P.L. 111-283; 124 Stat. 3046. The federal law now reads “the Administrator shall ensure that any candidate determined to be an eligible candidate…has demonstrated a significant level of public support in national public opinion polls…and consider whether other national organizations have recognized the candidate as being among the principal contenders for the general election to such offices, including whether the Commission on Presidential Debates has determined that the candidate is eligible to participate in the candidate debates for the general election to such office.”
The September 16 letter from the General Services Agency to Gary Johnson, denying a national security briefing to Johnson and his national security advisors, specifically says one reason he cannot have such a briefing is that the Commission on Presidential Debates has not admitted him.The German government has denied receiving a "bill" or an "invoice" amounting to billions of dollars "owed" by Germany to NATO.
"The reports about the mentioned invoice or bill are wrong," a government spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Monday.
"Chancellor Merkel and President Trump discussed the topic of defense expenditure during their talks in Washington. They informed the public about these talks in a press conference," the spokesperson added.
The German response comes after the Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Donald Trump had handed the German chancellor Angela Merkel a bill — thought to be for more than £300 billion ($374 billion) — for money her country “owed” NATO for defending it when the two leaders met at the White House two weeks ago.
Following the meeting in Washington, Trump tweeted that “Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”
The president's tweets prompted several experts, including the former US ambassador to NATO, to question whether the president fully understood how NATO actually works. (There is no bill, and funds are to increase NATO's overall capabilities; they are not paid to the US.)It likely didn’t come in a wheel. That hadn’t been invented yet. But new research released Wednesday by the journal Nature provides solid evidence that prehistoric humans were rolling out cheese some 7,000 years ago.
Alisher Salokhiddinov discusses the quality of a piece of Asiago cheese with a customer at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. Prehistoric humans were rolling out cheese some 7,000 years ago, researchers say. ( BERNARD WEIL / TORONTO STAR )
“I’m really chuffed about the way this research has gone,” says Richard Evershed, a University of Bristol biochemist and senior study author. Evershed might have a right to be excited. His team’s analysis of pottery found in what is now modern-day Poland takes the time of human cheese-making back two millennia from its previously pegged date. “Prior to this in the prehistoric period there was actually no evidence (of cheese-making) whatsoever,” Evershed says.
Article Continued Below
“So you’re gong to be at least a couple of thousand years earlier, because (prior evidence of the earliest cheese-making) is going to be somewhere where there’s a written record.” Writing during the time of Evershed’s cheese-making — which was located near the Kuyavia region of north central Poland — was yet to be developed, as was the wheel, he says. “It’s really early in the evolution of the technologies that we recognize as those associated with human civilizations,” he says. “They haven’t (even) got metal working yet.” To prove the presence of cheese-making among the so-called Linearbandkeramik Culture farmers, the researchers used a combination of scientific gadgetry and Holmesian deduction.
First they looked at a slew of unglazed, prehistoric pottery shards, which were pocked with tiny holes that made them look like modern-day cheese strainers. “You can go on the Internet and buy plastic ones which have similar-sized holes if you wanted to make cheese,” Evershed says.
Article Continued Below
Having pegged the pottery shards as pieces of suspected cheese strainers, the researchers then took small fragments of them, pulverized these up and chemically removed any fat particles they might have contained. These were then shot through a gas chromatograph, which could separate and detect the tell-tale molecules of milk fat. “It shows you they were using those vessels for something quite specific and it was unequivocally processing milk product,” Evershed says. “And you’ve got the other piece of reasoning, which is what other milk processing activity do you have that requires you to separate by straining? There isn’t any. It’s cheese.” A plethora of cattle bones found in the region — low-lying land perfect for dairy herding — also showed the cheese was being made from cow’s milk, Evershed says. Royal Ontario Museum archeologist Robert Mason says the study puts to rest a debate about these particular ceramic shards that had been baffling his community for decades. Mason, a pottery expert, also says the study may provide a method for determining the function of other ancient ceramic vessels under debate. He also says the research can help explain the distribution and prevalence of lactose intolerance around Europe and other parts of the world. Evershed says there’s no way of knowing what kind of cheese was being made from the curds being strained out with the pre-bronze age pottery. It could well have been a pungent variety, however. Evershed says the Neolithic cattle herders may well have wrapped their curds in animal intestines, where it would have picked up gut bacteria as it cured. Though cheese-making showed there was surprising sophistication amongst these earliest of European farmers, the process itself is relatively easy, Evershed says. “You just warm some whole milk up to just below boiling and let it cool a little bit,” he says. Add a bit of lemon, remove, strain and kneed the curds and you have the precursor of cheese. Cheese, like early beers and meads, would have given its prehistoric makers a means of preserving nutrients that would otherwise have spoiled. “It’s pretty amazing that they would have realized that you could take the milk from a cow, you could do some sort of a chemical treatment or enzymatic treatment to precipitate the curds,” he says.Robert Redford and Meryl Streep Hate Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise was recently honored by the American Museum of the Moving Image at a big dinner.
Robert Redford and Meryl Streep did not attend.
Redford directed and co-starred, and Streep co-starred with Cruise in the newly released film "Lions for Lambs."
According to an insider:
"Meryl and Bob can't stand Tom. In London, Tom kept trying to push himself into interviews. Bob said 'No.' Tom wouldn't listen. Meryl has done almost nothing for the movie. She wants nothing to do with him."
I would love to know more on that story, but I can't say I'm too surprised.
View video of an interview with Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford discussing "Lions for Lambs" on "Good Morning America" below.Media playback is not supported on this device Will Rosberg and Hamilton become best of friends, again?
Mercedes say there is "no rush" to decide whether to take further action against Lewis Hamilton following the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton drove deliberately slowly in an attempt to back team-mate Nico Rosberg into rivals. The German finished second to win his first title.
"There's no time pressure," a spokesman said. "We'll let the whole thing settle and then figure out the way forward.
"For now, the focus is on savouring and celebrating the world championships."
Mercedes repeatedly ordered Hamilton to speed up during the race, telling him the win was under threat if he did not.
But he rejected their commands and told his team to "let us race".
Hamilton went into the race 12 points behind Rosberg and needed to win - with the German finishing lower than third - to take the title.
Hamilton insisted after the race he had only lost the championship because he had had more technical failures on his car than Rosberg during the season.
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said: "We need to look at the overall situation and say 'what does it mean?'.
"Everything is possible - from 'let's change the rules next year because it doesn't work in those critical races and maybe we want to give them even more freedom in racing each other', to the more harsh side that we feel the team's values were not respected.
Media playback is not supported on this device Nico Rosberg: Is Mercedes driver a worthy F1 world champion?
"This is 180 degrees and I am not sure yet where the needle is going to go."
Wolff said he could understand Hamilton's actions on a personal level, but also that, as a man responsible for the racing operation of a global corporation, he might have a different view.
"I was in two minds," he said, adding the team values of Mercedes are "pretty clear" and "it cannot make a difference whether it was the first or last race".
"Those principles and values have won us races and championships and so this is one side.
Nico Rosberg tweeted a picture of himself and friends, including Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, celebrating 2016 F1 title win
"And the other side, me the racer, says maybe I would have done the same.
"He had two choices - disappear into the distance and show he is the quickest guy on the planet irrespective of what's happening in the back or decide the other way and bunch them up behind him.
"So we have to calm down. There is so much more going on in the background that plays a role in how we are thinking and this is why I don't want to express an opinion before I have actually made up my mind for myself."
Rosberg said: "I wasn't expecting it, no. Maybe that was a bit naive, but I didn't expect it.
"But it's not something I need to discuss because it is really easy to understand the team's side because we have done the same thing all year and it doesn't change in the last race, but at the same time you can understand Lewis.
"It's the world championship and we are out there fighting and you have to understand he wants to try something. We don't need to discuss it any more."
The season's stats
How Rosberg and Hamilton matched up in 2016
Hamilton won ten races this season and Rosberg only won nine, yet still won the Championship
Rosberg may have had the better of the reliability this season, leading some to say he does not deserve his title, but it has not always been that way
Longest wait for an F1 title: Mr Rosberg slots nicely into second here: with a 10-year wait over 206 races. Source: Forix
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix resultsCheck out the Day 4 recap for what this is all about. Day 5 was personal time, no post.
Now that we've cleared away the worst of HLI's sockpuppets, we can discuss my project: What is the Clinton machine most afraid of, and how can I use their disinfo to trick them into exposing things?
I had three ideas that might get a reaction. The first was the video of Glenn Beck announcing a whistleblower who could bring the government down -- followed by him being bullied into silence. I posted about this in April, tying the mystery to elite child sex trafficking. I was not the first person to do that, as this post and this video show. But I thought I might expose more of the story.
If I provoked a reaction, it wouldn't be obvious. HLI wouldn't start telling people, "Ignore those rumors about Glenn Beck." It would be subtle. But more than a month went by and I didn't see anything compelling.
So I tried different bait. I posted about it here: the Wisconsin recount. While the rest of the state showed no big discrepancies, the recount in Milwaukee was never finished. Each day there were thousands of additional votes in error between the machines and the hand count, and the machine total favored Hillary. The total gap was looking like around 50,000 votes. Then Milwaukee declared that it could not finish for various reasons, and by state rules, they certified the original machine count for Milwaukee.
As Bev Harris explained to Alex Jones, this was evidence of a last-minute panic. The Clinton camp hadn't rigged the vote, because they believed their own polls. Only on election night had they made the desperate choice to rig a jurisdiction with paper ballots. But the rural counties had already reported in, and they could only alter Milwaukee, and it wasn't enough.
Now, one obvious clue is that @Wisconsin_Is_Corrupt, despite posting every day about freemasons and Rothschilds, has never said a word about the recount, Jill Stein, electronic voting machines, or Milwaukee. All of HLI's alts stayed away from that thread, except @fogdryer, a big supporter of @Wisconsin_Is_Corrupt. He didn't mention this big Wisconsin news. Instead he helped derail the discussion by saying that it was "all over the web" that Mike Pence was a pedo.
HLI and Senate Anon have said that Trump was 20 or 30 points ahead. I won't list reasons why this can't be true. Just ask yourself why they'd lie. Doesn't it hurt Hillary to say how unpopular she was? Yes. But it implies that they saw defeat coming a long way off. It diverts attention away from the rigging being last-minute. I posted about Milwaukee on May 13th. Then, lo and behold -- HLI joined Voat a week later, on May 20th, and started trying to steer the research effort. I had my reaction.
Next problem: Suppose HLI is running a bunch of sockpuppets. How can you prove that he's working for Brock? My third idea was that at some point I had to talk about James Alefantis' crimes. The child porn on the Comet server; the death threats against Ryan O'Neal and his family; the rape of his teenaged employee.
I wasn't sure how HLI would respond if I did that. He would have been smart not to. It's such a well-traveled topic by now. But I hoped that Jimmy Comet might get mad at me personally. The thing about a guy who sells children and rapes teenage boys is that he has predictable vulnerabilities, like poor impulse control and a need to punish people who disrespect him. The exchange he had with Ryan shows this clearly.
However, Internet traffic on these topics peaked in January, when his rape victim gave an AMA. There weren't many threads about it any more, and I couldn't address the topic without being too obvious. June went by with nothing suitable, and July. Then in early August I got lucky. For a few weeks, there had been a rise in discussions of Jimmy's crimes around the Web:
July 1: Alefantis (or someone posing as him) posts on /pol/ that he wants people to stop accusing him of rape.
July 4: The Liberty Columnist interviews Titus Frost about the Comet server
July 11: Jamie Dlux puts up a Pegasus Museum walkaround.
and so on. Meanwhile HLI was increasingly dissatisfied with his efforts to take control of the research effort here. He had made a dozen posts about the Jesters and Adams Morgan, but none of them had gotten much traction so far. So he killed two birds with one stone, posting a big emotional attention-getting rant on July 24th. This told me they were still watching.
Then on August 4, @AmyJames posted about Alefantis' "Freudian slip," and I could get in and make my points. One point that people especially liked:
But while we're tediously sifting through LARPers and Sorcha Fail and endless clickbaity crap... guess what? Alefantis is doing the same thing. He's reading all those false leads because there's nobody he can trust to do it for him. And he's not actually very good at it. This is way outside his skill set, even when he isn't drunk.
This was about doing things in the right order. Clearly Jimmy can't read every post about him by Pizzagaters. Even if he did read mine, he might still not respond. But if I was already under close watch by Brock's guy HLI, then Jimmy would likely be told about me dissing his Internet skills. That would upset him far more than if I was some random anon. So I had to make sure that they were watching me before trying it, yet make it seem that I was not deliberately pushing the topic.
Clearly, it was not a foolproof plan. But Jimmy did show up eventually.
First, though, they got even more impatient. By now I had ignored the year-old ROJ/SOBIB clues they were dangling for about three months. On 9/11 HLI created Senate Anon, who launched his first visit to /pol/ by declaring that Mike Pence and Paul Ryan are traitors. Toward the end of that visit, after much pleading by anons, he shared the ever-so-secret ROJ/SOBIB info. He also said, "keep digging on Racine".
The same day, HLI's sockpuppet @ababcb posted that Senate Anon was "risking his life" to bring us this info. As that stirred excitement here, I pitched in with a couple of posts. But then I went back to working on NCMEC and other things. So at that point, they decided to add the Sarasota airport connection and see if that motivated me to move back to SOBIB. Unfortunately, as I said in my Day 4 post, HLI screwed up the execution on that. In his 9/18 post, sockpuppet @ababcb didn't credit either HLI or Senate Anon, he just blurted out that John Stafford runs Sarasota airport. HLI had also neglected to make Senate Anon say anything about Sarasota. This was the sort of blunder I had been hoping to generate all along.
I went to work on Sarasota, and actually did find stuff. It seems clear that HLI then reported to Brock that I had taken the bait, and Brock told Jimmy; or maybe HLI told Jimmy directly. I know it was one or the other, because a few days later (9/28), Jimmy Comet got good and stoned and came to razz me about it, in my latest Sarasota thread.
Oh, Jimmy. HLI makes mistakes when he's tired and in a hurry. He has thousands of investigators to try and outwit, and he was bound to stumble somewhere. But you had one job, and it was to keep your whore mouth shut! Here's the text of Jimmy's posts:
sobib is a masonic order into whatever it goes clap clap remove this submission mods and insult op for stepping in blood..
and
Hey guys friendly reminder that if you want to have even a sugar coated discussion of a private mens luxury community then prepare to have this submission deleted as we have made sure a-la rule number one has been arranged. No more discussion. yay a little airplane good for you keep it to human trafficking not the richest charity in the world. My dad is a shriner and he will get the call of duty guys to stop this fake news bullshit. I love when the little people try and explain pure excellence and tip toe around themselves like furniture! Alas we have seen the nimble profane. Good for you get back to digging on tavistock and such you nothings.
So many clues here! I had mocked him for not knowing what "mods" are, so Jimmy made sure to use the word correctly in a sentence. He figured out how to use the boldface type, too! He can't help showing his arrogance, calling us "little people" and "nothings". (That's not really a clue, except to his identity.) There's a hint at how nervous they were about my skills, and how relieved to have diverted me. That's what he means when he says, "Alas we have seen the nimble profane."
But the big giveaway is how pleased he is to find me working hard on Sarasota. "Good for you," he says. "Good for you." Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy, stoned-out slave auctioneer Jimmy Comet. You are a cartoon villain.
Now, to be clear: Jimmy's blunder doesn't change the main thrust of my investigation. We still haven't gotten to the really big stuff yet. But it does draw a thick, black line connecting HLI to Brock. This is an important secondary goal. And because Jimmy didn't inform HLI of this little indiscretion, he also gave me something good to mess with HLI's head in a crucial moment on Day 3.
Plus it's freaking hilarious. I'm still laughing a month later.
Tomorrow's topic will be a surprise. No teaser.A peculiar video has been making the rounds on the internet, especially in Evangelical Christian circles, which purports to expose the hidden Satanic symbolism in R&B star Beyoncé’s performances.
The video, produced by a Simi Valley California church called Good Fight Ministries, is entitled “Beyonce, The Superbowl, Sasha and Satan” and claims that Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z are disseminating Satanic and occult propaganda using hidden imagery in their performances and advertising.
The video uses a string of loose comparisons to connect the hip-hop couple to Alistair Crowley, Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan — simply because Jay-Z once gave an interview where he was wearing a shirt with the phrase “Do What Thou Wilt” emblazoned across it, which was a saying popularized by Crowley.
Narrating the video is the ministry’s founder, Pastor Joe Schimmel, who goes on to take various statements by Jay-Z and Beyoncé far out of context, claiming that the artists are allowing themselves to be possessed by evil spirits during their performances.
Perhaps the most bizarre point in the video is when the narrator analyzes Beyoncé’s marketed alter ego, Sasha Fierce:
This demonic entity is more than some alter ego, but a spirit that possesses Beyoncé’s body. In fact, Beyoncé seems to black out and be unconscious of her body when this evil spirit takes control.
On their website, Good Fight Ministries has numerous other links to videos that promote anti-Muslim propaganda, Planned Parenthood conspiracy theories, and other similar videos that allegedly unmasked the hidden Satanic messages in popular music.
Watch Beyonce, The Superbowl, Sasha and Satan in the video below.All 9 members of��have renewed their contract with
Starting from their debut in August 2007, the girls had a 7-year contract with SM Entertainment. However, it's now been revealed that all 9 of the girls already renewed their contracts last month before their contract's expiration.
SM Entertainment and the girls came to an agreement on all their contracts. Unlike when the girls first signed the contract as just-debuting artists, SM Entertainment negotiated the contract to fit the members' needs as well, and there will be no problems for the girls to promote for the next 3 years.
An insider said, "All of the Girls' Generation members finished their contract extention early on. After the girls finished group promotions in the first half of the year, now they're all busy with unit promotions. Also, it's important for the girls and the labels to keep the contract a secret. This is why the girls didn't really talk about the renewal and kept promoting naturally."
Tip:�TerryAlexElectronic cigarette companies are steeling for a legal brawl with the Obama administration over coming regulations they believe could wipe out the fast-growing industry.
The closely watched Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deeming rule, now under final review at the White House, would bring e-cigarettes as well as conventional cigars under the agency’s jurisdiction.
ADVERTISEMENT
Though the FDA has not made the language public, sources with knowledge of the rulemaking expect major changes in the final regulations, compared with a draft version released last year.
Yet one group claiming to have obtained a leaked copy says the FDA aims to leave intact the provision of most concern to industry groups: a mandate that any nicotine delivery devices that hit stores after Feb. 15, 2007, will have to apply retroactively for approval.
“That’s a de facto ban,” said Ray Story, CEO of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA).
The FDA has said it does not believe it has the authority to alter or amend the date, because it was set by statute in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that was signed into law by President Obama in 2009.
Industry groups argue the process would cost millions of dollars, making it prohibitively expensive for companies to keep their products on store shelves.
“I am all for logical and responsible regulation — not for the annihilation of the category,” Story said, suggesting that the industry’s products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
He began leaking what he says are pages from the final rule on the TVECA’s website, starting with the table of contents. On Tuesday, he released the FDA’s guidance on premarket tobacco product applications for e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
In a statement to The Hill Wednesday, FDA rep Michael Felberbaum said the FDA has not yet issued its final rule, so any documents are still in draft form.
“As a matter of policy, the FDA does not share draft documents with outside groups while they are under review and the FDA cannot provide any further comment,” he said.
Story said the FDA’s top regulator
has called, asking for him not to release the rest of the language, but said he
was trying to spur action among e-cigarette makers.
“If they know for sure they do not have a future... they’ll get motivated, call the White House, go to OMB and get proactive in demanding reliable, responsible regulation rather than this kill order,” he said, referencing the Office of Management and Budget.
If that fails, Story said he’s prepared to challenge the final rules in court.
“If anyone is feeling frisky, tell them to bring it on because our legal team is ready and willing,” he said.
The TVECA isn’t alone. Industry-backed Cigar Rights of America said it would also fight the rules in court.
“We’d have to,” said the group’s executive director, J. Glynn Loope.
If the table of contents the TVECA leaked is accurate, he said, the cigar industry would be regulated the same way the FDA is regulating other tobacco products.
When the rules were first proposed in April 2014, the FDA was weighing whether to exempt premium cigars from the regulations. The agency defined premium cigars as any handmade cigar without a tip or filter that costs $10 or more.
Loope was lobbying for that exemption.
“When they were debating the original Tobacco Control Act, every floor speech revolved around youth access and chemical addiction,” he said. “We don’t meet that criteria, which is why we think we should be exempt.”
Premium cigars, Loope contends, don’t carry the same type of health implications as other tobacco products: inhalation rates and nicotine absorption levels are different, so there’s a lack of evidence to show they’re as addictive, and they tend to be used more sporadically.
If cigars are regulated how e-cigs and other tobacco products are regulated, Loope said it will “decimate” the industry.
“To put a new cigarette or smokeless product on the market, you have to go through FDA’s approval process,” he said. “The thought of having to do that for every new cigar blend is absolutely ludicrous.”
For testing alone, Loope estimates it will cost around $20,000 for each new cigar — and that’s if testing is even possible.
“Some labs say the equipment doesn’t even exist to test cigars,” he said.
While the industry groups are basing plans of attack on what they’ve seen of the final rules so far, experts expect major changes from what was first proposed.
“There will be some surprises in the final rule, things people aren’t anticipating,” said Andrew Perraut of the San Francisco advisory firm Radiant Strategies and former staffer at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Perraut, who reviewed the proposed rule before leaving office in August 2014, said there is more room for change in this rule than in any other he’s worked on.
“I suspect we’ll see the requirements may very well change because the state of the science is very different,” he said, though he declined to elaborate.
To be sure, health groups like the American Lung Association and many Democratic lawmakers are calling upon the FDA to move aggressively to crack down on e-cigarettes — and they’re wary that the industry pressure will sway regulators.
“The tobacco lobby has long had special access to government officials and if the documents they have are authentic, the American Lung Association is deeply troubled that they have been given a confidential interagency review document,” Erika Sward, the group’s assistance vice president of national advocacy, said in a statement to The Hill.
“We call on the White House to ensure that the tobacco industry does not succeed in weakening the final deeming regulation.”Ali* had just hopped off a midnight train from Munich in Berlin's main railway station and was tired, bewildered. It was mid-September of last year, just weeks after the body of a baby refugee from Syria was found washed up on a beach in Turkey. Ali had arrived in Europe over the Balkan route: to Greece by boat from Turkey, then through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria.
Lena* was at the station with a small group of women posted at the "Welcome Refugees" stand, and anxious with anticipation. Her friend offered Ali, 28, and his two Iraqi traveling companions a place to stay for the weekend, until Berlin's LaGeSo refugee processing center opened Monday morning.
Before the exhausted men went off with the other woman, Lena, who is 30 and studying for a PhD in political science at Berlin's Free University, jotted her name and telephone number on a scrap of cardboard, inviting Ali to call anytime he needed help.
The next day, he texted Lena to say thanks, in English. She texted back. They met with others for dinner. They texted more. They met more. One morning she brought a large bag of pastries to LaGeSo, and watched in amazement as the IT engineer from Baghdad gave most of them away to hungry refugees waiting outside the processing tents.
They knew it was love
At one point he texted that he was too busy to meet. Lena was crestfallen, wondering whether she was being overbearing. The next day Ali texted her, saying he missed her. And that was when they knew they were in love.
As heads of state are preparing for a summit on March 17 to finalize a deal to check the largest flow of refugees into Europe since World War II, in Germany the next challenge will be integrating them. Last year 1.1 million refugees arrived here.
It all started with a phone number scribbled on a piece of cardboard
The majority of asylum applications in Germany the year before were from men. And most of those were, like Ali, under 30. For integration to work, German politicians say they want to avoid creating a parallel society of Muslim immigrants living outside the mainstream of German population.
The easiest way to turn refugees into Germans might be for them to fall in love with Germans and marry them. But Ali and Lena's story suggests letting love blossom is fraught with challenges, and that it is probably only possible under very special conditions.
First night in bed with their clothes on
"My friends could all see that I was beaming when I walked into a room,” recalls Lena, who had not had a steady boyfriend for six years. "So I told them I was in love. They cautioned me against it. They said he was a Muslim, and that it was different, that you didn't know what you were getting into. They said, 'Maybe he just wants to marry you so he can stay here.'" And Lena had her own misgivings. She was afraid his tenderness was in gratitude for all the help she was giving him.
Ali had hidden out in dingy basements, negotiated deals with shady middlemen, risked his life on a crowded rubber boat,and survived his three-week odyssey on the Balkan route. But he was fully unprepared for the rituals of Western love.
He spent his first night with Lena in bed with his clothes on. "We woke up, and she wanted to kiss me, but I told her I can't,” he says. "In Iraq, we don't go out with women unless we are going to marry them.”
Five years without even a kiss
Ali had a girlfriend from the university in Baghdad for five years, and never as much as kissed her. "It's a different culture, you can't compare,” he says as he waves his hand dismissively. It took four years before he could meet his Iraqi girlfriend's parents, and then, it was only to discuss marriage.
By contrast he met Lena's parents after only four weeks, and shortly after that, he was drinking sparkling German wine and helping them trim the Christmas tree for the holidays in a city in western Germany's Ruhr Valley. Lena's family is enraptured by Ali, and sees the pair's love is real. Grandma gave them an envelope with some cash for Christmas with the words "Truth Love” scrawled in English on the front. Her father cooks with Ali; the two of them go to soccer games together.
Ali talks regularly to his father back in Baghdad, too. But it is a more guarded kind of speech. He cannot tell him about Lena. "Before we get married, I will tell him |
Rebel Radio (Country)
*Ozark Mountain Daredevils - If You Wanna Get To Heaven
*Hank Snow - It Don't Hurt Anymore
*Johnny Paycheck - It won't be long (and I'll be hating you)
*Johnny Cash - General Lee
*Willie Nelson - Whiskey River
*Jerry Reed - You Took All The Ramblin' Out Of Me
Vinewood Boulevard Radio (alternative rock)
Hosts: Nate and Steve
*Sam Flax - Fire Doesn't Burn Itself
*Metz - Wet Blanket
*Ceremony - Histerya
*Bass Drum of Death - Crawling After You
*Shark? - California Grrrls
Electronic/Chillwave/Ambient radio station:
*Cashmere Cat - Mirror Maru
*The Hics - Cold Air
*Inc - The Place
Everything else:
*Foreigner - Dirty White Boy
*The Cult - Rain
*Steve Miller Band - Rock 'N Me
*Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
*Greg Kihn Band - The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)
*Julian Lennon - Too Late for Goodbyes
*The Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
*Kano - Can't Hold Back (Your Loving)
*One Way - Cutie Pie
*Rick James - Give It to Me Baby
*Evelyn "Champagne" King - I'm in Love
*Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time
*Stevie Wonder - Skeletons
*Kleer - Tonight
*D Train - You're the One for Me
*Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band - Hollywood Nights
*Youth Brigade - Blown Away
*The Germs - Lexicon Devil
*The Weirdos - Life of Crime
*Black Flag - My War
*Descendents - Pervert
*Circle Jerks - Rock House
*T.S.O.L. - Abolish Government/Silent Majority
*Suicidal Tendencies - Subliminal
*Fear - The Mouth Don't Stop (The Trouble with Women IS)
*Kendrick Lamar - A.D.H.D
*YG - I'm A Real 1
*Kelly Rowland - Work (Freemasons Remix)
*The Game - Ali Bomaye (Explicit) ft. 2 Chainz, Rick Ross
*Hackman - Forgotten Notes
*Bernard Wright - Haboglabotribin'
*Taana Gardner - Heartbeat (Club Version)
*Zapp - Hearbreaker. Pt. 1, Pt. 2
*B.T. Express - Do It
*Aaron Neville - Hercules
*Rihanna - Only Girl (In the World)
*All Saints - Pure Shores
*Muse - Madness
*Ab-Soul – Illuminate (Thank you xl2onald)
*All Saints - Pure Shores
*Mis-Teeq - Scandalous
*Inner Circle - Bad Boys (hahaha, perfect song.)
*Marlena Shaw - California Soul
*Outkast - Elevators (Me & You)
*Regulate - Warren G and Nate Dogg
*Smokey Robinson- Cruisin
*B.T. Express - Do It 'Til You're Satisfied
This is a developing leak, so more is bound to come. We've reached out to Rockstar to clarify on the leak and verify the tracks.
Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor at IGN. He’s currently reading Tom Bissell's God Lives in St. Petersburg. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.[PDP-10 Only] A hunk is a first class, composite data object similar in many ways to a cons-cell. Where conses can only hold two objects (a car and cdr), however, hunks can generally hold more.
Hunks come in a variety of types: HUNK2, HUNK4, HUNK8, HUNK16, HUNK32, HUNK64, HUNK128, HUNK256, and HUNK512. Although a hunk of any size up to 512 may be created, it will always be built out of one of these standard types. As might be expected, a HUNK2 takes exactly 1 word of storage, a HUNK4 takes exactly 2, and so on.
The number of active slots in a hunk is called the hunksize of a hunk. No primitives are provided for adjusting the hunksize of an already-consed hunk. A 5-length hunk would be created in HUNK8 space, taking exactly 4 words of storage. The HUNKSIZE primitive on such a hunk will return 5, even though its datatype (as returned by TYPEP ) is HUNK8. A 6 or 7-length hunk would also be allocated storage in HUNK8 space and would take up the same amount of room. The unused slots in an odd-length hunk go to waste.
There is a special predicate, HUNKP, which responds T for objects whose datatype is one of the hunk types.
A slot in a hunk is called a cxr (pronounced “COOK-sir”). A particular cxr of a hunk is addressed by a single fixnum index.
Hunks also have a read/print syntax similar to that of lists. A hunk is displayed with parentheses bounding it and a dot after every element. e.g., (A.), (A. B.), (A. B. C.) are valid printed representations. The order of display of hunk slots is historical in nature. For better or worse, the elements of a hunk display in order except that the 0th element is last, not first. e.g., for a hunk of a length n+1, (cxr1. cxr2..... cxrn. cxr0.). Whether or not this syntax is accepted by the reader is controlled by the variable MAKHUNK -- by default it is accepted by the reader. The functions CAR and CDR are defined on hunks, though the meaning of such operations may be less than intuitive. In particular, ( CAR hunk) is the same as ( CXR 1 hunk). ( CDR hunk) is the same as ( CXR 0 hunk). The remaining elements of a hunk, those not addressable by CAR and CDR, are sometimes called the middle of the hunk, because they appear in the middle of the printed representation. Note also that CAR extracts the leftmost element of a hunk, just as it addresses the leftmost element of a cons. Similarly, CDR extracts the rightmost element of hunks and conses.
The cdr of a hunk can also be its plist. Since all hunks have a cxr-0 slot, all hunks have a plist. (Note that the operation CAR is undefined on hunk-1's, but CDR is not.) This means that if you want to make a plist for a hunk of your own, you can use its cdr as a hunk; it does not mean that you can blindly assume that any hunk wants its CDR treated that way. The exact use of the slots of a hunk is up to the creator; it's a good idea to mark your hunks (e.g., by placing a distinctive object in their cxr-1 slot) so that you can tell them from hunks created by other programs.
Like lists, hunks may be inhomogeneous collections of data. Any hunk slot may contain an object of any datatype.
Certain hunks can be made to be treated specially by various aspects of the Maclisp system in order to implement the extended datatypes. This section deals only with general information about hunks. Magic incantations for making hunks behave like extended datatypes will be discussed elsewhere.Karim Benzema and those close to him are surprised at certain media sources' insistence that there is no longer a place for the player in France's international set-up, or at least with regards to next summer's European Championship in France.
The striker has not heard any news that the French Football Federation (FFF) or France's national coach plan to exclude him from the final Euro squad.
Karim is a key player for Deschamps, the Real Madrid man loves playing for his country and he is fully committed to the national coach. In fact, Karim picked up an injury in October during France's game against Armenia at the Stade de France. That injury came because the FFF failed to heed Real Madrid's warnings that he was at risk and should not feature in France's two scheduled matches. However, the French press have doubts over whether the France boss will be able to handle Benzema and Valbuena together in Clairefontaine, especially following the Lyon man's recent interview.
The FFF's decision to file a civil action in the case has added weight to this theory. In a statement, it announced last Friday that the measures will give it access to files and allow it to take whatever action it deems necessary.
Benzema remains calm. He is convinced that the FFF will get over its doubt and everything will get back to normal.NBC have released the first synopsis for the final episode of Constantine, and it sounds like it will be a big one as we finally learn the truth behind the Rising Darkness and Detective Jim Corrigan (Emmett Scanlan), a.k.a. The Spectre, returns. Check it out!
A YOUNG GIRL’S ABDUCTION REUNITES JOHN AND JIM CORRIGAN – EMMETT SCANLAN AND MICHAEL JAMES SHAW RETURN – John (Matt Ryan) and Zed (Angélica Celaya) return to New Orleans when Detective Jim Corrigan (guest star Emmett Scanlan) asks for their help in the case of a missing girl. Papa Midnite (guest star Michael James Shaw) takes steps toward exacting his revenge on John. Meanwhile, the truth behind the Rising Darkness comes to light. Harold Perrineau also stars.
It's more than a little depressing to think that this might just be the last ever episode of Constantine, but even a new time slot doesn't seem to have done the NBC series that much good. Of course, it was doomed for a start in some ways, but here's hoping a miracle happens and we end up getting a second season...anyway, what do you guys think about this official description? Be sure to share your thoughts below!We all want to be good. But often, what we want more is for others to know just how good we are. We have long been warned about the dangers of flaunting our own moral superiority this way: In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus instructs his followers not to be like the ‘‘hypocrites’’ who ‘‘love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners that they may be seen by men.’’ Nearly 2,000 years later, the 19th-century Catholic saint John Vianney argued that the instinct to show off our goodness — our fasting, our donations to the poor and the church — would ‘‘make hypocrites of us.’’ ‘‘If we desire a heavenly reward,’’ he wrote, ‘‘then we must hide the good which God works in us as much as possible, for fear that the devil of pride may rob us of the merit of those good works.’’ And yet lately, many people believe that these admonitions have been forgotten — that we are living in a veritable golden age of hypocritical showboats advertising their own righteousness.
The British conservative writer James Bartholomew may be the main popularizer of the term ‘‘virtue signaling,’’ which he first used in an April 2015 article in The Spectator, arguing that much of the moral outrage we see online is mere posturing: ‘‘Gosh, you must be virtuous to be so cross!’’ His ire was aimed mostly at critics of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), a promulgator of rabidly anti-immigrant rhetoric, and The Daily Mail, a newspaper known for its own tabloid nativism and xenophobia. On any given day, it’s easy to find Britons expressing their moral outrage and disapproval of UKIP and The Mail. But in Bartholomew’s view, this isn’t because those people care all that deeply about either. They merely want to suggest that they do — to signal that they’re exactly the kind of very virtuous people who would have enlightened, politically correct feelings about such things.
When people offer their vehement condemnation of some injustice in the news, or change their Facebook profile photos to honor the victims of some new tragedy, or write status updates demanding federal action on climate change, observers like Bartholomew smell something fishy: Do these people really care deeply about the issue du jour? They probably aren’t, after all, out volunteering to solve the problem. What if they’re motivated, above all else, by simply looking like people who care?
This sort of ostentatious concern is, according to some diagnoses, endemic to the political left. A writer for the conservative website The Daily Caller wrote this summer that virtue signaling ‘‘has been universalized into a sort of cultural tic’’ on the left, ‘‘as compulsive and unavoidable as Tourette’s syndrome.’’ There are plenty on the left who might agree. It’s not difficult to find, in conversations among progressives, widespread eye-rolling over a certain type of person: the one who will take a heroic stance on almost any issue — furious indignation over the casting of a live-action ‘‘Aladdin’’ film, vehement defense of Hillary Clinton’s fashion choices, extravagant emotional investment in the plight of a group to which the speaker does not belong — in what feels like a transparent bid for the praise, likes and aura of righteousness that follows.Considered to be one of the most significant and influential titles in the video game industry, This science fiction horror F.P.S became an instant classic by id Software released in 1993. I first played this game around 18 years ago when I managed to just experience the first chapter before throwing the mouse and key bored and screaming like a little kid that I was. With its hordes of invading demons & floating beast from Hell and Awasome rocking Midi tracks, hidden secrets in each level this really has stood the test of time.
The grunts and groans from the enemies still puts any player on edge. Puting on some Surround Sound head phone can really amplify the experience. Doom was played by an estimated 10 million people within two years of its release, popularizing the mode of gameplay and spawning a gaming subculture. In addition to popularizing the FPS genre, it pioneered immersive 3D graphics, networked multiplayer gaming, and support for customized additions and modifications via packaged files in a data archive known as “WADs”. As a sign of its effect on the industry, first-person shooter games from the genre’s boom in the 90s,
Controversies
“SPLOSH!” Monsters Be Getting Owned!. Before Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat,gamers had Doom the level of graphic violence made the game highly controversial. In the screenshot, effects of a rocket hitting a group of enemies
Doom was notorious for its high levels of graphic violence and satanic imagery, which generated controversy from a broad range of groups. Doom prompted fears that the then-emerging virtual reality technology could be used to simulate extremely realistic killing.
While in America Doom and other violent video games have been blamed for nationally covered school shootings and school violence
Plot Summary :
The player takes the role of an unnamed space marine (“Doomguy”) who has been punitively posted to Mars after assaulting his commanding officer, who ordered his unit to fire on civilians. The Martian space marine base acts as security for the Union Aerospace Corporation, a multi-planetary conglomerate, which is performing secret experiments with teleportation by creating gateways between the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Mars is considered by space marines to be the dullest assignment imaginable. This all changes when the UAC experiments go horribly wrong.
Computer systems on Phobos malfunction, Deimos disappears entirely, and “something fragging evil” starts pouring out of the gateway, killing or possessing all UAC personnel. Responding to a frantic distress call from the overrun scientists, the Martian marine unit is quickly sent to Phobos to investigate, where the player character is left to guard the hangar with only a pistol while the rest of the group proceeds inside. The marine hears assorted radio messages, gunfire, and screams, followed by silence: “Seems your buddies are dead.”
WADs
Doom Wads just EXPLODED!. The Pc version gave gamers the ability for others to create custom levels and otherwise modify the game, in the form of custom WAD files (short for “Where’s All the Data?”) The most download Doom WADs made by fans, were Aliens, Star Wars, The X-Files, The Simpsons, South Park, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Red Faction, The Thing, Pokémon, Batman and Sonic the Hedgehog. Fans also made Theme Doom Patch, combined enemies from several films, such as Aliens, Predator and The Terminator. Some add-on files were also made that changed the sounds made by the various characters and weapons.
Other Doom Goods
Share your Doom experience In the Comment box below :BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai military court accepted a case on Tuesday against eight people charged with ridiculing junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha on Facebook, extending a crackdown against dissent after Thais voted earlier this month to accept a military-backed charter.
Eight people charged with ridiculing junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha arrive at the military court in Bangkok, Thailand, August 23, 2016. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
The outcome of the Aug. 7 referendum bolstered the credibility of the military government, say analysts, but the overwhelming vote in favor of the new constitution was unsurprising given the curbs on free speech ahead of the vote.
Campaigning for or against the constitution was banned, though major political parties and other groups, had criticized the charter. They said the charter enshrined the military’s influential role in Thailand and would constrict democracy even though it paves the way for an election by the end of 2017.
Angered by a Facebook page titled ‘We Love General Prayuth’, that parodied the junta leader, the military arrested the eight defendants in a series of raids on April 27 in the capital Bangkok and the northeastern province of Khon Kaen.
They were charged with sedition, an offence which carries a sentence of up to seven years in jail, and with violating a law covering computer crimes.
Winyat Chatmontree, a lawyer for the eight, said he has posted bail of 200,000 baht ($5,777.01) for each detainee, which the court approved.
“The military court accepted the case against the eight administrators of the ‘We Love General Prayuth’,” he said.
“The court approved bail. They will be temporarily released. Probably this evening,” said Winyat.
All eight deny the charges against them.
The junta clamped down on dissent after seizing power from an elected civilian government more than two years ago.
More than 900 people, including activists, journalists and politicians, have been summoned by the military for so-called ‘attitude adjustment’ sessions lasting anything between a few hours to one week, according to iLaw, a legal monitoring group.
Two of the suspects, Natthika Worathaiyawich and Harit Mahaton, face additional charges for posting commentary considered offensive to Thailand’s monarchy.
“I have said all along that I am not guilty and that I will fight this case,” Natthika told Reuters. “I am not worried.”CLOSE Billionaire Charles Koch, normally funnels large amounts of money to the political campaign of his choosing but this year he has not mentioned who he will be supporting in November. Time
Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, answers questions during a June 2016 interview in his office. (Photo: Craig A. Hacker, for USA TODAY)
WASHINGTON — A group tied to billionaire Charles Koch has unleashed an aggressive campaign to kill a ballot measure in South Dakota that would require Koch-affiliated groups and others like them to reveal their donors’ identities — part of a sustained effort by his powerful network to keep government agencies and the public from learning more about its financial backers.
Americans for Prosperity, the largest activist group in the policy and political empire founded by industrialist Koch and his brother, David, launched a coalition this year to fight Initiated Measure 22, which calls for public disclosure of donors who fund advocacy efforts, the creation of a state ethics commission and public financing of political campaigns. It also limits lobbyists' gifts to elected officials and lowers the amount of campaign contributions to candidates, parties and political action committees.
South Dakota voters will decide the issue in November.
The AFP-founded coalition, called Defeat 22, already has run commercials on talk radio and country-music stations, contacted 50,000 voters through phone calls and door-knocking and distributed mailers denouncing the initiative as a money-grab by politicians because it would give voters taxpayer-funded vouchers to help finance candidates' campaigns, according to Ben Lee, the state director of Americans for Prosperity and chairman of Defeat 22.
Luke Hilgemann, Americans for Prosperity’s national CEO, cast the South Dakota fight as a battle to protect donors’ free-speech rights. Politicians who have been targeted by AFP over taxes and other policy issues over the years now want to unmask contributors’ identities “because they don’t like us bringing these issues to light and holding them accountable,” he said.
He argued that revealing donors’ identities could subject them to threats and intimidation and drive them away from funding advocacy groups.
“The chilling of public discourse is a bad path for the country to go on,” he said.
The South Dakota campaign marks the latest in a string of battles the Koch network has waged around the country to block efforts to disclose contributors’ identities. Last year, for instance, AFP and more than a dozen other groups opposed a bill in Georgia that would have required advocacy groups active in state politics to disclose the sources of their money. The measure died.
In June, the House passed a Koch-supported bill that would bar the IRS from collecting the names of most donors to tax-exempt groups. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Earlier this year, Americans for Prosperity's foundation won a federal trial to keep its donors secret in California.
The Koch network is one of the most influential groups in conservative politics. Some 700 like-minded donors each pledge to give least $100,000 annually to a mix of educational, policy and political organizations affiliated with the Kochs that push a small-government agenda. The network is on track to spend about $750 million during the 2016 election cycle, about a third of which will be directed to politics, officials say.
A large share of the network's money flows through nonprofits whose donors are anonymous.
In this Aug. 30, 2013, file photo, Americans for Prosperity Foundation Chairman David Koch speaks in Orlando, Fla. (Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack, AP)
Koch officials say preserving “free speech” is among their top priorities in the coming years. “Wherever there are threats against the First Amendment, we will be there to weigh in,” Hilgemann said.
The South Dakota measure would not bar donations to nonprofit groups active in politics, but it would require the groups running independent ads and distributing mailers to disclose the identities of anyone who gives more than $100 in a calendar year.
Hilgemann would not disclose how much AFP is spending on the South Dakota effort. The coalition there includes the state’s chamber of commerce and the farm bureau, along with groups representing building contractors and retailers.
On the other side: Massachusetts-based Represent.Us, which is waging bipartisan campaigns around the country to end anonymous contributions in politics and pass laws it says will curb public corruption.
Represent.Us and other advocacy groups helped successfully pass similar measures in Seattle and Maine last year. In addition to South Dakota, two more initiatives that deal with either campaign finance or lobbying issues are headed to voters this fall, in San Francisco and Washington state.
Both sides view South Dakota as an important test in a year when voter anger about the role of moneyed interests in politics helped buoy the White House candidacies of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Republican nominee Donald Trump. Republicans control the governors’ mansion in South Dakota and both houses of the state legislature. A former GOP state senator, Don Frankenfeld, is helping run the “Yes 22” campaign in the state.
“If it can happen in South Dakota, it can happen in 10 or 20 other states,” Hilgemann said.
The early spending against the measure caught organizers by surprise, Frankenfeld said. “We’re scrambling now to mount an appropriate response to the misleading charge that it’s a raid on the treasury for politicians.”
Defeat 22 has targeted a provision in the ballot measure that would give two, $50 “democracy credits” to every registered voter in the South Dakota. Candidates then could redeem those vouchers for taxpayer-funded money for their elections.
The measure would cap the voucher program at $12 million, and candidates could not receive unlimited amounts from the state treasury. For instance, a legislative candidate would face a $15,000-limit on voucher funds.
Defeat 22’s literature says the initiative would let politicians spend taxpayer money on TV ads and robocalls “instead of funding better roads and schools” and urged voters to “keep politics out of our pockets.”
The initiative's supporters say their internal polling shows strong support for the measure, which comes in the wake of a high-profile corruption investigation into state management of the federal EB-5 program, which grants green cards to wealthy foreigners who invest in South Dakota projects. A former state official has been charged in connection with the probe and a former cabinet official, who was under investigation, committed suicide in 2013.
Frankenfeld said his side has spent about $360,000, much of it focused on getting the initiative on the ballot. “Will we be outspent by the Koch brothers? Probably.”
“I’m optimistic about the outcome,” he said. “The Koch brothers have gotten our attention, but I’m confident we’ve got the better argument.”
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2byocYFThe Bay Area is the first region in the nation to ban wood-burning devices in all new construction. Terry McSweeney reports. (Published Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015)
The Bay Area is the first region in the nation to ban wood-burning devices in all new construction.
The decision came Wednesday from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which also approved much tighter rules for existing homes.
Fine particles from wood-burning devices are one of the biggest health threats to Bay Area residents during the winter season, according to the air quality board. The new rules bans any wood-burning device in new construction starting in the fall of 2016.
For existing homes, chimneys and remodels costing $15,000 and requiring a building permit, will have to be replaced with EPA wood burning, gas or electric systems. Companies that make or sell those systems will be required to comply with new EPA emission standards.
People selling their home will not be required to change out wood-burning devices, but will have to disclose the hazards of wood smoke to the new owners.
There is one exemption to the new rules: Current wood-burning systems will be allowed to stay if it is a home's only heating option.Molecular Gastronomy is the love child of cooking and science. Using its principles, you can produce chemical reactions with edible ingredients and create some pretty amazing results. Here's how it works and a few ideas to put it into practice.
Photo by sunday driver
What is it?
Advertisement
Wikipedia offers a concise, specific definition of molecular gastronomy:
Molecular gastronomy is a discipline practiced by both scientists and food professionals that studies the physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking. Molecular gastronomy seeks to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation of ingredients, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general.
Advertisement
Ferran Adrià generally gets the credit for fathering the movement, but Nicholas Kurti and Hervé This (a physicist and chemist, respectively) coined the term when starting a number of workshops to explore the science behind cooking. The reason Adrià is often credited with molecular gastronomy, even though he doesn't even believe it's a real term, is because he's done some pretty awesome things in the kitchen with the aid of science. We're going to take a look at a couple of neat ideas that have sprung from this movement, ranging from simple to complex.
What can I do with it?
Advertisement
A lot of seemingly strange but ultimately awesome results can be produced from techniques associated with molecular gastronomy. Let's take a look at a few recipes that make use of these different methods.
Foams
One of the staples of molecular gastronomy is foam. It's actually pretty easy to create a flavor-infused foam with cold water, lecithin (which stabilizes cold liquids), relevant flavors, and a hand blender.
Advertisement
Click to view
Pearls
The idea behind pearls is to capture a liquid flavor inside a tiny little pearl-like ball. This is generally done with pureed vegetables, and eating the result is a pretty unusual, fun, and neat experience. Watching the process is pretty cool, as it involves squirting little drops of a puree mixed with brown algaen into a calcium chloride formula and seeing a skin form around them. After a moment, you can fish out all the little vegetable pearls and add them to your dish.
Advertisement
Click to viewMore videos at How2Heroes.
Here's how to do it with cantaloupe and make a pretty crazy cantaloupe shake:
Advertisement
More Daring Ideas
Molecular gastronomy can get pretty complex pretty quickly, and even a little bit dangerous. One you probably shouldn't try at home is making iced cream with fruit juice and liquid nitrogen. Here's how it works with watermelons:
Click to viewMore videos at How2Heroes.
Got any interesting molecular gastronomy recipes or experiments of your own? Let's hear 'em in the comments (and feel free to share any awesome accompanying images, too)!Elon Musk started a new company to turn us into cyborgs by 2021
Last month, we heard that Elon Musk was getting his hands dirty with Neuralink, a new company intent on connecting the human brain to computers. Now, Musk has revealed that he’s the firm’s new CEO and has ambitious plans to deliver products as early as four years from now.
That’s from an in-depth story and interview by the folks at Wait But Why. With Neuralink, Musk hopes to first develop a micron-sized device to help link brains and machines, and treat brain injuries and their symptoms – such as strokes, paralysis and even memory loss in old age. The goal is to bring this to market by some time in 2021.
The next target is to create a way to connect people’s brains to each other, so they can communicate directly without having to rely on low-bandwidth methods like typing or talking. Musk explains:
You’re already digitally superhuman. The thing that would change is the interface—having a high-bandwidth interface to your digital enhancements. The thing is that today, the interface all necks down to this tiny straw, which is, particularly in terms of output, it’s like poking things with your meat sticks, or using words—either speaking or tapping things with fingers. And in fact, output has gone backwards. It used to be, in your most frequent form, output would be ten-finger typing. Now, it’s like, two-thumb typing. That’s crazy slow communication. We should be able to improve that by many orders of magnitude with a direct neural interface.
However, this is going to take a while, perhaps eight or 10 years – and Musk believes regulatory approval is going to have a lot to do with that timeline.
Neuralink’s news comes just after Facebook announced two projects focused on using the brain to control hardware and software: one involves brain implants to help you type just by thinking, while the other captures sound waves from your environment and transmits them directly to the brain so as to allow deaf people to hear what’s going on around them.
Clearly there’s a lot of work to be done before either firm’s grand plans come to fruition – but if we’ve learned anything from watching Musk and Zuckerberg over the past few years, it’s that they know how to think big and bring ideas to life.
If you’re not doing anything this weekend, head on over to Wait But Why and read Tim Urban’s 36,000-word story on Neuralink’s vision for the future.
Via The Wall Street Journal
> Neuralink and the Brain’s Magical Future Wait, But WhyBERNIE’S FRIENDS: He’s starting to believe he could win -- GRIDIRON HEADLINER announced -- B’DAY: Ben Sherwood, Susan Page, Marc Caputo, Jim VandeHei Presented by
By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; mallen@politico.com) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; dlippman@politico.com)
HAPPY Friday! Valentine’s Day is Sunday. The Gridiron Club emails members: “Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina will be the Republican speaker at the Gridiron Club’s 131st anniversary dinner on March 5, President Doyle McManus announced... Haley, mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential choice, joins the two Democratic speakers, twin brothers Julian and Joaquin Castro, and Vice President Joe Biden, who will represent the administration.”
GLENN THRUSH takeaways from PBS’ #DemDebate in Milwaukee: “Clinton did very little to arrest Sanders’ momentum, although she effectively contrasted her command of granular policy with his vague-ish appeals to liberal outrage. She probably won,... but by an Iowa-sized increment... Sanders is just as good a debater as Clinton....
“Will the Bern get heat rash?... Sanders, friends say, is a very competitive guy, and he’s just now starting to believe he can really win. That’s making him progressively nastier. It’s a trap. When Clinton began describing her agenda if elected president – which is, after all, the purpose of these debates – Sanders snapped back in way that elicited some cheers, oohs and boos. ‘Secretary Clinton, you’re not in the White House yet,’ he said, with an un-Bernie edge in his voice.” http://politi.co/1XnrM5V
**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/1M75UbX
DRIVING THE CONVERSATION – WSJ A1, below fold, “Clinton’s Wall Street Talks Were Highly Paid, Friendly,” by Anupretta Das and James Grimaldi: “In the two years between resigning as secretary of state and launching her... campaign, Hillary Clinton personally received $4.1 million in fees from financial institutions for closed-door talks that attendees described as friendly and light.... About one in five dollars that Mrs. Clinton collected while giving speeches from February 2013 to April 2015 came from banks and financial institutions.
“She spoke at three client conferences hosted by Goldman Sachs; twice at Deutsche Bank AG; once each at events organized by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and UBS; and also at gatherings hosted by private-equity firms KKR & Co., Apollo Management Holdings LP and GTCR LLC.” http://on.wsj.com/1V8juxr
--“Even in the GOP, It’s Cool to Hate Wall Street,” by Bloomberg Businessweek’s Josh Green:“Republicans up and down the ballot are trying to harness voters’ anger by criticizing Wall Street donors. The Republican presidential candidates have turned on the financial giants that have been their biggest benefactors – and are attacking one another for being too close to the financial industry.” http://bloom.bg/1QvEtq2
TOP TWEETS: Michelle Rindels @RindelsAP: “Focus group loudly groaning, wants to leave after sitting through that long first #DemDebate segment”... @brianefallon: “Sanders’ robotic parroting of his Iraq line is Rubio-esque”... @DougHeye: “This is as good as Hillary gets. Calm, in command, not patronizing, armed with facts. Best debate performance yet?”... @PoliticoCharlie: “Bernie is only politician who can name check Herbert Hoover, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Churchill & Mossadegh and still kill it w/the youth vote”... The pharma bro, @MartinShkreli: “I might go on a University speaker tour. Except I’d do it for free and/or donate the fees to charity. Try it sometime, @HillaryClinton”...
... @DougHeye: “Whenever Sanders wants to respond, he looks like he's asking for the check at an Outback Steakhouse”... @jonlovett: “Kissinger looks down at the FEEL THE BERN shirt he wore to watch the debate. He sighs and turns off the TV. The room is silent. He is alone”... @blakehounshell: “Bernie Sanders’ critique of the U.S. intervention in Libya is almost identical to Ted Cruz’s.”
BITE OF THE DAY – Hillary Clinton, to debate moderators Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill: “I would note, just for a historic aside: Somebody told me earlier today we’ve had like 200 presidential primary debates, and this is the first time there have been a majority of women on the stage. So, you know, we'll take our progress wherever we can find it.”
--L.A. Times’ Evan Halper and Mike Memoli: “Clinton mentioned Obama’s name 21 times during the two-hour debate.” http://lat.ms/1QbF7P7
--“The 8 most important moments of the Democratic debate,” by Kyle Cheney http://politi.co/1O6iSTo
POLITICO co-founders John Harris and Jim VandeHei last night were awarded the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award by the National Press Foundation, with Sally Quinn (and John’s mother, Nancy Hamlin) at front tables.
--JOHN HARRIS: “Ben talked about ownership.... Ben, like me, worked for a great owner, the Graham family. Jim and I found another great owner, Robert Allbritton, who's also investing... Every single dime that Politico has made, he has turned back into the business. He's not interested in selling; he’s interested in investing. That’s what a great owner does. And I take a minute to say thank you to Robert Allbritton.” Harris pic, by Kristen Hayford http://bit.ly/1 |
and should be understood and measured. In order for us to better understand when, how, and against whom force is used, the FBI has announced that it is going to start collecting use-of-force data. It is crucial that we paint an accurate picture of what is actually happening. This voluntary collection has the potential to make the use of force even more rare and the devastating consequences of force even less likely.
F. Restore the Right to Vote of Those Who Have Paid Their Debt to Society
More than six million Americans — disproportionately people of color — cannot vote because of a felony conviction that disenfranchises them. Of these, half reside in just twelve states that restrict voting rights even for those who have completed their prison sentence and are no longer under correctional supervision. As I’ve said before: “[I]f folks have served their time, and they’ve reentered society, they should be able to vote.” That is important to help those released from prison truly return as citizens. One of the most important rights in a democracy is the right to vote and participate in self-governance, and we should not be denying that right to those who have paid their debt to society.
G. Make Better Use of Technology
to Promote Trust in Law Enforcement
Among the most significant of the recommendations of my Task Force on 21st Century Policing were insights on how jurisdictions could utilize technologies such as body-worn cameras to improve community trust, transparency, and accountability. Body-worn cameras have been proven to have several benefits for law enforcement agencies, officers, and the community, and my Administration has been an early proponent of expanded use. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was an early federal proponent of the use of body-worn cameras. In several research studies, body-worn cameras are shown to help decrease reported complaints about officers. In Rialto, California, community reports against law enforcement officers dropped nearly 88% after officers began using body-worn cameras. Likewise, complaints about Phoenix Police Department officers decreased by 23% once the department’s officers began using body-worn cameras, while other precincts whose officers did not use cameras saw a 45% increase in complaints during the same time frame.
There is also emerging research that body-worn cameras can provide evidence for criminal prosecution. In the same study of the Phoenix Police Department, researchers found that domestic violence cases were more likely to be prosecuted and result in guilty verdicts when the officers at the scene were wearing cameras. Issues of law enforcement accountability and community trust cannot be addressed solely through providing officers with body-worn cameras and asking them to activate their devices. As the Task Force described in its recommendations, this technology must be implemented (and the footage obtained stored) in cooperation with thoughtful policies, initiatives, and technological safeguards to ensure that civil rights are upheld, privacy interests are respected, and cameras are part of a cost-effective approach to transparency and public safety. Departments whose officers are using body-worn cameras must also institute substantial community engagement efforts to help demonstrate to the public the necessity of the cameras and promote open communication about what the videos show.
My Administration has invested millions of dollars in not only deploying thousands of body-worn cameras to our law enforcement officers, but also promoting research and education so we can identify and scale the programs and policies that best enable our law enforcement officers to serve their communities and promote public safety. We built a comprehensive Body-Worn Camera Toolkit to help communities implement body-worn camera programs. The federal government and our state and local partners must continue to work together to ensure that adequate funding is provided for body-worn cameras for the women and men that police our cities and towns. Government officials, law enforcement leadership and officers, advocates, and community members will also need to continue this dialogue as the technology of body-worn cameras evolves so that law enforcement can most effectively utilize this technology in ways that benefit departments and the communities they serve.
Conclusion
There is so much work to be done. Yet I remain hopeful that together, we are moving in the right direction. Crime remains near historic lows, prison populations are decreasing, taxpayer dollars are being better spent, and more Americans are landing on their feet and taking advantage of the second chances they’ve earned. It’s critical we build on this in the ways I’ve outlined above. But at the end of the day, those entrusted with influence over the direction of the criminal justice system must also remember that reform is about more than the dollars we spend and the data we collect. How we treat those who have made mistakes speaks to who we are as a society and is a statement about our values — about our dedication to fairness, equality, and justice, and about how to protect our families and communities from harm, heal after loss and trauma, and lift back up those among us who have earned a chance at redemption.
Disclaimer: The journal’s copyright notice applies to the distinctive display of this Harvard Law Review Commentary, in both print and online forms, and not the President’s work or words.The Canadian Press
BATHURST, N.B. -- Changes to a controversial Halloween bylaw that bans older teens from trick-or-treating and sets an early curfew in a northern New Brunswick city are expected to be approved Monday.
Bathurst city council is set to vote on proposed amendments that would slacken the bylaw following a final reading Monday night.
The new rules would forbid anyone older than 16 from trick-or-treating and set a curfew at 8 p.m., easing the current rules banning teens over the age of 14 from collecting candy door-to-door with a 7 p.m. cut off.
Under the changes, anyone over 16 found roaming the streets for treats or dressed in a "facial disguise" in public after curfew can be fined up to $200.
Bathurst police say they'll use a common-sense approach to enforcing the Halloween bylaw if it passes third reading.
Const. Jeff Chiasson says the bylaw gives police a tool to prevent and stop mischief, and that fines would be used only as a last resort.This article is from the archive of our partner.
Both candidate claims their proposals are better for Americans, but Obama's plans will benefit more of them, according to data analysis by statisticians at Politify.com, as laid out in an interactive map showing a geographical breakdown.
The result: Lots and lots of blue to represent Obama. The glimmers of red represent places where Romney plans will benefit Americans.
The non-partisan group used policies from the candidates' websites, data from the Census Bureau and the IRS, and tax theories from the Tax Foundation to create the interactive.
You can enter your zip code on Politify's site to see which candidates' plan will benefit you more. Politify says it "is setting out to solve one of the oldest problems in democracy: which candidate best serves our individual interests?"
Note: The map doesn't account for population density. But looking at Politify's national breakdown, Obama still wins with 69.8 percent of households benefiting from his plans, compared to 30.2 percent of households benefiting from Romney's plans:
If all politics is local, then, the interactive at Politify can help you sort out the impact of each candidate on where you live.
Go to Politify's site to explore more.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.BISMARCK – Gov. Jack Dalrymple sent shockwaves through North Dakota’s political landscape Monday with his announcement that he won’t seek a second full term next year, blowing the gubernatorial race wide open.
Dalrymple’s decision was seen by many as a surprise, and it immediately intensified speculation over whether Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp will seek the state’s highest office and which of the state’s top Republicans will run.
Related: Previous Jack Dalrymple coverage
The 66-year-old Republican said he and first lady Betsy Dalrymple are in good health and want to spend more time with their five grandchildren and other family.
“It’s really 100 percent a personal decision about the way we want to spend our time down the road,” he said.
Dalrymple became governor in December 2010 when he replaced Gov. John Hoeven after Hoeven’s election to the U.S. Senate. Dalrymple won his first four-year term in 2012, defeating Democratic state Sen. Ryan Taylor with 63 percent of the vote.
His decision opens the door for potential GOP hopefuls, with Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem often mentioned as possible candidates. But one of North Dakota’s most successful business leaders, Doug Burgum, said Monday that he would not rule out a campaign, perhaps even as an independent.
Dalrymple’s exit from the 2016 race is also sure to fuel a guessing game about Heitkamp’s political plans.
Heitkamp, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery last week, hasn’t ruled out a run for governor but reiterated Monday through spokeswoman Abbie McDonough that she is focusing on her Senate work.
McDonough said Heidi Heitkamp, who lost a governor’s race to Hoeven in 2000, wasn’t available for an interview. In a statement, the senator called Dalrymple “someone who will listen to all sides of a debate and work with those who disagree with him.”
The state’s GOP-controlled Legislature passed a bill this spring requiring a special election to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy, a bill seen by Democrats as an attempt to dissuade Heitkamp to run for governor because she wouldn’t be able to appoint her replacement.
Joel Heitkamp, a talk show host on Fargo radio station KFGO, a former Democratic state senator and Heidi Heitkamp's brother, also didn't rule out a run.
"Almost every politician I know, when they shave in the morning, they see the governor," he said. "Obviously it’s something that I would have to consider, but I love my job."
He said that if he had to bet $10, he'd put it on his sister not running, because she finds her job in the U.S. Senate "really rewarding."
The other potential candidate who also could also keep Joel Heitkamp from entering the race is Doug Burgum, the former CEO of Great Plains Software who led the company through its sale to Microsoft in 2001 for $1.1 billion. That’s despite Burgum, a prominent downtown developer in Fargo, being a Republican who has donated to numerous GOP candidates.
“There’s a lot of things that Doug does, where I would say, why the heck would I get in his way?” Joel Heitkamp said. “He certainly is no far-right-wing party member."
GOP contest likely
North Dakota GOP chairman Kelly Armstrong, a state senator from Dickinson, said he didn’t know if Dalrymple’s decision will prompt a Heidi Heitkamp run, but added, “We’ve been preparing like she’s going to get in the race until she says she’s not going to get in the race.”
In a phone interview, Wrigley praised Dalrymple for his “extraordinary service” but wouldn’t comment on whether he plans to run for governor.
“Kathleen and I look forward to announcing our plans in that regard,” he said, adding he has no time frame set for that announcement.
Stenehjem said up until 10 a.m. Monday, he was convinced that Dalrymple would run again, “and I was thoroughly happy about it, because I enjoy working with him.”
Stenehjem didn’t rule out running for governor, but said, “I hadn’t even considered doing so because I was convinced as most people were that Gov. Dalrymple would run again.”
State GOP Deputy Chairman Jim Poolman said that with most people having assumed Dalrymple would run again, he also expects a number of Republicans – including possibly a couple of state lawmakers and statewide officials – to dip their toes into the political waters to gauge potential support.
“I think we’ve got a strong bench to run against Heidi... if she chooses to do so,” he said.
Dalrymple declined to comment on his preferred successor.
“There may be a contest, and I think that’s a good thing, and we’ll see who comes forward,” he said.
Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor at the University of North Dakota, said it will be interesting to see who the party coalesces around and how GOP leaders manage the competition.
Lieutenant governor is a good position from which to run, he said, but name recognition can be a problem. Before becoming lieutenant governor, Wrigley was the U.S. attorney for North Dakota from 2001 to 2009. Stenehjem has good name recognition, having won five statewide elections for attorney general dating back to 2000, he said.
“It’s pretty clear whoever runs for the Republicans, if Sen. Heitkamp doesn’t run, is the odds-on favorite to win,” Jendrysik said.
Burgum, who now splits his time between the venture capital firm Arthur Ventures and Kilbourne Group, a real estate redevelopment firm focused on downtown Fargo, noted in an interview Monday that North Dakota’s last three governors – Dalrymple, Hoeven and Ed Schafer – were all private-sector leaders first.
Burgum said his family’s friendship with Dalrymple goes back more than 30 years. His late brother, Brad, was Dalrymple’s campaign treasurer during his first legislative race in 1984.
“As long as Jack was running I was never going to give it any consideration at all. But I guess at this point, I would be open minded about how things might evolve,” Burgum said, adding that could include being an independent candidate.
Democrats tout bench
Poolman said the pressure to decide whether to run is tougher on Heidi Heitkamp because Republicans would likely capture her Senate seat should she vacate it.
The executive director of the state Democratic-NPL Party, Robert Haider, said that while the party has had disagreements with Dalrymple on policy grounds, he and his wife “deserve our gratitude for their decades of service to the people of North Dakota.”
Haider said the party has been aggressively recruiting candidates for 2016, and Dalrymple’s decision won’t affect that.
If Heidi Heitkamp doesn’t run, Haider said Democrats have a strong slate of potential candidates that includes former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon; Senate Minority Leader Mac Schneider of Grand Forks; former state representative and former U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development state director Jasper Schneider; and state Sen. George Sinner of Fargo, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. House last year.
If Joel Heitkamp were to run, FCC rules would require that the opposing party's candidate receive equal time on the air, or Heitkamp would have to quit his show.
He also said he did not know whether his sister was planning to run, but if she does, "I guarantee you, I won’t stand in her way," he said. "It’s Heidi’s race to run if she wants to run it."
Dalrymple reflects
Dalrymple said there’s still a lot to accomplish during his last 16 months in office, including more investments in infrastructure and water projects and boosting property tax relief, in part by relieving counties of the burden of funding social services.
During a sit-down with reporters Monday afternoon, he reflected on his five years in the governor’s office, 10 years as lieutenant governor and 16 years as a state representative.
The Casselton native has led North Dakota through a period of unprecedented prosperity driven largely by oil and gas development and a strong agricultural economy. After decades of population loss, the state has gained population every year since 2004.
Dalrymple said his experience as a state lawmaker in the 1980s, when the state faced stark economic times, “has helped me appreciate that much more what we have achieved now.”
He said he considers diversification of the state’s economy its greatest achievement, made possible by technological advances in oil drilling.
“We really have transformed this state from where it was 20 years ago,” he said.
The state also has experienced unprecedented challenges, and Dalrymple said he expects to make more progress in several areas in the coming year, including reducing flaring of natural gas, conditioning oil for rail transport and providing more oil regulators and law enforcement.
“Really we have tackled these impacts of rapid growth on all fronts, and I think we have made great progress,” he said.
Dalrymple said he and his wife of almost 45 years have been talking about the decision over the summer and made up their minds last week not to seek re-election.
Armstrong said he wasn’t surprised by Dalrymple’s announcement.
“If he’s decided he wants a little personal time, neither I nor anybody else can blame him,” he said.
Hoeven issued a statement highlighting Dalrymple’s years of service to the state and saying he “has earned the appreciation and respect of all North Dakotans.”
Dalrymple said he has no specific plans for life after the governor’s office, saying he may travel and even write a book.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to think that I could actually choose what I want to do,” he said.
Forum reporter Grace Lyden contributed to this report.When journalists covering pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014, got word that protesters were having problems with cell phone service, it appeared to be a familiar response from governments across the world to dissent.
After a Hong Kong radio station reported that police were threatening to shut down mobile networks altogether, the news hit social media, and protesters began sharing links to apps that create a mesh network with the use of Bluetooth and radio frequencies and can function independently of telecommunications towers.
International headlines the following week described the territory's "Internet shutdown," summoning the specter of a tactic aimed at limiting the ability of protesters to communicate with each other and the public.
Table of Contents
There was some justification for those concerns. Bandwidth invariably falters during mass uprisings because of the number of people sharing information to coordinate protests, but authorities from Cairo to San Francisco have intentionally shut down cell phone and Internet service as a supposed security measure during demonstrations. In Hong Kong, the possibility of an intentional interruption struck a particular nerve because interference with mobile and Internet services is a tactic used by censors in mainland China.
In the summer of 2013, telecommunications networks in part of China's Xinjinag Uighur Autonomous Region were severed for several weeks and the communications app Weixin disabled to suppress news reports of a clash between security forces and Muslim protesters, according to The New York Times. Residents and observers feared that Chinese censorship had finally caught up with the special administrative region of Hong Kong.
In fact, the supposed Hong Kong Internet shutdown never materialized. Such a drastic intervention is unlikely there because telecommunications are an integral part of the highly developed urban infrastructure, and a comparatively strong rule of law helps protects digital media from blunt censorship.
As the pro-democracy news website InMediaHK reported on October 1, 2014, in a state of emergency two Hong Kong ordinances grant the chief executive power to seize control of telecommunications stations, but only by serving a warrant to the heads of several network operators in a competitive market.
"One can imagine the huge impact should... a warrant be issued," wrote Oiwan Lam, a voluntary editor for the site, in an interview with legislative councillor Charles Mok translated by Global Voices. Network providers must satisfy consumers accustomed to the world's second-fastest Internet speeds, as measured by Akamai, and those consumers are part of a significant financial sector that includes many supporters of Beijing. In other words, economic influence protects the telecommunications infrastructure for everyone.
That is the good news for Hong Kong. The bad news is, the actual threat there is more insidious. Commercial institutions may help sustain journalists' access to the Internet, but the same institutions can also erode media outlets' independence or marginalize their reporting online, acting as a check on press freedom even as freedom of expression appears to flourish. As tensions between democracy advocates and Beijing loyalists continue to mount in Hong Kong, this dynamic is of growing concern.
"Pro-democracy online news outlets are under huge pressure," Lam observed in an email in November 2014, adding that unless founders have the support of someone in the government or business sector--which undermines their independence--"the commercial model is a dead end." InMediaHK is supported by foundations and local donors. A team of volunteers gets by on a shoestring budget thanks to in-kind contributions of such items as office furniture. "The cash flow is relatively small," Lam noted.
In July, another Web outlet, The House News, closed its doors after two years of curating news and blog posts for an estimated 300,000 unique daily visitors. Mok, an IT entrepreneur as well as a legislative councillor, wrote a public response to the news: "You believed there could be a Huffington Post of Hong Kong, an online media with its own independent voice and sustainable in its own right."
That concept, however, was not sustainable, House News co-founder Tony Tsoi added. "Some people asked me if any of our clients withdrew their ads," he wrote in a farewell post, translated by Global Voices. "My answer is no. They never advertise on our site in the first place."
Apple Daily, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy tabloid, published by the Next Media group, weathered a discriminatory advertising market for years, thanks in part to founder Jimmy Lai's personal fortune; he invested $100 million to launch the paper in 1995. The company adapted to the digital market with its Taiwan-based subsidiary Next Media Animation, which produces satirical news videos, and Lai embraced digital operations, driving traffic to his Hong Kong website up to 20 million page views per day, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Coverage of intensifying political tensions during 2014 appeared to have brought pressure on the outlet to a head. Lai was threatened in 2013, and accused of corruption on the basis of documents leaked after an apparent cyberattack against an associate in 2014, according to the Guardian. On December 12, 2014, he resigned as Apple Daily's publisher after police clearing the city's Central district of protesters briefly detained him, along with around 250 of the democracy movement's other holdouts, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, despite surging popularity online, Apple Daily's financial standing looks increasingly precarious. Two banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered, discontinued a long-standing advertising relationship with Next Media in 2014,leaving the company short more than $3 million in revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The unfriendly advertising market may reflect China's growing influence, but it is a challenge faced by online news outlets around Southeast Asia. The Internet offers freedom from traditional media controls, and journalists have successfully embraced the new medium to diversify the information environment--but they remain outside the financial mainstream. Web editors in the region are so aware of this trend that some are reversing the global norm, trying to break into a print market that their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe are finding increasingly unprofitable.
Malaysia's 13-year-old online news portal Malaysiakini applied for a print license in 2010 but was rejected by the Home Ministry. Though the ministry no longer requires news outlets to renew their licenses annually, it retains sole discretion over the licensing process--power it has historically used to silence critical journalists. Appeals courts declared the ministry's rejection of Malaysiakini'sapplication unconstitutional, yet the ministry again rejected the license application in October 2014, according to local news reports. Separately, in Myanmar, the formerly exile-run weekly The Irrawaddy has gone in and out of print over the past two decades but has used its Web presence to maintain its reputation for independent reporting.
In 2014, after The Irrawaddy launched a Myanmar-language print edition from Yangon, Myanmar's Ministry of Information began pressuring the publication to change its name, saying that it had approved the paper's registration under the recognized brand by mistake. Newly launched publications in Myanmar rely on state-owned papers with wide distributions to advertise their content to the wider readership that they established under the junta's official sanction. Yet those advertisements are watered down before publication, with mentions of human rights and corruption investigations removed, The Irrawaddy reports. More information is available since such publications launched, but authorities seem determined to limit their audience.
Irrawaddy editor Aung Zaw, who was awarded CPJ's International Press Freedom Award in 2014, has operated from exile in Thailand for two decades, and his news organization was branded an "enemy of the state" by the former military regime. In 2014, Zaw warned in an editorial, "Burma's vaunted media reforms are not as promising as they may seem. We expect the pressure to grow." The government began releasing imprisoned journalists in 2011 and lifted print and online media censorship in 2012 but has yet to abolish punitive laws that inhibit free expression. In 2014, for the first time since the amnesty, at least 10 journalists were jailed.
Though Myanmar and China serve as cautionary tales, the model of media pressure most pertinent to Hong Kong may be that of Singapore, which has maintained tight control of the media despite the Internet's revolutionary potential and which, unlike China, has avoided technical censorship through website blocking or the deliberate slowing or interruption of service. Approximately 73 percent of Singapore 5.5 million population enjoys high-quality Internet access, compared with 74 percent of Hong Kong's 7 million residents, according to the International Telecommunication Union. "They both have a privately owned press, with self-censorship being the main day-to-day form of control," Cherian George, a media scholar and former journalist from Singapore who recently joined Hong Kong Baptist University, wrote in an email.
Singapore has adapted media regulation to the Web. In May 2013, the government introduced a new licensing scheme for news portals that report local news and are viewed from at least 50,000 unique local IP addresses per month. The licensee is required to take down "illegal" content on request or lose a $40,000 bond based on terms outlined in the Broadcasting Act. Though multiple blogs and online platforms meet the conditions to require such a license, the government enforced the rule selectively through notifications to individual websites, and just 10 were affected--but they included Yahoo! News Singapore, one of the few major news platforms without government-linked management. The new license appeared to have been designed to extend government regulation to Yahoo!, signaling officials' intent to minimize the Internet's ability to disrupt traditional media controls. Yahoo! cooperated with the changes, though Alan Soon, managing editor for Southeast Asia, described them as "redundant."
Since then, three separate digital startups founded by veteran journalists have been instructed to register for licensing under a 2013 amendment to the Broadcasting Act, a process that requires them to submit the names of all staff and donors and bars them from receiving foreign funding, according to local news reports and Human Rights Watch. The notifications to register--which were not publicly disclosed by the government--extended existing regulations to new sites that had yet to reach the legal benchmark of 50,000 visitors: The Independent Singapore, which was contacted by the government in July 2013; The Breakfast Network, contactedin December 2013; and The Mothership, contacted in March 2014. A fourth, more established website, The Online Citizen, was similarly notified in September 2014, despite being pressured to register as a political association, which limits investment from abroad, in 2011.
Both Malaysiakini and The Irrawaddy relied heavily on support from overseas foundations in the past, and InMediaHK gets 30 percent of its resources from social-development foundations, according to Lam, its volunteer editor. Singapore's regulator, the Media Development Authority, appears to be aware of this trend. Responding to a statement by local nongovernmental organization Maruah, which criticized the expanding registration requirements, the Media Development Authority at once rebutted and, ironically, acknowledged its intent to stymie digital news reporting. "While it is convenient to blame MDA's registration requirement for causing online commercial enterprises to be unviable, it is also true that many online sites struggle to be commercially viable in the first place," the response said, according to The Online Citizen.
The Breakfast Network declined to comply with the requirement and shut down its operations, though it still posts content to its Facebook page. "The demand to register or else has created a wrinkle in our barely-formed plans to become a sustainable and professional outfit," founder Bertha Henson wrote when she announced her decision not to register her largely pro bono staff according to the MDA's requirements. "People have asked us about our shareholders. There is really just one: me.... I should carry the risk on my own, because everyone, even the Media Development Authority, knows that getting online advertising is tough."
Although Henson's reluctant farewell is similar in tone to the one Tony Tsoi would write in Hong Kong a few months later, the restrictions in Singapore are far more extreme, according to Cherian George, who left Singapore after his reputation for outspoken commentary caused his employer, Nanyang Technological University, to block him from obtaining tenure until his contract expired. "What's happening in Hong Kong is a globally more familiar problem, that of taming the media by exploiting their soft spot--their owners' other business interests," George wrote by email from Hong Kong. "In Singapore, licensing means that even if you find a way to insulate yourself from the government's economic pressures, it can just ban you from publishing." The licensing protects what George describes as the media duopoly, made up of government-owned MediaCorp, which dominates broadcasting, and government-leaning Singapore Press Holdings, which has a virtual monopoly on newspapers. "By law, newspaper companies must accept government nominees to its board of directors," George added.
Yet Singapore's media environment could still be instructive for journalists in Hong Kong, and not because of resemblances with their own city but, instead, because it represents an alternative manifestation of the Chinese Communist Party's approach to information control. Before China became the global power most likely to be cited by authorities wishing to implement effective media restrictions, that role was played by Singapore, according to a 2003 analysis by Foreign Policy.
China first allowed private Internet accounts in 1995 and launched the technological Internet-filtering project known as the Golden Shield in 1998, according to CPJ research. What happened in between was a trip to Singapore made by the head of the Chinese propaganda department, Ding Guan'gen. After his return, the propaganda department instructed all cadres to study an internal document detailing Singapore's successes, the South China Morning Post reported.
Singapore itself soon abandoned the technical model of filtering that Chinese authorities embraced and embellished. By 2005, tests conducted by the OpenNet Initiative found website blocks in the city-state to be so minimal as to be largely symbolic, despite a technical infrastructure that would enable much broader controls. Yet legal and economic restrictions on media freedom have not changed. The Broadcasting (Class License) Notification under the Broadcasting Act, which was updated in 2013 to pressure a new generation of online outlets, was first passed in July 1996.
Although China maintains a uniquely elaborate censorship apparatus, the way in which it is implemented still merits comparison with Singapore, where news and opinion become a threat only when they have momentum from foreign foundations or the influence of 50,000 local readers. In September 2013, a judicial interpretation issued by China's top legal authorities outlined specific conditions for prosecuting illegal content online, including information that is viewed more than 5,000 times or reposted more than 500 times, according to Human Rights Watch. The interpretation has precipitated the detention of members of the business elite with millions of followers on social media, including venture capitalist Charles Xue. Independent, antigovernment views proliferate online in both China and Singapore, and neither state can stifle them all. Increasingly, it is views with a platform, and individuals and reporters who boast influence, that are targeted for censorship and reprisals.
Press freedom in Hong Kong reached new lows in 2013 and 2014, thanks to physical attacks, self-censorship, and partisanship. In many ways, journalists in the territory are squeezed between two models that pose threats of news censorship: the blunt but complex methods used on the mainland and the less overt legal and economic pressures in Southeast Asia. Hong Kong's size and economic development will not necessarily protect it; in both models, the city of Singapore leads the way.
But Hong Kong retains a major advantage. As of late 2014 there was still room for independent media, for the same reason that hundreds of thousands of people will still take to the streets to protect fundamental rights such as universal suffrage.
"There is a healthy degree of pushback [in Hong Kong], a striking contrast with Singapore," George observed. Civil society and press freedom groups may not be able to entirely combat the economic pressures facing online news outlets, but they have an opportunity to increase the stakes in other ways. "You can raise the political cost to owners and editors of giving in too easily to pressure," George wrote.
The hope is that an informed, engaged public can ensure that although the price for independent reporting is rising, the payback for interrupting it is higher still.
Madeline Earp is a research analyst for Freedom House's Freedom on the Net report, and a former senior researcher in CPJ's Asia program.bonus shot: the best vegetarian chili i've ever eaten
Several years ago, for a period of 7 years, I gave up all meat except for seafood. I did it on a dare: a vegan friend bet me I couldn't go without meat for 2 weeks. I proved him wrong, and would've remained mostly-meat-free except for a fateful trip to Egypt when some coworkers treated me to a traditional Egyptian barbeque. I tried it to be polite, but by the end of the meal, I had two chicken drumsticks in each fist, barbeque sauce dripping off of my chin and down my arms. It wasn't pretty: when I fall off the wagon, honey, I fall off with gusto.
Ahem.
Last year for Lent, I decided to see if I could go back to my mostly-meat-free diet without disrupting life for Marcus and Alex, and it turned out I could. Except for a regrettable lapse on New Year's Day this year where a plateful of barbeque ribs (always with the barbeque) left me ill for 2 days, my only meat source since this time last year has been seafood. And honestly, I haven't missed the meat at all.
This year for Lent, I'm trying to go the whole way: I'm giving up seafood as well. So far so good, actually -- I'd started doing a bit of research on good vegetarian recipes for a few weeks before, and have found some great ones (except for any which involve tofu. Oh, tofu, I want to love you, I really do, but what is with that texture of yours?). One of my favourites, however, is the following for vegetarian chili -- I've always found vegetarian chili a poor substitute for the real thing, but this one is as close to traditional chili as I've ever tasted. I think it's the bulgur wheat. It gives the dish the appropriate texture.
Texture is obviously a very big deal to me.
Anyway, I thought I'd share my recipe here with you. Again, the following is a conglomerate of various recipes I've found on the web, tweaked until it worked for me. And so, I share it with you, in case you've looking for a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs vegetarian dish: look no further. Added bonus: while not necessary, this meal involves a crock pot, which makes life so nice and easy for lazy Sunday meals.
VEGETARIAN CHILI OF AWESOMENESS
1 can black beans, drained
2 cans kidney or chili beans, drained
1 large can corn, drained
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 medium-sized onions, chopped finely
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup bulgur wheat (Update Feb 14, 2010: or, for those with wheat allergies, 1-1/2 cups quinoa works admirably as well)
extra virgin olive oil
1. In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes).
2. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander and cinnamon. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Transfer the mixture to a crock pot (or keep in large pot, if desired). Add vegetable broth, black beans, chili beans, corn, crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth and bulgur wheat. Allow to get close to boiling, and then turn down the heat and simmer until bulgur wheat is tender. In a regular pot, this should take about 10 minutes. In a crock pot, I leave it for at least 2 hours or so (Update 2/14/10 - if using quinoa, maybe 2-1/2 hours)
4. Serve hot. I like to add grated cheddar cheese on top for a little added flavour (although, omit it to make it vegan -- it's pretty awesome either way). Also? Leftovers freeze well, and frankly, I think this tastes better a day or two after you make it.
Comfortably serves a family of 4, with enough leftovers for dinner another day. Enjoy!The mayor of Mississauga, Ont., says she is considering legal action after an independent news website published allegations against her, her family and the city's Muslim community.
Mayor Bonnie Crombie says she has contacted police and is in talks with her lawyers after she says the Mississauga Gazette published an article under the headline "Bonnie's Muslims Are Molesting Teenage Girls in Mississauga Highschools."
The article could not be found on the Gazette's website Sunday. A notice was posted saying members of the website's staff had received death threats.
"I have taken this article down for now as I don't want violence brought upon my team," the notice said.
Acton Michaels, the website's editor-in-chief, emailed The Canadian Press a link to a copy of the original piece, which has since been posted elsewhere online.
It was published under his name, but when asked by email if he wrote the article, Michaels did not reply.
The article sent by Michaels alleges that Crombie was "purchased" by the owners of the Meadowvale Islamic Centre, that her husband is a convicted criminal and that the pair are planning on killing their son.
It also alleges that a student at a local high school was sexually assaulted by Muslim boys.
Crombie says all of those allegations are false, and she's asked the chief of Peel Regional Police, which is responsible for Mississauga, to determine whether the matter constitutes a hate crime.
Police didn't immediately comment when contacted Sunday.
Crombie says she's also asked |
that the trauma experienced by these professions not only deeply affect them, but is also compounded by negative perceptions and misunderstanding of PTSD within their own places of work. Sadly, it is a double-edged sword: they are told to ask for help if needed, but conversely, they are in fear of being labeled unstable or unfit. They suffer in silence.
But we must not forget them. With trained therapists, a good support group, and a strong family system, the good news is that PTSD brought about by tragic events such as Dallas and Baton Rouge can be addressed, treated and healed.Pound sterling (GBP) looks a little firmer against some major currenies on Tuesday with markets suggesting calmer conditions may lie ahead. All eyes are on today's European Council meeting to be held in Brussels.
Pound to euro exchange rate today: 0.12% higher @ 1.2011
Pound to dollar exchange rate today: 0.53% higher @ 1.3301
Pound to Australian dollar exchange rate today: 0.37% down @ 1.7970
Pound to New Zealand dollar exchange rate today: 0.61% down at 1.8791
Pound to Canadian dollar exchange rate today: 0.05% down at 1.7281
The British pound is trading with a more confident tone on Tuesday the 28th June with some early signs that the market may be stabilising.
Don't confuse'stabilising' with 'improving' - I am not suggesting we are at the start of a broad-based recovery in GBP.
Rather, the eye-watering declines seen over the past two trading days in global FX could be a thing of the past and more settled conditions could persist.
Pound sterling hit a 31 year low against the US dollar on Monday:
Above: Fresh 30 year lows seen in GBP/USD on Monday 27th June 2016
"Technically, GBPUSD’s pace of drop is likely to slow but there are no indicators to pinpoint where the bottom will be when declines finally abate. We view 1.30 to be a firm support and could trigger a modest bounce," says a technical note concerning the pound's outlook from Hong Leong Berhard Bank.
We have meanwhile seen the pound to euro exchange rate (GBP/EUR) attempt to defend the floor at 1.20.
The pair briefly fell towards 1.1950 but buying interest has since carried it back above the psychological threshold.
Could this level start to emerge as the first level of notable support for GBP/EUR in a post-Brexit world?
Events What to Watch
Key issues at hand today include David Cameron's first meeting with his European counterparts in Brussels today.
Markets will want the fog of uncertainty lifted, and will be watching for signs of unity and purpose.
To a lesser extent, the digestion of the overnight cut by S&P to their AAA sovereign debt rating for the UK will be required.
Initial reactions suggest the GBP was unfazed by the move.
Note that stock markets are up sharply, as are commodities and commodity currencies.
This is a good sign that overall risk sentiment is improving, this should also go some way in settling sterling.
Osborne Looks to Calm Frayed Nerves
It would appear that the appearance of Chancellor George Osborne on Monday have gone some way in quelling market anxiety.
Osborne said the UK is strong enough to withstand Brexit, and that his team at the Treasury have planned for the event.
He told markets to not underestimate Britain's resolve in working through the current uncertainty.
"There are some signs of stabilisation this morning and the pound has recovered slightly it is still too early to expect a more sustained rebound for the pound. Both the effect of the Brexit vote on the UK economy and the political situation is still very uncertain although Prime Minister Cameron yesterday ruled out the possibility of a new Brexit vote," says Andreas Johnson at SEB Bank.
Nevertheless, it would appear that the easiest route forward for the pound is lower.
Domestic political consensus on the way forward for the UK-EU divorce looks far off at this stage with British politics entering a highly-uncertain period.
The European Union also appears divided on how to respond too - pragmatic thinkers in Germany would like to see a ‘slowly does it’ approach, while the French want a more immediate response.
France arguably has more to lose should a Brexit seem amicable as there are calls within France for a similar referendum.
This is nothing short of an EU nightmare - copycat referenda will surely end the union.
A cocktail of uncertainty remains and we are by no means confident on GBP just yet.
Watch Central Bank Conference in Sintra
Foreign exchange markets have been bidding the dollar higher over recent days with investors winding back expectations for a rate hike from the Fed this year.
They have even started to price in a small chance of a rate cut by year end. The market is pricing in 15% chance of a rate hike by year end, down from 50% prior to the Brexit vote.
That said, stability could be offered by central bankers when they meet at the Sintra conference in Portugal, held from 27-29 June.
Draghi, Yellen, and Carney are scheduled to speak on a panel together on the final day of the conference.
There are however reports that Carney has dropped out.
“We’ll surely see some sort of questions there on the monetary policy implications from Brexit, and with this many central bankers and policymakers in one place, we should see some interesting comments from the sidelines as well,” say TD Securities in a client brief at the head of the week.Though the BBC pulled out of producing Game of Thrones long before the show ever came to air, the network’s influence is still felt in the way the show casts British heavyweights in key roles. From Charles Dance to Diana Rigg, these names lent a credibility to the production long before it became the biggest show in the world.
And it’s that credibility that helped bring actor Jonathan Pryce into the Game of Thrones fold this season, when the show cast the part of the High Sparrow. This wasn’t Pryce’s first offer from the show, mind you. As he reveals in a new interview with BBC4, he had been offered a role back in those first early days when the production was still half BBC-produced. Though he doesn’t say what the role was, he admits that his dislike of the fantasy genre caused him to turn it down without really looking at it. The trappings put him off.
“I don’t like swords and fantasy things. I am that person who has never seen Star Wars, I’ve never seen any of the Lord of the Rings things…In fact I’d said no to the very original series of Game of Thrones and all I did was flip through and look at the names, these strange names, strange dialogue and I thought ‘oh, it’s not for me’.”
Kind of shocking, when you realize that the role that brought Pryce to fame originally was the dystopian fantasy cult film Brazil. But no matter. By the time Season 5 went into production, and some of the biggest names in the BBC clamoring for parts, his opinion had changed, especially once he could compare the character to other real-world roles.
One person Pryce doesn’t compare his character to is the other one he’s playing, running on PBS concurrent with this season of Game of Thrones, that of Cardinal Wolsey in Wolf Hall. The two characters are in many ways polar opposites, with the High Sparrow living in self-enforced poverty, only to find himself being raised up by powerful friends, while the Cardinal was once a powerful man from Rome, cast down into poverty by the whim of once-powerful friends. (Watching Game of Thrones back to back with Wolf Hall is kind of a bizarro world experience. Not to mention that half the Game of Thrones cast shows up in other roles in an alternate universe world sort of way.)
Instead he saw the political corollaries to our own modern day world in his character. He compares his character to our modern world religious figure, Pope Francis.
“[He is a] man of the people, he dressed in rags, he feeds the poor, takes care of the poor. Yet he is this incredibly powerful figure who has the wherewithal to dispense justice against somebody – I won’t tell you who it is.”
Whoever that person is, they’re probably in for it. As Pryce’s character said this past Sunday “No one is special.” In a world where the one percent in the Red Keep keep their positions in part because of the assumption they are special by virtual of their family names, everyone should quake in their boots.Forget the boxes, the mixes, and don’t even think of waiting an hour for macaroni and cheese on a week night. I have the super-fast solution for homemade macaroni and cheese, and it is SO good.
I have something of an addiction to macaroni and cheese. When I was a child I ate mac & cheese from the blue box at least once a week. My mom just did not always feel up to making homemade side dishes every night, and I never complained! When I got older I discovered a whole world of macaroni and cheese that did not involve powdered cheese and I have tried more than I care to tell you about.
The recipe I am about to share with you makes the creamiest macaroni and cheese I have ever made, and it is nearly as fast as making the stuff in the box. I make this at the holidays now because it is more popular than the baked one I used to make. In fact, my brother (who is himself something of a macaroni and cheese aficionado) told me that going forward this was the ONLY recipe I should use. High praise indeed.
One thing I feel I must add is that you really should grate your cheese fresh. Cheeses that come ready-grated have anti-caking agents in them which change the way they melt. They also change the overall texture of the cheese sauce. Of course, if it makes your life easier you can use the ready-grated stuff but the sauce may not be as creamy.
Also, if you are watching your figure, as so many of us are, you can use reduced-fat cheese (this you must grate yourself, reduced-fat ready-grated cheese will not work). You can also use 2% evaporated milk. The results are just as creamy, just as delicious, but far kinder to your thighs.
Print Stove-top Macaroni and Cheese Author: Kelly Jaggers (Adapted from Cooks Illustrated) Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins Serves: 6 Ingredients 8 ounces macaroni, or any smallish tube shaped pasta
1 tablespoon butter
6 ounces (about ⅔ cup) evaporated milk
6 ounces (about 1 cup) freshly grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
¼ teaspoon red pepper
Hot sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper Instructions Cook the pasta according to package directions, but reduce the cooking time by one minute. Drain and pour back into the cooking pot. Over medium-low heat, add the butter and stir until melted. In a small bowl combine the egg, milk, and spices. Whisk until thoroughly combined then pour over the pasta. Stir until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat then add the cheese in four installments, making sure the first is melted completely before adding the next. 3.1.09
Serve immediately.
© 2009, Evil Shenanigans. All rights reserved.After the release of the album cover of the upcoming single "Disturbance", it has been revealed that BoA's brother Kwon Soon Wook has once again featured as the director of the MV, showing support for his sister.
BoA will perform and unveil the music video for the new single for the first time during her solo concert, 'BoA Special Live 2013 ~Here I Am~', on the 26th and 27th.
To make the music video even more special, SHINee's Taemin, who was seen posing as a couple with BoA on the album cover, will also be starring in the music video along with BoA! The two have already shown their chemistry during their performances of the soloist's latest single "Only One", and have fans hyped up to see them coupling up again.
BoA's first solo concert will be held at the Seoul Olympic Hall on the 26th and 27th. For those who can't attend the concert, "Disturbance" will be released on music sites on the 28th.See Youtube for some examples of the vicious comments here
If you have access to RTE's online catch up player you can see full episodes here
This nasty show is a throwback to the last century when television caricatured gay people as stock comedy stereotypes. Happily gay rights and campaigners are now very much a force to be reckoned with it so Ireland's national broadcaster has found a softer target in Ireland's Transgender population. Transgender people live difficult lives – often at the margins of society, struggle to have any sort of life and are prone to discrimination, verbal abuse and even physical assault almost anywhere at any time. They suffer all the issues associated with gay rights, have very poor access to support of any description and are frequently rejected by family and friends. Physical appearance is something most people have only limited control over so many trans people can’t always manage to pass under society’s radar. For a mainstream comedy to encourage the bullying and ridicule for this tiny minority of defenseless human beings is shameful and an indictment of a society that would tolerate it.
Nuala is the sort of lazy off-the-shelf character of a 'hairy bloke in a dress' from the days when sexist, discrimination and misogynistic “humour” was considered acceptable. Described as a Pre-operative transsexual who's been living as a woman for three years her appearance is somewhere between that of a bloke who's raided his wife's closet for a last minute drag entry to a fancy dress and a stereotypical hooker outfit. In case all of that combined with the fright wig, hairy chest and dreadful make-up, was too subtle, in the first episode alone other characters mocked Nuala for hairy feet/chest, big hands, a huge Adams apple, a face like it's been "vandalised" and having male genitals.
In other words RTE's script not only says it's acceptable to take issue with a trans person's appearance but here's a catalog of ready-made abuse lines you can use on anyone you come across you think might be TS. The physical appearance of a transsexual person living in their true gender for three years would be typically way more “normal”. But fate and genetics can be cruel and factors like cost of and access to treatment and timing can often make it difficult for a trans person to achieve society’s expectations of appearance.
In other words not every TS person can be the epitome of femininity. But wait, isn't that true for genetically born women too? Thankfully in civilized countries both the law and -more importantly- society are increasingly intolerant of media portrayals encouraging women to be derided and ridiculed over an appearance that doesn’t conform to some idealized image.
Trans people have some of the highest rates of attempted suicide in virtually all countries where statistics have been compiled and Ireland is no exception. Figures in recent Irish surveys reveal 30% of TS people attempt suicide at least once. Particularly relevant to this petition, 40% of participants to the most recent survey said that today's' typical media representation of trans people negatively affected their emotional well-being or mental health. Trans people are also extremely vulnerable to public verbal abuse and indeed physical assault.
Ireland has grown up a lot in recent years on Gay rights and awareness - witness the unruffled acceptance across the country when Civil Partnerships became legal and the Establishments serious underestimation of the level of support for Gay marriage throughout the country. Most people can appreciate how hard it was for gay people being forced to conceal their sexuality and having to in many cases live it part time. But being gay doesn't often affect your prospects of having a place to live, to work or socialize. Because generally it won't even occur to people to consider your ability to function in society could be affected by your gender preference. Being Trans is different and the Trans equivalent of Coming Out is going to fundamentally alter -usually for the worse- your chances of that normal life we should all be entitled to,
This nasty comedy pokes cheap laughs at people quietly trying to achieve some semblance of a life most people take for granted with as much dignity as they can manage. While legislation is catching up, society's attitude to Trans people is broadly similar to that towards gays about 20 years ago, So you don't find many Irish trans people pursuing high-flying careers - they're more typically just getting by the best they can. The last thing they need is RTE - the National Broadcaster- using a monopoly position to tee up trans people as the butt of the type of vicious humour and marginalisation that gays were subjected to for so, so long in Ireland.
The Centre also targets Travellers - another minority like Trans people, which is supposed to be protected by legislation but again lazy stereotyping is apparently OK if it yields some quick laughs.
Significantly RTE initially appeared to have included a token Muslim woman -another minority often subject to discrimination in Irish society. So people who advocate no-holds barred comedy might applaud RTE for the equal opportunity offensiveness to all minorities. However, it turns out this character is not a Muslim but a woman posing as such to hide her plastic surgery gone wrong. There are rather more Muslims than transgender in the world and they’re rather effective at expressing their offence hence Muslims don’t actually figure in the show.
Fearless comedy indeed!
Thank you for taking the time to read this and please sign if you agree it should be pulled immediately, that plans for a sequel should be scrapped and that 21st century Ireland is not emabarassed by RTE exporting this drivel.
If you'd like to complain direct to RTE... complaints@rte.ieAnd it’s not at all clear why such people should be at the front of the line for government help. Why are they more deserving than, say, the growing number of unemployed, many of whom rent their homes?
Given all the other imperfect emergency measures that the federal government has taken in recent weeks, it can certainly do more to stem foreclosures than it has. The Treasury Department’s $700 billion bailout fund, as it’s now structured, may spend almost nothing on troubled mortgages. “It’s a question of weights,” Alan Blinder, a former Federal Reserve vice chairman who has been advocating more homeowner help for months, told me, “and I’m really worried that zero is going to be the weight for mortgages.”
Zero, or anything close to it, may well be wrong. But the right answer isn’t quite as obvious as it initially sounds.
There are two separate groups of people who are at risk of foreclosure, and they often get muddled in any discussion of the housing crisis.
The first group is made up of people who, for whatever reason, will not be able to make their monthly payments. Some took out mortgages with initial monthly payments that they couldn’t afford. Others took out adjustable-rate mortgages whose monthly payments have ballooned to an unaffordable level. Still others have lost their jobs.
At the start of this month, almost 1.5 million homeowners — out of about 75 million nationwide — were in this category. They were at least two months behind on their mortgage payments. Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, estimates that another five million or so will fall into the category over the life of their mortgage, as the economy worsens and more adjustable-rate loans reset.
The second group is quite different. It is made up of people who are at risk of foreclosure not because they won’t be able to keep up with their monthly payments — but because they may decide they don’t want to continue making them. These are the homeowners who are “under water,” which is to say their houses have lost so much value that they’re now worth less than the underlying mortgage.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content, updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
Homeowners with an underwater mortgage face a choice. Many will stay put and keep making their monthly payments, because they see their house primarily as a home, rather than an investment. Maybe they love their neighborhood or their children’s school. Maybe they just don’t like the idea of reneging on a deal, as Brett Barry, a real estate agent near Phoenix, put it.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
Others, though, are going to look at their home purely in economic terms and see an investment that may never pay off. Some of them will choose to walk away.
What matters, for the purposes of a bailout, is that the number of underwater homeowners is much larger than the number of people who will be unable to make their mortgage payments. Assuming that home prices still have a ways to fall, something like 19 million homeowners may be under water by 2010 (only a few million of whom will be struggling to make their payments).
Now, who should be rescued?
Let’s start by acknowledging that morality cannot be the main criteria, unfortunately.
The government has already passed the point of drawing fine moral distinctions and is now in the business of stabilizing the economy by whatever means necessary. Someone might argue, then, for rescuing everyone who might end up in foreclosure, regardless of the reason.
The problem with this approach — and it’s the heart of the problem with any big-time homeowner rescue — is probably obvious. As soon as the government announces that it will help everyone at risk of foreclosure, a lot of people are suddenly going to decide they’re at risk of foreclosure.
Homeowners who are under water will have an incentive to think of their homes in cold economic terms and threaten to walk away, while those who can just barely afford their monthly payments will have reason to slide into delinquency. Multiply 19 million mortgages by a couple of hundred thousand dollars, and the government could be left with $4 trillion in obligations.
The other day, I spoke with Sandi Lucia, a saleswoman in Northern California who had lost her job, has had to take a new one at lower pay and was now struggling to meet her monthly payments. Ms. Lucia seems committed to doing everything she can to keep paying her bills. But she also put her finger on the problem. “I want to keep paying my mortgage,” she said. “But if everyone is getting bailed out, what’s the point?”
In recent weeks, several intriguing ideas for helping homeowners have begun making the rounds. Mr. Blinder thinks the government should spend about half of the $700 billion bailout fund to buy and then refinance the mortgages of people who, based on their debt and income, appear to have little chance of making their payments. My colleague Joe Nocera has written about a plan that would allow homeowners to forfeit their deeds and rent their homes back from the bank. Ideas like these can be part of the solution.
But this financial crisis isn’t going to be solved by a magic bullet. It’s going to require a smorgasbord of programs — some aimed at homeowners in trouble, some aimed at the credit markets, some aimed at the job market — as well as a whole lot of time and patience.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The only way to stop the coming rise in foreclosures, at this point, would be a bailout of enormous proportions. And if we’re unlucky enough to get to the point when a $4 trillion program seems necessary to resolve the crisis, there would be a lot of ways to spend the money beyond devoting it all to underwater homeowners. They aren’t the only ones, after all, who live on Main Street.Senator Rand Paul has been an admirer of Donald Trump’s willingness to campaign against the hawkish foreign policy of Republican party standard bearers like Senator John McCain and former President George W. Bush. Now that he’s the President-elect, the Kentucky Senator wants him to keep his promise and pick a Secretary of State that will have a similar vision.
Of the candidates being considered by Trump, Paul wants Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) for the post.
“I think he would be a great pick,” Paul said to Politico on Thursday.
Paul has been very vocal during the process having criticized other potential nominees including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. Both of them are strong advocates of nation-building and endless war.
“I do think that in comparison to people like Bolton or Giuliani, that he’s much more reasonable diplomatically,” Paul continued. “(Corker is) more from the realist point of view, as far as foreign policy.”
Corker isn’t as nearly anti-war as other prospective picks that have been mentioned in the past, including Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D) and California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R). However, he’s also not a neoconservative ideologue.
Democrats also respect Corker’s temperament and knowledge.
“I don’t like to predict what happens in the Senate, but I would tell you: He would be very well-received by the Senate,” Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin (D), the top minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee that Corker chairs, said to Politico. “I believe he’s been an outstanding chairman.”
Picking Corker would allow Trump to have an experienced insider who can keep to Trump’s vision of a more humble foreign policy.
Latest VideosCLOSE Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin swims with kids at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Phoenix to bring awareness about the importance of kids learning to swim. David Wallace/azcentral.com
Five-time 2012 Olympic medalist is USA Swimming Foundation ambassador
Five-time London Olympic medalist Missy Franklin works with 7-year-old Jeramiah Cameron at the Salvation Army Kroc Center on Friday. Franklin is a USA Swimming Foundation ambassador promoting water safety and swim lessons. (Photo: David Wallace/The Republic) Story Highlights Make a Splash tour comes to Phoenix for 41st stop nationally
Swimming champion Missy Franklin will compete in metro Phoenix next week as part of her preparation to make a second Olympic team.
She made a pre-meet appearance Friday to champion a greater cause, water safety, in her new role as a USA Swimming Foundation ambassador. Franklin, a five-time 2012 London Olympic medalist, did a hands-on swim lesson with a dozen children at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in south Phoenix, the 41st stop nationally since 2007 in the Make a Splash tour promoting the importance of swim lessons in drowning prevention.
"This is such a dream come true and a perfect fit for me," said Franklin, who spoke later at a USA Swimming Foundation luncheon also attended by U.S. Olympic/Arizona State swim coach Bob Bowman, Rowdy Gaines, Michael Phelps, Allison Schmitt and Chase Kalisz. 22-time Olympic medalist Phelps, who trains at ASU, also promotes water safety through his swim program, offered locally by Pitchfork Aquatics at ASU Poly and West campuses.
The USA Swimming Foundation donated $1,250 each to the city of Phoenix and Kroc Center for free or discounted swim lessons to help with a goal of teaching more than 50,000 swim lessons in Phoenix this year.
RELATED: Phelps promotes swim instruction in Arizona
Franklin recounted how her mother did not learn to swim until she was in her 30s and wanted Missy to be more comfortable in the water, enrolling her for mommy-and-me swim lessons when she was six months old. "She didn't want me living with the same fear," Franklin said.
Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton spoke at the Kroc Center, saying there is "no more important topic than water safety." Gaines said of 42 drownings this year in the United States, nine were in Arizona. There are an average of 10 drownings daily in the U.S. per USA Swimming Foundation statistics.
Franklin, 20, recently filmed a public service announcement with her mother that will air on 900 stations in this Olympic year. "This is a race I really want to win," she says in the PSA. "A race to save lives."
Franklin will return for the Arena Pro Series Mesa meet, April 14-16 at Skyline Aquatic Center, that also features Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Ledecky and many other swimmers vying to qualify for the Rio Olympics. Ledecky and Franklin are 1-2 in the series overall leader standings with four meets remaining. The U.S. Olympic Swim Trials are June 26-July 3 in Omaha, Neb.The Rooney family received only first- and second-place votes from our panelists. ESPN.com Illustration
There wasn't a whole lot of room for debate at the top.
ESPN.com took its positional Power Rankings series off the field and into the boardroom to rate the owners. None of them are popular fellows these days, but for the purposes of this project, nobody was more respected than the Rooney family.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' owners were listed first or second on all eight of the panelists' ballots.
By any definition, Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II qualify as powerful.
They're winners. The Steelers have played in eight Super Bowls and won six of them with three head coaches. The family's success has spanned such a long time that Dan and the late Art Rooney Sr. were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame 36 years apart.
They're transcendent. President Barack Obama selected Steelers chairman Dan Rooney as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
They're influential. Dan Rooney was behind the so-called "Rooney Rule," which changed sidelines dramatically by stimulating minority hires. When it comes to the lockout, Rooney is a prominent voice of reason and could help broker the eventual deal.
"The Steelers selection is a no-brainer," ESPN.com senior writer John Clayton said. "The Steelers under the Rooneys have been the model of franchise ownership in sports. They are successful, consistent and supportive.
"They don't undergo the constant changes of other franchises. Plus, the family has been so instrumental in doing things that help advance the league, sometimes at the expense of their own franchise. It's no secret that two Rooneys are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
Clayton, AFC North blogger James Walker, AFC West blogger Bill Williamson and NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas each had the Rooneys atop his ballot.
"The Rooney family is the perfect combination of tradition, consistency and success," Walker said, echoing Clayton's thoughts almost verbatim. "The easiest thing to point out is they've had the most Super Bowl wins and fewest head coaches since 1969. But they also set trends off the field with things like the Rooney Rule. They're very well respected, and there's a special sense of pride about the Steelers from players and fans that you don't see in many places. It starts at the top."
But the Rooneys were not unanimous choices in our ownership Power Rankings.
What about the power of the people?
The Green Bay Packers' ownership received three of the four remaining first-place votes. NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert, NFC West blogger Mike Sando and I all listed the Packers first because of their unique kind of power. Rules governing the other 31 franchises don't apply to them.
The Packers are the only publicly owned franchise. Green Bay Packers Inc. is a nonprofit organization formed in 1922. About 112,000 stockholders own roughly 4.75 million shares of the team. A seven-member executive board oversees the team on behalf of the stockholders.
Packers fans never will have to worry about the team being sold or moving away. The Packers are the only franchise that must open its books.
Oh, yeah. They also just won their NFL-record 13th championship.
Seifert explained why the Packers are special.
"My criteria for this category was twofold," Seifert said. "Do the owners fund the team's operations well? And do they operate the team well?
"I think the Packers' arrangement is currently doing both and has none of the baggage that goes along with single-family ownership. Shareholders don't take dividends, so no one is driven by individual profit. All profits go back into the franchise. In my experience, no expenses are spared in operating the team. People might note that general manager Ted Thompson doesn't sign many free agents, but that's a football decision. He's spent plenty on retaining the Packers' own free agents.
"The executive committee has hired a competent president in Mark Murphy, and after a bumpy start on the Brett Favre departure, Murphy has facilitated excellent work from the GM and coach he inherited.
"Finally, the Packers' ownership arrangement requires Murphy, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy to be more accountable to 112,000 fans than any other NFL official is to his fan base. Shareholders can't make operating decisions, but they have the right to question decisions, to know how money is being spent and to get straight(er) answers than fans of any other NFL team."
Clayton, however, wasn't impressed. He omitted the Packers from his ballot, ensuring they didn't finish second in the Power Rankings despite their three first-place votes.
One gets the impression that if Clayton were to slot all 32 ownerships, he would jot the Packers last.
"I couldn't vote for the Packers because it is a community ownership, not a normal ownership," Clayton said. "It's not as though one owner makes the decisions and has to stand up for the praise or criticism. Assigned the chance to vote for ownership, I felt more comfortable voting for individual owners or family owners."
Dan Rooney has been one of the most influential owners in the NFL. Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
As a result, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was second overall. Kraft hired Bill Belichick as head coach and has stayed out of the way of football operations. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls in the past decade and went to a fourth. Forbes estimated the Patriots are the third-most-valuable NFL franchise and the world's 10th-biggest sports brand.
AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky listed Kraft above all. Kuharsky had the Rooneys second and the Packers third.
Kuharsky had the most efficient Power Rankings ballot. He was the lone panelist to vote for all of the owners who finished in the top 10.
"Robert Kraft versus the Rooneys is a close call," Kuharsky said. "I went Kraft because I feel he and his team have done more lately. In many ways, the Patriots -- not the Steelers -- are the standard-setters for the league. And while I prefer the way Heinz Field is in the middle of Pittsburgh, that development around Gillette Stadium has to be the envy of a lot of owners."
New York Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch came in fourth, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was fifth and Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti was sixth.
From there, everybody else on the Power Rankings top 10 was omitted from at least one ballot.
Eclectic Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who was able to help land a Super Bowl in a nontraditional locale, came in seventh. Irsay rated no higher than sixth on any ballot, but he didn't make Williamson's top 10.
"I know it sticks out because I was the only one not to rank him, but if he was in the top three, I'd re-evaluate my reasoning," Williamson said. "But I can live with not voting for the No. 7 finisher. To be frank, I never considered Irsay. I considered 14 ownerships in all. Other than his random tweets, Irsay doesn't stick out to me, good or bad."
When it came to voting, money didn't necessarily equal power for some panelists.
I ranked Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones third, higher than any other voter. Sando and Yasinskas didn't rate Jones at all. Jones ended up eighth.
To me, you can't argue with his money or his presence. Forbes ranked the Cowboys the world's fourth-greatest sports brand behind only the New York Yankees, Manchester United and Real Madrid. Their estimated brand value was $128 million more than the NFL average and $15 million more than the Eagles and Giants combined.
Forbes estimated the Cowboys franchise was worth $1.8 billion, nearly $300 million more than the next-closest NFL club, the Washington Redskins.
Jones also serves as general manager. That puts him in control of every business and personnel decision. Sando saw that as a drawback.
"Jerry Jones is more involved in football operations than an owner ideally would be," Sando said. "He has shown questionable judgment in hiring head coaches. His involvement in football operations had made those coaches' jobs tougher. Jones dispatched with Tom Landry harshly and later failed to sustain the success Jimmy Johnson orchestrated.
"Also on Jones' watch, the Cowboys have suffered through the practice-bubble catastrophe, a Super Bowl experience that produced poor reviews and a video purporting to show Jones' drunken antics in a bar. Jones also was part of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee when the league agreed to the ill-fated 2006 collective bargaining agreement. Overall, the team hasn't enjoyed enough success recently to say the ends justify the means."
Yasinskas contended that Jones simply is overrated these days.
"If Jerry Jones had continued the success he had with Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer back in the 1990s, he'd be at the top of my list," Yasinskas said. "But the fact is the Cowboys really haven't been all that relevant for a long time. Part of that is due to Jones.
"He's done some good things and the new stadium is fabulous, but he's been way too hands-on with that franchise and he's run through lots of good coaches and players without any real results."
Let us know what you think.US president Barack Obama has yet to work out exactly what America’s strategy is in confronting Islamic State (IS), and has been foolish enough to say so in public. Cue the foreseeable torrent of point-scoring from opponents.
As Vox’s Zack Beauchamp perceptively pointed out, however, a more sympathetic interpretation of what Obama meant in context is not “that he has no idea what he’s doing in Iraq”, but rather that:
… there is no good strategy available for fully defeating ISIS in both Iraq and Syria.
With all due respect to a Washington foreign policy community apparently surprised and annoyed by Obama’s reluctance to jump in with both feet with a major military intervention, his instincts are sound.
I have written in The Conversation before that the smorgasbord of unpalatable options available to Obama owes a great deal to the cataclysmically destabilising actions in the region of his predecessor, |
modernization and urbanization as the countryside and smaller cities are increasingly left behind. The World Economic Forum promotes a future of “plural cities” to end the “poison” of populism and rural tribalism, and foresees a world of interchangeable global hubs. These hubs will undoubtedly include vast and amusing outdoor shopping and living developments with the authentically recreated architecture and ambience of days gone by — a shopping version of Westworld.
The one thing you can’t replace, though, is the people. As more and more move to the city and to new developments that mimic pre-mall human communities, what will be left but imitation cities full of people playing the roles delegated for them by Madison Avenue or Sheryl Sandberg?
Only a decade or two ago communities rued the disappearance of their local barber shop or hometown eatery and its replacement by large, impersonal chains stretching along the highway. Now it’s time for bigger, more well-connected consumer populations to be served what they want in ever more amusing and perfected fashion, in some cases even to create kitsch versions of the mom and pop stores people once frequented on a daily basis.
Progress waits for no man — it just leaves him stranded by an empty, decaying mall in Akron, Ohio.The cost of living in Germany rose by 1.2 percent in October, compared with the same month in 2012, which was the lowest monthly inflation rate in Europe's biggest economy since August 2010, the Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, announced Tuesday.
The slowdown followed a rate of 1.4 percent in September, and was primarily caused by significantly lower costs for fuels. In a year-on-year comparison, Germans in October had to spend about 10 percent less on heating oil and almost 6 percent less for car fuels than in the same months last year.
Rising prices in October were reported for food with butter prices leading the increase with 28 percent, followed by milk which was 20 percent more expensive.
Measured with the help of the European Union's Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), German inflation also came in at a rate of 1.2 percent - well below the rate of 2 percent which the European Central Bank (ECB) has set for maintaining price stability.
The drop in inflation in Germany might add to ECB worries of deflationary pressures mounting in the crisis-hit eurozone. Across the 17-nation currency area, consumer prices rose by only 0.7 percent in October in a sign that demand was weak and the recovery fragile.
Deflation, which is marked by stagnant or falling prices, is bad for any economy. It causes consumers to withhold spending on the prospect of lower prices, thus reducing demand and the incentive for businesses to invest in jobs and production.
The downward trend prompted the ECB last week cut its main interest rate to a new historic low of 0.25 percent.
uhe/ng (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
We’ve been conditioned by television and movies to accept the likelihood of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. “Of course there’s intelligent life out there; I saw it last week on Star Trek.” We’ve seen it all, from the cute and cuddly ET to the fanged monstrosity of Alien.
But is it likely that we’re not alone in the universe? And if intelligent life is out there, why haven’t they contacted us yet?
The first person to address this question in a systematic way was Frank Drake, who invented the Drake equation to predict the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. His equation is rather complicated, but here’s a simple version of his argument.
First, let’s count how many stars are in the galaxy. To quote one of my predecessors, “Billions upon billions!” And how many of those stars have planets? Until recently, we really didn’t know. But over the past 20 years, astronomers have made remarkable progress in discovering planets around other stars. We now know that many stars have planets orbiting them.
(Image: © © Eye of Science/Science Source)
Could creatures actually live on any of those planets? Many of them are just giant balls of gas, or else too hot or too cold to contain liquid water, which is the basis of all life on Earth. But a few of them do seem to be at the right temperature. These are the Goldilocks planets: not too hot and not too cold for liquid water. (And that’s without even considering the possibility that exotic forms of life could survive without water.)
Now we enter murkier territory. How likely is it that life will develop on a potentially habitable planet? We don’t know the answer, but life on Earth got going very shortly after the formation of our solar system, and it has wedged itself into every available niche, no matter how hostile.
Colonies of bizarre creatures flourish in perpetual darkness near deep ocean vents, where superheated sulfur-rich water spews from under the ground. Radiation-resistant bacteria bask happily in levels of radioactivity that would instantly kill a human being. And then there’s the tardigrade, which looks like a microscopic eight-legged teddy bear, that can thrive in liquid nitrogen or boiling alcohol. So the probability of life developing on habitable worlds seems very high.
And how likely is it that this life will develop intelligence? This remains an open question (which is scientist-speak for “we haven’t got a clue”). But many scientists consider intelligent life almost inevitable, in which case the galaxy should be teaming with alien civilizations.
If the galaxy is crawling with aliens, where are they? Interstellar travel is limited by the speed of light, so maybe it’s no surprise that no one has visited us. But we should at least be able to detect alien radio signals, either from attempts to contact us directly, or in the form of alien TV reruns. Why haven’t our alien friends contacted us? This question was famously asked by the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, so it’s called the Fermi paradox: all of our arguments suggest that alien civilizations should be common, yet we’ve seen no sign of them.
One possibility is that intelligent life really is rare. My own personal opinion (and it’s just an opinion) is that life is common, but intelligent life is rare (something many of us suspect based on our own experience). While life developed in the relative blink of an eye after the birth of the solar system, it took billions of years before we smarties showed up on the scene. And remember that “survival of the fittest” doesn’t always mean “survival of the smartest.” While intelligence is certainly a useful survival trait, it seems far from inevitable. If not for an errant asteroid, the dinosaurs might still rule the world.
Another possibility is that intelligent life inevitably destroys itself. Until recently, our options for total self-destruction were limited to nuclear weapons. But we are on the edge of expanding our armada to include genetically engineered viruses (think: Ebola meets the common cold!).
And consider the dangers posed by nanomachines, tiny self-replicating robots programmed to convert matter into more robots. Imagine a tiny robot, no bigger than the width of a human hair, designed to provide some useful function, programmed to build a copy of itself, using materials from its environment. Now you have two machines, and both can create duplicates, giving us four machines. But what if this process got out of control? The nanomachines could rapidly consume the entire Earth, converting it, along with everyone on the planet, into “grey goo.” British astronomer Martin Rees discusses these and other catastrophic possibilities in his book, Our Final Hour. Have all our potential alien visitors succumbed to self-destruction?
Or is it possible that the galaxy really does contain other forms of intelligent life, but something prevents contact with us? Here we enter the realm of more speculative ideas. (Translation: when a scientist says “speculative,” it really means “a very interesting idea that’s only one step removed from complete nonsense.”)
Among the more speculative possibilities: maybe the galaxy is a dangerous place, full of robotic probes sent out by hostile aliens to wipe out any competition, so everyone else is in hiding. Perhaps we really shouldn’t have put a detailed description of the location of our solar system on our own space probes. It’s a bad idea to reach out and try to touch ET when we might get a call from the Alien instead.
An even more bizarre suggestion is that superior civilizations have decided to avoid contact with lesser beings such as ourselves, so that we live in a kind of cosmic zoo, complete with a “Do not talk to the animals” sign.
Some have even suggested that we live in a gigantic computer simulation, a la The Matrix.
A longer list of possibilities (along with a skeptical discussion) has been compiled by astronomer Milan Ćirković.
Without more data, the Fermi paradox will remain, for now, unresolved, and many of the proposed solutions will have to be classified as “speculative.” And now you know exactly what that means.
Robert Scherrer is Professor and Chair of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Space.com.FILE - This April 7, 2011 file photo shows Carrie Fisher at the 2011 NewNowNext Awards in Los Angeles. A coroner's report released Monday, June 19, 2017, shows that Fisher had cocaine, ecstasy and heroin in her system when she became ill on a London to Los Angeles flight in December. The reports states it is difficult to pinpoint when the drugs were taken and their impact on Fisher's Dec. 27, 2016 death, which was caused by sleep apnea and other undetermined factors, Fisher's autopsy report states. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carrie Fisher’s autopsy report shows the actress had cocaine in her system when she fell ill on a plane last year, but investigators could not determine what impact the cocaine and other drugs found in her system had on her death.
The report released Monday states Fisher may have taken cocaine three days before the Dec. 23 flight on which she became ill. She died four days later.
It also found traces of heroin, other opiates and MDMA, which is also known as ecstasy, but that they could not determine when Fisher had taken those drugs. The findings were based on toxicology screenings done on samples taken when the “Star Wars” actress arrived at a Los Angeles hospital.
Coroner’s officials ruled Fisher died from sleep apnea and a combination of other factors. A news release issued Friday mentioned drugs were found in Fisher’s system, but it did not provide details.
Monday’s full report contains a detailed explanation of the results, such as why investigators believe Fisher took cocaine at least three days before her flight.
“At this time the significance of cocaine cannot be established in this case,” the report states.
It also states that while heroin is detectable in the system for a briefer period of time, investigators could not determine when Fisher, 60, took it or the ecstasy. Toxicology tests also found other opiates in Fisher’s system, including morphine, although the report states the morphine could have been a byproduct of heroin.
“Ms. Fisher suffered what appeared to be a cardiac arrest on the airplane accompanied by vomiting and with a history of sleep apnea. Based on the available toxicological information, we cannot establish the significance of the multiple substances that were detected in Ms. Fisher’s blood and tissue, with regard to the cause of death,” the report states.
Among the factors that contributed to Fisher’s death was buildup of fatty tissue in the walls of her arteries, the coroner’s office said last week.
A phone message left for Fisher’s brother, Todd, was not immediately returned.
Todd Fisher said Friday he was not surprised that drugs may have contributed to his sister’s death.
“I would tell you, from my perspective that there’s certainly no news that Carrie did drugs,” Todd Fisher said. He noted that his sister wrote extensively about her drug use, and that many of the drugs she took were prescribed by doctors to try to treat her mental health conditions.
Fisher long battled drug addiction and mental illness. She said she smoked pot at 13, used LSD by 21 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 24. She was treated with electroshock therapy and medication.
“I am not shocked that part of her health was affected by drugs,” Todd Fisher said.
He said his sister’s heart condition was probably worsened by her smoking habit, as well as the medications she took. “If you want to know what killed her, it’s all of it,” he said.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAPAnimal rights organization PETA found out just how devoted meat lovers are to bacon on Wednesday after asking folks on Twitter why they consume the product.
Present your best argument for eating bacon. — PETA (@peta) June 28, 2017
Responses quickly poured in, with Twitter users sending gifs, photos and fighting words about their love for bacon. One response in particular from the office of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) won praise from supporters and skeptics alike.
Sir, I don't agree with you very often, but #mmmmmmbacon. pic.twitter.com/dJQb34giXL — Together We Will NV (@TWWNevada) June 29, 2017
At least one person wasn’t enthused by his response, but Hatch’s office didn’t seem to mind.
There are worse ways to go. 🥓https://t.co/8EOoFyliIA — Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) June 29, 2017
Check out some of the other responses below.
I think the worst argument for eating bacon is still better than the best argument not to eat bacon. — Ben Conard (@Iamnotahumanben) June 28, 2017
B/c I want to live to 105 https://t.co/Z6SqamWPoZ — Adena Andrews (@adena_andrews) June 29, 2017
have you had an avocado bacon burger before peta? tasty. — trent (@vetullat) June 28, 2017Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama (seen here in 2012) have not seen eye to eye
Barack Obama will not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits in March to speak to Congress, the White House says.
Spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan cited a "long-standing practice" of not meeting government leaders close to elections, which Israel will hold in mid-March.
Mr Netanyahu was invited by House Speaker John Boehner in what is seen as a rebuke to Mr Obama's Iran policy.
The US president has said he will veto attempts to add new sanctions on Iran.
Mr Obama believes new measures will be harmful to negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme, talks Mr Netanyahu has opposed.
The Israeli prime minister has warned a deal between Iran and the US will pose a threat to Israel.
On Thursday, Mr Netanyahu formally accepted the invitation from senior Republican Mr Boehner, saying it will give him the chance to "thank President Barack Obama, Congress and the American people for their support of Israel"
Analysis: Nick Bryant, BBC News, Washington
"A full blown crisis" was how Jeffrey Goldberg, one of America's leading Middle East commentators, described relations between the US and Israel last October, in an article that famously quoted a senior Obama administration official describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a most unflattering, ornithological manner.
Since then, relations have deteriorated still further. The news this week that Netanyahu had accepted an invitation from the Republican House Speaker John Boehner to address a joint session of Congress - essentially to deliver a rebuttal to the president's pledge to veto any new congressional sanctions against Iran - blindsided the White House.
They complained that it was a "breach of protocol." In announcing that the prime minister will not get to meet the president, the Obama administration is invoking diplomatic protocol again.
But this will be widely interpreted as a snub, and make a difficult relationship even more acrimonious.
Image copyright AP Image caption House Speaker John Boehner invited Mr Netanyahu without consulting the White House
He is expected to discuss Iran, as well as Islamic militant groups, in his address to Congress on 3 March.
"As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections, so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country," Ms Meehan said in a statement.
She added Mr Obama had "been clear about his opposition" about new sanctions legislation.
"The president has had many conversations with the prime minister on this matter, and I am sure they will continue to be in contact."
Nancy Pelosi, the House's top Democrat, said the visit, two weeks before Israel's election and in the midst of "delicate" Iran talks, is not "appropriate and helpful".
Mr Netanyahu is fighting a tough election against the Labor Party's Yitzhak Herzog, who has focused on the prime minister's cooler relations with Mr Obama.East London needs new river crossings and a bike bridge would be very welcome. But the location needs to be chosen with regard to the pattern of cycle movements and the local landscape.
The Brunel Bike Bridge was planned as a link that would take LCN 425 traffic to Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park, so that it would serve commuters as well as leisure users. As argued in the video, it is not well placed for this role. Though some routes can have both roles, leisure and commuting are separate objectives. Commuter cyclists require safety and directness. Leisure routes should go through good urban landscape. This is appreciated even by people who use a road bike as an outdoor equivalent of an exercise bike.
Sustrans explain the ‘leisure’ history of the Brunel Bike Bridge (BBB): ‘We originally identified this location as in need of a crossing when London was chosen to host the Olympics [in 2008].’ This it is not a good basis for providing London with a green transport network that cyclists and pedestrians will use and enjoy. The Rotherhithe location probably seemed a good idea because it is the site a ferry between the DoubleTree Hilton and Westferry Circus, costing £4.20 each way in 2016.
The London Cycle Network shows what to avoid. Much of it was planned on underused roads. They were said to be safer and pleasanter. But their main characteristic was indirectness, which explains their quietness: they do not go from busy origins to busy destinations. LCN Route 425 from Burgess Park to Rotherhithe is an example. It was conceived as a leisure route and some of it is pleasant. But as the Strava map, above, shows, it is not well used by cyclists.
When it came to designing the Brunel Bike Bridge the location was moved 200m downstream. There was sense in this. But the new location has the disadvantage of turning two riverside green spaces into ‘land below bridges’. A friend used to call this ‘dead dog space’ because it was the kind of place dogs go to die. Durand’s Wharf Park and the historic entrance to Millwall Dock are valuable riverside open spaces which should have more life, not less life. The use of Hyde Park for widening Park Lane set a bad precedent for London transport planning. Allowing cycling in parks is good. Using parkland for building roads and bridge infrastructure is bad.
So the Brunel Bike Bridge should be moved a further 1500 m downstream, to Pepys Park. The west access ramp would flow into an existing footpath with an east-west alignment. The east access ramp would join the proposed north-south riverside cycle superhighway on the Isle of Dogs. Located here, the Bike Bridge would provide a short and direct connection to the CS4 Cycle Superhighway, which Mayor Sadiq Khan has approved. He has also approved the Brunel Bike Bridge and the two projects obviously need to work together and make their contribution to East Central London having as good cycle infrastructure as West Central London.+1 Share Pin 0 Shares
New here? You may want updates via email or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
As a nation we have enjoyed relatively low unemployment for the last five years. At the end of 2007 the unemployment rate stood at 4.6%. By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate peaked at 24.9% in 1933, during the darkest year of the Great Depression.
In October of this year the unemployment rate grew 0.4% to 6.5%, its highest rate in 14 years. Ten million Americans are now unemployed: 240,000 people lost their jobs in October, and 284,000 lost their jobs in September. That represents the biggest two-month loss of American jobs since 2001. Economists are predicting the unemployment rate will rise to 8.5% by the end of 2009, which means as many as three million more workers will be laid off in the U.S.
Because I'm a CEO who hires employees regularly, a few friends of mine who have recently been laid off have asked me for job-hunting advice. Some have asked me to review their resumes and offer suggestions. Unfortunately these folks are now in job recovery mode and aren't able to optimally position themselves for landing on their feet.
Personally I prefer actionable advice. As such, I'm instead going to suggest ten things you can do now to be prepared for a layoff a year from now.
Update your skills. It's easy to become distracted by everything that's going on today at home and at work. We neglect investing in ourselves. We can get away with that during boom times, but during tough times we need up to date, relevant skills. Start immediately. If you need training, get it — but don't mistake training for application. Make sure you are practicing your skills professionally on a day-to-day basis. Reduce your household burn rate. Many people earn more than the market will bear for their services. Stock prices have fallen 50%. Home prices are falling. Salaries adjust due to market conditions, too. When finding a job is tough, don't restrict the size of the relevant job pool because you can't afford to work for less than you're currently earning. We live in different times than our parents did. I personally think everyone
should prepare financially for being unemployed once every five years for a period of 3 to 6 months. Start a blog that contains at least 50% professional material. If you don't already have a blog, stop reading this one and go start one right this minute. It's essential. Your blog is your living resume.
It shows how you think. It shows how you write. It shows what's important to you. While it is fine to blog about personal topics, devote half of your posts to professional content. What is that you do by trade? Mentor us through your blog. We employers love hiring mentors — they raise everybody's performance. Expand your physical network. Depending on how you're wired, networking is either a lot of fun or a lot of work. If it's work for you, have the discipline to start now. Building a network takes time, effort and sincerity. Start attending breakfast and/or cocktail networking events. Set goals for yourself. For example: “I want to have a good conversation and exchange business cards with at least 3 people during this breakfast.” Update your LinkedIn profile. You are on LinkedIn, right? If not, do that right now. Your LinkedIn profile is a marketing tool. Be honest, genuine and show some humility, but also make yourself stand out in a crowd. Optimize your profile for the five-line preview that comes up when someone conducts a search. Expand your virtual network via LinkedIn. Future employers aren't dumb. They'll detect that you only decided to invest in updating your profile and expanding your network and references after you lost your job. Do it now. Like physical networking, developing your virtual network takes time too. Set goals. For example: “I want to have 100 contacts by the end of the year and 250 contacts by this time next year.” Start exercising. We all know that discrimination is illegal for most reasons and unethical for other reasons. But if you've watched 60 Minutes, you know that's not how humans behave. With comparably qualified candidates, the attractive, fit people are usually offered the job. What are employers looking for in prospective employees? Someone who will get the job done. If you look like you are full of energy, the perception is that you will get the job done. Learn to use social media effectively. Learn to use Twitter and Facebook. In addition to starting your own blog, participate in some discussions online by commenting on blogs in your industry. Always link your comments back to your blog. Potential employers will Google you. Show them that you're thoughtful and have something to say. Conversely, be careful about thinking “it's just Twitter” before tweeting something that could embarrass you later. Do extracurricular work that showcases your abilities. What's better than telling a prospective employer how good you are? Show them! If you're a software engineer, contribute on an open source project, develop an iPhone application or develop a robust website. If you're an online marketer, prove your good by showing me that you have a site that gets a lot of traffic. I met a man earlier this year who's a program manager at Microsoft. He wanted to move into a new role as a marketer, but didn't have any day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft that showed he could do the job. So he bought a domain and set up a website dedicated to Caribbean travel. Soon it was attracting lots of traffic and ranked high in organic search. It was a great way to show doubters that he was qualified. Avoid being laid off in the first place. Last but not least, don't relinquish the pole position. An incumbent has an edge. It's easier to keep a job than find one. We're hearing about companies cutting 25% or 33% of their headcount. That means you need to be in the top 67% or 75% to avoid a pink slip. Other than an entire plant, division or office closure, the decisions about whom to keep and whom to let go are based on performance, salary and redundancy of position. Boost your performance by getting meaningful things done. Come in earlier. Stay later. Be more visible. Start sending your boss weekly status reports showing your accomplishments. Exhibit leadership.
My wife participates in a group for moms of preschoolers, and she shared a story with me earlier this week. Each table has four young moms and one “mentor” mom whose kids are now adults. One of the young moms was concerned that her sole-provider husband might lose his job and asked the mentor what she would suggest they do. Her matter-of-fact answer was, “Well, for starters, you can stop complaining when he can't drop the kids off at school before work and be home by 6:00 for dinner.”
Nobody knows how long the current economic crisis will last or how bad it will get. But it's already proving to be a much tougher job climate than the past few years, and the next year looks bleaker still. Start preparing today for the possibility of being laid off sometime next year. The earlier you start, the better off you'll be.
Unfortunately layoffs are sometimes unavoidable. If you've been laid off, we at blist hope we can help. We've created a website called Land on My Feet. It's a simple, free, one-page, opt-in site for anyone who has been laid off to enter their name and a link to their Linkedin profile.
Despite economy-wide layoffs, some companies are still hiring, and we're promoting this site to hiring managers as a free resource to find qualified candidates. Hopefully blist can help you land on your feet.
Author: Kevin Merritt Kevin Merritt is the founder and CEO of blist, a web-based list-sharing and database application. As always, GRS does not accept paid posts. Though this article promotes Kevin's sites, I accepted it for publication because it contains great information and links to excellent resources.When the Braves drafted Kolby Allard with the 14th overall pick in the 2015 draft, the team felt as though they had received a gift. Allard was considered to be in contention for the first overall pick in the draft before a stress fracture in his back hit his draft stock. The Braves still believed that Allard was one of the best pitchers in the draft and possessed the best breaking ball in the class, so they stayed in touch despite his strong attraction to honoring his college commitment to UCLA. Their faith was rewarded as he did fall to, and sign with, the team. It is safe to say that the Braves are pleased that everything fell into place.
After an abbreviated stint in Rookie ball after the draft and a late start to his season at Rome in 2016, where he showed a bit of rust following a clean-up procedure on his back, Allard has been on a roll ever since. Using a low to mid-90s fastball that he commands exceedingly well, a plus curveball, and a changeup that has made big strides and plays off his fastball well, Allard posted a 2.98 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 16 starts (60 1⁄ 3 innings) in 2016. His results and the improvement he showed in Spring Training in 2017 earned him a very aggressive promotion to Double-A despite being the tender age of 19.
One would think that after an aggressive promotion, Allard would struggle a bit given his age and experience level. However, Allard rose to the challenge and exceeded expectations with a 3.18 ERA while striking out 129 batters in a career-high 150 innings of work. Allard now ranks among the best left-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball and is a mainstay in the upper echelons of top 100 prospect rankings. I managed to catch up with Allard after a workout (can’t stop, won’t stop) to talk about his career up until this point and his thought process going into 2018. Enjoy!
First off, Kolby, how early on did you get into baseball and when did you settle into being a pitcher?
I started playing baseball when I was super young… whenever tee ball started I was playing baseball. Growing up, I played basketball and a little bit of soccer. I actually played basketball all the way up until high school. I was pretty close with my high school baseball coach and he kind of told me that if I came out for just baseball and focused on it that I could make varsity my freshman year. In the grand scheme of things, that probably didn’t matter, but back then, making varsity was the greatest thing in the world so I dropped basketball and started only playing baseball my freshman year of high school.
At what point in your amateur career did you start realizing that turning pro was a realistic possibility and how did that change your approach to playing baseball?
To be honest with you, I was a solid ball player when I was younger and I always threw strikes and threw the ball where I wanted to more or less, but I never really had the velocity until I grew into my body, and I was always a little bit younger. I didn’t really know that I was any good or [that I could] make a career out of baseball until probably my junior year of high school. Some scouts started sniffing around and things started happening then. That summer before my senior year, I went on to play with Team USA and I started learning then. I was the oldest kid in my family, so I didn’t know too much about the whole draft process so I had to get informed on that stuff pretty quick.
The draft for you was a bit different for you because you were injured that spring and it was entirely possible that you were going to go to school. What went into your decision to sign with the Braves and not head to college?
It was really frustrating because I put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that offseason and going into the year. To get hurt, go down, and not really be able to do your favorite thing to do as a pitcher and go out and compete... it was awful not being able to do that. Obviously, I was very interested in going to UCLA because it is a very good school and has a really good baseball program.
Growing through everything beforehand, I had a really good relationship with one of the Braves’ national guys, Tom Battista, and after I got hurt teams were still really interested in me. I was sitting down with General Managers and stuff like that, but the Braves took a special interest in how I was doing and how I was recovering. It seemed like they cared on a personal level. They started to get pretty close with my family and as things went on, we liked the direction the Braves were going. Obviously from 2015 to present, there has been a lot more to revamp the organization and revamp the farm system, but even in 2015 you could see that plan was in place. It wasn’t just all talk, you could see the plan taking shape. I felt like I was mature enough to go off on my own and live by myself. I liked what the Braves had planned for me, liked what they had going on in the organization, and as of right now it is looking like we made the right decision so I couldn’t be more happy.
You didn’t play much in Rookie ball and you got a later start to the 2016 season because of some lingering effects from your back injury, but once you knocked the rust, off you were dominant in Low-A. What was the most difficult part of your game to get back in the wake of that injury?
I mean, I pitched a little bit before the draft building up and I pitched a little bit in Rookie ball, but it was almost like I didn’t pitch consistently for over a year and a half. There is no excuse really to “shake the rust off” because I have pretty high expectations for myself, so it was pretty frustrating because my first two starts in Rome were not very good, but I learned from them and put them behind me. The hardest thing for me was just getting back into the swing of things every five days. No bullpen or live BP can really get you ready. Obviously, they can get your arm in shape, but it can’t get you ready to make that pitch and drop that ball off the plate and stuff like that. You can’t recreate that in live BP. I would say that just getting some more reps under my belt was the biggest thing.
That brings us to spring 2017 and by all accounts you, along with Max Fried and Mike Soroka, had outstanding springs and that helped you get jumped all the way to Double-A. How did you find out about that decision and what was your reaction?
Yeah, myself, Mike, and Max came out and had a pretty good spring, but the way we found out was that Mike and I were out doing early work bunting probably at like 8 am one day. It was just him and me out there waiting for the rest of the guys and we were out there a bit early and Dom Chiti, our pitching coordinator at the time, came up to us and said, “So do you guys know what is going on?” We were like, “Well yeah, we were going out for early bunting… not really.” He said, “You guys are going to Double-A. Figure your blank out.” Mike and I look at each other and were like, “Alright, let’s do it.” Mike and I are very similar, we have very different pitching styles and the way we pitch, but in our heads we think ahead and we think the same way about how to go about things. We were on the same page… screw it we are 19 in Double-A, but baseball is baseball. The guys are going to be a little bit better, but if we go out and execute our pitches we can get anybody out. Obviously you are going to go through your ups and downs, I’m not trying to be cocky about it. Whoever you are facing though, whether it is Bryce Harper or Manny Machado or whoever, if you execute your pitches... yeah, they are going to get you sometimes, but if you do that continuously you are going to get your outs.
I have talked a few guys who have said that pitching in Double-A is almost easier in the sense that you have a clear expectation of a batter’s approach and can plan accordingly. Do you agree with that and even if you do, what has been the hardest adjustment to make pitching in Double-A as opposed to the lower levels?
I would definitely say that is true. Mike, Derrick Lewis (our pitching coach), and I talked almost every day about that kind of stuff. Sometimes in Rome, you would make a really good pitch and you would be like “Why is that guy swinging at that? What is he doing? What is he trying to do?” Sometimes, and this is no knock on them, but they did not have as advanced an approach as a guy who went to college and has 1,000 more at-bats in their lives. Guys are a little more advanced and have more of an idea of what they are trying to do. Let’s say we know [a hitter] just pounds balls over the plate, if you throw a fastball in... more often than not he isn’t going to swing at it because he isn’t looking for it. However, maybe in Rome something like that happens and he just twists on in and hits it 500 feet down the left field line. It is a little bit more a chess match at the higher levels, or at least what I have seen at Mississippi. If you go out with your game plan and you execute it, more often than not you are going to have success because you have a plan, you know what they are going to try and do and what you are going to do, and after that it comes down to who executes better especially when you have faced guys 10-15 times in a season.
The biggest adjustment for Double-A was... well, I went through my bumps. I started the year off really well, had a couple of bad starts in the middle, and then finished strong. It was almost like I had to ride the highs and lows. This was my first season making every single start and I learned that just because you have a couple of bad days, don’t try to change anything because you are not good enough to get the guys out. It’s more “you didn’t execute here” or “you didn’t set him up well here or throw the correct pitch off of that pitch.” It is more of a chess match and now that we have more scouting reports on guys and they have scouting reports on you, you just have to go out and execute. That was the biggest thing.
Let’s talk about your fastball, as a lot of who you are as a pitcher plays |
, and any project that crosses three provincial boundaries becomes a bottomless pit of recrimination and finger-pointing, doesn’t look like that place. That’s not a day’s headache. It’s a really big problem.Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
Dressed in a light pink tunic and jeans a young female Palestinian assailant attempted to stab two soldiers and a civilian on Tuesday evening.
A video of the attack was posted on YouTube. It was shot from a vehicle that passed the site of the attack, a bus stop at the Gitai Avisar junction near the West Bank city of Ariel.
The young woman held her hand up and clenched a knife. She walked slowly in the direction of two soldiers who had their rifles drawn.As she moved forward, one step at time, they walked backward. She moved closer to them and seemed almost about to lunge at them, when they shot her.The woman fell to the ground, in the middle of the bus stop, and then rolled for a second on the pavement.No one else was wounded. The attacker was transferred to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, where she was in serious but stable condition.“This could have ended in a tragedy,” said Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who called on the government to restrict the movement of Palestinians on the roads in Judea and Samaria.Ariel Mayor Eliyahu Shaviro thanked the security forces. “Their determination prevented injury to both soldiers and citizens alike.”Shaviro added that the attack “will not break our spirit. This is our national homeland and we will remain here forever. Our answer to those who are attempting to hurt us is a combination of the uncompromising fight of security forces and support of the settlement of all areas of the State of Israel, including the areas of Judea and Samaria.”The incident came after two Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks in the West Bank last week.On Thursday, Muhammad Tarayrah, 17, murdered teenager Hallel Yaffa Ariel while she slept in her home in Kiryat Arba. And, on Friday, Rabbi Michael “Miki” Mark, 47, a father of 10 and the director-general of the Otniel Yeshiva, was killed by a Palestinian gunmen as he drove on Route 60 in the South Hebron Hills.His wife and two of their children, ages 14 and 15 were wounded in the incident. Both teenagers have been released from the hospital.
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>As a Legal Aid alumni, I am both incredibly honored and excited to run the New York City Half Marathon on behalf of the Society's Civil Practice.
Annually, The Legal Aid Society's Civil Practice provides comprehensive individual civil legal assistance that benefits some 120,000 vulnerable New Yorkers in all five boroughs of New York City, including senior citizens, children and adults with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, immigrants, low-wage or unemployed workers, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and homeless and imminently homeless children and adults. In addition, the Society's law reform representation benefits all two million low-income children and adults in all five boroughs.
Proceeds raised from this fundraising campaign are crucial to enable the Society's front-line staff in all five boroughs to provide essential civil legal aid in the midst of these challenging times for the vulnerable low-income families and individuals we represent.
Thank you for your support!LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It felt like déjà vu. It mostly was until the very end.
Louisville City FC and New York Red Bulls II met in the playoffs last year at Red Bull Arena, which ended in a 1-1 scoreline and NYRB II advancing on penalties. With a spot in the USL final on the line Saturday, why would it be any different?
The two sides again went to penalties knotted up 1-1, only this time Louisville City FC mustered some magic in the shootout to prevail 4-3 after erasing a 3-1 deficit.
TFW you bounce back from 3-1 down in a penalty shootout to ship it 4-3 and it’s onto the @USL championship match. #USLPlayoffs #SocTakesPod pic.twitter.com/V8mcyPozVF — Soc Takes (@SocTakes) November 5, 2017
LouCity’s listed starting XI appeared to be a 4-5-1 on paper, but the hosts lined up in a three-back formation when they took the pitch. Kyle Smith spent most of his evening pushed up as wing back on the right side. Red Bulls II came out in a 4-3-3.
It didn’t take long for the match to open up.
“I think that’s a testament to us because we try to create that kind of stuff,” said NYRB II head coach John Wolyniec of the openness of the match. “In a lot of ways the game looked like we wanted it to. Maybe not in the beginning of the game until the time when they scored. But after that moment on, by no means were we in control of the game, but we made it a game that we feel comfortable in and a game that we like to play. And again, against a really good team at a place that they’re really good — at home.”
Louisville City FC found some success attacking up the left side in the opening 10 minutes, while NYRB II mostly threatened with long crosses into the box. Despite the constraints of Louisville Slugger Field, ample space was there for the taking in the midfield and on the flanks.
In the 12th minute, LouCity right winger Brian Ownby took a headed pass from Luke Spencer and fired a half volley into the back of the net to put the hosts on top. The two clubs headed to halftime with the 1-0 scoreline in tact.
Neither side made changes at the break with the potential for extra time in play. And sure enough, Red Bulls II equalized in the 57th to make that possibility even more likely.
It was a phenomenal individual effort by left winger Junior Flemmings that brought the visitors level. Flemmings navigated his way through multiple Louisville players into the box, then hit a low shot that deflected off a sliding defender and past ‘keeper Greg Ranjitsingh.
“We played 120 minutes like five days ago,” Flemmings said. “So we didn’t have it easy, but we really pushed the game. At one point in the game I know I started feeling my hammies and stuff like that. It was really tough, but I was really pushing it. I did what I have to do, give it all I got, and then someone else came on and finished the job. So I think I did a very good job in the interest of the team.”
The match got more and more physical as it wore on. With so much at stake and the game tied, every foray into the final third was met with resistance. LouCity thought it deserved a penalty late in the second half after a sloppy NYRB II challenge in the box, but head referee Sorin Stoica felt otherwise.
In extra time, left back Ethan Kutler nearly put the visitors up with perfectly struck free kick from just outside the box, but a spectacular fingertip save by Ranjitsingh kept matters level. The two evenly matched clubs headed to penalties at the final whistle.
The shootout looked like déjà vu all over again for Louisville City at first. The purple-clad side fell behind 3-1 after the first three Red Bulls II players converted from the spot, while LouCity missed one of its first two attempts. But the home side buried its third attempt to make it 3-2, and consecutive misses by NYRB II combined with a successful attempt by Oscar Jimenez saw Richard Ballard step to the spot with a chance to win it.
Ballard cooly buried it to his right side to make Louisville City FC the champions of the USL Eastern Conference. LouCity will now host the Swope Park Rangers on Nov. 13 in the USL final.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.
Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to patron-only Soc Takes Pod episodes, exclusive written content and tier rewards. Click here to become a patron today.Since the birth of the modern NBA in 1980, there have been eight Revenge Championships. (A Revenge Championship is one that a team wins by defeating the team they’d lost a prior championship to.) They are as follows:
The Sixers in 1983.
The Lakers in 1985.
The Pistons in 1989.
The Lakers in 2010.
The Mavericks in 2011.
The Spurs in 2014. (Hallelujah.)
The Cavs in 2016.
The Warriors in 2017.
Now, to be clear, a Revenge Championship doesn’t have to happen the year immediately following the initial loss. It can happen whenever, so long as the principal pieces of the team(s) are still involved. We’re going to talk about all of that, though, and about each of the ones listed above. First, though, a tiny story:
Sometime back in late 2002 or early 2003, I got into a version of a fight at a nightclub. I was in college at the time and a couple of friends and I were riding around not doing anything good or productive one night, and so we ended up at a place called the Jolly Fox, which was as terrible as the name implies.
A guy I’d seen on campus but never spoken to did a thing that I thought was disrespectful, I confronted him about it, we got into a shouting match, we got separated by people standing near us, and then a few minutes later I snuck up behind him while he was on the dance floor and punched him in the side of the head. He tumbled off to the side and I disappeared into the crowd before he could fully recover.
As far as matters like these are generally concerned, I understand that punching him when he wasn’t looking was a cowardly move, but he was a cowardly person and so I felt completely justified in my actions back then and still do today, obviously. (FYI: He found out shortly thereafter that it was me who punched him and for the rest of our time at school together, he never once tried to do anything about it. You might argue that his nonresponse was proof that he was the smarter, more respectful, more mature person. I would argue that his nonresponse was proof that he was as I’d assumed: a coward.)
Anyway, I tell this story to say: Delivering that Revenge Punch to him felt good. So good. So, so good. It filled my body with insta-light and insta-joy. And what’s wild — or, rather, what’s at least relevant here, is that, from the time of the initial altercation until the time he got revenge-punched, it was maybe only 10 minutes that had elapsed. That was the total amount of time that I had to live from the start of everything until the end. I can’t even imagine how good a Revenge Championship feels after living with that first loss for at least a full year.
The 1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers
The Scenario: The Sixers beat the Lakers in the 1983 Finals (4–0). It was revenge not only for the 1982 Finals (4–2, Lakers), but also the 1980 Finals (4–2, Lakers).
Some Stuff to Consider: Three big revenge things here:
1. This was an Extra Revenge Championship since the Lakers had beaten the Sixers twice before. It’s the only Extra Revenge Title that has ever happened. (I’m not counting the Lakers beating the Celtics after losing eight times to them because it was an entirely different Lakers team.)
2. The 1980 Finals were when Dr. J did his iconic up-and-under move that gets played endlessly during the clips of all-time great NBA plays. If they happen in the playoffs, you want those moments to come in the years you win a title because otherwise there will always be someone there ready to point out, "Yeah, but y’all lost that year, so." I’d guess there’s at least a tiny bit of Dr. J that, even today, when he sees that play, thinks about how it happened during a series his team lost. The 1983 title helps soften that.
3. The 1980 Finals was also the one when Magic, then a rookie, went bonkers in Game 6 to give the title to the Lakers (42–15–7, including a spell at center because Kareem was out with a sprained ankle). It was incredible, and I have to believe that it ate up Dr. J that he’d been outshined by Magic. The 1983 win helps soften that, too.
A thing that’s unrelated to revenge, but still something fun to think about: Dr. J was a mega-winner in the ABA. During his five seasons there, he won two championships, three league MVPs, and three scoring titles. When he showed up in the NBA, though, things didn’t go quite as smoothly. He was still obviously great (he was instantly one of the best players in the league, and he won NBA MVP in 1981), and he was still obviously transcendent (no player has ever exhibited more grace while playing basketball than him), but his Sixers teams just couldn’t win a championship. They made it to the Finals three times (1977, 1980, 1982) and lost in each trip. The Sixers brought in Moses Malone for the 1983 season (who, FYI, was already a two-time league MVP), and that’s when they finally got their title (Moses won the league MVP and Finals MVP that year).
Can you even imagine if something like that had happened today? Can you imagine if a very good team that had lost in the Finals responded by adding an MVP-level talent and then that team won the Finals that next season and the player they added won Finals MVP? Man. I can’t even imagine such a thing.
The 1984–85 Lakers
The Scenario: The Lakers beat the Celtics in the 1985 Finals (4–2). It was revenge for the 1984 Finals (4–3, Celtics).
Some Stuff to Consider: This was a very great Revenge Championship. Three things:
1. The Lakers weren’t just mad that they’d lost the 1984 title, they were mad at the way they’d lost it. Magic Johnson and James Worthy both had choke-type plays at the end of Game 2 that helped give the game to the Celtics. And Magic had another choke-type play at the end of Game 4 that helped give the game to the Celtics. If any of those mess-ups don’t happen, the Lakers win.
2. The 1984 title was the first time Larry Bird and Magic met in the Finals. Bird winning it gave him an edge on Magic, despite both of them having two rings at that point. Magic winning the 1985 title put him back ahead of Bird in that particular conversation.
3. 1985 was the first time the Lakers had ever beaten the Celtics in the Finals. (Here’s a crazy thing: From 1962 to 1970, the Lakers lost seven times in the Finals. SEVEN.)
The 1988–89 Detroit Pistons
The Scenario: The Pistons beat the Lakers in the 1989 Finals (4–0). It was revenge for the 1988 Finals (4–3, Lakers).
Some Stuff to Consider: The Pistons absolutely should’ve won the 1988 Finals. They were up 3–2 in the series and had a one-point lead in Game 6 with less than 20 seconds to go. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar caught the ball in the post, spun toward the baseline for a skyhook, missed it, then got rescued by a nearby ref, who’d called a foul on Bill Laimbeer. Here’s the play:
There’s very little contact, if any.* Kareem made the free throws, the Pistons botched the next play, and the Lakers won the series in seven. The whole "We Were Robbed" thing is always great accelerant for revenge dramas. Another thing, though, is that that same game was also the Isiah Thomas Sprained Ankle Game. And, yes, for sure it has a hallowed place in history already, but can you even imagine how much more cherished it would be if it had been a performance that resulted in a championship?
The main reason Willis Reed gets lifted up as this great hero for playing in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals with a torn muscle in his leg is because his Knicks won. Truth be told, he scored only four points that game and, beyond being an inspirational figure, was mostly useless. Isiah put up 25 in the third quarter alone, including 11 after severely spraining his ankle. If Detroit won the title that year, his spot in history becomes much bigger and much brighter. The Pistons sweeping the Lakers in 1989 included, in small measure, them grabbing back some of that lore that had been snatched away from Isiah.**
*Pat Riley, who was coaching the Lakers that year, talked about how it was a phantom foul at a press conference in 2014.
**It should probably be mentioned here that Byron Scott missed the entire 1989 Finals with a leg injury and also that Magic Johnson missed most of the series with a leg injury, too.
The 2009–10 Los Angeles Lakers
The Scenario: The Lakers beat the Celtics in the 2010 Finals (4–3). It was revenge for the 2008 Finals (4–2, Celtics).
Some Stuff to Consider: Four things for you:
1. The obvious revenge angle is that Kobe and his Lakers had lost in the Finals two years prior to the Celtics.
2. In that 2008 Finals, the Lakers were up 24 points in the second quarter of Game 4, with a chance to tie the series before everything turned to goop and poop in their hands. When they lost that game (and then eventually the series), it hurt Kobe’s legacy some. By the Lakers going back and getting revenge on the Celtics, it turned the story from "Kobe choked," which is how it would have stayed if he hadn’t gotten revenge, to "Kobe showed great resilience by going back and beating the team he’d faltered against," which not only cleaned up the part of his legacy that had been damaged, but also added greater magic to it.
3. The mystic revenge angle to this Finals was that it was the Lakers and Celtics.
4. The best revenge angle was that Kobe was still trying to outdo Shaq, his former teammate and longtime nemesis. After the Lakers had beaten the Celtics, a reporter asked Kobe what the title meant to him personally. His response was quick and perfect:
It remains an all-time great Kobe moment.
The 2010–11 Dallas Mavericks
The Scenario: The Mavericks beat the Heat in the 2011 Finals (4–2). It was revenge for the 2006 Finals (4–2, Heat).
Some Stuff to Think About: I’m probably cheating a little bit by including this one, what with Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry being the only members of the Mavericks who were there for the 2006 loss, but how could I resist, what with all of the tinier revenge angles tucked away inside the series. There was:
1. Revenge by Proxy: I’m certain there was no bigger Mavericks fan than Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, then-leader of the Down With LeBron coalition.
2. Immediate Revenge: The Heat, leading 1–0 in the series, went on a 13–0 run in the fourth quarter to push their lead to 15 with just over seven minutes to play. When Dwyane Wade hit the 3 to put them up 15, which felt a lot like a gut-shot death blow, he stood in front of the Mavericks bench and celebrated, and LeBron joined him, too, and it was all just way too much to handle if you were a Mavs fan or an anti-LeBron fan. The Mavs then went on a miraculous 22–5 run, including a Dirk Nowitzki layup to win the game, and it was all just way too much to handle if you were a Heat fan or a pro-LeBron fan.
3. Rich White Guy Revenge: Mark Cuban finally got his vindication.
4. Legacy Revenge: Dirk going Super Saiyan in the playoffs that year was officially the end of the "Dirk Can’t Win It" criticism (and you could possibly say the same for Jason Kidd, though he definitely never faced as heated a version of it as Dirk did).
The 2013–14 San Antonio Spurs
The Scenario: The Spurs beat the Heat in the 2014 Finals (4–1). It was revenge for the 2013 Finals (4–3, Heat).
Some Stuff to Think About: My beloved 2013 Spurs came maybe as close as you could possibly get to winning a championship without actually winning it. I remember hearing Chris Bosh talk about how, after the Spurs had grabbed a five-point lead with about 30 seconds to go in Game 6 of a series they led 3–2, he saw NBA officials beginning to rope off the court for the eventual celebration. He said it was at that moment that the Heat decided they absolutely were not losing that game. When I heard him say that I was like, "Come the fuck on. THAT’S what did it? THAT’S why y’all won? It wasn’t the fact that it was the NBA Finals? It was some rope?" It just sounded very ridiculous and very much like he was just trying to say something cool. (Of course, to be fair to Bosh, who I love and think is excellent, everything I heard from any Heat player regarding that championship elicited a super "Come the fuck on" response.) (I was just very sad and angry about the whole situation.) (You know how that goes.)
At any rate, given the crushing way that the Spurs lost the 2013 title, the 2014 title was a top-tier Revenge Championship. Three things to point out:
1. Tim Duncan was apparently so bothered by the 2013 loss that, after the Spurs had beaten the Thunder in the 2014 Western Conference finals to get back to the Finals to face the Heat, HE TALKED SHIT ON CAMERA to them, which had literally never happened in his entire career. Getting Tim Duncan emotional enough to say, "We got four more to win. We’ll do it this time" is like getting Michelle Obama mad enough that she tells you to eat [REDACTED]. It’s really just an unprecedented, unbelievable thing.
2. Not only did the Spurs get to stare down the team that had sliced their heads off the year before, they did so in an historically dominant fashion, outscoring the Heat by 14 points per game, the largest margin of victory in Finals history. They shot 75.8 percent for the first half of Game 3, which is also a Finals record.
3. The Kawhi Leonard Is the Future campaign was faced with a small amount of pushback when he missed a free throw at the end of Game 6 in 2013 that would’ve given the Spurs a four-point lead in the final seconds. Him winning Finals MVP was enough to squish those claims into nothingness.
The 2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers
The Scenario: The Cavs beat the Warriors in the 2016 Finals (4–3). It was revenge for the 2015 Finals (4–2, Warriors).
Some Stuff to Think About: This one was more important from a historical standpoint than it was from a revenge standpoint, but you still had several key revenge parts to it:
1. Kyrie Irving was finally able to play in a Finals at full strength, and he sprinted into the fight with an almost unconscionable amount of anti-fear. As far as Cavs fans were concerned, Kyrie leading them to victory was proof enough that had he played in the 2015 Finals the Cavs would’ve won.
2. LeBron snatching the league back from Steph Curry, who had just turned in the most offensively charmed performance in league history.
3. J.R. Smith fire-swording everyone who said you’d never be able to count on him during the Highest of Stakes games.
4. LeBron not only beating the team that had beat his Cavs the year prior, but also stomping on history (defeating the winningest regular-season team of all time), and LeBron seems to love nothing more than Fast & Furious–ing into NBA lore whenever he can.
The 2016–17 Golden State Warriors
The Scenario: The Warriors beat the Cavs in the 2017 Finals (4–1). It was revenge for the 2016 Finals (4–3, Cavs).
Some Stuff to Think About: The great thing about the Warriors-Cavs trilogy is that, despite both teams earning wins, neither side seems to respect the other’s accomplishment. When the Warriors won in 2015, the cry was that the Cavs were hobbled by injuries and that they’d have won for sure if Kevin Love and Irving had played. When the Cavs won in 2016, the complaint was that Andrew Bogut was out and Draymond Green had been unfairly suspended for Game 5. And when the Warriors won again in 2017, the issue was that the Warriors had brought in Kevin Durant, a former league MVP and also the most devastating scorer in the NBA, to tilt things their way. There’s just always something to argue about. It’s excellent.
Regarding revenge …
1. The Warriors spent all of the 2017 season absorbing shots from LeBron et al. about having lost in the 2016 Finals despite holding a 3–1 lead four games into the series, like LeBron’s Halloween party that featured tombstone cookies with their names on it and a Steph Curry dummy, or whoever it was that taped a championship ring on a big poster of LeBron blocking Andre Iguodala in Game 7 that the Warriors had to walk past to get to their locker room for their Christmas Day game. Golden State winning in 2017 got rid of that. (Sort of.)
2. LeBron’s Heat beat Durant’s Thunder in the 2012 Finals. The Warriors beating the Cavs in 2017 was secretly Durant beating LeBron.
3. KD got secret revenge against everyone who fired arrows at him for leaving the Thunder.
4. KD got secret revenge on Russell Westbrook, who no doubt is plotting out his own version of revenge, be it secret or otherwise.Last night has to be the best night ever for Ottawa Senators fans. They triumphantly defeated the New York Rangers 3-0 on the road, and the Boston Bruins lost their second straight game, putting Ottawa in a playoff position.
Now with just one game left in the season, the Senators can taste the playoffs, but they aren’t there just yet. The odds are that they make it (88.1% according to SportsClubStats), but they still need at least one point on Saturday or a Bruins loss of any kind.
Suffice to say, this season (and specifically the past two months) have been an amazing ride with plenty of ups recently, and a few downs. Even if Ottawa does not make it at this point, the run has been nothing short of magical, and I really do feel as if it turned the franchise around. Let’s take a look at how they got here, in graphical form:
This is the Senators entire season, and the mark they are at right now is the highest percentage they have ever been at. There were some important games of note this year, so here are a few:
October 29th. Record: 5-2-1, 3rd in Atlantic, 78.18% chance
Ottawa had just beaten Columbus for the second time, and a 5-2-1 record was looking good. They were allowing plenty of shots, but they were winning.
November 7th. Record: 7-3-2, 1st in Wild Card, 84.02% chance
Besides today, this was the best position Ottawa had been all year-long in terms of playoff chances. They sat in the wild card, but had at least one game in hand on all of the top three Atlantic teams.
__
December 7th. Record: 10-11-5, 5th in Wild Card, 27.76% chance
Ottawa had lost five straight at this point, and Paul MacLean was feeling the heat.
They sat six points out of a playoff spot already, and things were not looking good. The next day they would come back from 3-0 to beat the Vancouver Canucks, which was the last game in the MacLean era. His record this season was 11-11-5.
December 20th. Record: 14-12-6, 5th in Wild Card, 34.52% chance
The Senators killed the Ducks 6-2 the night before, and their record was looking a tad better. They were only two points out of the playoffs, but the Panthers had two games in hand. They wouldn’t have a better playoff percentage until March 18th.
__
February 8th. Record: 20-22-9, 8th in Wild Card, 2.03% chance
This was the lowest Ottawa ever was. They were hopeless at this point, and I was cheering for them to tank (Don’t get mad, you know you were too). The Carolina Hurricanes were only four points back, and the Boston Bruins were 14 points up. It was pretty awful at this point. Pittsburgh was also 19 points up, Detroit 22 up, and the Islanders 18 up.
February 17th. Record: 22-23-10, 5th in Wild Card, 4.28% chance
After an embarrassing loss to the Hurricanes, almost all fans had lost hope. Sure, they were 2-1-1 in their last four, but Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner were hurt, reluctantly forcing Ottawa to go with a goaltending duo of Andrew Hammond and Chris Driedger. Yes, the Hammond that allowed three goals in the first minute of an AHL game, and the one that Dave Cameron essentially refused to play over Lehner. The consensus was it was time to tank.
February 27th. Record: 26-23-10, 5th in Wild Card, 23.35% chance
In just four games after Lehner went down, Andrew Hammond had given himself a name. His first two wins at home against Montreal and Florida were nice, but Ottawa’s season was likely to be put to rest on the California road trip. Instead, that’s where it all began. At first when Ottawa beat Anaheim, I remember feeling slightly annoyed that they were ruining their draft position. But then the next night, somehow the Senators shut out the Kings as well, the first time any team has had back to back shutouts in California.
After that Kings game, Ottawa was five points out with a game in hand, and I started to believe after that. The next game against San Jose I was cheering hard for them, and they pulled off a massive win to sweep the state. It was still a longshot, but all of a sudden the team had me (and plenty of others) believing in the Hamburglar and the magic of the team.
__
March 7th. Record: 29-23-11, 4th in Wild Card, 32.84% chance
Ottawa had just beaten Buffalo, and just like that they were three points back of the Bruins, with the same amount of games played. The Panthers were still in the way, but it was only a matter of time before their games in hand would cost them. At this time, Boston’s chances of making it were only 60.18%, and they were slipping.
March 11th. Record: 30-24-11, 4th in Wild Card, 13.95% chance
It was the biggest game of the year, and Ottawa lost to Boston. Their chances took a major hit, and seven points back with a game in hand looked too daunting of a task for the rest of the season. There was still slim hope, but it was fading.
A 6-4 win over the Bruins put Ottawa at over the 50% mark for the first time since the end of November
March 18th. Record: 34-24-11, 3rd in Wild Card, 37.68% chance
Kyle Turris had just set up Mark Stone for an amazing overtime winner over the Hurricanes, and it was a massive win. They had the highest chances to make the playoffs since December 20th, and they were only four points back with a game in hand.
The very next game was for sure the biggest game of the year, as a 6-4 win over the Bruins put Ottawa at over the 50% mark for the first time since the end of November.
March 24th. Record: 37-24-11, 2nd in Wild Card, 74.07% chance
Ottawa was coming off their seventh straight win, and they sat one point up on Boston with a game in hand. At this point it would have been a surprise if Ottawa missed. On the flip side, the Bruins had only a 33.34% chance, which was an amazing drop from the last few weeks.
March 30th. Record: 37-26-12, 3rd in Wild Card, 25.2% chance
In just six days, things were much more bleak for Ottawa. Losses to the Panthers and Rangers in regulation and the Maple Leafs in overtime made the situation very dire. On the flip side, the Bruins had gone 2-0-1 in those three games, so now Ottawa was three back with a game in hand. With 7 games to play, Ottawa certainly needed to win at least five of them.
__
April 6th. Record: 40-26-13, 3rd in Wild Card, 26.11% chance
It’s weird to think that this was just four days ago. The Senators had lost to the Maple Leafs in the shootout, and it seemed like destiny that Toronto would ruin Ottawa’s season. They were still two points out with the same amount of games played for three separate teams, and they did not have the tiebreaker on any of them.
April 10th. Record: 42-26-13, 1st in Wild Card, 88.1% chance
In just four days, Ottawa has one twice (including against Pittsburgh in a massive comeback), and the Bruins have lost twice. Just look at that huge uptick at the end of the graph, and that represents just two wins. This is where Ottawa sits right now, and it certainly is not close to over. The Bruins sit at just 15.3% chance to make it, which is quite amazing considering where they were earlier in the year, and especially last season.
Here’s Boston’s graph for this season, which is even more of a roller coaster than Ottawa’s graph:
So there you have it. This has been Ottawa’s ride so far, and it hasn’t ended yet. Ottawa just needs a point on Saturday, and I think they can do it. They know what’s on the line, and they don’t want to have to rely on a Boston loss later in the day.
The good thing is that the Senators play at 12:30, so they could clinch a playoff berth before the Bruins even play. It would save me (and others) heart attacks if Ottawa clinched right away. It’ll be a fascinating day, and I hope they can do it. I have the utmost confidence they will get in, and I can’t wait to watch some playoff hockey.TRIPOLI, Libya — The oil minister of Libya fled to neighboring Tunisia over the weekend, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said Tuesday, in what appeared to be another high-level defection from the increasingly isolated government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. Officials in Tripoli said the oil minister was on official business outside the country.
The minister, Shukri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation and a former prime minister, arrived in Tunisia on Saturday, Néji Zairi, a spokesman for the Tunisian Interior Ministry, said in an interview. Subsequently, Mr. Zairi told other reporters that the ministry knew only that Mr. Ghanem had entered Tunisia, and not whether he had defected.
In the absence of any statement from Mr. Ghanem, or any information on his whereabouts, uncertainty about his intentions prevailed. Moussa Ibrahim, the chief Libyan government spokesman in Tripoli, told reporters that Mr. Ghanem had been in Tunisia in his official capacity and that Mr. Ibrahim had not “been able to contact him today.”
“He is supposed to be out of Libya for a couple of days,” Mr. Ibrahim said.
But Mr. Ibrahim added that the government’s struggle against a rebel uprising “doesn’t depend on individuals, even if they are high-ranking officials,” and that, in any case, whether Mr. Ghanem defected was “his business” — statements that appeared to suggest that the Qaddafi government knew that Mr. Ghanem had defected. If so, it would not be the first high-level defection among Colonel Qaddafi’s associates.
Photo
Moussa Koussa, who was the foreign minister, defected in March and spent time in London being questioned by British intelligence officials before leaving for Qatar. A former justice minister in Tripoli, Moustafa Abdul Jalil, heads the rebels’ national transitional council. A former interior minister, Abdul Fatah Younes, who had been one of the top generals in the Qaddafi forces, has also joined the rebels, serving as their military chief of staff.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
The defections have added to the deepening isolation around the Qaddafi government since the uprising began three months ago. On Monday the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in the Hague sought arrest warrants for Colonel Qaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi and the colonel’s brother-in-law on charges of orchestrating systematic attacks against civilians. Qaddafi loyalists fighting a rebel army in the contested city of Misurata, 130 miles east of Tripoli, retreated last week, losing control of the city’s airport.The Miami Marlins will keep right fielder Giancarlo Stanton and build around him as they try to improve |
- Moura - Her Autobiography[3]
Charts [ edit ]
Number-one singles [ edit ]
Number-one albums [ edit ]
Year-end charts [ edit ]
Best-selling singles [ edit ]
[4]
Best-selling albums [ edit ]
[5]
Classical music [ edit ]
Roy Douglas - Festivities and A Nowell Sequence for strings
for strings Michael Tippett - String Quartet No. 5[6]
Music awards [ edit ]
BRIT Awards [ edit ]
The 1991 BRIT Awards winners were:
Births [ edit ]
Deaths [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts Last Edited: 2015-09-24 15:59:22 #3381 DRAFT Patch 6.84
+ Show Spoiler + Unchanged
Skill Changes subject to change
+ Show Spoiler + Alchemist
Crystal Maiden (ult at 6)
Juggernaut (revert to old build?)
Lifestealer (2 less levels in Open Wounds?)
Nyx Assassin - Middle (gear towards non-dagon?)
Pugna (max decrepify second?)
Riki (prioritize smoke lvl 1)
Sand King (early level - Caustic Finale?) AlchemistCrystal Maiden (ult at 6)Juggernaut (revert to old build?)Lifestealer (2 less levels in Open Wounds?)Nyx Assassin - Middle (gear towards non-dagon?)Pugna (max decrepify second?)Riki (prioritize smoke lvl 1)Sand King (early level - Caustic Finale?)
Item Changes subject to change
+ Show Spoiler + Abaddon
Alchemist
Ancient Apparition
Axe
Bane
Batrider
Beastmaster (Valve, please update this guide so the ult can be skilled)
Bloodseeker
Bounty Hunter
Brewmaster
Bristleback
Broodmother
Centaur Warrunner
Chaos Knight
Chen
Clinkz
Clockwerk
Dark Seer
Dazzle
Death Prophet
Disruptor
Dragon Knight
Drow Ranger
Earthshaker
Earth Spirit
Elder Titan
Ember Spirit
Enchantress
Enigma
Gyrocopter
Huskar
Invoker
IO
Jakiro
Juggernaut
Keeper of the Light
Kunkka
Legion Commander
Leshrac
Lich
Lifestealer
Lina
Lone Druid
Luna
Lycan
Magnus
Medusa
Meepo
Mirana
Morphling
Naga Siren
Nature's Prophet
Necrophos
Night Stalker
Nyx Assassin
Ogre Magi
Omniknight
Oracle
Outworld Devourer
Phantom Assassin
Phantom Lancer
Phoenix
Puck
Pudge
Pugna
Queen of Pain
Razor
Riki
Rubick
Sand King
Shadow Demon
Shadow Shaman
Shadow Fiend
Silencer
Slardar
Slark
Sniper
Spectre
Spirit Breaker
Storm Spirit
Sven
Techies
Templar Assassin
Terrorblade
Tidehunter
Timbersaw
Tinker
Tiny
Treant Protector
Troll Warlord
Tusk
Undying
Ursa
Vengeful Spirit
Venomancer
Viper
Visage
Warlock
Weaver
Windranger
Winter Wyvern
Witch Doctor
Wraith King
Zeus AbaddonAlchemistAncient ApparitionAxeBaneBatriderBeastmaster (BloodseekerBounty HunterBrewmasterBristlebackBroodmotherCentaur WarrunnerChaos KnightChenClinkzClockwerkDark SeerDazzleDeath ProphetDisruptorDragon KnightDrow RangerEarthshakerEarth SpiritElder TitanEmber SpiritEnchantressEnigmaGyrocopterHuskarInvokerIOJakiroJuggernautKeeper of the LightKunkkaLegion CommanderLeshracLichLifestealerLinaLone DruidLunaLycanMagnusMedusaMeepoMiranaMorphlingNaga SirenNature's ProphetNecrophosNight StalkerNyx AssassinOgre MagiOmniknightOracleOutworld DevourerPhantom AssassinPhantom LancerPhoenixPuckPudgePugnaQueen of PainRazorRikiRubickSand KingShadow DemonShadow ShamanShadow FiendSilencerSlardarSlarkSniperSpectreSpirit BreakerStorm SpiritSvenTechiesTemplar AssassinTerrorbladeTidehunterTimbersawTinkerTinyTreant ProtectorTroll WarlordTuskUndyingUrsaVengeful SpiritVenomancerViperVisageWarlockWeaverWindrangerWinter WyvernWitch DoctorWraith KingZeus
Item Application: subject to change
Quelling Blade:
Eul's Scepter of Divinity: Remove on a bunch of heroes
Magic Wand -> Change to Magic Stick or starting items to consider circlet
Mask of Madness: Revert back to old build
Observer Wards: Change starting items desc. to indicate buying both courier + wards
Refresher Orb: remove on
Vladmir's Offering: more included on utility heroes/supports
Aghanim's Scepter (Core/Situational/Extension):
Blink Dagger:
Boots of Travel:
Mask of Madness:
Enchanted Mango: Junglers? some midlaners and bottle holders
Glimmer Cape: for supports
Solar Crest: for utility heroes (situational)
Lotus Orb: tanky heroes?
Moon Shard: Carries/Str heroes/Bashers
Silver Edge: Gankers/S&Y who don't care for Yasha
Guardian Greaves: Supports/Utilities
Octarine Core: Nukers
Potential New Guides Quelling Blade:Eul's Scepter of Divinity: Remove on a bunch of heroesMagic Wand -> Change to Magic Stick or starting items to consider circletMask of Madness: Revertback to old buildObserver Wards: Change starting items desc. to indicate buying both courier + wardsRefresher Orb: remove onVladmir's Offering: more included on utility heroes/supportsAghanim's Scepter (Core/Situational/Extension):Blink Dagger:Boots of Travel:Mask of Madness:Enchanted Mango: Junglers?some midlaners and bottle holdersGlimmer Cape: for supportsSolar Crest: for utility heroes (situational)Lotus Orb: tanky heroes?Moon Shard: Carries/Str heroes/BashersSilver Edge: Gankers/S&Y who don't care for YashaGuardian Greaves: Supports/UtilitiesOctarine Core: Nukers subject to change
Sand King - Jungle
Windranger - Middle
[*] above are just initial thoughts, not accurate or reflective of upcoming changes[/list]
New color for patch 6.84 (dark solid purple plum)
Actual Schedule (CEST)
Day 1
- 8 to 12:00: Patch Analysis, information collecting (videos, opinions, etc.) + draft notes
- 12:00 to 12:30: Lunch
- 12:30 to 3:00: Title Changes + Date Updates for initial unchanged heroes (un/mentioned from the patch notes)
- 3:00 to 5:30: Narrow and apply initial changes (descriptions, obvious skill builds) + finish my actual job
- 5:30 to 6:30: Dinner/Rest
- 6:30 to 10:30: Apply changes
- 10:30 onward: Rest and actual dinner
Day 2
- 10 to 11:00: Further application of items, updating descriptions.
Total Elapsed Time (including lunch/dinner): 27.5 hours Sand King - JungleWindranger - Middle[*] above are just initial thoughts, not accurate or reflective of upcoming changes[/list]New color for patch 6.84 (dark solid purple plum)- 8 to 12:00: Patch Analysis, information collecting (videos, opinions, etc.) + draft notes- 12:00 to 12:30: Lunch- 12:30 to 3:00: Title Changes + Date Updates for initial unchanged heroes (un/mentioned from the patch notes)- 3:00 to 5:30: Narrow and apply initial changes (descriptions, obvious skill builds) + finish my actual job- 5:30 to 6:30: Dinner/Rest- 6:30 to 10:30: Apply changes- 10:30 onward: Rest and actual dinner- 10 to 11:00: Further application of items, updating descriptions. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Sn0_Man Profile Joined October 2012 Tebellong 31252 Posts #3384 okay its simple
bfury = lets u hit multiple creeps at a time
maelstrom = lets u hit multiple creeps at a time
moon edge = nothing like that whatsoever. only attackspeed which is almost always less efficient than damage until you have a fair bit of damage already since you start with (100 + base agi) attackspeed. Moderator SCIENTISTS BAFFLED | 3275929302
TheYango Profile Joined September 2008 United States 10884 Posts #3385 I literally have no idea where the comparison of Moon Shard to Battlefury came from. Moderator
SpiritoftheTunA Profile Joined August 2006 United States 14545 Posts Last Edited: 2015-04-28 20:49:48 #3386 alch doesn't make a good candidate for moon shard at all; BAT difference doesn't make attack speed more efficient than damage, the optimal damage to attack speed ratio is completely independent of BAT
i guess he's one of the first heroes you think of for the efficient 7th slot feature though posting on liquid sites in current year
Sn0_Man Profile Joined October 2012 Tebellong 31252 Posts Last Edited: 2015-04-28 20:50:11 #3387 On April 29 2015 05:49 SpiritoftheTunA wrote:
alch doesn't make a good candidate for moon shard at all; BAT difference doesn't make attack speed more efficient than damage, the optimal damage to attack speed ratio is completely independent of BAT
However, alch does 6-slot the easiest which makes a permanent 60 ias without costing a slot suddenly attractive
E: yeah u edited on me However, alch does 6-slot the easiest which makes a permanent 60 ias without costing a slot suddenly attractiveE: yeah u edited on me Moderator SCIENTISTS BAFFLED | 3275929302
TheYango Profile Joined September 2008 United States 10884 Posts #3388 Yeah I'm pretty sure the reason you buy Moon Shard on Alch is because you hit 6 items so fast, but even then you have to weigh it against buying Aghas for people, lol. Moderator
Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts #3389 I'm just tired; so I am not thinking straight - I saw BF and MS at the same cost and made the connection (killing creeps at an incredible rate -> works to the late-game [dissolves or use for the fast attack speed].
I will be clocking out for tonight. Started at 8 - ending at 10:30 --- Will continue tomorrow. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts #3390 Just woke up; going to work and will slip in probably another 40-50 changes while working. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts #3391 Still chugging along, please check 6.84 inquiries (its at the end of the patch notes) for things I'm unsure about. Overall; I love how these items create another of late-game potential, but also fill gaps for a lot of heroes I felt were trap in one build or another. I think I am excited most for Silver Edge and Solar Crest.
I should be done in 2 hours if I go at this pace. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Doomblaze Profile Joined October 2010 United States 389 Posts #3392 At first glance I would say no for all of your inquiries.
In Mushi we trust
TheYango Profile Joined September 2008 United States 10884 Posts Last Edited: 2015-04-29 18:13:34 #3393 Alchemist - Lotus Orb instead of Black King Bar in Situational Items?
Why? The items don't really serve an overlapping function, so why would this cross your mind as a direct replacement?
Why? The items don't really serve an overlapping function, so why would this cross your mind as a direct replacement? Moon Shard to Situational Items?
You could but it's pretty much just a "I have no slots left and am buying Moon Shards to eat them" scenario, and anyone who doesn't know to do that when they have 10k gold banked on 6 items is losing games because they don't know to do that.
You could but it's pretty much just a "I have no slots left and am buying Moon Shards to eat them" scenario, and anyone who doesn't know to do that when they have 10k gold banked on 6 items is losing games because they don't know to do that. Death Prophet Glimmer Cape, Core Items?
What function does Glimmer Cape serve that DP wants as core?
What function does Glimmer Cape serve that DP wants as core? Doom Enchanted Mango for Jungling?
No. Mango's cost-efficiency is shit if you're using the mana just to farm (150 gold for 150 mana is terrible, lol). It's for heroes that use the regen and then can use the mana in a pinch, but Doom jungle is just going to be farming.
No. Mango's cost-efficiency is shit if you're using the mana just to farm (150 gold for 150 mana is terrible, lol). It's for heroes that use the regen and then can use the mana in a pinch, but Doom jungle is just going to be farming. Doom Shift to carry build: Silver Edge, Moon Shard?
I don't know what would prompt this change, the items aren't especially good for him.
I don't know what would prompt this change, the items aren't especially good for him. Dragon Knight Glimmer Cape?
It's situationally good because it's disassemble-able so if it's a game for Lothar's, the casual cloak is not terrible.
It's situationally good because it's disassemble-able so if it's a game for Lothar's, the casual cloak is not terrible. Legion Commander Silver Edge worthwhile? Shadow Blade still has a mana cost that chips off LC.
Lothar's LC was already bad and Silver Edge doesn't make it better.
Lothar's LC was already bad and Silver Edge doesn't make it better. Lone Druid Mjollnir still good on Bear or just rush Moon Shard first (thus Moon Shard is Extension)?
LD is like the opposite of a Moon Shard hero.
Moon Shard is not really an effective item outside of situational night vision extension and the eat-them-at-6-items case. Outside of that it's just 2 Hyperstones for the cost of 2 Hyperstones--it doesn't provide any distinct function that lets you do anything special. LD has a second unit that scouts for him and has 12 item slots which means he's the least likely carry to need either of those. LD is like the opposite of a Moon Shard hero.Moon Shard is not really an effective item outside of situational night vision extension and the eat-them-at-6-items case. Outside of that it's just 2 Hyperstones for the cost of 2 Hyperstones--it doesn't provide any distinct function that lets you do anything special. LD has a second unit that scouts for him and has 12 item slots which means he's the least likely carry to need either of those. Moderator
Logo Profile Joined April 2010 United States 4242 Posts Last Edited: 2015-04-29 18:57:48 #3394 Would Guardian Greaves be a good extension or situational item for Dark Seer? He already is sort of agnostic to boot choice and usually gets a mek so it's not a stretch to go up to the greaves. It still seems like BoTs is a better extension, but the 15 armor for heroes under 20% seems pretty interesting.
At the very least in games with dispellable silences it seems really useful.
It also seems like Oct core would possibly be more useful for Necro than Lotus? You're potentially talking about big HP boosts on Necro every 3.75s (not to mention the faster healing of allies) and a massive recovery from ult targets. Logo
Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts Last Edited: 2015-04-29 21:37:52 #3395 Guides have been drafted new changes. When the new patch hits; I will replace the placeholder items and put in the proper ones.
Inquiries are updated as well if everyone wants to take a look. Will read replies shortly, creating Reddit thread then going home as I am still at the office.
When the new patch hits; I will replace the placeholder items and put in the proper ones.Inquiries are updated as well if everyone wants to take a look. Will read replies shortly, creating Reddit thread then going home as I am still at the office. Total changes made (includes text/description. updates): approx. 400 changes
109 Guides changes applied
35 Guides remain unchanged
Actual Schedule (CEST)
Day 1
- 8 to 12:00: Patch Analysis, information collecting (videos, opinions, etc.) + draft notes
- 12:00 to 12:30: Lunch
- 12:30 to 3:00: Title Changes + Date Updates for initial unchanged heroes (un/mentioned from the patch notes)
- 3:00 to 5:30: Narrow and apply initial changes (descriptions, obvious skill builds) + finish my actual job
- 5:30 to 6:30: Dinner/Rest
- 6:30 to 10:30: Apply changes
- 10:30 onward: Rest and actual dinner
Day 2
- 10 to 11:00: Further application of items, updating descriptions.
Total Elapsed Time (including lunch/dinner): 27.5 hours https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Sn0_Man Profile Joined October 2012 Tebellong 31252 Posts #3396 all of ur glimmer cape suggestions and 80% of ur other ones are bad Moderator SCIENTISTS BAFFLED | 3275929302
Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts Last Edited: 2015-04-29 21:40:03 #3397 On April 30 2015 06:23 Sn0_Man wrote:
all of ur glimmer cape suggestions and 80% of ur other ones are bad
I am walking home, but specifics would be appreciated.
For most new item changes; I was cautious to leave it situational and will slowly remove them; similar as I did for Bottle when it was changed in recent patches. I am walking home, but specifics would be appreciated.For most new item changes; I was cautious to leave it situational and will slowly remove them; similar as I did for Bottle when it was changed in recent patches. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Torte de Lini Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 7680 Posts #3398 On April 30 2015 03:42 Logo wrote:
Would Guardian Greaves be a good extension or situational item for Dark Seer? He already is sort of agnostic to boot choice and usually gets a mek so it's not a stretch to go up to the greaves. It still seems like BoTs is a better extension, but the 15 armor for heroes under 20% seems pretty interesting.
At the very least in games with dispellable silences it seems really useful.
It also seems like Oct core would possibly be more useful for Necro than Lotus? You're potentially talking about big HP boosts on Necro every 3.75s (not to mention the faster healing of allies) and a massive recovery from ult targets.
Good idea, it would stop the Bloodstone chanting I get a lot about the guide. Will definitely look into it when I get home.
For Dark Seer, I figured so as well, but was unsure in terms of priority. Good idea, it would stop the Bloodstone chanting I get a lot about the guide. Will definitely look into it when I get home.For Dark Seer, I figured so as well, but was unsure in terms of priority. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
tehh4ck3r Profile Joined August 2013 Magrathea 5720 Posts #3399 tinker should get upgraded travel boots at some point Administrator In those days, spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
Sn0_Man Profile Joined October 2012 Tebellong 31252 Posts #3400 Alchemist Lotus Orb instead of Black King Bar in Situational Items? No
Alchemist Moon Shard to Situational Items? No
Juggernaut revert back to old build (max spin)? no comment
Juggernaut Remove Mask of Madness, include battlefury? no comment
Centaur Warrunner Prioritization of Heaven's Halberd, Pipe of Insight and Aghanim's Scepter is unsure. Most games blink aghs bkb or blink bkb aghs
Death Prophet Glimmer Cape, Core Items? NO
Doom Enchanted Mango for Jungling? no
Doom Shift to carry build: Silver Edge, Moon Shard? no
Dragon Knight Glimmer Cape? no
Faceless Void How to build up his attack speed? same as always
Invoker New Skill Build? no
Legion Commander Silver Edge worthwhile? Shadow Blade still has a mana cost that chips off LC. no
Lone Druid Mjollnir still good on Bear or just rush Moon Shard first (thus Moon Shard is Extension)? never moon shard
Meepo Glimmer Cape or is that just a cutesy/novel idea? no
Mirana Chang Mirana's Skill Build to be less noob-friendly, but more expected way to be played? dunno what skill build is
Naga Siren Aghanim's Scepter situationally worthwhile for Naga Siren? technically support naga makes 42% heal in full ult but no its bad
Nature's Prophet Aghanim's Scepter still sounds iffy, thoughts? bad
Nature's Prophet Glimmer Cape for Core - Pusher? NO
Night Stalker Aghanim's Scepter is decent, but I find it isn't prioritized. it should be
Oracle Eul's Scepter Situational? no
Oracle Solar Crest Core? NO
Skywrath Mage Can't find anything to really change for him, neither as midlane or roamer, suggestions? isnt he fine
Sniper Nothing to really change? He's just been nerfed + Mask of Madness nerf. mom is probably bad now since u relied on that MS really badly
Templar Assassin Glimmer Cape as Situational Items? NO
Undying Lotus Orb situational? Any validity in that? actually the stats are good on undying but the item is permanently situational
Ursa Item build needs massive reworking since his ult and strength no longer accounted for. not really u still build blink bkb hex/basher with lifesteal in there often. its not like skadi is bad just because the hp doesnt give u damage its still good
Ursa Thinking Solar Crest could have a higher priority of core or extension... no
Viper Glimmer Cape core instead of Mekansm? Magic Resist not really needed however. no
Weaver Max Geminate Attack now? no
Windranger Change to Slahser's Build? yes Moderator SCIENTISTS BAFFLED | 3275929302
Prev 1 168 169 170 171 172 371 NextLoners and antisocial kids who reject other children are often bullied at school -- an accepted form of punishment from peers as they establish social order. Such peer victimization may be an extreme group response to control renegades, according to a new study from Concordia University published in the Journal of Early Adolescence.
"For groups to survive, they need to keep their members under control," says author William M. Bukowski, a professor at the Concordia Department of Psychology and director of its Centre for Research in Human Development. "Withdrawn individuals threaten the strong social fabric of a group, so kids are victimized when they are too strong or too antisocial. Victimization is a reaction to anyone who threatens group harmony."
Bukowski notes that the word victimization is related to the word for sacrifice and speculates the term remains relevant in establishing modern dynamics among kids. "Peers who are victimized are sacrificed for the survival of the group."
The study, which focused on 367 English-speaking kids enrolled in grades five and six at public schools in Montreal, was undertaken to gain better insight into what makes some kids popular while others are perceived as victims or bullies.
The research team focused on social versus physical aggression among kids. "Using aggression in ways that are acceptable by peers is critical in children keeping their social status and, in turn, their social dominance," says Bukowski, noting physical attractiveness and personality traits could also influence peer standing. "We found dominant children used organized, instrumental types of relational aggression to position themselves."
To ascertain whether kids were leaders, victims or bullies, Bukowski and his team asked participants -- 176 boys and 191 girls -- to rate same gender peers on 17 characteristics. Bullies, for instance, were characterized as kids "who says bad things behind other people's backs; who purposely keep others out of their group; who tell friends they'll stop liking them unless they do what they want."
Alpha-kids were described as "someone who others kids usually follow; someone who is often a leader; someone who always get their own way."
Victims, for their part, were described as "someone who gets hit or kicked by other kids; someone who gets beaten up by other kids; someone who gets ignored; someone who other kids say mean things about behind their back."
Bukowski, who observed many instances of peer victimization in his previous career as a math teacher in elementary and high-schools, says educators and parents can help protect children from being victimized and prevent alpha-kids from becoming bullies.
"No one wants to blame the victim, so teachers and parents always focus on bullies, but it's important to treat symptoms in peer victimization and not only the causes," he says.
To prevent victimization in classrooms and help neutralize bullying, teachers should foster egalitarian environments, where access to power is shared, he continues. "Parents and educators should also encourage children who are withdrawn to speak up and assert themselves."
This study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
The paper, "Peer Victimization and Social Dominance as Intervening Variables of the Link Between Peer Liking and Relational Aggression," published in The Journal of Early Adolescence, was authored by Ryan E. Adams, a former Concordia postdoctoral fellow who is now at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, Nancy H. Bartlett, who received her PhD at Concodia and is now at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, and William M. Bukowski of Concordia University in Quebec.- Sunday's episode of Total Divas drew 1.405 million viewers, up 32% from last week's 1.068 million viewers. This is also up from the 914,000 viewers on February 15th.
- Indie wrestler and promoter Mike Dombrowski will be on the upcoming season of CBS' The Amazing Race with his girlfriend Rochelle Nevedal, who competes and co-owns a Michigan women's Roller Derby promotion. The last season of the show featured TNA's Brooke Tessmacher and Robbie E.
- As a part of WWE's deal to bring WrestleMania 31 week to Santa Clara, they are getting Levi's Stadium and the SAP Center rent-free. WrestleMania will be held at Levi's Stadium while the Hall of Fame and RAW will be held at the SAP Center.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Subscribe to The Wrestling Observer by clicking here. Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus history pieces. New subscribers can also receive free classic issues.
PalePrincess4Life contributed to this article.Anyone who has ever lived in London knows that it is teeming with Indians, North Africans, Russians and Asians. The Britians are all ex-pats living in Hong Kong and -- if they are lucky enough to know something about oil (or tourism) -- are working in Rio de Janeiro. That's partially why by 2030, the United Kingdom's Christian population would have been overrun by Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, according to a report by the House of Commons. It's goodbye Jesus. Hello Buddha in the UK within a generation.
The House of Commons study found that while Christianity has declined, other religions have seen sharp increases in the flock. The Daily Mail gave a rundown of the numbers on Friday, actually: In the last six years, the Muslim population rose 37% to 2.6 million; Hindus by 43% and Buddhists rose most of all in percentage terms, up by 74%. The numbers of Christians and Jews fell slightly, according to the report.
That has a few Members of Parliament getting their Bible Belt Republican on. A group called Christians in Parliament said that public policy was promoting "unacceptable" discrimination against Christians. Where is News of the World where you need them!? This is a cover story! On Friday, the group's chairman, former Tory justice minister Gary Streeter, said Christians were being "steamrollered" in British society by rabid secularism. They found that in 2010 there were around 41.1 million Christians in Britain, a 7.6% drop since 2005. There were around 13.4 million atheists and agnostics, up 49% over the same period.
The number of Christians around the world has nearly quadrupled in the last 100 years, from about 600 million in 1910 to more than 2 billion in 2010, according to an extensive study on global Christianity, published by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in December. (For full Pew report click here.) Nevertheless, the world’s overall population also has risen rapidly, from an estimated 1.8 billion in 1910 to 6.9 billion in 2010. As a result, Christians make up about the same portion of the world’s population today (32%) as they did a century ago (35%).
This apparent stability masks a geographic shift in today's Christians. Although Europe and the Americas still are home to a majority of the world’s Christians, around 63% today compared to 93% in 1910, the faith has grown enormously in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, where there were relatively few Christians in 1910. The share of the population that is Christian in sub-Saharan Africa climbed from 9% in 1910 to 63% in 2010, while in the Asia-Pacific region it rose from 3% to 7%. Christianity today – unlike a century ago – is as global as Buddha, if not more so.
I found the article on The Times of India on Monday. The best part about the read was skimming the 1,000+ comments. Here are a few. (I mean, what else would you expect from a story like this one...)
Many Centuries ago, an Evil Muhammad (Curse Be Upon Him) sunk himself to solve the mystery of God....Every country faces division or fights for Islamic freedom wherever Muslim viruses are there. Islam is the Curse of the Devil Allah and Rapist Killer Muhammad!! -- WorldPeace 2020. Of course. What else would the writer call himself?
To ppl who claim atheism is the best, read Times of India report, "One in three British teenage girls'sexually assaulted.'" This is the bad side of atheism. -- Payback Time. I guess he doesn't know any Massachusetts Catholic choir boys. I corrected his spelling of atheism in respect for the non-God.
NO THE FOLLOWERS OF THE FIRST MAN ON EARTH ADAM WERE "MUSLIMS". THE FOLLOWERS OF MOSES,JESUS,NOHA,KRISHNA,RAM(IF TRUE),BUDDHA ALL THE PROPHETS WERE MUSLIMS. -- Correction. This man is screaming mad. He obviously doesn't realize that the Muslim religion started after Christianity and is the newest of the three Middle Eastern religions. Which means that there was no such thing as a Muslim on Day One.
An aside - I wonder if Britain was ever 'Christian'. Their Bible is a version written by their king and not a religious authority. The royalty of Britain is even more jealous than the Biblical God.--Aurav. Touché. White gloves being put back on hands.
And lastly...don't worry Christians, even the Hindus no longer have faith the size of a mustard seed.
I was once a hardcore Hindu but slowly & surely my belief in my faith & religion as a whole has gone down. Everything is not that as it seems!--Aparna
See: The World Map Of Christian Religion--PewRobbie Robertson is a Canadian born musician, singer, songwriter, recording artist, producer, and founding member guitarist of the sixties rock band, The Band. He was born to father Alexander Klegerman, and mother Rosemarie Chrysler, July 5, 1943. His father was Jewish, his mother was predominantly of Mohawk ancestry. His father died when he was very young and his mother remarried James Robertson and he took that surname. Robbie spent summers with his mother’s family at Six Nations of the Grand First Nations. It was there that he began learning guitar and was exposed to music of his ancestors and the love of music itself.
Robbie Robertson – Somewhere Down The Crazy River
By the time he was 15 he was a professional musician. At 16 he dropped out of school to play and tour with local Toronto band, The Hawks, who he played with in the early Sixties. By the late Sixties he was playing with members that eventually came to be known as The Band, with Ronnie Hawkins, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson. The Band produced several hits and songs for movies including, “The Weight”, “Tears of Rage”, “Up on Cripple Creek”, “The Shape I’m In”, “Stage Fright”, “Time To Kill”, “Life Is A Carnival”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and many others.
httpv://youtu.be/_itfx4Muvas
Tweets by @r0bbier0berts0n
Robertson was with The Hawks in 1966 when they toured with Bob Dylan and he later played on Blonde On Blonde with Dylan. He recorded and toured with The Band from 1968 to 1976, including playing at Woodstock in the summer of 1969. By 1976 though, he decided to stop touring with The Band and began to work with other projects including producing two Albums for Neil Diamond. In 1979-80 he co-stared in, and wrote the music for, the film “Carney” with Gary Busy and Jodie Foster. He helped produce and wrote music for the 1983 Martin Scorsese film, “The King of Comedy”. He produced and played guitar on Van Morrison’s “Wonderful Remark” and wrote music for the score of Scorsese’s 1986 film, “The Color of Money”.
Full Robbie Robertson Playlist starting with Mahk Jchi – Heartbeat Drum Song
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA65KmOBTDw&feature=share&list=RD02smNaTGabsQI
He also worked with Scorsese on the films, “Gangs of New York”, “Casino”, and “The Departed.” Through the 1980’s and 90’s he did several solo projects, contributed to Phil Lesh’s solo album, “Phil Lesh And Friends” in 1994, as well as more movie work with Scorsese. He was inducted into the1994 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work in The Band. He took home Song of the Year at the 1997 Grammy’s for “Change The World”. In 2005 he released his solo album, “How To Become Clairvoyant” with contributions from Steve Winwood and Trent Reznor. He continues to the present working with such notables as Eric Clapton, Jerry Lee Lewis, Martin Scorcesse, David Geffen, and others. He has received too many lifetime achievement awards and honors to mention. He continues to work, write, perform and play to this day.Wealthy suburbs targeted by gang BLAIR ENSOR AND PAUL EASTON
Relevant offers
They would knock on the door in the guise of looking at a car for sale – and if no-one was home they would strip the house of valuables.
A sophisticated group of criminals targeted wealthy Wellington suburbs in a series of audacious daylight burglaries.
After they were caught they threatened the children of police officers.
Two of the group were sentenced in Wellington District Court yesterday.
The gang staked out houses, often while the occupants were at work, before sending a well-dressed "door-knocker" to check if anyone was home.
Empty homes were stripped of valuables, including high-end electronics, jewellery, and laptops.
Suburbs targeted included Ngaio, Khandallah and Eastbourne, and the group burgled 14 homes from September to November 2010, Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Dunn said.
Police used toughened |
at the apartment complex continued, more and more residents showed up to protest the murder. The cops claim the crowd started throwing rocks and bottles at them. Witnesses to the confrontation deny this, but no one denies what happened next--the police moved against defenseless protesters, firing pepper spray and rubber bullets.
Shocking video of the police attack, aired on KCAL News, not only shows police officers opening fire on the unsuspecting crowd, but an officer releasing a police dog on a young woman, Susan Lopez, and her one-month old baby. After biting at Lopez's arm, the dog lunges for another young man and his child as the child's stroller goes flying. The man holds up his arm to protect his young child, and you can see the dog bite him as people try to restrain it.
THE NEXT day, residents of the Latino neighborhood where Diaz was shot were still reeling from shock and disgust as they gathered near the scene of the murder. Young men and women pointed to the still-visible blood on the lawn where Diaz had been executed. Others placed candles near a makeshift altar.
"People think: Today he got shot, tomorrow, it could be me. Who's next?" said Mari. "That's why people want to do something."
A young man, Eddie, added: "Yeah, they want us to be intimidated, but they're not going to intimidate us."
People who were there when the cops opened fire the night before reported that multiple people had been injured from the rubber bullets, including a 13-year-old who fainted from the injury while onlookers tried desperately to get him medical attention.
Jose Aguilar, the father of Susan Lopez, who was attacked by the police dog along with her infant child, was one of the people swept up in the assault. He was arrested and is being held on trumped-up charges, with bail reportedly set at $50,000.
By midday, protesters had gathered at the Anaheim Police Station to express their outrage. They marched into the building to demand answers, chanting "No justice, no peace" and "Justice for Manuel."
The two police killings in Anaheim last weekend are the latest in what residents describe as a dramatic increase in officer-related shootings--there have been six already this year, said protesters.
Some of the people who gathered at the police station on Sunday have been organizing to bring attention to the cops' violence. Two groups, Anaheim's Cruzaders and Kelly's Army, were formed to bring attention to the police shooting of Caesar Cruz in 2009 and the brutal beating death of Kelly Thomas in 2011 in nearby Fullerton. Theresa Smith, Caesar Cruz's mother, has been organizing weekly vigils for the last two years in front of the police department to get justice for her son, a father of five.
At the Sunday protest, Susan Lopez was still visibly shaken from being attacked the night before by the police dog--and worried about her father-in-law Jose Aguilar, who was still behind bars.
"After yesterday, I lost all respect for the police," Lopez said. "The police attacked innocent women and children with rubber bullets and a dog. The dog attacked me and my baby, and then went after another man who had a small child. What they did was awful! How far are they going to go?"
Another young man who lives nearby, Abel Lopez, came out to the protest after hearing about what happened. "They think they can just come into our neighborhoods and shoot people," he said. "We're outraged about the lack of justice. The police are supposed to be here to protect us, but they are hurting us. They think they can get away with treating communities of minorities this way."
The killings in Anaheim are another example of the police abuse and violence that low-income and minority communities are subjected to on a daily basis across this country.
But Anaheim is also an example of resistance. Residents who have been organizing for the last two years against Anaheim killer cops can come together with others who want an end to police brutality and provide support to help the latest victims bring their stories to light--and organize to get justice.Finding a job sometimes feels impossible. Enduring an endless cycle of Google searches, resumes, and cover letters can leave you thinking everyone is after the same jobs you are. That's actually true in Italy, where thousands of people apply for any government position that comes up, and endure the rigorous tests needed to land one.
Michele Borzoni captures the impossible odds in *Open Competitive Examinations, *his photo series documenting the entrance exams that draw hundreds of people to gymnasiums, concert halls, and sporting arenas around the country. Each of them wants to be a police officer, teacher, or nurse. They face long odds. “It’s more like a lottery rather than an exam,” Borzoni says. “Ten thousand people looking for 14 places? To get a job, you need to be really lucky, instead of really good at what you’re doing.”
Italy never truly recovered from the 2008 recession, and its national debt and unemployment rate keep rising. Today, almost 12 percent of Italians are unemployed, and the rate among those under 25 is almost 40 percent. Many people look to government jobs, but there aren’t enough to go around. Applicants must face three or four rounds of tests and interviews, and Borzoni estimates that only one-third of applicants pass the first exam.
Borzoni grew up in Florence and saw friends and classmates struggle to find work. Open Competitive Examinations and his larger project Workforce reveal the obstacles of earning a living in Italy. He photographed preliminary tests for two years starting in 2014. Borzoni worked with a medium format film camera, standing from a high vantage point like bleachers or a ladder so he could take in the entire scene. But he wants it to be about more than a sea of people. “I photographed them as a big group of numbers, but I know that they have names, they have stories to tell,” Borzoni says.
Only a lucky few land a job. Everyone else continues the search.DUBLIN — The $36 million aquatic park that was being built during one of the state’s worst droughts finally has an opening date this May.
Related Articles Dublin: Despite drought, mega water park moves ahead
Dublin Swim Center closes for public use as city prepares for new water park
Dublin: Mega water park ‘The Wave’ set to open in May
Dublin unveils ‘wow factor’ of mega water park Construction of the 31,000 square-foot aquatics center, called “The Wave” at Emerald Glen Park, is set to finish this month and will have a grand opening May 27 following a May 19 ribbon cutting ceremony.
The timing of the facility, which will use about 480,000 gallons of water to fill its multiple pools, slides and splashy playground, gathered the attention of many while California experienced one of the worst droughts in decades.
At the height of the drought, which prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state emergency, Dublin residents flooded City Hall with requests to nix or scale back the project, which was approved in February 2015.
The facility will have six water slides, three pools, a water playground and a 2,000-seat outdoor performing arts center. Swim and exercise classes will be offered year-round. One indoor pool will have a roof much like a giant skylight that will help reduce evaporation.
The City Council will review updates on construction and grand opening plans at its Tuesday meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at 100 Civic Plaza.If you thought your pricey Benz or Bimmer had escaped the rash of recent hacks affecting Chrysler and GM cars, think again.
When security researcher Samy Kamkar revealed a bug in GM’s OnStar service last month that allowed a hacker to hijack its RemoteLink smartphone app, he warned that GM wouldn’t be the only target in an increasingly internet-connected auto industry rife with security flaws. Now Kamkar’s proven himself correct: He’s found that the internet services of three other carmakers suffer from exactly the same security issue, which could allow hackers to unlock vehicles over the internet, track them in some cases, and even remotely start their ignitions.
Over the last week, Kamkar has analyzed the iOS apps of BMW’s Remote, Mercedes-Benz mbrace, Chrysler Uconnect, and the alarm system Viper’s Smartstart, and found that all of those internet-connected vehicle services are vulnerable to the attack he used to hack GM’s OnStar RemoteLink app. “If you’re using any of these four apps, I can automatically get all of your log-in information and then indefinitely authenticate as you,” says Kamkar. “These apps give me different levels of control of your car. But they all give me some amount of control.”
Julian Berman for WIRED
Kamkar’s attack, which he first revealed to WIRED last month, uses a $100 homemade device he calls OwnStar, in a reference to GM’s OnStar and the hacker slang “to own”—or take control—of a target. Plant the device somewhere under a car’s body, and it can impersonate a familiar Wi-Fi network and trick a driver’s phone into connecting to it. When the driver uses his or her OnStar RemoteLink app within Wi-Fi range, the OwnStar device takes advantage of an authentication flaw in how the RemoteLink app implements SSL encryption, allowing the small box—little more than a Raspberry Pi computer and a collection of radios—to intercept the user’s credentials and send them over a cellular connection to the hacker. From then on, the hacker can do everything a legitimate OnStar customer can do, including locating, unlocking, and remotely starting his or her car.
Here’s Kamkar's video of OwnStar in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3olXUbS-prU&feature=youtu.be
GM quickly responded to WIRED’s story about OwnStar with a software patch, requiring all its RemoteLink users to update. But Kamkar has now updated his OwnStar device to also intercept the credentials of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, and Viper's apps. However, unlike his OnStar hack, which he tested on a 2013 Chevy Volt, he hasn’t been able to try any of the stolen credentials from his tests on actual vehicles. He says he’s also holding off on releasing the code for his revamped attack to give the four companies a chance to fix their security problems.
Those four apps each have different capabilities that could allow a hacker using OwnStar to pull some nasty pranks or even break into a compromised vehicle. All four iOS apps allow remote locking and unlocking. The BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Viper apps all allow the car to be located and tracked, too. And all but the Viper app allow a vehicle's ignition to be remotely started, though as with GM vehicles, it's likely the driver's key would have to be physically present to put the car into gear and drive away.
Viper didn't respond to a request for comment, saying it hoped to speak with Kamkar to learn more details about his work. But a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson wrote in an email to WIRED that "we don’t want to engage in speculation about potential hacks (often the result of extreme manipulation) that have very little likelihood of occurring in the real world and create unnecessary concern." A BMW spokeperson wrote in a statement that its apps "conform to the same industry standards as other apps that use SSL-encrypted communication with a backend, such as online banking apps." The statement added that "a man-in-the-middle attack on client-server communication can never be completely ruled out, but is virtually impossible to carry out and the probability of such a specific attack in everyday life is highly unlikely." (On that "virtually impossible" claim, Kamkar disagrees, reiterating that he has intercepted credentials from the company's app, and has even used the same attack to unlock an actual GM car last month.)1
A spokesperson for Chrysler parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles wrote that the company takes cybersecurity seriously but that "FCA US opposes irresponsible disclosure of explicit 'how to' information that can help criminals gain unauthorized access to vehicles and vehicle systems." He added that "to our knowledge, there has not been a single real world incident of an unlawful or unauthorized remote hack into any FCA vehicle."
Chrysler actually has seen at least one recent "real-world" hack of its vehicles. Security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated to WIRED last month they could use a different vulnerability in its vehicles' Uconnect computers to wirelessly hijack a 2014 Jeep Cherokee over the internet. Chrysler responded with a recall of 1.4 million vehicles. Patching that Uconnect flaw requires the vehicles' owners to manually install a software update via their cars' and trucks' USB ports.
Luckily, protecting vehicles from Kamkar's OwnStar attack is much easier: It only requires the carmakers to update their apps in Apple's app store. But unlike GM, none of the four other affected automakers have yet committed to doing the same.
Kamkar says that he looked at 11 different automakers with remote unlocking and remote ignition apps, and has now found that five of them were vulnerable to his OwnStar interception trick. Given that those apps lack SSL authentication, which is a basic security measure, Kamkar says his research shows that automakers' cybersecurity efforts haven't kept up with their eagerness to connect cars to the internet. "We’re really only scratching the surface of the security of these vehicles," Kamkar says. "Who knows what will be found when researchers look further."
1Updated 8/15/2015 1pm EST with an added statement from BMW.by Tom Watson
Tomorrow marks 50 years since John F Kennedy’s inaugural presidential address. When David Cameron attends the Nordic conference on behalf of the nation later in the week, his handlers will no doubt try to mark the anniversary by enveloping him in Kennedy stardust. My hunch is that he will want to talk tough, as JFK sometimes did: “let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill”.
Cameron is still looking for international recognition equivalent to that of Blair and Brown and Thatcher. Those television images of statesmen shaking hands in exotic places are the particles of political legacies that politicians crave. In all of Cameron’s grasping hunt for glory, he can only dream of a legacy as enduring as JFK’s. Yet there is a grim reality for our prime minister, one that is only now beginning to reveal itself to him. If you want to leave a positive political legacy in the age of the internet, you probably have to be shot or spend 30 years in jail for a crime you didn’t commit.
And if you don’t believe me, think about the nearest thing the Labour party has to JFK, Tony Blair. That man used to walk on water. The day after tomorrow he will be at the Chilcot enquiry for the second time, wading through misery, as the detail of his decision to take us into Iraq is surgically examined. It wasn’t meant to be this way.
It’s probably an understatement to say that I’ve had disagreements with Mr Blair, but his humiliating second appearance before the committee in some way seems an unworthy way to treat a former prime minister.
And the juxtaposition of Tony Blair in the court of public opinion, on the same Friday as the criminal courts are expected to rule on whether terror suspect Abid Naseer is extradited to the USA, should not be lost. Mr Naseer stands accused of being an Al Quaeda operative.
I was at the TUC conference with Tony Blair on the day of 9/11. Al Quaeda operatives flew the planes into the twin towers. For Mr Blair, and for millions of UK citizens, things changed that day. There followed half a decade where the security apparatus of the state was strengthened, where our liberties were eroded to provide greater security to all.
Kennedy said:
“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage – and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty”.
Tony Blair, tempered by war, insisted that his people bear the burden of increased state security. Longer queues at airports, more CCTV, an increase in intelligence gathering, greater snooping powers were just part of his plan. No wonder Shami Chakrabarti became a household name.
David Cameron and Nick Clegg, for good or ill, are cutting back nearly all the measures that Tony Blair consciously introduced.
Their approach to the unravelling of the Blair security legacy is a mix of gusto, despair and shamefaced embarrassment.
They ditched ID cards with a fanfare. Many cheered. Few really cared.
They’re in despair over the ditching of control orders. And they don’t know what to do. And they look weak – are weak – because of it.
And they’re deeply embarrassed that the 28 days detention powers are to expire. I think of all those hours we spent arguing over whether we should support detention powers for 42 days, and how the argument was made that 28 days was an inadequate compromise. And now the Tory-led administration is ditching the measure. You probably didn’t know this. They have tried to sneak it out. But failed.
At 00.01 on Monday 24th January, 28 day detention powers expire. They revert to the previous limit of 14 days – not nearly enough time to forensically examine the contents of a terrorist’s encrypted hard disk drive.
The home secretary will not be making a statement to the House about this major change to the justice system. Parliament will not be told the views of security and intelligence gathering experts.
Doesn’t that strike you as peculiar? If she wants to change the policy, Theresa May should bring the matter to the House of Commons for debate. For as JFK also said: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate”. They’re running scared. They’re embarrassed and ashamed. This moment should not go unmissed.
So, like all things you hear from David Cameron, you have to check the rhetoric against the reality. He’s going to talk tough at his international conference but on security matters, his government is confused and weak. And one day, David Cameron will come to regret it.
Tom Watson is Labour MP for West Bromwich east.
Tags: 28 days detention, Chilcot enquiry, David Cameron, JFK, Tom Watson, Tony BlairToo-Early 2017 College Preview: Men’s Division
An early look at the top college programs.
With Club Nationals right around the corner, eyes are firmly fixed on what will transpire in Rockford, Illinois, with a new format and some tantalizing matchups. But the 2017 college season is already here, as many teams have started tryouts, held practices, and even traveled to early fall tournaments.
We take a look at the top 2017 college programs to watch in this Too-Early College Preview.
Minnesota Grey Duck
Notable Returners: Ben Jagt, Wyatt Meckler, Sam Bumstead
Notable Losses: Ryan Osgar, Soham Shah
The surprise 2016 National Champions lose their Callahan nominee Ryan Osgar, a superbly talented offensive player (27 assists at Nationals) and key leader in their run to the ‘ship. But you only need look to Grey Duck’s semifinal vs. Pittsburgh to see the depth they have.
Without Osgar, without talented handler Tristan Van de Moortele, without D-line standout Sam Bumsted, and without freshman phenom Cole Wallin, Grey Duck still managed to win the game. Of course, Ben Jagt had a little something to do with it. The gargantuan deep threat, along with John Stubbs, is an early favorite for 2017 Player of the Year, and he demonstrated why throughout Nationals. 23 goals and 17 assists don’t lie: he’s that dominant. Wyatt Meckler, Van de Moortele, and Sam Kaminsky form a platoon of incredibly talented handlers.
Massachusetts Zoodisc
Notable Returners: Ben Sadok, Connor Kline, Tannor Johnson
Notable Losses: Jeff Babbitt, Ben Tseytlin
Most teams would be ecstatic with a 28-4 overall record. UMass 2016 was not. An incredibly successful regular season saw them head into Nationals with the number one overall seed. They proceeded to severely disappoint, failing to win their pool and then losing to eventual champion Minnesota in prequarters.
Zoodisc 2017 aims to prove that their regular season dominance can and will extend to nationals. First, however, they’ll have to deal with the elephant in the room: how to replace Jeff Babbitt. The two-time Ultiworld Defensive POTY’s mere shadow made opposing handlers think twice about deep shots, and his absence in Zoodisc’s signature zone can’t be overstated. But even without Babbitt, this team should feel confident. Tannor Johnson is a bona fide superstar (as a sophomore, no less!), a terrifying combination of size, throws, and ultimate IQ.
Connor Kline, if anyone forgot, led 2015 Club Nationals in goals, while Ben Sadok and Brett Gramann (fresh off a summer with Doublewide) are perhaps the best 1-2 handler punch in the country. Zoodisc also features a cast of role players few other teams can match. Solomon Maerowitz-McMahan, Jeff Dreyfus, and Carlo Cincotta are all back and ready to help UMass prove that they are legitimate national title contenders.
Oregon Ego
Notable Returners: Adam Rees, Colton Clark, Connor Matthews
Notable Losses: Chris Strub, Will Watkins
2017 could very well be the year Ego finally gets the monkey off its back. Despite losing two veteran defenders and leaders in Chris Strub and Will Watkins, the core remains intact. Clark is perhaps the least-talked-about elite handler in the division, and his smooth throws more often than not are finding Rees or Matthews in the endzone.
Meanwhile, one of the best freshman classes in the country (last year) will only get better. Will Lohre and Xander Cuizon Tice especially will benefit from club playing experience with Johnny Bravo and Rhino, respectively. To top it all off, Oregon has the best incoming freshman class this side of Carleton, with U20 Worlds players Colby Chuck, Duncan Fitzgerald, and alternate Ted Sither being the most notable.
Proven leaders, great depth, and fantastic coaching (Jay Janin). This team is the real deal.
Wisconsin Hodags
Notable Returners: Avery Johnson, Ross Barker, Nick Ladas
Notable Losses: Craig Cox, Aaron Spiess
Wisconsin could have been in somewhat of a pickle if its seniors elected to not use their final year of eligibility. Luckily for the Hodags, all the big names are back.
Avery Johnson returns to lead the offense with smooth handling and veteran leadership. Ross Barker was perhaps the Dag’s best overall player in 2016, and has been a goal-scoring machine for Madison Club this summer. 2016 Callahan nominee Aaron Spiess won’t be easy to replace, but if anyone can do it, it’s Barker (15 goals at 2016 Nationals). Players like Nick Vogt, Eric von Kampen, and David Yu will also need to step into larger roles should Wisco hope to repeat its 2016 success. The top-end talent is undoubtably there, but the Hodags’ biggest key for success this year will be their depth. Upperclassman shouldered a lot of the Hodags’ heavy-lifting last season, perhaps at the expense of developing younger players. It will be those players, perhaps even more so than their superstars, that determine how successful the 2017 Hodags will be.
Of note: 13 players from the Hodags’ probable 2017 roster played together this summer on Mad Men. The chemistry developed there definitely won’t hurt.
North Carolina Darkside
Notable Returners: Matt Gouchoe-Hanas, Nathan Kwon, Walker Matthews
Notable Losses: JD Hastings, Aaron Warshauer
After a “rebuilding year” that saw them make the National semifinals, Darkside is only going to get better in 2017. While Warshauer (23G, 8A at Nationals) departs, the fact remains that Darkside wasn’t dependent on him and other graduating seniors for a successful 20171. That distinction belongs to their still-young core of Matt Gouchoe-Hanas, Nathan Kwon, Walker Matthews, and now-sophomore Elijah Long. While Darkside has certainly missed out on some of the top-end Carolina talent of late (Sol Yanuck, Dillon Lanier), they still consistently refill their coffers with talented and experienced freshman from the area.
With another year under their belt, and with experience on the (almost) biggest stage, Darkside is a legitimate title contender in 2017.
UNC Wilmington Seamen
Notable Returners: Jack Williams, Willie Stewart, Austin McGrayne(?)
Notable Losses: Xavier Maxstadt, Charlie Lian
Perhaps more than any other team, UNCW’s 2017 prognosis is dependent on what seniors (if any) return for a fifth year. Xavier Maxstadt and Charlie Lian — a pair of gunslingers that the Seamen based their offense around — are definitely gone. Maxstadt’s lack of fear in throwing unconventional throws opened up the whole field, and while it sometimes didn’t work out (see 2016 Nationals), when he was clicking, so was Wilmington.
Wilmington’s offense may have to change to be more conventional, as replacing Maxstadt is simply not going to happen. Willie Stewart and Grayson Sanner showed flashes of brilliance in 2016; both will be relied on heavily in 2017. The team will add former foe JD Hastings from UNC which will be a nice boost to the defense. Meanwhile, should McGrayne, Matt Mason, Erik Esposto, and/or Jake Gallagher return, this team’s potential skyrockets. Jack Williams is returning and is a potential POTY contender, and can take over games almost solely with his athleticism.
While returning all of those guys would be huge, Williams is far and away the keystone to a successful 2016 season for Wilmington.
Harvard Redline
Notable Returners: John Stubbs, Jonah Hahn, Milan Ravenell
Notable Losses: Mark Vandenberg, David Reshef, Alex Hem
The surprise of 2016, Harvard Redline rode stellar play from Mark Vandenberg (10G, 30A) and John Stubbs (26G, 26A) all the way to the National final. Any hope of returning to that hallowed ground left when Vandenberg declined to return for his 5th year.
Yes, Redline has the odds-on favorite for POTY in Stubbs, but one player can only do so much. Vandenberg and Stubbs had the chemistry and experience to single-handedly win games, as they showed over and over at Nationals last season. Big man Alex Hem, handler Ben Scharfstein, and utility man David Reshef were also incredibly important to Harvard’s run, and all will not be returning.
While this is undoubtedly still a very talented team, the odds of repeating their deep 2016 National runs are dim, at best. But, if we’ve learned one thing from the past season, it’s never doubt John Stubbs.
Carleton CUT
Notable Returners: Sol Yanuck, Jesse Bolton, Henry Fisher
Notable Losses: Justin Lim, Sef Van Kan
Much like UNC, CUT’s young core is finally coming into its own, and 2017 looks to be the year they cement themselves at the front of the pack. Perhaps more than other other college team, CUT benefits from incredible youth talent, especially from the Seattle area (and recently, the Triangle area). 2017 is no exception, as junior worlds players Dillon Lanier and Stanley Birdsong will both provide immediate impacts.
Looking up and down the CUT roster, it can be tough to find players who don’t have world-level experience. Sol Yanuck, Alex Olson, Natan Lee-Engel, Jake Ritmire, Jesse Bolton…the list goes on and on. Meanwhile, Henry Fisher and Eric Taylor, despite having no WJUC experience, both broke out for CUT in 2016 and should continue to dominate this season. Fisher is the classic deep cutter: fast, tall, and great in the air, while Taylor is a shutdown defender, and both will have only gotten better after playing the club season with Ring of Fire and Sub Zero, respectively.
Losing center handler Justin Lim would be devastating for 99% of teams in the division: don’t expect CUT to skip a beat.
Washington Sundodgers
Notable Returners: Khalif El-Salaam, Steven Benaloh, Tomas Delgado
Notable Losses: Cooper Schumacher (returning)
Phew! Don’t worry, Sundodger fans: Khalif returns for a fifth year, and with him returns Washington’s hopes and dreams. Not that the Sundodgers wouldn’t be competitive without him; they still have talented handlers like Benaloh and Delgado, and return the very talented but oft-injured DY Chen for a fifth year. But El-Salaam’s combination of leadership, athleticism, and throws simply can’t be replaced. More than once he has almost single-handedly willed his team to victory. With him, and Washington retaining all their key contributors, the team should finally be able to make a deep run at Nationals.
Georgia Jojah
Notable Returners: Parker Bray, Nathan Haskell, Sebbi Di Francesco
Notable Losses: Sam Little, Sheryar Ali
Losing Sam Little hurts, especially on the defensive side of the disc. But Georgia still has plenty of players capable of taking over games. Parker Bray was a revelation on offense last year, deftly facilitating the disc and dominating downfield. 2016 Ultiworld Breakout Player of the Year Nathan Haskell is only going to get better, but perhaps the biggest factor in Georgia’s success this season could be the return of a (finally) healthy Sebbi Di Francesco. After missing the entire 2016 Spring season with a torn ACL, the homegrown Di Francesco is back and more than capable of leading Jojah’s Dfrom the handler position. This team is a semis dark horse.
Pittsburgh En Sabah Nur
Notable Returners: Jonah Wisch, Dylan Best, Sam VanDusen
Notable Losses: Trent Dillon, Max Thorne, Pat Earles, Christian Pitts
More than any top team (besides Texas A&M), the expectations for Pittsburgh will be severely diminished in 2017. But we knew that.
Forget about trying to replace just the Callahan winner Trent Dillon; who can open the field up as well as Pat Earles? Who can combine a deadly assortment of throws with elite speed and ultimate IQ like Max Thorne? Losing any one of those guys would devastate most teams in the country; lose all three and it’s a wonder En Sabah Nur didn’t just spontaneously combust immediately after taking that double game point semis loss.
But it’s not all gloom and doom. While their top players chewed up a lot of the big minutes the past three seasons, there remain a number of talented role players that will need to step into the blinding spotlight. Andrew Lehmberg and Dylan Best served as sure-handed deep targets on offense in 2016; they’ll be expected to lead the O in 2017. Saul Graves will dominate the disc on defense, looking for big targets Kyle Hartley and Mike Ing (fresh off a season with Philly AMP). Sam Van Dusen and Carl Morgenstern will return and give Pitt some sorely-needed veteran leadership.
But honestly? It’s impossible to predict what this team will look like in 2017; it’s just so markedly different than any in recent memory. It’s the end of an era in Pittsburgh; we’ll see how Nick Kaczmarek and co. handle it.
Colorado Mamabird
Notable Returners: Mark Rauls, Wes Chow(?), Oak Nelson(?)
Notable Losses: Pawel Janas, Matt Bubernak, Jesse Fisher
Mamabird, much like UNCW, could benefit hugely from the return of a few fifth years. Oak Nelson, Wes Chow, and Jeremy Harker were all key components behind Mama’s surprise quarters run at Nationals, and without them, Colorado loses much of its depth. But regardless of who returns, make no mistake: this is Mark Rauls’ team.
The small, explosive handler is a nigh-impossible cover for most collegiate defenders; he’s even been giving defenders fits this club season playing for Johnny Bravo. Despite being a first-year player on the team, Rauls has carved out a spot on the Bravo O-line, and has helped Denver defy expectations on the way to a very successful regular season.
Rauls will be a legitimate POTY candidate in 2017, and could certainly be fighting with Stubbs, El-Salaam, and Jagt for the distinction at the end of the spring. His team, however, remains in question. Should the fifth years decline to return, Erik Hotaling and Isaac Chestler, two more Bravo newbies, will need to step up in a big way.
Texas TUFF
Notable Returners: Joel Clutton, Dillon Larberg, Logan Kinney
Notable Losses: None
What could have been a team struggling to stay in the national picture just took the leap to Regional favorite, simply due to the return of Joel Clutton and Dillon Larberg for 5th years. The two were TUFF’s best players in 2016, and, although they missed out on Nationals, they lose no major contributors. Few teams can match Texas’ height and athleticism; it’s been a lack of big throwers that has hampered their results in 2016. With Clutton, Larberg, and captain Logan Kinney returning, and with A&M falling off a cliff/Colorado’s future in doubt, 2017 could be the year of the TUFF.
Texas A&M Dozen
Notable Returners: Carter Hollo, Zach Marbach
Notable Losses: Dalton Smith, Ben Lewis
Put a fork in ‘em, they’re done.
While this will still be a competitive team, a return to Nationals seems highly unlikely for a team that has now lost the two players that formed the basis for their offense. Dalton Smith, perhaps more than any other player in the country, was his team’s offense. His plethora of break throws, hucks, and over-the-tops made the lives of Dozen’s cutters exponentially easier. Losing him is the equivalent of getting table-topped. Losing main cutter Ben Lewis is somebody kicking dirt in your eyes while you’re lying on the ground. It’s time to enter full-on rebuilding mode in College Station.
Central Florida Dogs of War
Notable Returners: Michael Fairley
Notable Losses: Austin Mercadante, Andrew McKelvey, Stuart Little (?), Kyle Reedy (?)
UCF, to put it lightly, is not what they once were. The old guard is gone, and with them went this team’s national title hopes. And while UCF might not be able to win it all this season, they nevertheless are more than capable of making it back to the big show. It’s going to fall to senior Michael Fairley to lead them there.
Fairley is (and has been since his freshman year) a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses, able to use his big frame to break the mark and sky defenders with ease. But he can’t do it alone, and a sizable class of departing seniors aren’t going to make it any easier. Should fifth-years Little and Reedy elect to return, this team will certainly be in the mix at Regionals. If not, the Dogs need someone to step up in big way, or risk missing Nationals in back-to-back years.
The Top 10What the city saves in back pay it may lose in goodwill from its police officers.
The DC Police Union and the city have been battling for six years over a new contract and pay raises for the cops. On Monday the city won.
An arbitrator approved the city’s offer of what the police union called “meager” raises going forward and scant back pay. Entry-level pay, stalled at $48,715 since 2007, will be pushed up above $50,000.
But what the District government won in avoiding back wages it may lose in goodwill from the cops, according to interviews with street officers.
“It shows very little respect for the rank and file,” says a veteran in the canine unit, who declined to speak on the record for fear of retribution. “We are out on the street every day and night. It’s clear the city government doesn’t appreciate what we do.”
The District’s police have been working without a contract since the last one expired in 2008. In collective bargaining negotiations, the Fraternal Order of Police had asked for retroactive pay raises of 3 percent from 2009 to mid-2013 and a 4-percent raise this year. The city offered a 4-percent raise in mid-2013 and no raise in 2014, according to the union. Under the new contract, police would receive 3-percent increases in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Most officers were expecting more back pay from the six years without raises, and their anger could affect their loyalty to DC, according to some cops. “People who can leave will start to get out now,” says a patrol officer. “They see the light.”
Outgoing union president Kristopher Baumann, a constant critic of Mayor Vincent Gray and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, sounded off.
“You have a mayor under criminal investigation that has actively worked to permanently damage law enforcement in the District,” Baumann told Washingtonian, “and everyone has stood by and watched him do it.”
Federal prosecutors are investigating Gray’s 2010 mayoral campaign, and four of his close aides have pleaded guilty to felonies, but Gray has been neither charged nor named as a target.
Gray spokesman Pedro Ribeiro responded in kind.
“If Mr. Baumann had not stood in the way, his members would have received raises years ago,” Ribeiro told Washingtonian. “After this disservice to his members, I can understand why he is embarrassed and seeking to shift blame to others.”
In a statement, Ribeiro reiterated that Baumann failed to accept “a generous and fair package of wage increases for his members.” Documents released by the arbitrator, however, show the District’s last best |
“disgrace” to the Department of Justice.
She also read from a letter written by King in March 1986, expressing her opposition to Sessions as a federal district court judge for the southern district of Alabama. “Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts,” King wrote.
A 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King about Senator Jeff Sessions’ failed judicial nomination.
“Mr Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.”
Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968; Coretta Scott King died in 2006 aged 78.
Warren was first interrupted by the presiding officer, at that point Senator Steve Daines of Montana, who said she was violating Senate rules. She protested that she was merely repeating the words of King and continued. Not long after, McConnell raised his objection.
“The Senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama,” he said. “I call the Senator to order under the provisions of Rule 19.”
Under Rule 19, senators are not allowed to “directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator”.
Jeff Sessions is no misunderstood southern gentleman. That's just an act | Vincent Warren Read more
Warren objected: “I am surprised that the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States Senate. I ask leave of the Senate to continue my remarks.”
McConnell objected to that request and the Republican-controlled Senate voted to shut down her appeals. She will not be allowed to speak from the floor until the end of Sessions’ nomination process; the vote is expected Wednesday evening.
McConnell later defended his actions. “Senator Warren was giving a lengthy speech,” he was quoted on Politico as saying. “She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”Let’s be honest. When most people think of Libertarian candidates, they picture nutjobs. Your local conspiracy theorist ranting against various American institutions doesn’t often rally voters, which is why there are so few elected Libertarians across the country, despite the party’s 45-year lifespan.
2016 might finally change all that. Libertarians are going from metaphorical lone gunmen to experienced leaders in very short order thanks to the likely presidential and vice presidential nominees.
Gary Johnson, the party’s frontronner and previous nominee, has announced his preference for his running mate, Bill Weld. Like Johnson himself, Weld is a former Republican governor of a deep blue state, Massachusetts. The two also share a proven fiscal conservative record despite governing in such hostile territory.
If Johnson and Weld do win their respective nominations at the Libertarian National Convention in just over a week, the party will be able to claim the most experienced ticket of any party in decades.
Weld’s resume is impressive enough on its own:
House Judiciary Committee counsel during Watergate
US Attorney, appointed by Reagan
led Criminal Division of Justice Dept, promoted by Reagan
two-term Governor of Massachusetts
nominated for Ambassador to Mexico by Clinton, but withdrew over political opposition
Libertarian nominee for Governor of New York
Add that to Johnson’s two terms as Governor of New Mexico and extensive business experience, and it will be almost impossible for the Republican or Democratic tickets to compete with the depth of executive and administrative experience Libertarians will put forth this year.
Unparalleled experience aside, there are at least two reasonable arguments against Johnson’s choice of Weld as his running mate. Johnson and Weld’s governing and ideological similarities might overlap too much.
VPs are often selected to fill gaps in the presidential nominee’s qualifications. It might have been more beneficial to choose someone with more legislative experience, or a better campaigner, or a different demographic selection.
While wholly irrelevant to actual governing, Hillary Clinton can claim to be the first woman president, if elected, and will likely have another minority as her running mate, HUD Secretary Julian Castro or New Jersey Senator Cory Booker being two high profile options. Johnson and Weld, while inarguably more qualified executively, will be two more old white men vying for the jobs.
Ideologically, Johson and Weld are almost identical. Both are proven fiscal conservatives, pro-choice, pro-LGBT equality, and anti-prohibition. The only significant difference is Weld’s more moderate Second Amendment stance, having signed several gun and ammunition restrictions as Governor.
Some might have advised Johnson to choose a running mate who could attract more conservative #NeverTrump voters instead of doubling down on his own left-libertarianism. While impossible logistically due to the way to the Libertarian Party chooses its nominees, fellow presidential candidate Austin Petersen as VP might have buttressed the right flank of the party with his pro-life stance and more strident religious liberty arguments.
Others might also argue that Johnson should have chosen a more anti-establishment figure in order to capitalize on the outsider sentiment holding aloft Trump and Sanders in this election. However, as the Republican nominee, Trump will likely have a lock on that voter block already; attempting to chip away at it would prove ineffective, as Ted Cruz found out. An experienced candidate like Weld gives an option to voters who would otherwise have only Hillary Clinton to look to for gravitas on the ballot.
In just over a week, the Libertarian Party will have its ticket. Unbound delegates go to the Miami convention and choose among the presidential and vice presidential candidates May 27-30. Johnson and Weld may not be the perfect choices, but they will almost certainly have the claim of the most executive experience of any party running in the 2016 election.Baltasar Kormakur, director of “Everest,” which opens the 72nd Venice Festival Wednesday, is teaming with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free on a TV adaptation of “Eve Online,” the hit sci-fi online game.
Project is set up at Kormakur’s RVK Studios and Scott Free. Set in a galaxy of 7,800 star systems more than 21,000 years in the future, “Eve Online” is a massive multi-player role-playing game. Per Kormakur, who purchased the “Eve Online” TV adaptation rights from publisher CCP Games, RVK and Scott Free are currently in talks with potential financiers with the aim of creating a series pilot.
Back on Earth, “Everest” stars Jason Clarke and Jake Gyllenhaal as Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, respectively, the climbers who in 1996 lead the teams in the real-life drama that inspired the film.
Shot in 3D with Dolby Atmos sound and bowing Sept. 18 in the U.S on Imax 3D and premium large format 3D screens, before going wide on standard 2D and 3D a week later, “Everest” is a character-driven movie which is “intimate but on a big-scale,” Kormakur told Variety before Venice.
“It’s important for cinema to keep on evolving, for people, and not only teenagers, to be able to go to a movie that has huge epic scope but has an intellectual and real story to tell,” said Kormakur.
Related New Regency Launches International TV Division With Scott Free Alum Ed Rubin SF Studios Preps English-Language Sci-Fi Series on Artificial Intelligence (EXCLUSIVE)
“That’s where cinema needs to invent itself and I think it’s doing it,” he added.
“We always wanted to make ‘Everest’ a spectacular movie,” said Tim Bevan, topper of at Working Title Films, which produced with Cross Creek Pictures, Universal Pictures, RVK Studios, Walden Media, Free State Pictures and Chromakey-Hire.com
“At a time that you’re fighting for an audience that seeks an absolute sense of being on top of the biggest mountain in the world, the 3D effects add to that considerably, making the mountain very real,” Bevan added, calling “Everest” an early autumn intelligent popcorn film.
“I really wanted to make Everest visceral, real,” Kormakur said. “One thing that amazed me when I was scouting in base camp is the volume of Everest: It’s humbling. I wanted to find a way to bring that to the screen. One way was 3D.”
Such was his drive for realism, Kormakur recounted, that the film’s production imported real snow from the Netherlands to use on scenes shot in the soundstages in the U.K.; a sound technician was sent to Everest to record the sound of the mountain.
Technology aside, “Everest” is certainly about something. Climbing a mountain is a good metaphor for anything, Kormakur said, saying “Everest” turned on ambition.
Hall and Fischer “became sponsored professional climbers, and then to be able to be on the mountain, where these men felt at home, created guiding businesses.”
“But it was the beginning of commercialization of Everest. And the more climbers up there, especially if not properly prepared, the worse it becomes,” he added.
“Everest” world premieres at the right time, Bevan argued. “If you look at the big screen format films that have historically come out at this time of year – “Gravity,” “Life of Pi” – the visual side is as important as the dramatic side, they don’t fit comfortably in the middle of summer but do in spring or autumn.”
Kormakur’s film also comes as “one of the fastest-growing areas of cinema exhibition” is Premium Large Format screen construction, whether digital Imax, MAXX, Barco Escape or Dolby Cinema, per a recent IHS Technology report. PLF screens soared by 16% second half 2014 to 1,628 worldwide.
For Bevan, big screen format films “is a risky area to be in since they tend to be one-off films. But if they do work, it’s very satisfying.”
Working Title does harbor ambitions to move up in scale, however. “We’d certainly like to make more movies for the intelligent popcorn slot on a slightly bigger budget,” said Bevan.
But for that to happen, “ ‘Everest’ has to work. You’re only as good as your last one,” Bevan acknowledged.WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Nerlens Noel #4 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks to pass during the first half against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center on October 6, 2015 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
The contemporary NBA is full of rebuilding teams, but none have taken that approach to the extremes of the Philadelphia 76ers. Whereas the likes of the Orlando Magic have attempted to build a long-term core and assess the resullts simultaneously, the Sixers and general manager Sam Hinkie have allowed their process to play out on the league's version of the geologic time scale. The franchise has now spent three offseasons collecting young players, highly rated rookies, and future considerations. Yet the Sixers figure to suit up just two or three players in 2015-16 who project as potential fixtures, and the two most exciting ones are big men who might not be able to play with each other. The progress has been minimal.
[Yahoo Fantasy Basketball: Sign up for a league today]
Scroll to continue with content Ad
That's not to say there will be nothing to like at the Wells Fargo Center this season. Second-year center Nerlens Noel had a very promising rookie season after sitting out all of 2013-14 and could develop into an elite defender. If Noel and No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor prove a decent fit inside, then the Sixers could also have a go-to scorer on the block to provide structure to what has been the league's least efficient offense for the past two seasons. And although celebrating the team's effort is a backhanded compliment given the results, head coach Brett Brown has ensured that Philadelphia's players approach games with a commitment out of step with the fact that Hinkie is likely to trade most of them the minute an offer involving a second-round pick reaches his desk.
Story continues
But let's be honest — even those most excited about the Sixers' future aren't that excited to watch them for 82 games. This team is better suited to imagination than reality, to the point where Hinkie's greatest supporters point to the expected 2016-17 arrival of Croatian forward Dario Saric (the No. 12 pick in 2015) and the likelihood of holding two very high picks next June (theirs and the Los Angeles Lakers' top-three-protected selection) as essential portions. By this rationale, Okafor and Noel, two players with a single season of professional play between them, are the givens. Put more perimeter talent around them and the whole team will presumably thrive.
The complicating factor for the Sixers is that most rebuilding processes encounter major hiccups, something that most teams figure out easily enough. The difference, of course, is that those teams often commit just one or two seasons to walking down dead-end streets instead of the eventual half-decade required to suss out merely the early potential of this project. As the Sixers have already learned from the second foot surgery (and questionably effective rehab) needed by 2014 first-round pick Joel Embiid, these plans can go awry very quickly. Who knows what else will befall them as Saric and other players join the club?
For the next six months, though, the focus will be on a few key questions:
• How good is Okafor?
• Can he and Noel play together?
• Will any other players prove valuable enough to keep or trade?
• Are the Lakers going to have a top-three pick?
• How will the draft lottery shake out?
Other issues can be important, but they are ultimately secondary to the goals of the franchise. The real season starts as soon as the final buzzer sounds on April 13.
2014-15 season in 140 characters or less:
Did the summer help at all?
We'll tell you in three years. That's only partially a joke.
The offseason started very well on draft night, when Okafor fell to the Sixers at No. 3. Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell would have been a more natural fit with Noel if he hadn't been taken by the Lakers, but Philadelphia desperately needed a go-to scorer. For all his apparent limitations as a defender and shooter, Okafor projects as a potentially elite low-block scorer. The Sixers don't have anyone comparable at any position and should provide him with plenty of touches. He's absolutely one of the top candidates for Rookie of the Year.
The second round was a little less exciting, although not bad. Bowling Green forward Richaun Holmes (No. 37) projects as an active role player to make plays around the basket, while North Carolina wing J.P. Tokoto (No. 58) should spend a fair amount of time in the D-League.
Two other second-round draft-and-stash picks were shipped to the Sacramento Kings on July 1, when Hinkie engineered one of his customarily opportunistic moves for second-year shooter Sauce Castillo Nik Stauskas, veteran forward Carl Landry, and veteran big man Jason Thompson (later dealt to the Golden State Warriors) as his trade partners attempted to clear cap space. Landry will get minutes at power forward, but the deal was done to obtain Stauskas, 2014's No. 8 pick. He will be given every opportunity to contribute after a terrible rookie season with the Kings.
[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Sitting out free agency yet again, the Sixers got some terrible news on July 11 when it was revealed that Embiid would need a second surgery to repair his right foot and will miss the 2015-16 season. It's not clear if Embiid broke the bone again or simply had a setback related to the original injury, but there have been reports that he did not take his rehab process seriously. (It's telling that he did not have the surgery until mid-August.) It's not clear that Embiid will ever play in the NBA, let alone for the Sixers.
Elsewhere, Philly added several low-cost players on non-guaranteed salaries to fill out the roster. We will not discuss them here because they are means to an end for a franchise with other things on its mind.
To recap, the Sixers added a potential go-to guy, traded for a great outside shooter who could be a bust anyway, and lost their highest-potential player maybe forever. We promise that it seemed a lot more boring and predictable than that description suggests.
Adam Silver congratulates Jahlil Okafor on his successful lounge act. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Go-to offseason acquisition:
Duh, it's Okafor. The one-and-done center joins the Sixers after averaging 17.3 points per game on 66.4 percent shooting for the Duke Blue Devils. Those numbers alone should excite a franchise that entered the offseason with one player (wing Robert Covington, a pleasant surprise) who averaged double figures and played more than 30 games. Okafor struggled in the preseason and can't be expected to play like a star right off the bat, but he has scoring talents that no one else on this roster can match. There will be growing pains related to his questionable free-throw shooting and especially his defense, but Okafor has the chance to become an essential part of the team's plans.
Glaring weakness:
This team is bad enough that we could list any number of weaknesses in this section. However, the Sixers clearly are not judging themselves by those standards and must be assessed on different terms.
So let's dig a little deeper into something that's already been mentioned — the rebuilding process's lack of tangible progress. After three offseasons on this path, the Sixers remain an idea more than a real basketball team worth supporting. Buying into their viability requires a great amount of optimism over players yet to wear NBA uniforms and draft considerations that haven't even been assigned official years and lottery odds. While Noel looks very good and Okafor is an exciting prospect, the latter is mostly an unknown and the duo appear to play the same position. The outlook is hazy at best.
Contributor with something to prove:
The deal for Stauskas represented a can't-lose value proposition for Hinkie, who gave up very little for someone who had been a top-10 pick just one year earlier. Still, the deal may have only looked as good as it did due to Philadelphia's paucity of perimeter talent and the context of Sacramento's questionable pursuit of ill-fitting veterans. Stauskas was terrible in 2014-15, shooting 36.5 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from beyond the arc in 15.4 minutes per game with a 7.5 PER. The Sixers love to shoot 3-pointers — their 26.3 attempts per game ranked sixth in the NBA, although they were also 29th in percentage made — so Stauskas has the chance to become a foundational piece if he finds the form that made him Big Ten Player of the Year. If he doesn't, he'll be remembered as the bust with a delightful nickname.
Potential breakout stud:
Even the staunchest Sixers skeptics must admit that Noel had a very successful rookie season. Noel served as the linchpin of a defense that surprisingly ranked 12th in points allowed per 100 possessions. Although his offensive stats could stand to improve (46.2 percent is not a good mark from the field for someone who sticks around the basket), defensive stars are becoming increasingly valuable players in this league. If Noel and Okafor prove a good fit and do not create offensive spacing issues — early returns have been pretty good — then the Sixers have their first piece of a potential contender.
Best-case scenario:
Noel plays well enough to win some Most Improved Player votes. Okafor fits well with him and scores in the manner this team needs. Covington continues to look like a very good piece, and Stauskas develops into one in a new environment. Embiid takes his recovery seriously and looks able to contribute next season. The Sixers lose enough games to win the lottery or just get lucky instead, and the Lakers pick falls outside of the top three but stays in the top five.
If everything falls apart:
Noel and Okafor occupies too many of the same spots on the floor and harm each other's development, Stauskas sees no improvement, Embiid stays a lost cause, and poor lottery luck drives the Lakers into the top three and the Sixers out of the top five.
Kelly Dwyer's notoriously unreliable crystal ball:
18-64, 15th in the East and last in the NBA.
Read all of Ball Don't Lie's 2015-16 NBA Season Previews:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • Los Angeles Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz
- - - - - - -
Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!Bangladeshi Immigrant Cheated $132M Out of Medicare, Bought Mansion, Courtside NBA Tickets
A Bangladeshi immigrant healthcare executive named Mashiyat Rashid cheated Medicare out of $132 million and spent the money on a mansion, courtside NBA tickets, and secret storage units filled with cash.
Federal court records as well as prosecutors gave information on the inner workings and the financial gains made during a healthcare fraud conspiracy that was all orchestrated by a 37-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant businessman.
Prosecutors say Mashiyat Rashid, right, spent hundreds of thousands to travel by jet, to buy NBA tickets and to build a $6.8 million house.
(Photo: Facebook)
The conspiracy was based around bringing in homeless people as patients, sending bogus bills to Medicare, getting drug addicts to subject themselves to unnecessary back injections, and prescribing potent pain medication that would inevitably end up being sold on the streets.
Detroit News reports:
Detroit — A health care executive cheated Medicare out of $132 million and blew the money on a $7 million Franklin mansion and courtside NBA tickets, and stuffed secret storage units with cash, prosecutors allege. The conspiracy generated so much money that Rashid withdrew $500,000 from a bank this month and stuffed the cash in a duffel bag, the government said. A surveillance team of federal agents watched him enter and leave the bank. “This was a crime of deceit. His fraud was brazen,” Justice Department trial attorney Jacob Foster said Wednesday during Rashid’s bond hearing. “This was about the thousands and thousands of beneficiaries who were taken advantage of in order for (Rashid) to line his pockets.”
Read more here.
Or as Ann Coulter would say, “Immigrant of the week.”
IMMIGRANT OF THE WEEK! Bangladeshi Mashiyat Rashid stole $132 mill from Medicare; bought mansion, courtside NBA tkts https://t.co/sj5Bcqntoz — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 19, 2017It’s nice to be reminded that all men are created equal and as such, we are all equally likely to do something ridiculous for some hot bootay. Mel Gibson is unsurprisingly no exception as he continues to promote the musical career of his hot new Russian thang Oksana Grigorieva. Her latest is a video for the title track from her upcoming album Beautiful Heartache:
Ahhhhhhh, good ol’ heavy-handed passion imagery…and in Mexico no less! With tango dancers! And a knife thrower! (In prison?) And a flaming piano! And the fires are fed by Apocalyptoksana’s overly breathy torch song vocals, “I like the way you wear your skin, I like the way you wear your skin, I like the way you wear your skin, I like the way you wear your skin…”
It’s great to think one of Hollywood’s top-payed producers is spending his time making cheesy high-budget videos for his pregnant Russian girlfriend, but I can’t help but hope that someday, maybe, some desperate young hottie will hook up with Michael Moore. I would pay the $8.50 ticket price to see Flipper and Me: Genocide of the Dolphins at the theater!
Here are some of my favorite snapshots, including the knife thrower, the knife catcher, some smoky tango choreography and a flaming piano:
Read all about Mel knocking up Oksana (including an illustration of how it happened) here, and watch Oksana’s first video for “Say My Name” here.
To hear more from Oksana, including the song “Flying Upside Down,” head over to oksana.fm.That’s very likely the line the White House’s counsel’s office told Trump to take, but it was far too late. The president’s tweet already opened the door that won’t be easily closed.The significance of this, of course, is that these recordings – if they exist – can be subpoenaed. This is especially true in regards to recordings related to James Comey’s firing, since the president may have obstructed justice during their chat.Indeed, on many of the Sunday shows yesterday, there was bipartisan agreement among several senators that White House recordings, assuming Trump didn’t just make this up, won’t remain private indefinitely. “You can’t be cute about tapes,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding, “If there are any tapes of this conversation, they need to be turned over.”Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) added on Fox News that “ it’s probably inevitable ” that any existing tapes would be subpoenaed. The Utah Republican added that it’s “not necessarily the best idea” for the president to secretly record conversations in the White House without his guests’ knowledge.Congressional Democrats, not surprisingly, spoke about obtaining the recordings in even more forceful terms and have begun weighing procedural steps they could pursue to tie up Capitol Hill until this question is resolved.It’s at this point that some of you are probably wondering whether Team Trump spent the weekend destroying recordings before they could be subpoenaed. With this question in mind, Daniel Jacobson, who was an attorney in the Obama White House, noted over the weekend that the Presidential Records Act – which, ironically, was created in part in response to Richard Nixon’s secret recordings – would require that these recordings be archived. It would be a literal crime to delete them.The debate continues, meanwhile, as to whether the recordings are real or a figment of Donald Trump’s deeply strange imagination. We’ll probably learn the truth soon enough, but in the interim, it’s worth noting for context that Trump has a lengthy track record of recording communications – at Trump Tower, at various other Trump-owned properties, and elsewhere In other words, this wouldn’t exactly be out of character for him.As a point of disclosure I’m obligated to inform you that there was no way I wasn’t going to enjoy this book.
Oh sure, I was going on a little faith as I knew absolutely nothing about Tony Russo before I caught wind of his new book Delaware Beer: The Story of Brewing in the First State. A brief stroll through the interwebs informed me that indeed this was not Mr. Russo’s first foray into the area of local craft beer.
Tony Russo, as well as being a part of the ShoreCraftBeer.com site is the author of the book Eastern Shore Beer:: The Heady History of Chesapeake Brewing as well as previously writing and editing for the Metropolitan Magazine, Star Democrat, Bayside Gazette and Laurel Star.
So it seemed on a glance that Mr. Russo would be a capable writer with the necessary level of knowledge of the subject to answer the question that his latest book’s title seems to beg.
What is Delaware beer?
One gets the feeling that in order to answer that question Tony Russo took a cue from Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson. While standing on top of a hill with a clear view of everything that is currently happening “beerwise” in the state of Delaware; Russo seems to have asked the same question Mr. Tyson often asked viewers – How did we get here?
And – much like the show Cosmos – Mr. Russo is going to have to take us on a trek back in time to begin to answer that question.
Mr. Russo starts off in the early days of Delaware. Much to his credit, the author doesn’t proceed into a long rehashing of this time period, simply pointing to John Medkeff Jr’s recently published Brewing in Delaware for a more in depth study.
However, he does use this opportunity to set up future chapters by explaining such things as the influence of German immigrants that drove lager to prominence in the marketplace in Delaware and indeed the US, the impacts of Prohibition on the brewers that called Delaware their home, and also the strong sense of culture – the “tavern” community – that arose around the simple pleasures of family and good beer among these same German immigrants (remember that last one; it’s important).
Once the groundwork is laid we’re brought forward in time for a look at three men Delaware beer enthusiasts should easily recognize: Sam Calagione, Al Stewart and Jim Lutz (who provides the forward for the book).
The author lays out enough history to be informative but not boring while explaining the framework of state regulations, still prevalent prohibition mindsets, and early equipment frustrations that Sam and Al had to wade through to get their respective brewpubs off the ground. And by dialing in other breweries such as Iron Hill, adds a discussion on how each company took a different approach in the attempt to establish themselves in a market place that was (and maybe to a point still is) trying to figure itself out.
At the heart of Delaware Beer are the multitude of stories that are woven within the framework of this history concerning the people behind these breweries and consequently the breweries that would begin to open over the coming decades including 3rd Wave, FoDo, Mispillion, Twin Lakes and most recently, Blue Earl Brewing. Stories which help flesh out the narrative and make the book more than just a dry history text.
Mr. Russo uses these stories to highlight the fact that although each brewery worked independently to find their own identity within their surrounding community (remember that from above?) the overall result was a commonality that solidly defines what he believes Delaware beer is. How? Well you’re going to have to read the book to find that out for yourselves, but trust me, in my opinion Mr. Russo has more than risen to the task.
At 106 pages, Delaware Beer isn’t a daunting read. The narrative of the book flows effortlessly and it reads quite well. It also contains a good number of black and white pictures throughout (along with a 16 page color photo insert) of places and faces that people familiar with the Delaware beer scene should easily recognize.
As stated above there was no way I wasn’t going to enjoy this book, and I’m glad to say that I was right – mostly because I had the pleasure or experiencing this beer Renaissance for myself. Tony Russo has written a worthy addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in the journey beer brewers took in the state of Delaware to get the beer scene where it currently resides today. I’d consider it an excellent follow up read (if not a totally unintentional companion) to John Medkeff’s book mentioned above.
How did we get here? I think Mr. Russo did a fine job explaining our journey. But unlike Cosmos, not only didn’t we have to leave our galaxy to find the answers – we barely had to leave our state.
………………………………………………………………………………….
Delaware Beer: The Story of Brewing in the First State, $21.99, Arcadia Publishing/The History Press (American Palate Series). Available at local retailers, online bookstores, or through Arcadia Publishing and The History Press at http://www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888) 313-2665, starting May 9th, 2016.
Tony Russo (ShoreCraftBeer)
Kelly Russo – photos except where indicated (KellyRussoPhotography)
MEET THE AUTHOR!
Blue Earl Brewery – May 12th
Dewey Beer Company – May 15th
Seaford Library – May 30th
Fordham and Dominion Brewing – June 3rd
Salisbury Shore Craft Beer Fest – June 18th
Bethany Beach Books – June 19th
[Disclosure: I’d like to thank Emily Hommel and Katie Parry of Arcadia Publishing/History Press for sending me an advanced copy of Delaware Beer. Receiving this book free as a reviewer’s copy in no way influence my opinion of this book or its review.]
Advertisements
Share this: Twitter
Print
Facebook
Email
Google
Tumblr
Pinterest
Reddit
Like this: Like Loading...Revolutionary Products — virtually unlimited market
One of the highest payouts to the field in the industry
Telecommuting is encouraged. No territorial restrictions
Unlimited income potential as we expand nationwide
Part-time and full-time options
Your Choice of Three Powerful Positions
Choosing a Career in Financial Services
Experience a rewarding career at Virtual Financial where you help people become financially independent while building your own personal financial wealth with career growth and professional development.
Whether you are new to the industry or you are looking to enhance your professional services, Virtual Financial will provide you with the system, training and marketing support you need to elevate your business and income to the next level.
We offer three unique positions:
Financial Inviter is comparable to a well equipped Internet Marketer with 15 Landing pages, Ad Co-op's, Split Tests, Drip email campaigns, Social Media Training & Support.
Financial Manager is comparable to a Real Estate Broker who builds, trains and supports his/her agents only here you can do it all across North America Virtually.
Financial Consultants create customized plans using our proprietary Financial Needs Analysis "FNA" Software addressing your clients' needs in the following areas: proper protection, retirement planning, executive benefits, asset protection, financial risk management, and estate planning and meet with clients online on collaborative appointments interacting and sharing screens.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Schedule appointments with confidence that your manager will mentor you through the client planning process, to plan implementation
Conduct virtual meetings (collaborative with online live presentations), with the support of your manager & consultant, during which you will gather pertinent information and educate clients about fundamental financial issues
Analyze your clients' needs, assets and liabilities to improve their current plan & enhance their net worth
Present and implement tax-efficient planning solutions to help clients accumulate tax-advantaged wealth
Provide a high level of individualized service throughout your long term consultative relationships with clients to increase loyalty and referral business
Expand your knowledge of online marketing and financial solutions through ongoing specialized training
WHAT WE OFFER
Generous compensation payouts: 126% with 5.85% renewals, overrides, bonuses and 100% advances with 40% on submission paid 2x weekly
World Class Business Platform: 300 Support Employees, Compass Computer System. Experienced Leadership, Operations, Contracting & Marketing
Virtual Financial Tier System "Assembly Line" allows reps to be online marketers & refer all sales to seasoned pros
Cutting-edge Virtual Back Office & CRM with a Wealth of Resources & Tools to Market, Run, Learn, Follow up & Track all your business
Ongoing live & recorded social media, online marketing and sales training & support to elevate your career to the next level
A proven online marketing systems and referral process to market our products & services and expand your business
The ability for you to make an impact by helping middle income families reach their dreams & goals with a revolutionary business model & products
A dramatically better quality of life with the freedom to work from home... or anywhere, saving both money and time, while building a business spanning all 50 states plus Canada
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS:
Strong time management and organizational skills
Excellent communication and listening skills
Mid-level computer literacy -- comfortable online
Basic understanding of Social Media
Self Motivated, Goal Driven and a positive attitude
Self-confidence and a strong desire to learn
OUR LOCATIONS
With corporate offices in San Francisco, San Diego and and Atlanta, Georgia, our Financial Inviters, Managers & Consultants are able to work and live anywhere on the globe. Agents must obtain an insurance license in their state of residence and may expand their business anywhere within the United States and Canada*.
HOW TO APPLYCreative Loafing – Atlanta offers highly competitive internships to active students. The internships offer students an opportunity to gain real-world experience at the Southeast's leading alternative weekly and Georgia's second-most widely circulated newspaper.
As a small organization with a commitment to the very best journalism, we give interns a chance to learn how decisions are made. Interns are encouraged to become involved in the editorial process by pitching story ideas to all editors and sections of the paper, but we hold them to the same standards as our professional writers. Interns will also have the opportunity to become involved in marketing and sales initiatives as well as company operations. Most interns leave their internship with a set of clips and have even contributed to feature stories and award-winning pieces. They also experience a wide array of publishing operations, so they exit the internship with a better understanding of the industry as a whole. Creative Loafing interns are highly successful, self-motivated students and some have gone on to top graduate journalism programs, positions at other papers as well as working with Creative Loafing.
The best interns are assertive, ambitious and organized. Each candidate should have some journalism experience and must be working toward a degree. Additionally, candidates must receive credit for the internship and have a personal laptop available to use in-office. Do we make exceptions? NO. Students with published work preferred. We require a minimum commitment of 12-16 hours per week.
HOW TO APPLY
Although we'll work with students regarding schedules and deadlines, we generally try to stick to three separate terms: fall (mid-August through late December), spring (early January through early May), summer (mid-May through mid-August). Deadlines for application packets are: December 17 for the spring, April 8 for the summer and Aug. 4 for the fall. To apply, please send a cover letter outlining why you should be considered for the internship, including what sets you apart from other applicants, blogging experience, involvement in social media, as well as any specific interests in our sections, including Food & Drink, Arts, and Music. Provide a resume, two references (with e-mail and phone |
abble, destroy buildings, make the people fear them.
Maybe that is the one use for these conflicts: illustrating the dangers of the divisive discourse that has become a part of our every day lives; but perhaps now is the time to bring that to light.
Joe Glass is a Bleeding Cool contributor and comics creator. He is the writer of LGBTQ supehero team series, The Pride, which is available here and on ComiXology.
About Joe Glass Joe Glass has been contributing to Bleeding Cool for about four years. He's been a roaming reporter at shows like SDCC and NYCC, and also has a keen LGBTQ focus, with his occasional LGBTQ focus articles, Tales from the Four Color Closet. He is also now Bleeding Cool's Senior Mutant Correspondent thanks to his obsession with Marvel's merry mutants. Joe is also a comics creator, writer of LGBTQ superhero team series, The Pride, the first issue of which was one of the Top 25 ComiXology Submit Titles of 2014. He is also a co-writer on Stiffs, a horror comedy series set in South Wales about call centre workers who hunt the undead by night. One happens to be a monkey. Just because.
(Last Updated )
Related Posts
None foundWith the NFL preseason set to kick off tonight, Alabama will be well-represented as football will once again be broadcasted across the country. The Crimson Tide will have 50 active players on rosters tonight and in the early preseason.
Below is a full list of former Alabama players with their current NFL teams, broken down by AFC and NFC divisions:
AFC NORTH TEAMS
Baltimore Ravens
57 C.J. Mosley, LB, 6-foot-2, 235 pounds
Cincinnati Bengals
27 Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, 6-foot-2, 190 pounds
5 AJ McCarron, QB, 6-foot-3, 210 pounds
*** There are no former Alabama players on the Cleveland Browns or Pittsburgh Steelers’ rosters.
AFC EAST TEAMS
Buffalo Bills
99 Marcell Dareus, DT, 6-foot-3, 331
71 Cyrus Kouandjio, OT, 6-foot-7, 322 pounds
59 Reggie Ragland, LB, 6-foot-1, 247 pounds
Miami Dolphins
32 Kenyan Drake, RB, 6-foot-1, 210 pounds
65 Anthony Steen, OG, 6-foot-3, 309 pounds
New England Patriots
54 Dont'a Hightower, LB, 6-foot-3, 265 pounds
24 Cyrus Jones, CB, 5-foot-10, 197 pounds
42 Vinnie Sunseri, DB, 6-foot, 210 pounds
New York Jets
77 James Carpenter, OG, 6-foot-5, 321 pounds
27 Dee Milliner, CB, 6-foot, 201 pounds
AFC SOUTH TEAMS
Houston Texans
25 Kareem Jackson, DB, 5-foot-10, 188 pounds
97 Jeoffrey Pagan, DE, 6-foot-3, 310 pounds
Indianapolis Colts
78 Ryan Kelly, OC, 6-foot-4, 313 pounds
Jacksonville Jaguars
46 Carson Tinker, LS, 6-foot, 250 pounds
24 T.J. Yeldon, RB, 6-foot-1, 225 pounds
Tennessee Titans
45 Jalston Fowler, FB, 5-foot-11, 254 pounds
2 Derrick Henry, RB, 6-foot-3, 247 pounds
49 Rashad Johnson, FS, 5-foot-11, 204 pounds
70 Chance Warmack, OG, 6-foot-2, 323 pounds
AFC WEST TEAMS
Oakland Raiders
89 Amari Cooper, WR, 6-foot-1, 211 pounds
San Diego Chargers
76 D.J. Fluker, OG, 6-foot-5, 339 pounds
71 Damion Square, DT, 6-foot-2, 293 pounds
*** There are no former Alabama players on the Denver Broncos or Kansas City Chiefs’ rosters.
(What's the latest in Tide camp? Make sure you know by signing up for our FREE Alabama newsletter!)
NFC NORTH TEAMS
Detroit Lions
95 Wallace Gilberry, DE, 6-foot-2, 270 pounds
91 A'Shawn Robinson, DT, 6-foot-4, 312 pounds
Green Bay Packers
21 Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, FS, 6-foot-1, 208 pounds
27 Eddie Lacy, RB, 5-foot-11, 234 pounds
Minnesota Vikings
72 Andre Smith, OT, 6-foot-4, 325 pounds
*** There are no former Alabama players on the Chicago Bears’ roster.
NFC EAST TEAMS
Dallas Cowboys
N/A Richard Mullaney, WR, 6-foot-2, 204 pounds
DID NOT REPORT: 55 Rolando McClain, LB, 6-foot-4, 259 pounds
New York Giants
21 Landon Collins, SS, 6-foot, 225 pounds
Philadelphia Eagles
77 Barrett Jones, OL, 6-foot-4, 308 pounds
Washington Redskins
74 Arie Kouandjio, OG, 6-foot-5, 310 pounds
39 Geno Matias-Smith, S, 6-foot, 196 pounds
NFC SOUTH TEAMS
Atlanta Falcons
11 Julio Jones, WR, 6-foot-3, 220 pounds
91 Courtney Upshaw, LB, 6-foot-2, 272 pounds
Carolina Panthers
81 Kevin Norwood, WR, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds
New Orleans Saints
41 Roman Harper, S, 6-foot-1, 205 pounds
22 Mark Ingram, RB, 5-foot-9, 215 pounds
57 Dillon Lee, LB, 6-foot-4, 242 pounds
INJURED RESERVE: 77 D.J. Pettway, DL, 6-foot-2, 270 pounds
*** There are no former Alabama players on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ roster.
NFC WEST TEAMS
Arizona Cardinals
6 Jake Coker, QB, 6-foot-5, 232 pounds
69 Evan Mathis, OG, 6-foot-5, 301 pounds
91 Ed Stinson, DT, 6-foot-3, 287 pounds
Los Angeles Rams
26 Mark Barron, LB/S, 6-foot-2, 213 pounds
41 Jabriel Washington, DB, 5-foot-11, 185 pounds
San Francisco 49ers
92 Quinton Dial, DT, 6-foot-5, 318 pounds
62 Darren Lake, DL, 6-foot-3, 315 pounds
18 DeAndrew White, WR, 6-foot, 192 pounds
Seattle Seahawks
93 Jarran Reed, DT, 6-foot-3, 311 poundsNo fallback mode in GNOME 3.8
As announced by the release team two weeks ago, the fallback mode will be gone in GNOME 3.8. The decision was taken after some discussion on the mailing list back in June and in October, as well as some discussion during Boston Summit 2012. We also have a wiki page detailing the discussion arguments.
In my opinion, the biggest issue we had with the fallback mode is that, with only a few cycles, it quickly became clearly not tested enough, and lacked manpower for proper evolution along with other GNOME 3 changes. This resulted in a much lower quality than what we expect from GNOME. Moreover, several applications actually started requiring Clutter, and therefore didn't work anymore in a real fallback manner (ie, where you have no proper 3D acceleration); this means the fallback mode, when really used as a fallback, was not offering a fully usable desktop, and would be considered more like an alternative shell than a fallback mode.
Where does this leave us?, you might ask.
Well, for a start, GNOME 3.x had several iterative cycles to bring tons of improvements. Many users who were using the fallback mode because they didn't like the GNOME Shell experience are now happy with 3.6. But we're going an extra step starting with the next version: there is an explicit goal of having the project provide a set of extensions to help even more people preferring the fallback mode experience. The tentative list of what the extensions would provide is classic alt-tab, task bar, minimize/maximize buttons, and a main menu. This effort is being publicly tracked, so everyone can participate: if you're interested in contributing to these extensions, don't hesitate, I have no doubt help will be welcomed! Update: this topic is being discussed on desktop-devel-list right now!
There will also be work on improving GNOME 3 when running with software rendering. Of course, llvmpipe was a good start, and llvmpipe itself is getting better and better. But in addition, there are plans to offer a reduced resources mode, with fewer animations, that would be used in different circumstances, including when using software rendering. This should really improve the performances under llvmpipe.
There might be cases where these improvements will not be good enough in 3.8 (or with the Mesa and llvmpipe versions available at that time), resulting in a GNOME version that people might not consider acceptable in terms of performance or hardware support. Things will improve with time, obviously, and 3.10 will solve more and more issues; hence I would recommend to people hitting such issues to stay with 3.6 for a few more months.
All in all, the community is working on having future versions of GNOME, starting with GNOME 3.8, offer an improved alternative to the fallback mode.
Future of gnome-panel (and other fallback components)
Of course, this raises the question of what happens to the components of the fallback mode: gnome-applets, gnome-panel, gnome-screensaver, metacity, notification-daemon, polkit-gnome, etc. These components don't necessarily have to go away: they're just not part of what the GNOME project officially releases, and people are welcome to keep working on them. It's really up to each maintainer.
As for myself, I do not intend to keep maintaining gnome-panel after 3.6.x. I did a 3.6.2 release a few days ago, and it might well be what I consider my final release. If there's a strong push for some patches, there could be a 3.6.3 tarball... So, if you want to keep gnome-panel alive, contact me and you can become maintainer. As long as I either know you, or I can see that you have some minimal coding abilities, you'll get the maintainer hat for free :-)
Now, I believe a group of people could well adopt all the fallback components and keep building a great desktop, on top of other GNOME 3 bricks. They wouldn't even have to restrict themselves to what the GNOME 3 vision is (which is something that blocked some people from seriously contributing to gnome-panel). I don't think it'd be actually too much work: the code is already there! Of course, there would be some compatibility bits removed from other GNOME modules that would need to be moved elsewhere, but in most cases, it's really just about moving the code, not re-implementing things.
To be honest, I would really have loved if the MATE people had taken such an approach (maybe it's not too late?). I think it's a more reasonable effort than effectively forking all of GNOME 2, including obsolete technologies, as the amount of work is much more reasonable.
I'm eager to see if a group will step up to keep alive this old code, which represents thousands of hours from many of us! I wouldn't use it, but it would still make me happy :-)The goal of this game is to have a great evil campaign in a homebrew setting.
Before reading further, make sure that the following is ok with you
0. You can deal with a French accent.
1. You can attend weekly the following session time (and use a timezone converter to be sure!):
+ Sunday 3:00 pm GMT+1
Sessions last around 4 hour, sometimes more.
You have a working MIC and can use Skype and/or roll20 mic interface. You can deal with Character Conflict and make the difference between Player behaviour and Character behaviour (this goes both way). You are ok with Mature Content. You are ok with Character Death. You understand that playing an Evil character is not playing a murder hobo and that actions have consequences. You are ok with the variant rules that are used (see bottom).
About Evil in this campaign.
What Evil does mean.
Evil is thinking that the Golden Rule is a load of horse shit.
Evil is being free, even if it as the expense of others's freedom (slavery, manipulation, etc.) and through harming others.
Evil is being able to do very dark things to others, and sleep well at night.
What Evil does not mean.
Evil does not mean that you can't have friends or families and care for them.
Evil does not mean killing everything in sight. That is insanity, not Evil.
Evil does not mean that you are looking to destroy the forces of Light and make sure Darkness triumph everywhere.
Lawful Evil
They believe in the Survival of the Fittest.
Hence they have a sense of hierarchy, expect the weak to submit to them but in turn are ready to obey the stronger than them.
Conversely, they see Good values as excuses to promote mediocrity. The Strong should not protect the Weak.
They have a code, maybe even abide by the laws. However laws may be bent if that benefit them.
They have a sense of honour. Betrayal is very unlikely.
Neutral Evil
They value only themselves and are ready to do anything to advance.
Chaotic Evil
They enjoy and pursue pleasure, knowing that it can come under many forms.
They stomp on the weak, simply because they can.
They revel into Evil deeds, and corrupting others.
They mock the virtuous and any authority.
They could betray anyone, including their "friends" and family.
However they understand their limits : to be able to enjoy Evil, one must not be caught.
Details about the settings :
Technological level, magic, urbanization, etc are all very comparable to the Forgotten Realms.
Morals. Unlike the Forgotten Realms, Good and Evil should not be understood in the context of an ongoing colossal war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness, rather they should be understood as somewhat subjective values. Good and Evil are almost always Nurture rather than Nature.
True Name. Extra-planar creatures are identified by their name. One that knows the true name of a spirit can barter with it.
How To Apply :
Submit by private message only an evil character idea (no more than 10 lines), including Name, Class, Race, Alignement and a short backstory, then answer the following question.
Why is your character Evil?
What is your character most nefarious deed?
What is the one Evil thing that your character thinks is too much?
What reason would they have to work with others? Alternatively : what would force them to work with others?
Who is someone they care for, or at least respect?
What is their immediate goal?
What is their long-term goal?
Please also add your Skype so that I can be in touch.
You do not have to make a character sheet.
Variant rules/Homebrew rules
Spell changes
No Mending cantrip.
Lingering injuries.
When a character fails a Death Saving Throw by more than 5, including automatically failed save, they roll on the Lingering Injusier table. They do not roll more than once per fight.
Character creation rules :A team of paleontologists led by Oxford University researcher Prof. Liam Dolan has discovered the oldest known population of plant root stem cells in a fossil 320 million years old (Carboniferous period). The discovery was detailed in a paper published this week in the journal Current Biology.
Stem cells – self-renewing cells responsible for the formation of multicellular organisms – are located in plants at the tips of shoots and roots.
The 320 million-year-old stem cells discovered by the team, which gave rise to the roots of an ancient plant, were found in a fossilized root tip from a Carboniferous coal swamp forest.
As well as revealing the oldest plant root stem cells identified to date, the research also marks the first time an actively growing fossilized root has been discovered – in effect, an ancient plant frozen in time.
Prof. Dolan and his colleagues have named the stem-cell fossil Radix carbonica (Latin for ‘coal root’).
The Carboniferous stem cells are different to all those living today, with a unique pattern of cell division that remained unknown until now.
That tells paleontologists that some of the mechanisms controlling root formation in plants and trees have now become extinct and may have been more diverse than thought.
These roots were important because they comprised the rooting structures of the plants growing in the Earth’s first global tropical wetland forests with tall trees over 160 feet (50 m) in height and were in part responsible for one of the most dramatic climate change events in history.
The evolution of deep rooting systems increased the rate of chemical weathering of silicate minerals in rocks – a chemical reaction that pulled carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, leading to the cooling of the Earth and thus one of the planet’s great Ice ages.
“These fossils demonstrate how the roots of these ancient plants grew for the first time. It is startling that something so small could have had such a dramatic effect on the Earth’s climate,” Prof. Dolan said.
_____
Alexander J. Hetherington et al. 2016. Unique Cellular Organization in the Oldest Root Meristem. Current Biology 26 (12): 1629-1633; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.04.072Since the start of the recent Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Pakistanis have been very vocal about the actions of the Israeli government. Ordinary citizens have taken social media by storm, and a significant number have come out on the streets to demonstrate their opposition to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. From Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to various political and religious leaders across the country, there has been an unequivocal and unapologetic condemnation of Israel.
Pakistan doesn’t officially recognize Israel as a state, and Pakistanis have always felt a deep sympathy toward the Palestinian cause. Ask almost anyone on the street, and they would express their opposition to the idea of a “Jewish” state, a state that privileges its Jewish citizens and gives them more rights than Palestinian Muslims, who have been living on that land for centuries. As a result, Israel, in its current form, is seen as an apartheid state to be boycotted and protested against, until Palestinians are given equal rights to Israelis.
However, when a mob last week burned down several Ahmadi homes in Pakistan, killing an elderly woman, two minors and an unborn child, the hypocrisy of that argument was underscored. Blasphemy laws in Pakistan have gotten international attention several times in the past, when people from young children to those having mental conditions have been accused of blasphemy. The reaction to these incidents however is very familiar: from deafening silence on one end to the outright celebration and condoning of the violence on other. Very few voices have dared to speak out against the brutality of these laws, and even those voices are now fading. Even the most liberal responses from politicians and religious leaders end up justifying the existence of these laws, while emphasizing the need to prevent their “misuse.” Those who see problems with the Israeli use of religious identity to discriminate against its minorities are unable to see the problems inherent in the blasphemy laws of the “Islamic” Republic of Pakistan. These laws also make Pakistan a religious apartheid state.
Blasphemy laws on the subcontinent were institutionalized by the British, though they didn’t differentiate between religions. Pakistan retained the laws after its creation in 1947, yet only eight incidents of blasphemy were reported before the laws were modified by President Zia ul Haq in the 1980s. During that time, certain additional provisions were included specifically related to Islam, such as criminalizing the defiling of the Quran and the use of derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. A separate provision specifically targeted Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. Ahmadis, while identifying themselves as Muslims, believe in a prophet after Muhammad, a belief that a majority of Muslims in Pakistan find heretical. As a result, mere expressions of their religious belief, such as calling themselves Muslims, performing prayers in the same way as Muslims, or using Islamic religious terms such as As-Salaam Alaikum (peace be unto you) are criminalized under the blasphemy laws of Pakistan. When obtaining a passport or an identity card, every Muslim in Pakistan has to sign an oath declaring Ahmadis as non-Muslims and their prophet as a false prophet. In other words, while Muslims can blaspheme against Ahmadi beliefs, Ahmadis can be accused of blasphemy just for practicing their own beliefs.
It was not surprising that the number of reported cases of blasphemy in Pakistan skyrocketed after these changes. Since 1986, more than 4,000 cases have been handled by the courts. According to the Asian Human Rights Commission, “from 1953 to July 2012, there were 434 offenders of blasphemy laws in Pakistan and among them were, 258 Muslims (Sunni/Shia), 114 Christians, 57 Ahmadis, and 4 Hindus.” Furthermore, “the report mentions that since 1990, 52 people have been extra-judicially murdered, for being implicated in blasphemy charges.”
The above numbers also point toward another important issue. Blasphemy laws in Pakistan not only discriminate against non-Muslim minorities, but also against those Muslims whose interpretation of the religion might differ from whatever is considered “proper” Islam. While on the surface, most religions espouse love, peace and harmony, once the finer details are examined each religion’s tenants have something that can be considered blasphemous by the others. Hinduism’s polytheism is a direct challenge to monotheistic faiths. The status of Christ as the son of God is unacceptable for Muslims. When the Quran uses strong language to admonish polytheists, or argues that Christ is simply a prophet, Hindus and Christians may take offense. Similarly, within Islamic literature, various scholars from different sects (Sunni and Shia being the predominant ones), have written very inflammatory things about other Muslims, either while interpreting the Quran or the Hadith, or while criticizing the members or beliefs of other Islamic sects.
Therefore, whenever a state identifies with a particular religion, and starts molding its laws according to a particular interpretation, it privileges that belief over others. As a result, it automatically becomes a discriminatory state not only against minorities, but also those co-religionists who don’t identify with that particular interpretation. By declaring one religion immune to blasphemy and giving its adherents more rights, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws constitute a form of religious apartheid against its minorities.
Hence, it is not the misuse, but the mere presence of these laws that justifies the second-class treatment of minorities in Pakistan. While abolishing these laws at the state level is not a guarantee against mob violence, it might give minorities some expectation that the state does not discriminate on the basis of belief, even if the people do, and that the culprits could be punished instead of hiding behind a veil of religion. Otherwise, Pakistan can hardly champion the rights of Palestinians if it continues to discriminate against its own citizens, based on the same principles that it criticizes Israel for using.
Aden Dur-e-Aden is an MA student in the Political Science Department at the University of British Columbia, Canada and can be followed on Twitter @aden1990.By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Two days ago, the Pew Internet and American Life Project released a report that details the (apparently shocking) phenomenon that about half of American adults play videogames (53%, to be exact). Sounds about right to me, though I just skimmed through a good dozen articles from all over the net that are making it sound like this is some big news. I agree with this Forbes blogger in that it isn’t the numbers that are surprising but how surprised everyone seems to be about them (must be that other 47%). It just goes to show how little understood gaming really is outside of itself.
After all, gaming permeates our culture. Look at Nintendo’s latest ad campaign. Gaming isn’t just for geeks anymore–Carrie Underwood plays Nintendogs! However, the problem, I think, is that this survey doesn’t differentiate between “gamers” and “people who play videogames.” At least, most of the reports on it aren’t. I mean, my mom plays Solitaire constantly on her iPhone, and so she fits into that 53%, but I would never in a million years refer to her as a “gamer.” I think the other 47% are seeing the headline “MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS ARE GAMERS” and picturing the other half of the country locked in their basements playing Halo and World of Warcraft.
There were a couple of detailed findings from the survey that I found interesting. For example, older adults (65+) who play games are about 10% more likely to play every day than younger people. Also, college graduates are about 20% more likely to play videogames than those without a high school diploma (the research specialist at Pew says that there’s no obvious reason for this one, but it seems to me that income level might be a skewing factor). And a score for recognition of girl gamers–50% of women play versus 55% of men.
Right now, age is the biggest demographic factor. Nearly every teenager plays videogames (97%) versus 81% of those 18-29 (that’s my box!) and 23% of the senior crowd (65+). My prediction is that this difference will just continue to flatten over time, as it’s more an issue of culture than circumstance. By the time digital natives (those born after 1980) are seniors, I suspect that most of us will be spending our retirements playing whatever the future equivalent of World of Warcraft is (I’m hoping for a metaverse myself).
[Image Source: Flickr]Chapter 4: Caster and Assassin
This world of Remnant, as are so many others, is home to a peculiar race known as the Faunus-humans with animalistic traits. Some may have the ears of a rabbit, some may possess a monkey's tail, and others still may have the horns of a bull.
Some, like our previously established Sun Wukong, display their Faunus marks proudly, and live as freely and fully as anyone else. Many, however, are less fortunate.
What a bunch of freaks.
Why do we have to live among these degenerates?
Why shouldn't we treat animals like animals?
Remarks like these are commonly heard by most Faunus. Cast down by society as less than human, they languish underneath the foot of their oppressors, or turn to desperate, violent acts of rebellion against their plights, as individuals often do.
For if one thing is constant among all known worlds, it is for people's moralities and values to change with their situation. Is it the mark of a cowardly, hypocritical species, or is it what one would call adaptability?
Blake snuck a glance from behind cover. Four guards, each carrying AK-47 models, she noted. This could be a problem.
A Faunus of the feline sub-species, Blake had enhanced hearing and nigh vision that made raids like this far easier for her than for a normal human. Using her cat ears, she tried to listen for any enemies approaching her location. Thankfully, no one was nearby. Behind cover, she loaded her dart guns. Okay. Let's do this.
Her enemies were also Faunus, and so she had to be extra stealthy when sneaking around. It was alright though; Blake was used to staying out of sight. It was practically a mandatory skill for a Faunus living in one of the less accepting parts of the city. She quickly snuck behind a female Faunus wandering around alone, and knocked her out with a swift punch. She lowered the guard's unconscious body to the ground silently. Three to go.
Not wasting a second, she flung an incapacitating grenade in the southern direction of the camp. The explosive detonated, sending two of the guards over to investigate. With her cat-like reflexes, Blake quickly knocked out both of them with shots from her dart gun.
"There she is!" A voice rang out. Oh, no. She'd gotten careless, and had been spotted. Blake quickly ran for cover as gunfire rang out through the night. Hiding behind a nearby truck, she risked a glance back. The last guard, a buff canine Faunus, was looking around frantically, his hand on the trigger of his rifle. Not good. His panic's heightened his senses. It'll be harder to take him out by surprise.
Only one other way. Blake took out her cell phone and put it to her ear. "Caster, I need a distraction," she whispered. "Yes, Master. Coming right up," a female voice responded coolly.
The guard heard a gunshot from behind him. Blake's voice rang out. "Catch me if you can."
"What was that?" He turned around abruptly, seeing a dark-haired girl wearing a pretty black bow darting away into the trees. "There you are!" growled, firing at what he assumed was his target.
Now. Blake peeked out from her cover and fired a sleeping round into the guard's neck. The dog Faunus crumpled to the ground.
Having dealt with the guards, Blake ran over to the campsite and rummaged through the supplies laying there. Finally, she drew out a roll of papers. "Finally, I've found it," she muttered, removing the rubber band holding them together. She quickly began reading through them.
"You got what you were looking for?" A young woman jumped down beside her. She had smooth olive skin, pale-green hair that was tied in small pigtails near the ends, and wore a revealing white-and-green top and shorts. Her name was Emerald, but all that mattered to Blake was that she was the Caster-class Servant, and a master of conjuring illusions, like the false Blake the guard had seen.
"I did," Blake nodded, smiling for the first time in days. "Thanks for your help, Caster. This should tell me everything I need to know about their plans-for the next few months, at least."
"Them…you mean these White Fang people, right?"
Blake nodded again gravely. "Yes. The Order of the White Fang. To put it simply, some of us Faunus got fed up with being oppressed by the humans all the time, so we put together an organization to fight it. Unfortunately, once they'd begun their crusade of freedom…I suppose they forgot where to stop. They're little better than the 'tyrants' they claim to fight against now."
"How poetic," Caster said dryly. "But Master, you said 'we', so I'm guessing you were part of them once?"
Blake smiled wearily. "I guess I'm not very good at hiding secrets, huh? Yes…I was there back when they were still a peaceful rights activist group. And I was there to see them elect the leader who would push them into becoming what they are now. My…best friend, no less. Now, I've decided to fight against them-against HIM-and fight for our freedom the way we SHOULD."
Caster still looked skeptical. "I guess I can see what you're up to…then why not go in for the offensive and crush them? With a Servant by your side, it won't be that hard. That IS why you summoned me, isn't it?"
"No and yes. I summoned a Servant from that tome I stole so I could fight the White Fang head-on, but since I ended up with a Caster, the weakest of the seven, that's no longer an option. You have your other uses, but outright combat isn't one of them."
"Wow. You definitely don't mince your words," Caster grumbled.
"It's called the truth." Blake said simply.
Caster shrugged. "Well, I don't mind it, honestly. Sneaking around and stealing things is kind of my thing, too. Maybe that's why you summoned me?"
"Maybe," Blake murmured, reading through the papers. "It looks like their next target is-"
A faint moaning from nearby caught her ear. Turning, she saw that one of the guards was regaining consciousness.
"Hmph. It looks like the sleeping drugs weren't as effective as I thought," Blake muttered. "Come on. Let's get out of here. We can plan our next move back at the hideout."
"You know…you wouldn't have this problem if you just silenced them permanently," Caster pointed out.
Blake shook her head immediately. "No. That's their way of doing things. It isn't mine." Sadly, she remembered how someone else had once said similar words to her.
Victory will not come through negotiation. It will not come through a peaceful means. Only by force. Only by silencing them completely and utterly will we solve this problem.
It had been his way of justifying the things they did. And it had been at that moment when she'd realized that person had been beyond saving. That all she could do for him was to protect the ideals of the person he was in days long past…
Caster smiled enigmatically. "If you insist…Master. Well then, let's go."
"Are you certain about this, Adam?" The lieutenant asked nervously as they walked down the hallway of the White Fang's headquarters.
"Do not question your superior," Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang, smiled coldly. The bull Faunus' crimson mask, flaming red hair, and rose-patterned black suit made him stand out among his uniformed underlings. "I have already made my decision, Banesaw. Our plan will proceed as I say."
They reached the end of the hall, and entered into a small, dark room, where two White Fang grunts guarded a young man handcuffed and shackled to the wall. He looked about eighteen years old, with ash-gray hair, a similarly-coloured combat outfit, and tight black boots.
The young man looked up. "Oh, look who it is," he grinned. "Bringing me breakfast in bed?"
Lieutenant Banesaw slapped him across the jaw. "Watch your mouth, insect. You speak to the leader of the new Faunus Empire, and you wi-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll obey you and listen to your stupid lectures, got it," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Geez, you guys love being melodramatic, huh? 'Faunus Empire'? Really?"
"Silence," Adam hissed, spitting in the man's face. "I hope you at least understand my peons are not comfortable around humans such as yourself, regardless of whether you came from 'another world' or not. I had to ensure your presence would not breed unnecessary hostility within my ranks. I confined you for your own good, boy."
"Yeah, well, I'm really grateful," the man said sarcastically. "So have you decided that I'm not gonna 'breed hostility' or whatever yet? Can I go free?"
"I have decided that, but I still need one more thing from you," Adam agreed, smiling. "I summoned you, as my Servant, to help me obtain the Holy Grail. All you must do is prove yourself worthy of me."
The grunts hastily removed the man's shackles and handcuffs. Adam nodded to Banesaw. "You will be his opponent, lieutenant. Don't disappoint me."
"Of course, sir." Banesaw drew his chainsaw, which began to whirr ominously.
"A guy with a chainsaw, huh?" The man noted, stretching out his arms. "That seems a bit unfair, doesn't it?"
Adam chuckled. "If you're as good as you're supposed to be, it won't matter."
"Oh, I didn't mean me," the man smirked. "I mean unfair for HIM."
He charged at Banesaw, catching the lieutenant off guard. The man launched a flurry of swift kicks at his face, sending him stumbling a few steps back. "Grahhh!" Banesaw swung his chainsaw wildly, trying to hit his opponent. Dodging the swings, the young man grabbed the lieutenant's hand and casually twisted it, causing him to drop the chainsaw, screaming in pain.
"Too easy." The man swung a powerful kick that knocked Banesaw into the floor head-first. Before he could recover, his opponent pressed his boot to the back of his head. A loud bang resonated through the room, and Banesaw lay still, a pool of blood spreading out from his head.
"Well?" The man dusted himself off like he'd just finished cleaning his room. "That enough proof for you?"
"Hmm-hmm, I'd say it is, Servant," Adam grinned, nodding approvingly at the corpse of his former lieutenant. "Gun greaves, eh? They're quite a rarity here in Remnant, though I'd assume they're more common in the Remnant you come from. Now then, I just have one question for you."
"Ask away, pal."
"This 'Holy Grail'…is it true that it can grant my wish? Any wish I want?"
"Well, you only get one wish, so the whole point is to make it count," the man shrugged. "And yeah, the wish can be anything-within reason, obviously."
Adam nodded slowly. "Excellent. Even if I wished for the extinction of an entire species…?"
The man smiled knowingly. "If that's what you want, sure. Gotta say, though, even as far as wishes go, that's a pretty crazy idea. Man, you really hate us puny humans, don't you?"
Adam did not dignify that comment with a response. He simply held out his hand. "In that case, I will rely on your skills to achieve that wish. Welcome to the Order of the White Fang...lieutenant."
"Name's Mercury," the man corrected him. "Mercury Black."
The legions of White Fang grunts were outside the compound, discussing the previous night's incident. That traitor, comrade Blake Belladonna, had attacked one of their smaller bases and made off with some of their plans. Ever since her defection, she'd been a constant thorn in her side, but they all knew that it was only a matter of time before Adam ended her meddling for good.
|
But they also write or call to tell me that they have gotten married and had a new baby. They tell me that they have come top of their language class. They have seen the sea again for the first time in years, have gone fishing and caught an octopus.
None of this makes headlines. Instead the Director of National Intelligence reissues statistics on recidivism. Never mind that these are men who have never been charged with a crime, let alone had a trial, which makes a nonsense of the use of the term recidivism which implies a return to criminal activity. Behind the statistics, which are by any count far lower that the US crime recidivism rate, are the names which the DNI never releases. And behind the names are the people doing really very ordinary things.After starting the season as one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers‘ offense has stalled. They been hurt somewhat by injuries; every team would struggle to cope with the loss of top its wide receiver (in the Packers’ case, Jordy Nelson, in the preseason).
But the problems extend further than just injuries. The play-calling and play designs have been poor. The Packers have changed play-callers recently, back to head coach Mike McCarthy, but that hasn’t helped what has become a very vanilla offense. They’ve become far too dependent on Aaron Rodgers and his ability to go off-script and extend plays.
Here against the Raiders in Week 15, Green Bay faces a third-and-long situation. The Packers split three receivers to the right in a bunch formation, isolating one receiver on the back side of the play. They run a spacing concept from the bunch formation, with a slant-flat combination on the back side.
The Raiders play man coverage, which should tell Rodgers to go to the slant. But Rodgers misses the slant route and has to move on to his next read.
As Rodgers progresses to his next read, he finds he has nobody open. The Packers’ route combinations don’t work well with each other. Randall Cobb runs a crossing route from the bunch formation, but ends up running to the same spot as the slant route. The Raiders have a plug defender that sits in the middle of the field reading Rodgers. He drops back and takes away both Cobb and the original slant route. The Packers don’t use one route to help open another. Instead, they mostly run multiple isolation routes and hope their receivers can win one-on-one matchups.
[Outsider: First glance at what the Packers bring to FedEx on Sunday]
On the front side of the play, the outside receiver runs a deep out, which is covered well. Inside, the receiver runs a comeback but can’t get any separation. Rodgers has nobody to throw to as the pocket begins to collapse. But this is where Rodgers is special. As the play breaks down, he begins to scramble, buying his receivers time to get open.
Initially, every receiver takes off down the field as part of the scramble drill. Two receivers even collide because of the poor route design that had them aim for the same part of the field.
But then Cobb makes a smart play. He breaks back towards Rodgers, surprising the defense and creating separation.
Rodgers finds Cobb wide open over the middle. Cobb is then in the perfect position to pick up extra yards after the catch. So while the Raiders initially covered the play well, Rodgers and the scramble drill led to a completed pass and a first down.
[Aaron Rodgers’s road to the NFL started at an apparent dead end]
This play has been typical of the Packers’ offense this season. The route combinations aren’t particularly inventive and receivers aren’t winning one-on-one matchups until they are able to freelance in the scramble drill. That has been the source of many big plays for Rodgers and the Packers, but it’s not a reliable or sustainable form of offense.
This is another example of an unimaginative play design. The Packers have each receiver run a deep hook route.
At the top of Rodgers’s drop, the only receiver close to being open is the tight end in the middle of the field. But he has a safety close by and the underneath linebacker could undercut the throw.
With no receivers open, Rodgers has to scramble to avoid the impending pass rush. Just like before, the Packers’ receivers start to freelance. Cobb breaks down the field.
But Rodgers just slightly overthrows him. The Packers were also lucky that there wasn’t a collision between their two receivers on that play. Like on the previous play, both were in similar positions in the field and made similar moves as Rodgers scrambled.
[It’s okay, opposing linemen. Time can’t slow Packers’ Julius Peppers either.]
With the Packers’ offense being so bland, defenses have been able to play simple coverages and cause the Packers trouble. The most effective coverage I’ve seen recently has been what I call cover-one plug.
Cover-one plug is a form of man coverage but with two zone defenders. Each eligible receiver has an assigned defender in coverage, but the defense also plays with one deep safety and one underneath zone defender, usually a linebacker. That linebacker’s job is to spy on the quarterback, but also take away crossing routes, which are typically run against aggressive man coverage defenses.
[Cousins or Rodgers: Who would you start the next five seasons?]
The Packers’ receivers haven’t shown the ability to consistently beat man coverage this season, which is what has forced Rodgers to try and scramble so often. With the plugger spying the quarterback, he is also in a position to chase down Rodgers should he opt to scramble for yards by himself. This isn’t a coverage I have seen regularly from the Redskins’ defense, but it’s one they might choose to adopt for this particular matchup, given its effectiveness against the Packers recently.
One way the Packers have been creative this year is using quick screens as an extension of the running game. With Rodgers under center, there is always potential for him to surprise the defense from what looks to be a run play. The Packers have a number of packaged plays that combine a run play with a quick screen pass, giving Rodgers the option to run or pass depending on the pre-snap look of the defense.
Here, the Packers use their favored 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers). Cobb lines up in the slot and runs a bubble screen. But the Packers also have a zone running play called to the right of the formation.
As the safety reads run and attacks the line of scrimmage, Rodgers turns and throws the screen to the left side.
Cobb is an elusive player who is hard to bring down. He eludes the tackle attempt here with a stiff arm and picks up a first down.
There are also times where the play called is purely a run, but Rodgers and his receivers might improvise against certain looks.
This time, Rodgers lines up under center on a run play to the left. But he spots the corner to the right playing about 10 yards off the receiver.
After the snap, the majority of the offense executes the original play call, but Rodgers pulls up and quickly throws the ball out to his receiver.
That quick pass isolates the receiver one-on-one with the defender with plenty of room to work with. The Raiders actually do a pretty good job rallying to the ball and making the tackle, but they fail to prevent the first down. The Packers like to do this a lot in the red zone, to add pressure to the corners isolated in coverage. Historically the Redskins’ corners haven’t been particularly good tacklers, but this season they have improved in that regard. If they play off coverage in the red zone, they need to be ready to break on these types of throws and make sound tackles.
After last season and the first six weeks of this season, nobody would have wanted to face the Packers’ offense in the playoffs. But since their bye week, the offense has regressed. Rodgers’s yards per attempt over the past four weeks is 5.8, down drastically from the 8.1 average he had after the first six games. That stat speaks to how far the Packers’ offense has fallen. Unless they have a drastic turnaround, the Redskins won’t have the same fear they might have carried had they played the Packers from last season.
Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more breakdowns, click here.
More from the Post:
Redskins are peaking, and getting healthy at the right time too
Opening Kick: The five most impactful Redskins rookies
Ranking the playoff teams | Is Coughlin the hottest coach on market?
Snider: It’s not far-fetched to give Redskins a shot at the Super Bowl
More NFL: Redskins | Around the league | Bog on Redskins | Fantasy
Follow: @MikeJonesWaPo | @lizclarketweet | @MasterTes | @InsiderIt seems that you can take Michael Schumacher out of racing, but you can't take racing out of Michael Schumacher.
The seven-time Formula One world champion took over from his taxi driver in order to make it to the airport in time for a flight, it has emerged.
Cabbie Tuncer Yilmaz watched in awe as the racing legend, 38, showed him how his job ought to be done. "I found myself in the passenger seat, which was strange enough, but to have 'Schumi' behind the wheel of my cab was incredible," Mr Yilmaz told German newspaper the Muenchner Abendzeitung. Schumacher, who lives in Switzerland, had flown in to an aerodrome near Coburg, Bavaria, on Saturday and taken a taxi to Gehuelz to pick up a new puppy.
On the 30km (19 mile) return journey, however, Schumacher felt they were short on time, and made a polite request to Mr Yilmaz that he be allowed to take over.
Unsurprisingly, and perhaps with a view to bettering himself professionally, the driver did so.
With his wife, two children and new addition to the family Ed, the Australian Shepherd pup, on board, Schumacher proceeded to put pedal to metal.
Famously, German autobahns have no blanket speed limits, so the driver was able to put the cab through its paces.
Although he was driving an Opel Vivaro, a minivan-style vehicle which has a top speed of 163km (101 miles) per hour, Schumacher managed to get the most out of it, according to the cabbie.
"He drove at full throttle around the corners and overtook in some unbelievable places," said a white-knuckled Mr Yilmaz.
The retired champion gave the taxi driver a generous 100 euro (71.76 pounds) tip on top of the 60 euro fare.
Despite helping out as a test driver at old team Ferrari, Schumacher has ruled himself out of any return to Formula One.Ancient skeletal remains have been uncovered by contractors working on the largest energy project in the country.
Ancient skeletal remains have been uncovered by contractors working on the largest energy project in the country.
The unrecorded burial ground was discovered on farmland in Rush, north Dublin, as EirGrid laid piping for a high voltage direct current (HVDC) underground power line.
Several skulls and bones were recovered on the strip of land near Rogerstown estuary, which locals historians believe could date back to the Vikings in the 9th century.
An on-site archaeologist has informed the National Monuments Service and is expected to be given the go-ahead to carry out a full archaeological survey next week.
It is not yet known how many bodies are buried there or exactly what era they date back to.
A spokeswoman for EirGrid said the section of land has been cordoned off and was being protected from heavy rainfall until examinations can be completed.
However work is continuing in the surrounding area.
"A previously unrecorded burial ground has been located on private land in Rush earlier this week," she said.
"It wasn't marked up on any ordnance survey maps."
She said there was no evidence of disturbance on the land before the 1.5 metres deep trench was dug on the farmland.
Press AssociationMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Gina Miller told Radio 4's Today programme she had a strong case in court
The need for Parliament to give its approval before the Brexit process starts is of huge "constitutional importance", the High Court has heard.
QC Lord Pannick said the case "raises an issue... concerning the limits of the power of the executive".
The High Court is considering whether ministers can invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the trigger for formal talks, without MPs passing a new law.
But the government said the EU would not be rejoined via "the back door".
Ministers argue they are entitled to act under ancient powers of Royal Prerogative.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will activate Article 50, formally notifying the EU of the UK's intention to leave, by the end of next March. This follows the UK's decision to back Brexit in June's referendum by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1%.
The EU's other 27 members have said negotiations about the terms of the UK's exit - due to last two years - cannot begin until Article 50 has been invoked.
The judicial review was heard by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Thomas.
Image caption The case will be heard by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas
Investment manager Gina Miller is among those contesting the government's authority to proceed without recourse to Parliament - arguing the principle of parliamentary sovereignty underpins the constitution and the rule of law in the country.
Her legal team, headed by constitutional lawyer and cross-bench peer Lord Pannick, is arguing that invoking Article 50 will threaten the rights of individuals enshrined in the 1972 European Communities Act - which paved the way for the UK to join the European Economic Community.
Only Parliament, they argue, can remove or reduce rights granted under law and Article 50 must have the consent of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Analysis
By Clive Coleman, BBC legal correspondent
In today's constitution the Royal Prerogative is basically a collection of executive powers held by the Crown.
They go back to medieval times but are now placed in the hands of ministers. They're used, for instance, in some areas of foreign affairs which Parliament has left to the government.
But prerogative powers remain controversial because they're exercised without any parliamentary authority.
The case has huge constitutional importance and should provide clarity on whether executive powers can, in effect, trump an act of Parliament.
Those bringing the case argue that legislation can only be altered by legislation. The government says it intends to give effect to the outcome of the referendum by bringing about the exit of the UK from the EU.
And that that is a proper constitutional and lawful step to take, using prerogative powers, in light of the referendum result and the democratic mandate it has provided.
Lord Pannick said the case was not concerned with the "political wisdom" of the country withdrawing from the EU and it was wrong to suggest that the legal challenge was "merely camouflage" for those who wanted to remain.
Ms Miller was entitled to say that "if we are to leave the EU then the steps to be taken which will deprive her of her rights under the 1972 Act, and other legislation, must be done in a lawful manner".
He said she accepted her challenge could only succeed "if we can satisfy the court that the defendant has no power to notify under royal prerogative powers".
Lord Pannick argued that she sovereignty of Parliament meant that what Parliament did "is entirely a matter for Parliament".
But Attorney General Jeremy Wright, who will speak for the government on Monday, said Mrs May could invoke Article 50 because "the country voted to leave the EU in a referendum approved by act of Parliament".
He added: "There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door, and no second referendum."
In July, High Court judges ruled that Ms Miller's should be the lead case in the action.
Other applicants include London hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, the People's Challenge group set up by Grahame Pigney and the campaign group Fair Deal for Expats.
Image copyright PA Image caption The attorney general will lead the government's legal team
According to documents published this summer, ministers believe the use of prerogative powers once held by the Sovereign but now residing in the executive to enact the referendum result is "constitutionally proper and consistent with domestic law".
For the courts to require Parliament to pass legislation to implement the outcome of the referendum would be an "impermissible" intrusion on its proceedings.
The hearing comes amid growing calls from MPs on all sides of the House for the UK's blueprint for its Brexit negotiations to be subject to greater parliamentary scrutiny.
While the government has not ruled out giving MPs a vote on the final settlement reached with the EU, it has said on several occasions that it will not hold a vote on the timing of Article 50 or its strategy ahead of negotiations.
The losing side in the case is likely to launch an appeal. It has already been announced that any appeal will be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court to ensure a final judgement before the end of the year.WASHINGTON — For decades, financial and political leaders have preached the inevitability of globalization, promising nations that by sacrificing some of their sovereignty and dropping national barriers they could reap far greater rewards through economic integration and cooperation. And that turned out to be largely true.
But Britain's surprise vote to leave the European Union signals a new era for the post-World War II globalization drive, exposing deep populist anger and leaving open the question of how best to rein in an increasingly connected and interdependent world economy.
The vote was perhaps the biggest public referendum to date on globalization, and it yielded a far different outcome than in 2014, when Scots voted to stay part of Britain.
Now Britain and other Western democracies are likely to face growing pressure to put the brakes on open trade and immigration policies that have been hallmarks of world growth.
"The age of globalization has certainly ended," said Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Center for International Political Economy, an independent think tank in Brussels.
Few are predicting a scenario in which major borders are closed and protectionism rules the day, but the sentiments underlying the British public's rebellion are broadly shared by many others in the EU, as well as in the United States.
Policymakers and investors are particularly worried that Britain's move will be a catalyst for a re-energized effort by Scots — who overwhelmingly favored remaining in the EU — to break away from Britain. It may also encourage other secession movements in the EU, which could fundamentally alter the political and economic structure that has been in place for decades.
"With one fell swoop, the world order has been turned upside down overnight, and where the chaos stops, no one knows," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group.
The backlash stems from a growing realization that the biggest winners of globalization have been international corporations, wealthy families, skilled and educated workers, and those with easy access to capital. Older, working-class families in many Western nations have instead struggled with stagnant wages, job losses and staggering debt. Income inequality has grown worse in many of the countries that have embraced globalization.
At the same time, forces that once propelled globalization — advanced technologies, reduction of barriers and the rise of China and other developing economies — have diminished. World trade and economic growth have also slowed in recent years.
With the Brexit vote, the European Union — itself arguably the most ambitious post-World War II experiment in globalization — appears at risk of unraveling.
"In the postwar period, with the shadow of world wars and the shadow of the USSR no longer over Europe, countries are increasingly ready to go back to nationalism," a European diplomat told reporters in Washington on Friday, speaking anonymously to comment on other countries' politics.
In the U.S., the anti-globalization tide has led to public opposition to sweeping trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the proposed 12-nation trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presumptive presidential nominees, oppose.
President Obama, speaking Friday to entrepreneurs from around the world at a Global Entrepreneurship Summit on the Stanford University campus, acknowledged that Britain's vote "speaks to the ongoing changes and challenges that are raised by globalization."
Obama called on business leaders to work harder to make the benefits of globalization more accessible to a greater number of people.
"The world has shrunk," he said. "It is interconnected.... It promises to bring extraordinary benefits. But it also has challenges. And it also evokes concerns and fears."
At the core of the "Leave" campaign in Britain was the desire to curtail immigration and reclaim full sovereignty in Parliament.
"Both of those are incompatible with a world that is increasingly globalized," said Erixon, the think -tank director. He added that "a U.K. departure is going to make the entire EU inward-looking, more defensive on globalization, and less confident about making it on the back of the world."
The EU was born out of the ashes of two world wars that had divided the continent, and the single-market and political union grew to 28 members as European leaders saw stronger economic and social integration as a way to compete in a world increasingly orbiting around the United States and China, the two largest economies.
But anti-EU feelings have deepened in the wake of its inability to respond effectively to the global downturn and the eurozone crisis, as well as to manage the heavy migration from Eastern Europe and, more recently, waves of refugees from the Middle East.
What's more, as in the U.S., the economic recovery has left out large segments of the population in Britain and elsewhere in the EU. And these people have become increasingly frustrated at what they see as a lack of government action to address their needs.
"The really, really surprising part of the Brexit referendum and rebellion against globalization is that it's held up by the group of baby boomers that have benefited enormously from open societies," Erixon said. "Now they're rebelling against their own economic history."
In Europe and the U.S., complaints have been particularly loud from older and less-educated citizens, who have struggled with job loss or income stagnation. Many of their livelihoods have been undercut by automation and cheaper foreign labor — two prominent features of globalization — even as corporations and wealthy individuals have gotten richer.
"It's clear that there's a lot of dissatisfaction out there," said Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategy Institute and a former top trade negotiator in the Reagan administration.
The problem has been building for years, he said, but the political and business elite in urban centers such as London, New York and Washington have tended to do fine whether the economy is up or down.
"What they have ignored," he added, "is that for much of the population, globalization hasn't been such a great thing."A well built computer that stands the test of time.
Granted this is a pretty old laptop about 7 years old it still holds its own. sure it maybe a little sluggish and slow at times with its core 2 duo but its a solid computer. This laptop has one of the best keyboards for a laptop and the case is built to last. Definitely a big fan of these laptops and wish i had owned it during college would have been an excellent experience. If you see a listing for this laptop and it is missing components don't shy away from it you can get the components for cheap as long as you get after market and not the original. A must have for any computer enthusiast.Even though the federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009, most Americans are now covered by higher minimums set by state and local laws – from Los Angeles to New York state to Washington, D.C. Organized labor and anti-poverty groups continue to push for $15 an hour as the new standard for all workers paid hourly, though given Republican control of Congress that prospect appears dim.
While the idea of raising the minimum wage is broadly popular, a Pew Research Center survey this past August found clear partisan and racial differences in support. Overall, 52% of people favored increasing the federal minimum to $15 an hour, but that idea was favored by just 21% of Trump supporters (versus 82% of Clinton backers). And while large majorities of blacks and Hispanics supported a $15 federal minimum wage, 54% of whites opposed it,
Here are five facts about the minimum wage and the people who earn it:
1 Adjusted for inflation, the federal minimum wage peaked in 1968 at $8.68 (in 2016 dollars). Since it was last raised in 2009, to the current $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 9.6% of its purchasing power to inflation. Back in 2015, The Economist estimated that, given how rich the U.S. is and the pattern among other advanced economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “one would expect America … to pay a minimum wage around $12 an hour.”
2 Less than half (45%) of the 2.6 million hourly workers who were at or below the federal minimum in 2015 were ages 16 to 24. An additional 23.3% are ages 25 to 34, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; both shares have stayed more or less constant over the past decade. That 2.6 million represents less than 2% of all wage and salary workers. (See more about the demographics of minimum-wage workers.)
3 Twenty-nine states, plus the District of Columbia and nearly two dozen cities and counties, have set their own higher minimums. State hourly minimums range from $7.50 in New Mexico to $11.50 in D.C., according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Together, these states include about 61% of the nation’s working-age (16 and over) population, according to our analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Among the cities that have enacted even higher local minimums are San Francisco ($15 by 2018), Seattle ($15 by 2021), Chicago ($13 by 2019) and San Diego ($11.50 by 2017), according to the National Employment Law Project. And in 12 states, the minimum wage rises automatically each year based on a cost-of-living formula.
4 About 20.6 million people (or 30% of all hourly, non-self-employed workers 18 and older) are “near-minimum-wage” workers. We analyzed public-use microdata from the Current Population Survey (the same monthly survey that underpins the BLS’s wage and employment reports), and came up with that estimate of the total number of “near-minimum” U.S. workers – those who make more than the minimum wage in their state but less than $10.10 an hour, and therefore also would benefit if the federal minimum is raised to that amount. The near-minimum-wage workers are young (just under half are 30 or younger), mostly white (76%), and more likely to be female (54%) than male (46%). A majority (56%) have no more than a high-school education.
5 The restaurant/food service industry is the single biggest employer of near-minimum-wage workers. Our analysis also found that 3.75 million people making near-minimum wages (about 18% of the total) worked in that industry. Among near-minimum workers aged 30 and younger, about 2.5 million (or nearly a quarter of all near-minimum workers in that age bracket) work in restaurants or other food-service industries. But because many of those workers presumably are tipped, their actual gross pay may be above $10.10 an hour. (Federal law, as well as wage laws in many states, allows tipped employees to be paid less as long as “tip credits” bring their pay up to at least the applicable minimum.)
Correction: A previous version of the state minimum wage graphic reversed the colors of two states in the map only (the list was correct).
Note: This is an update of a post originally published in December 2013 and previously updated in July 2015.
Related posts:
10 facts about American workers
Who makes minimum wage?
Category: 5 Facts
Topics: Business and Labor, Work and Employment, Economics and Personal Finances, IncomeThe Houston Texans began their rookie minicamp Friday with 16 undrafted signees, 16 tryout players and eight first- or second-year players with practice squad eligibility. Here are nine notes and observations from the day:
The message Texans coach Bill O'Brien likes to give his rookies is that they need to be coachable, be good teammates and that what they did in college is in the past. All that matters now is what they do starting now. "Basically since the end of their college season they've been somewhat of a man without a country, meaning, they hired an agent, a lot of these guys hired an agent. The agent placed them maybe in a workout facility. They were kind of making sure that they were taking care of their own skill set as it relates to the combine, those types of drills, the Senior Bowl and all those things. So, the first thing they need to do is realize that they're back to being a part of a team and what it means to be a Houston Texan." Based on locker room interviews, the message was heard. The rookies were careful to repeat their main talking points.
Receiver Keith Mumphery was a fifth-round pick last weekend and stood out to me on the practice field. His repertoire included a nice one-handed catch during one drill. He looked to be in shape and moving well. O'Brien has talked a lot this offseason about wanting to see improvement on special teams and he expects Mumphery to learn the kickoff, kickoff coverage, punt and punt return teams. I asked Mumphery about playing special teams and he said, "My main goal is to be coachable and do whatever the coaches ask."
Defensive end James Rouse left practice early on a cart. The injury appeared to be in his right ankle area. Rouse, a Marshall product, was one of the Texans' 16 undrafted free-agent signees.
Baylor coach Art Briles stopped by practice. Briles has been an occasional visitor of Texans camp practices.
At rookie camp, the first-round pick is the top dog and Texans' first-round pick Kevin Johnson stood out positively. He had a strong day facing third-round pick Jaelen Strong and EZ Nwachukwu, a fixture on the Texans' practice squad for the past two seasons. I'd heard a lot about Johnson's physicality once he was drafted and it was on display during Friday's practice. On one play it got him in a little bit of hot water since these are non-contact practices.
Lynden Trail is physically impressive and looks the part of an NFL player. His 6-foot-7 frame made it tough for tryout quarterback Kevin Rodgers to throw over him. Trail had a batted pass during an 11-on-11 drill.
The temperature was in the high 80s, and there was cloud cover and a nice breeze at practice. A few players cramped up. That Houston humidity can be challenging.
Le'Vander Liggins is in camp as a tryout player and made impressive plays Friday. He's a 5-foot-11, 190-pound defensive back from Louisiana Tech.An online call for peace initiated by an Israeli couple has managed to achieve the support of 1,000 Israelis and Iranians. And it all began with two posters.
Click here to download Haaretz's mobile apps
Israel Loves Iran blog
Ronny Edry and his wife Michal Tamir, together with "Pushpin Mehina", a small preparatory school for graphic design students, uploaded posters to Facebook depicting images of themselves with their children alongside the words, "Iranians, we will never bomb your country, we [heart] you."
Attached to each poster was the caption, "To the Iranian people, To all the fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters, For there to be a war between us, first we must be afraid of each other, we must hate. I'm not afraid of you, I don't hate you. I don t even know you. No Iranian ever did me no harm."
"I'm not an official representative of my country. I m [sic] a father and a teacher", wrote Edry, adding that he wishes to send a message on behalf of his neighbors, family, students and friends. "[W]e love you. We mean you no harm", he wrote. "On the contrary, we want to meet, have some coffee and talk about sports."
In a conversation with Haaretz, Edry explained that he hoped his initiative would reach the Iranian citizens, but admitted that he never believed it would gain so much momentum. "On my Facebook page I have left-wing friends who always speak of these things; they all agree with me. Every so often a right-winger answers me saying what we're on about is rubbish, but I've never spoken to an Iranian."
"I thought that when you're constantly surrounded by talk of threats and war, you are so stressed and afraid that you crawl into a sort of shell and think to yourself how lucky we are to also have bombs and how lucky we are that we'll clean them out first," he said. "So I thought, 'Why not try to reach the other side; to bypass the generals and see if they [Iranians] really hate me?'"
An image on the Facebook page of the 'Israel Loves Iran' blog. Pushpin Mehina
Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email * Please enter a valid email address Sign up Please wait… Thank you for signing up. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Click here Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later. Try again Thank you, The email address you have provided is already registered. Close
What are your thoughts on this issue? Follow Haaretz.com on Facebook and share your views
More on Haaretz.com:
Hamas chief: Israel using Gaza as 'guinea pig' for military testing
A.B. Yehoshua: Americans, unlike Israelis, are only partial Jews
Israel: Palestinian economy not stable enough for independent state
At first, the posters were castigated, said Edry. "After the first poster people started criticizing me, saying I'm an idiot, that I’m naïve. 'Why are you telling them you love them? Why are you giving up before the war has even started?'" But very quickly the posters became a hit: the first image gained hundreds of "Likes" and "Shares," and numerous people asked to join the initiative.
It was not long before reactions from Iranians began trickling through. "I never imagined that within 48 hours I would be speaking to the other side," said Edry, who explained that most of the Iranians' messages had been coming through in private, but that there had been some who invited him to be their Facebook friend.
In a conversation that took place on Saturday evening, after a full day spent in front of the computer chatting to Israelis and Iranians, Edry was buzzing with excitement. "Something insane is going on here," said Edry. "I was just having a conversation with a few Iranians, trying to convince them to send me photos of themselves, and they told me that we [Israelis] might be able to publish photos, but they risk going to jail over such a thing." In the meanwhile, they conversed via private messages, with their identities concealed.
However, by Sunday morning, Edry began receiving the first signs of reactions from the other side.
"We also love you. Your words are reaching us despite the censorship," wrote one Facebook user from Iran. "The Iranian people, apart from the regime, do not hold a grudge nor animosity against anyone, especially not the Israelis… We never saw Israelis as our enemies. As such, the regime cannot gain public support for war."
"The hatred was invented by the propaganda of the regime, which will die soon", continued the Iranian Facebook user. "The ayatollah will die soon. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad will disappear. He is nothing more than an opportunist, and more than anything – an idiot. Everyone hates him. We love you, love, peace. And thanks for your message."
By Sunday afternoon, faceless posters prepared by Iranians, sharing a similar message of thanks and love, were posted onto the Pushpin Mehina Facebook page and the "Israel Loves Iran" blog.
Read this article in Hebrew.‘It’s always been about credit where credit is due,’ says lawyer in copyright infringement case over Stairway to Heaven
Lawyers suing Led Zeppelin over claims that the opening to Stairway to Heaven was stolen, say their client is willing to settle for the sum of US$1.
The band’s lead singer, Robert Plant, and guitarist, Jimmy Page, face a US jury trial over their 1971 classic after Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Randy Wolfe, also known as Spirit’s Randy California, alleges Page was inspired to write Stairway to Heaven after hearing Spirit perform Taurus while the bands toured together in 1968 and 1969. Lawyers for Led Zeppelin claim any similarity between the two songs is a result of a common musical structure that has existed for centuries.
According to Bloomberg News, the $1 offer would, however, come at a bigger price: Randy California would need a writing credit on the track – not to mention sharing its future profits. “It’s always been about credit where credit is due,” said attorney Francis Alexander Malofiy, representing Michael Skidmore.
The Guardian view on Stairway to Heaven: it’s on another Page | Editorial Read more
Bloomberg News also reports that a filing by Malofiy in the case cites a 2008 agreement that Page and Plant made with Warner/Chappell Music, in which both songwriters receive $60m over 10 years for the company’s right to use Stairway and other songs. Malofiy has requested at least two thirds of that amount should be allocated to the infringing period, totalling in $40m.
Skidmore has said any windfall would support the Randy California Project, which supplies musical instruments and lessons to students at low-income schools in California.
The copyright infringement trial is scheduled for 10 May in Los Angeles federal court.Wright, who missed four months last season with spinal stenosis in his lower back, will be limited to a maximum of 130 games, general manager Sandy Alderson told the New York Post on Saturday.
The Mets are going to be cautious with David Wright this season.
The Mets are going to be cautious with David Wright this season.
Wright, who missed four months last season with spinal stenosis in his lower back, will be limited to a maximum of 130 games, general manager Sandy Alderson told the New York Post on Saturday.
"We're going to make sure that he's not overworked," Alderson told the paper. "So it's important for us to find somebody who can play 30 games or so at third base when he's not in there. But I think we have to be realistic |
genetic superi–” Anglin trailed off at that point, his eyes momentarily distracted by a headshot of Taye Diggs that had been left on a nearby table.
When asked by reporters what Anglin’s plans were for The Daily Stormer, Anglin replied – after a very long pause – that, “The Daily Stormer has been forced to find a home on the dark web. Liberal forces sympathetic to the Jew and the inferior Black are determined to suppress our message of white racial superiority, but rest assured that our readership and our spirit for spreading the truth about–” Anglin again trailed off, his eyes drawn down towards the image of Taye Diggs.
“Just… just… my god, so… so….” Anglin is reported to have whispered through trembling lips.
No one could confirm how the headshot of Mr. Diggs had made its way into the conference room, but having relocated the headshot to his podium, Anglin continued to field questions, though his responses were too disjointed and too distracted for publication.
The press conference drew to a close soon after, without any further questions from the assembled reporters. Anglin appeared not to notice.
At press time, Anglin was badly losing a debate about racial purity against a wall poster of indigenous Hawaiian, Jason Momoa.
AdvertisementsA French government agency called MIVILUDES (Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaries -- Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviancy) recently issued a 199-page report charging religious cults with having a growing influence in international bodies such as the United Nations.
According to a report at Digital Journal, "A sect is defined here as being any religious organization which can be characterized as employing any of the following methods; Mental destabilization, exorbitant financial demands, a rupture with members' original environment, power in the hands of one person, the invasion of a person's physical integrity, the recruitment of children, antisocial preaching and troubling public order, activities which lead it to be tried in a court of law, using parallel economic structures, attempts to infiltrate the workplace, schools, and public powers."
Among the 50 or so religious groups that MIVILUDES tracks in its report (La justice face aux derives sectaries -- Justice with Regard to Sect or Cult abuse) are: Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, Mormons, The Universal Church, Raelians, and The Unification Church (the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.).
Ten pages of this year's Annual Report (in French) are devoted "to a stinging criticism of the activity of sects and their supporters in the UN and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe)," Digital Journal pointed out. "The OSCE is the biggest security-oriented intergovernmental organization on the planet.... [whose] job is to surveill and uphold principles such as fair elections, press freedom and human rights. It is an ad-hoc UN Agency."
According to Digital Journal, the report looks closely at NGOs (non-governmental organizations) "which it says are attempting to legitimize sect activities under cover of the principles of religious freedom. They are said to be acting in concert to limit the influence of the MIVILUDES within the UN, using tactics such as official complaints and smear tactics."
MIVILUDES, which originated in a presidential decree on November 28, 2002, has a broad mission consisting of:
* "observing and analyzing movements perceived as constituting a threat to public order or that violate French law"
* "coordinating the appropriate response"
* "informing the public about potential risks"
* "helping victims to receive aid"
Since its inception, MIVILUDES has apparently been the subject of intense scrutiny and broad criticism. Many of the groups listed in earlier reports expressed outrage at their inclusion claiming it would lead to them being stigmatized. According to Digital Journal, "NGOs said to be active in trying to destabilize the Miviludes' work include Human Rights Without Frontiers, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Information and Advice Centre for New Spiritualities."
"These and other organizations are said to be acting as front organizations for various religions who do not have UN accredited presence. Most notable amongst them is the Church of Scientology, which has launched several attacks on the Miviludes, notably by using the US State Department's clout at the UN. The Scientology Internet site logo looks very much like the UN logo and the Church presents itself as being 'Associated with the UN Department of Public Information.'"
Religion News Blog noted that AFP reported that the MIVILUDES report is not limited to question regarding sects and the UN. It also "includes a chapter on Satanism, which the organization says is gaining ground through the Internet.... Further chapters address the way cults use the internet, and detail the fight against runaway sects in France and the rest of Europe."
In addition, Religion News Blog pointed out: "The report also denounces a huge increase in unqualified therapists, warning that sects are using the personality coaching and self-help trends to target impressionable people. 25 to 30 percent of psychotherapists in France are not certified practitioners. Some are charlatans, who use their practices to recruit the vulnerable. The Internet has also become a frequent tool for sect recruitment."
(A totally un-scientific survey conducted by your humble reporter -- I spoke to a fellow gym member who was born in Morocco and raised in France -- confirmed the report's observations about France's therapists!)
Digital Journal concluded its piece by pointing out that "France is a fiercely secular country" which in part explains "the existence of an organization as unique and with as much influence as the Miviludes." It's "long-running battles with various religious organizations.... has [now] moved onto the international stage the stakes have gone up and both sides are sharpening their knives."
_______
About author Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the conservative movement. His Conservative Watch columns document the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats of the American Right.This is from the most recent report [PDF] from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, “The College Payoff: Education, Opportunity, Lifetime Earnings.” Just in case you missed that red text on the chart, here it is for you in black and white: “Women have to have a PhD to make as much as men with a BA.”
The study also starts off by noting, “The findings are stark: Women earn less at all degree levels, even when they work as much as men. On average, women who work full-time, full-year earn 25 percent less than men, even at similar education levels. At all levels of educational attainment, African Americans and Latinos earn less than Whites.”
Oh, and in case you were wondering if getting a college degree is worth it, “Having some postsecondary education, even without earning a degree, adds nearly onequarter of a million dollars to lifetime earnings,” the study says.Like many other chronic diseases, scoliosis may be present and asymptomatic for months or years before it becomes sufficiently severe to be detected. Before the advent of school screening programs in the 1970s and 1980s, few cases were diagnosed before they were moderate or severe deformities [28]. Even when screening programs are in place and more curvatures are detected while they are still mild, by the time scoliosis finally is diagnosed the cause of the scoliosis is no longer apparent in most cases. Therefore, most scoliosis is classified by default as being 'of unknown origin' or 'idiopathic.' In idiopathic scoliosis (IS) the patient is healthy except for the presence of the spinal curvature whose cause is not identified [21, 32, 33]. For 70–80% of IS populations, there is no evidence for an inherited susceptibility among family members, and the curvature presumably is due to an undiagnosed injury or disease process that may have resolved earlier in life [42]. For 20–30% of IS patient populations, one or more members of the immediate family also have scoliosis, suggesting that an inherited factor plays a role [43]. In such familial IS, the mechanism that triggers a spinal curvature might be fundamentally distinct from that of other patients. Alternatively, familial IS may involve a predisposition to develop scoliosis in response to the same factors that can cause it in anyone.
Irrespective of the factor that triggered its development, once a structural deformity is present, the pathological consequences among populations of scoliosis patient share common elements. These elements include a progressive loss of torso mobility resulting from the fixed postural asymmetry, and a consequent reduction in chest wall movement and vital capacity [44]. Pain in populations of young adult scoliosis patients, irrespective of curvature magnitude, is increased compared with control populations [45]. At > 44-year follow-up of a group of patients diagnosed in adolescence, incidence of pain was double that of a group of similar age without scoliosis [46]. This is despite the fact that the 'control' population for the study was selected from hospital clinics, nursing homes, and senior citizens centers where incidence of disability is exceptionally high [47]. Every patient with a structural scoliosis present at skeletal maturity potentially faces a lifelong disease burden. The younger the child at the time the structural deformity develops, the more severe the symptoms, and scoliosis developing in infancy brings high risk of serious complications including respiratory failure [48]. Central to the transformation of a reversible spinal curvature into a structural spinal deformity, irrespective of the factor(s) that trigger its development, is a characteristic wedge-shaped deformity of the vertebral bodies that appears early in the disease process [49]. This vertebral deformity sets the stage for a 'vicious cycle' of curvature progression and symptom development [reviewed in [16, 17]].Texas May Be Denying Tens Of Thousands Of Children Special Education
Enlarge this image LA Johnson/NPR LA Johnson/NPR
When Rosley Espinoza's daughter was very young, in preschool, she started acting differently. She seemed distracted and would get in trouble at school.
"Lack of interest, teachers' notes coming home with behavior notes," Espinoza says, speaking in Spanish.
She says she asked school officials to evaluate her daughter, Citlali, for special education, but they didn't.
Every year, Espinoza says, Citlali's behavior got worse. Last year, in second grade, "she stopped paying attention in class... [she was] harassing other children. On some occasions she would scream, yell."
I think districts are under a lot of pressure to comply with the state cap that's been put into place by TEA."
Espinoza says all of that caused her daughter, who's now 8, to show signs of stress and depression, but her school still denied Citlali an evaluation. Espinoza may now know why.
A recent Houston Chronicle investigation revealed that Texas, the state with the lowest percentage of children in special education, 8.5 in 2015, may arbitrarily be capping services, which are entitled by federal law to students with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental illness and other special needs.
The story isn't necessarily the same across the country. An average of 13 percent of students in the U.S. receive special education. That's according to the 2013-2014 school year, the most recent available data.
Now, the U.S. Department of Education has given the Texas Education Agency until early November to justify, or drop, its 8.5 percent benchmark and prove that no qualified students were denied special education services.
"It just doesn't seem to me we would likely see a decrease in the number of special education children," says Mike Moses, who ran the Texas Education Agency from 1995 to 1999.
"At one time we had a state average of 11 percent, or 12 percent."
Since he left the TEA more than 15 years ago, he says the number of low-birth-weight babies, teen pregnancies, kids in poverty and the entire student population in Texas, has only grown. So how can the percentage of special education students drop so dramatically?
"I think districts are under a lot of pressure to comply with the state cap that's been put into place by TEA," says Kym Rogers, a lawyer with the advocacy organization, Disability Rights Texas.
And there's this: The state has reportedly saved billions of dollars by denying services to tens of thousands of children, like Citlali, according to the Houston Chronicle investigation.
Along the way Citlali saw a private doctor who diagnosed her with several disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and placed her on medication.
At that point her school did offer counseling, but still no additional special education services in the classroom. District reports show Citlali was extremely smart, but remained aggressive and was even violent with classmates while struggling with school.
That's when the Espinoza family sought legal help from Kym Rogers. When she stepped in, school officials agreed to evaluate Citlali. Rogers says that's "because we put it in writing. Because I requested it."
But to Rogers, it shouldn't have taken a letter from a lawyer.
"Every school district has an obligation to identify students who are eligible for special education... If there's reason to suspect there's a disability, the school district has an obligation to do that evaluation," she says. That's an obligation by law.
Citlali is now getting the help she may have needed four years ago. Rogers believes Citlali's evaluation was delayed to keep her from receiving, sometimes expensive, services.
Since 2004, the TEA has reportedly threatened to crack down on districts if their special education enrollment exceeded 8.5 percent.
In Lancaster, south of Dallas, where Citlali goes to school, the district's special education enrollment is even lower than the state's average, at 7.8 percent.
Still, Lancaster school officials insisted in an email that there was no pressure from the TEA to keep their numbers low. Adding, "The district does what's best for children."
Soon, Texas will have to prove that was the case across the state.Getty forum Erdoğan’s ‘election war’ As Turkey braces itself for a possible snap vote in November, violence is spinning out of control.
ISTANBUL — Turkey sustained an unprecedented slew of militant attacks Monday, the product of a controversial “war on terror” instigated by an interim government under the guidance of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In recent weeks the Turkish military has carried out hundreds of air strikes while police have arrested more than a thousand suspects linked to ISIS, the Kurdish militant group the PKK, and far-leftist groups including the DHKP-C. Almost all suspects in Monday’s attacks belonged to the latter two groups. In total, six security personnel were killed in attacks carried out in Istanbul and the Kurdish southeastern region, raising concerns about Turkey launching anti-terror operations at a time when it has no elected government and is facing likely snap elections in November amid continuing regional unrest.
In the early hours of Monday, a car bomb exploded in front of a police station in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul and was followed by a fire fight which left one police officer and two gunmen dead. The attack has been claimed both by the People's Defense Unit, a far-leftist organization, and by the military unit of the PKK, raising questions that the attacks may have been a collaborative effort by members from each group. At around 8 a.m., two women opened fire on the U.S consulate in Istanbul; one of them was injured and arrested. The attack was claimed by the DHKP-C, which was also responsible for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara in 2013.
Later in the morning, the PKK remotely detonated an IED on a road in Silopi, south eastern Turkey, killing four policemen in an armored car; shortly afterwards, PKK militants shot at a helicopter in nearby Beytüşşebap, killing one soldier. Later in the day PKK militants attacked military helicopters in Tunceli and policemen in Diyarbakir.
The sheer volume of attacks in a single day is testament to the risks undertaken by Ankara in its lopsided “war on terror” which has largely ignored Islamic State targets and has, instead, concentrated on the PKK; so far three air strikes have been launched against ISIS, compared to hundreds against the PKK, mainly in its base in the Qandil mountains in Northern Iraq, killing both militants and Kurdish civilians.
Ankara officially started its anti-terror campaign on July 24 after a suspected ISIS suicide bombing on July 20 in the town of Suruc, which killed 32 young activists delivering aid to the besieged Kurdish town of Kobane across the Syrian border. The PKK assumed the complicity of Erdogan’s AK party (AKP) in the bombing and the next day claimed the retaliatory murders of two policemen in Urfa (the claim was later retracted without explanation); in response, Ankara launched hundreds of air strikes against PKK targets in Northern Iraq. Monday’s attacks by PKK militants came in the wake of clashes between security forces, militants and civilians last week in Silopi, which left five dead, and are being viewed as retaliatory measures.
While publicly backed by NATO and supported by a deal with the U.S. which has granted the latter use of the Incirlik airbases in southern Turkey, the current Turkish campaign has come under severe condemnation on home ground and from international observers as a form of veiled electioneering.
Turkey now faces probable snap elections in November after general elections on June 7 in which the AKP lost its majority for the first time in 13 years, resulting in a hung parliament. This was largely due to the 13 percent gained by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is now facing mass arrests of its elected deputies after Erdoğan called for investigations into their “terrorist links.”
Selahattin Demirtaş, the HDP co-chair, has accused Erdoğan’s government of engineering unrest for his own ends.
“The government tried to make the HDP pay the political price [for denting its majority in June’s general elections],” Demirtaş said. “It attacks us and tries to destroy our votes and our public prestige so that it can call an early general election and come to power on its own. We were moving toward peace and now all this has happened because of one man’s ambition.”
President Barack Obama strongly insinuated last week that Ankara was overstretching the terms of the Incirlik deal, which is largely assumed to consist of Turkey’s granting its air bases in return for the U.S. curbing its support to the Kurds. Speaking at the White House, Obama said that he had warned the Turks to “stay focused” against ISIS, the “largest threat to the region.”
However, some analysts have also blamed the PKK for engaging in violence after a two-year ceasefire negotiated between the AKP government and the PKK with the help of the HDP.
“The deterioration of the security situation is multi-faceted,” said Aaron Stein, non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.
“Much of this is spillover from the Syrian conflict and the Kurdish-rebel tensions inside Syria,” Stein said. “However, it is also due to the surge in government rhetoric [against Kurdish peace] beginning in February and continuing up until the present. Both the Kurds and the government are now using violence to gain leverage for the eventual restart of peace talks. And it's terribly counterproductive.”
In an interview Monday with the BBC, Cemil Bayik, the acting leader of the PKK while founder Abdullah Öcalan serves a life sentence on an island jail near Istanbul, said the group would end its attacks if Turkey ended its military operation, and called for a ceasefire to be overseen by international monitors.
While treated with suspicion in many Turkish quarters, some analysts have taken Bayik’s call for renewed negotiations as sincere.
“It's clear the PKK has fired its shots and wants a return to status quo ante,” said Dov Friedman, an independent analyst specializing in Turkey and the Northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. “The same cannot be said for Erdoğan. The HDP stands in the way of his political ambitions, so he's taking action against its leaders and supporters.”
According to Friedman, it will be difficult for either side to disengage from the current cycle of violence, particularly given what is at stake politically for Erdoğan.
“Erdoğan has shifted tactics unpredictably before, but this anti-Kurdish activity is so new, so flagrant, that imagining an about face is difficult right now.”
However, Friedman argues that the U.S. may have some useful role to play in applying pressure on Turkey to stop its attacks on the Kurds via the Incirlik deal.
“A U.S. condemnation of the crackdown on HDP — and Kurds more generally — could carry considerable weight. The U.S. holds significant leverage in terms of Turkey's forays across international borders. The U.S. doesn't have to back Turkey strikes in Qandil. It can insist that if Turkey won't participate in the anti-ISIS coalition under U.S. direction, that it better not strike Syrian Kurdistan, even inadvertently.”
Most commentators agree that the Kurdish quest for autonomy will not be ended by violence, despite Ankara’s hardline stance. Stein in particular is concerned that the Kurds’ legitimate political process, embodied by the HDP, will be hurt by the PKK’s return to violence.
“The surge in violence hurts all sides, including Demirtaş, who may now come under fire for being too outspoken in his relatively mild — but nevertheless very important — condemnations of the PKK. The airstrikes won't defeat PKK, either. The only feasible way to solve this is through genuine peace talks.”
This is a sentiment echoed by both Bayik and Demirtaş, who has repeatedly called for a bilateral ceasefire and a renewal of negotiations:
“The two sides should take their fingers off the trigger and the weapons should be silenced. If we can succeed in this then we can force the two sides back to the negotiating table. But we need support both domestically and from the international community.”
Alev Scott is the author of the book Turkish Awakening and a freelance writer based in Istanbul. Follow her on Twitter @AlevScott.Washington, Feb 6 : Scientists at Texas A & M University have developed a simple and cheaper method to develop nanowires that can create tiny computers and medical devices by using DNA.
Stirring of DNA into a chemical solution and exposing it to ultraviolet light will form these nanowires.
“The process is very simple stuff. Basically you put the solution and DNA into a beaker, stir it around, and expose it to light,” Discovery quoted Hong Liang of Texas A & M University, one of the authors of the paper.
It is well known that DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, contains the blueprints for all life. It was used by the Texas researchers to work as scaffold, to which other molecules could bind to.
As DNA is naturally programmed to form long chains, the investigators started out by creating wires, but also tried making other shapes from the solution as well.
DNA was mixed with a cadmium (metal) solution and this solution was stirred before exposing it to UV light.
“The UV light triggers a reaction, and the cadmium looks around for something to attach to. They find the DNA and grab it,” said Liang.
It was possible for the researchers to control the thickness of the wire by controlling the concentration of the solution. These wires are formed along the length of the DNA molecule, thereby enabling to cut the DNA in wires of different lengths.
It is common knowledge for any beachgoer that UV light can degrade DNA, and may also cause problems like cancer. So, in order to avert any damage to their DNA solution, the researchers used low-intensity UV light, much less intense levels that damage DNA.
This reaction does not require any elaborate set-up: it doesnt use or produce any toxic chemicals and takes place at room temperature and room pressure. The wires are able to retain their properties for three months.
This research may be used as a new way to see inside the body using either X-rays or other imaging techniques: It might be possible to inject the metal-coated DNA into the blood stream, which can congregate in tumors or damaged areas. As the molecules are made of electrically conductive metal, they would show up in an X-ray or other electromagnetic diagnostic scan.
Tiny circuit boards and computers or anything that uses electricity could also be created by using this technique.
According to Sri Sridhar, a professor of physics at Northeastern University, researchers are borrowing tricks from Mother Nature.
“It’s a very hot thing right now. While DNA is the basis of life, we are not using those properties,” he said. Instead, researchers are “taking the tricks that evolution developed as a basis for a new type of electronics that is DNA-based,” said Sridhar.
The study appears in the current issue of Advanced Materials. (ANI)Making Attractive, Durable Goods from Leather
W.H. Earl grew out of my impulse to try to make things for myself "the long way." I had worked for about a decade producing knowledge products for narrow audiences. As rewarding as the work was, it could not replicate the rewards of holding a useful, physical object I had made myself.
I have always liked leather as a material, and grew dissatisfied with belts and wallets that lasted only a year or two before needing to be replaced. I bought a small assortment of tools and materials and set out to make a handful of belts for myself and family members. Since those first projects, I've purchased and made more tools, worked with more materials, and experimented with more techniques.
The goods I'm offering on Etsy right now are almost exclusively those that are ready to ship within a day or two. This is more of an outlet for one-off or small batch items that are whatever I happen to be interested in at the moment. My main site, whearl.com, offers my popular and rotating line of customizable belts and a selection of made-to-order wallets. Drop me a line if you want to set up something customized to your needs. I might not be able to do it for you, but I'll be happy to answer your questions.
William H. Earl was my great-great-great grandfather. Following service in the Civil War, he became one of the original inhabitants of Eskridge, Kansas, where he established a successful mercantile. An advertisement for the business in a county business directory from the early 20th Century read,
"The oldest pioneer merchant in Wabaunsee County. For forty years we have been supplying the wants of the people in the southern half of Wabaunsee County in the general merchandise business. We carry everything the farmers want in a general way. Have been here all these years and have satisfied thousands upon thousands of customers in the line of Groceries, Dry Goods, Ladies' and Gents' Furnishings, the famous brand of Sunflower Shoes, Crockery, Queensware, Clothing, etc. We buy Flour, Feed, and Salt in car-load lots and sell the best of everything at the lowest possible price. Call and get prices. Highest prices paid for all kinds of produce."
While I don't sell crockery or buy salt in car-load, I do try to provide a quality product at a fair price.Josh Reynolds/AP
Unlike Houston, which completely redrew bus routes across its sprawling grid all at once, the T will take a piece-by-piece approach on the city’s winding roads.
The hottest trend in public transportation isn’t autonomous vehicles or aerial trams. Increasingly, transit advocates and operators are focused on the bread-and-butter basics of running fast, frequent, and reliable bus service. Now, Boston is poised to become the latest city to revamp its bus network, using modeling from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to both improve trips for existing passengers and bring new riders on board. Related Story How Houston's Bus Network Got Its Groove Back A short documentary gets viewers up to speed on the system’s overnight transformation. “If you were to look at a 1920s streetcar map of Boston, the [bus] route network doesn’t look too different today,” says Scott Hamwey, manager of long range planning at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. “We haven’t really updated our service plan in seven or eight years now, so this will be an opportunity to determine where demand has shifted.” But tracking exactly where people are taking the bus, and where they want to take the bus, is no easy task. While ride-hail companies like Uber know exactly where and when its customers travel, transit operators like the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, known as the T, have to piece together information from different internal data sets.
It’s easiest to tell where transit riders are boarding, since most swipe a fare card on the bus or at the train station. But while this data is linked to vehicles and routes, it’s not always connected to actual locations. Tracking where people are going is much harder, since the T doesn’t require that Bostonians tap their fare cards when they get off the bus or train. The MBTA uses automated counters to see where people are getting on and off the bus, but they’re not installed on every vehicle and can offer only a glimpse of what’s really happening. Using a ridership model that MIT’s Transit Lab first developed in London, called Origin Destination Transfer, or ODX, MIT and the MBTA have begun breaking down the barriers between different fare payment and ridership data sets to estimate when people are traveling, where they are getting on trains and buses, where they are transferring and, using the origin of their subsequent trip, inferring where they are ending their journeys. Tracking exactly where people are taking the bus, and where they want to take the bus, is no easy task. “We’ve been developing it for years,” says Laurel Paget-Seekins, director of strategic initiatives at the MBTA. “We’ve just gotten to the point where we feel comfortable using it.” Instead of following the lead of Houston, which completely redrew bus routes across its sprawling grid all at once, the T will be using ODX data as part of a piece-by-piece approach on Boston’s winding roads. Last month, the MBTA’s fiscal management control board considered plans to tweak bus schedules by looking six of its garages around Greater Boston, adjusting route alignment, stop spacing, frequency and hours of service.
“In the short term, we’re just trying to improve the routes that we have, one garage at a time, to make sure they’re scheduled appropriately,” says Paget-Seekins. “It’ll take us between two and three years to get to all the garages. And while that’s happening, we’re going to be looking at the bigger changes.” Big changes to the bus network could improve commutes for large swaths of Greater Boston, according to research by both MassDOT and MIT students. Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... As property values have soared close to the T’s subway and light rail lines, residents in poorer minority neighborhoods between the rail lines have been stuck with longer commutes than the region’s whiter, wealthier residents. Most transit riders in the Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods south of downtown Boston, for example, lack access to high-frequency rail service, leaving them with slower buses and forcing them to make additional transfers, according to an analysis by former MIT graduate student Raphael Dumas, who used an earlier version of ODX. “The network is not currently configured to serve trips from Black or African American [census] tracts very well,” he wrote in his thesis. “Shorter distances should not require more transfers.” Dumas recommended merging some routes to eliminate the need for transfers and establishing more consistent schedules to facilitate easy transfers. During off-peak hours, low-income bus riders are sometimes forced to make a costly choice. Everett is a working class city just a few miles north of downtown Boston, beyond the reach of the subway. As part of a study last year to improve buses in Everett, the state DOT partnered with a local Latino services organization to survey riders. “They wanted more frequent buses, particularly in the off-peak,” says MassDOT transportation planner Jennifer Slesinger. “If you missed the last bus, you might have no options, or you might have to take a taxi, which is expensive.”
Last November, MassDOT and the City of Everett released the Everett Transit Action Plan, which within weeks resulted in a pop-up bus lane during morning rush hours. Longer-term, the report recommends redesigning Everett’s bus routes to be more efficient and, eventually, offer direct service to downtown Boston. Another group that stands to benefit from a revamped bus network: employees in high growth job centers just beyond downtown Boston, like Kendall Square, the Longwood medical area and the Seaport District. “A lot of the areas that are experiencing a lot of growth economically weren’t always a part of the bus planning process,” says Andrew McFarland, community engagement manager for the LivableStreets Alliance and its Better Buses initiative. Former MIT student Catherine Vanderwaart used ODX data to show how to target small route extensions and more service on existing routes to attract additional bus riders to these job centers. “At the time there didn't seem to be much appetite for the kind of large scale redesign that Houston and other cities have done,” Vanderwaart says. “Wholesale redesigns can only happen pretty rarely, while changes like adding a route can happen much more frequently.” While tweaking around the margins is worthwhile, ultimately, better bus service involves offering more of it. The MBTA is also looking at getting a handle on its high bus maintenance costs, which a recent report by a conservative think tank ranked among the highest in the nation. Fixes on the table include garage upgrades and moving to a hybrid bus maintenance model, where private contractors maintain buses using union labor, instead of having the agency do it all in-house. While tweaking around the margins is worthwhile, ultimately, better bus service involves offering more of it, something the MBTA has so far failed to provide. “The annual number of bus revenue miles and bus revenue hours directly operated by the MBTA has more or less flatlined in the last two decades,” wrote Michael Gordon, a former MIT student, in his thesis. “The MBTA has limited resources available to allow for system growth.” Boston isn’t alone in beginning to examine its long neglected buses. Advocates and transit operators in other cities have acknowledged that since big rail expansion projects can take years or decades to deliver, a fast, frequent and reliable bus network is critical to any functioning transit system. Following Houston’s lead, Austin is beginning to plan a dramatic overhaul of its bus network. Columbus, Ohio, is set to implement its redesigned bus network on May 1. Seattle has been pursuing a more piecemeal strategy akin to the approach in Boston, revising its overnight services and changing its bus routes to more of a crosstown network as new light rail expansions take over more downtown-bound trips. Using the right metrics, there’s a lot that agencies can do to ensure their bus service is cost-effective, frequent, and equitable, says Marc Ebuña of TransitMatters, a Boston-area advocacy group. “If we’re doing service planning based on that type of thorough data analysis,” Ebuña says, “I have a lot of hope for the future.”With neither Labour nor Conservatives pledging to protect research budgets, public-spending cuts could hit labs around the UK, says the founder and chair of Science is Vital
(Image: Andrzej Krauze)
WHAT is science for? Most will think of headline-grabbing applications: life-saving medicines, the latest gadgets and clean-energy alternatives that may one day save our planet. Others might cite vast particle colliders that reveal fundamental insights into the workings of the universe.
Few, perhaps, will consider the more prosaic economic implications of a healthy science base. But research suggests that science delivers an impressive return on investment – every pound of publicly funded science filters through to produce an ongoing return of 20 pence a year from the private sector. So in many ways, such funding should be a no-brainer.
But in 2010, Britain voted in a government intent on cutting spending to tackle the aftermath of the worst recession since the second world war. The science budget was at risk. Despite having just 1 per cent of the global population, the UK publishes 16 per cent of the most influential research papers, and some studies put us first among all nations for research quality. With a track record of excelling on a shoestring budget, perhaps it could still do well on a little less. And when viewed alongside such emotionally charged services as hospitals and schools, how could it justify a privileged status?
Advertisement
The truth is that cutting investment that can foster growth made little sense, and the scientific community rallied to make this point. The result was protection of sorts: the ring-fencing and freezing of the budget at £4.6 billion in 2010. Since then, this modest pot has depreciated in real terms through inflation, with some estimating a cumulative loss of 20 per cent. The government, with considerable savvy, managed to come across as “science-friendly” by drip-feeding mainly investment on infrastructure in pet projects, such as big data.
But fundamentally, science has suffered. The core budget, divvied up to keep the best labs running, has dwindled close to the point of no return. Recent analysis by Science is Vital, the campaign group I head, showed that UK public investment in research has dipped below 0.5 per cent of GDP – the worst in the G8 group of leading economies, which averages 0.8 per cent.
As the UK prepares to go to the polls again, its scientists are braced for an uncertain future. Although speaking favourably of science in general terms, neither Labour nor the Conservatives – the two leading parties – have pledged to maintain the ring fence, let alone give it the boost it desperately needs. Only the Liberal Democrats and the Greens talk of increases, but neither party is expected to win many votes.
Healthy science is vital to our economic future and prosperity: soon we will find out if the new government really gets this.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Batten down the hatches”Brad Friedman Byon 11/10/2010, 8:35am PT
"did anyone else have to swear on a bible that their address was correct before they were able to vote? just wondering, because i did," Philadelphia voter Lindsay Granger wrote on her blog after voting in last Tuesday's mid-term election. "i had to lay my palm on the good book and state my name and address before i was allowed to sign my name in the voting log and enter the booth. they called it an affirmation. i call it creepy… and a little offensive…"
Granger notified VotersUnite.org last week after the incident which, she told the non-partisan election watchdog organization, made her "extremely uncomfortable because i'm not a Christian, and when i brought that up I was told to do it anyway."
In her blog item, Granger, an African-American, admitted to being "hypersensitive" given "the historical context of |
Yuki Yamaguchi is, above all else, a place to be: For drinks that may be unfamiliar to you (like natural wine, or Japanese shochu). For the discordant pleasure of lazing about a rural-feeling compound erected on the deeply urban property of a former tire shop. For the stimulating conversations that are sure to touch on what this all adds up to. Scoff at the scallops rillettes, spiced mackerel paté or smoked sardines, if you must. Canned (and jarred) seafood of this quality — delicacies in Spain, France and Portugal, to name three of the countries they're imported from — are to the daily catch what charcuterie is to conventionally prepared mammal meat. They're also not the only things served. From the small bar set with boiled eggs to the pork katsu in beet sauce I ate with frites, N7 is an idiosyncratic expression of Francophilia. New Orleans hasn't seen anything like it before. And I can't imagine finding it anyplace else.
1117 Montegut St., New Orleans
*
SEAWORTHY
Raw oysters are a main attraction at Seaworthy. (Photo by Todd A. Price, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Seaworthy's opening followed that of Josephine Estelle on one side and Balise on the other, completing a makeover of the block of Carondelet Street dominated by the New Orleans Ace Hotel. The restaurant is a collaboration between the Ace and the New York restaurant Grand Banks, whose well-regarded chef Kerry Heffernan is Seaworthy's executive chef; the drinks program is created by a veteran of the influential, now-closed Manhattan bar Milk & Honey. So no, it is not a place to abjure the outside influences taking root in New Orleans. What it is, however, is a first-rate oyster bar in what has become a national style. Its soul is a happening bar featuring an array of bivalves, organized by region and priced by the single oyster, along with smartly curated libations to match. Chef de cuisine Daniel Causgrove distills a variety of seafood cooking traditions on the larger menu, with a bias toward local ingredients and Southern flavors. His food is by turns folksy (lobster roll, marinated crab claws) and high-flown (butter-poached sheepshead, whole roasted speckled trout) and consistently very good. The small dining rooms in the handsomely restored building are studies in arrested decay, decorated mainly in melted candle wax, populated by people who 18 months ago couldn't have imagined being this enchanted by this part of town.
630 Carondelet St., New Orleans, 504.930.3071
*
TURKEY AND THE WOLF
The crab boil roll at Turkey and the Wolf on Jackson Avenue in New Orleans. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
There are two categories on Turkey and the Wolf's menu: "Sandwiches" and "Not Sandwiches." The headings speak to the modesty of an order-at-the-counter sandwich place built in the onetime home of Finger Lick'N Wings. While factually accurate, the categories also are coy about what chef Mason Hereford delivers. Each of his sandwiches seizes an opportunity to turn a familiar path — the one-bite journey from crisp-to-soft-to-crisp — into a brief but memorable voyage. It's not high-minded stuff. We're talking about baloney, smoked ham and chicken-fried steak here. The difference is that Hereford, a former Coquette chef de cuisine, and his staff create this unpretentious food as though they were working with Dover sole. The grab bag of snacks (get the deviled eggs, topped with fried chicken skin) and salads are similarly impressive, and all are complemented by co-owner Lauren Holton's intelligent selection of cocktails and other inebriates.
739 Jackson Ave., New Orleans, 504.218.7428Iconic retail brands have been recently implicated in a BBC investigation into the unethical practices of Turkish textile industry. ASOS, an online fashion company and Marks & Spencer, an iconic British high street retailer, have both been identified as possessing child workers in their supply chains.
In one case, the investigators found 7-8 year-old children sewing boxer shorts. The BBC found children exhausted from working 60-hour weeks and are unable to attend school.
ASOS’s operated a 'fashion with integrity' initiative to'manage all aspects of our business transparently'.
M&S found the reports 'extremely serious' and 'unacceptable'. The company offered legal employment to legal refugee and pledged that 'we will do all we can to ensure that this does not happen again'.
ASOS’s operated a 'fashion with integrity' initiative to'manage all aspects of our business transparently'. In response to the allegations, ASOS argued that such practices were contrary to their code of conduct.
'We have not found child labor in any of our approved Turkish factories. Most importantly, our team oversees remediation programs for vulnerable people who they discover in the workplace. In the example BBC Panorama showed, that was a factory we didn’t know about – unapproved outsourcing.'
One supplier, Hazar Tekstil, sub-contracted its work to small workshops across Istanbul, Turkey’s industrial hub. It is in these unregulated and unapproved areas that children were forced into employment.
ASOS offered to support affected children and Syrian refugees 'despite the fact that the factory has nothing to do with ASOS'. Hazar Tekstil has been dropped by ASOS.
But it is not sufficient to claim ignorance, either for unknown suppliers or for creating an environment in which unauthorized outsourcing can occur. Companies are responsible for the conditions in which their goods are produced. They also have a responsibility to understand where their suppliers operate and must ensure they have high standards of visibility within that chain.
The investigation also found evidence of exploitation of refugees. Three million Syrians live in Turkey, fleeing the war and destruction of their homeland. Their desperation makes them easy prey for unscrupulous employers.
'They know they are being ripped off,' observes Darragh MacIntyre the lead reporter 'but they can do nothing about it.'
In many cases the investigation finds the employment of Syrian refugees working far below the Turkish minimum wage. One undercover report found a facility produces garments for high street retailers Mango and Zara, in which employers worked 12-hour shifts in dangerous conditions.
Mango stated that the facilities in which its brand was found stated that the factory was a'sub-contractor' and operated 'without Mango’s knowledge'. This is the classic defense within the supply chain: outsource and deny. But companies’ moral responsibilities – and increasingly their legal responsibilities – extend beyond the primary supplier.
Zara claimed that it had audited the offending factory in June 2016 and itself found'significant non-compliance' with their code of conduct and had given the supplier until the end of the year 'to make the necessary improvements'.
The main method for companies to combat such practices is the audit: where inspectors arrive unannounced an ensure that the facilities and practices are compliant with the company code of conduct. But the child workers noted that audits were ineffective, as the children were simply hidden away until the auditors left. In one episode, the children were required to hide from 10am to 6pm.
Clearly the current system for supply chain integrity appears to be dysfunctional. Not only are auditors being duped, by buyers are being outfox as suppliers engage in unauthorized outsourcing.
Undoubtedly, the supply chain is a complex leviathan. It ranges over many countries and suppliers. Despite this, that a team of investigators can uncover a wide array of abuses in just a single city with relative ease is an indication that many retailers are failing to understand their own supply chains and are failing to ensure fair treatment of staff employed within supply chains. If such practices are permitted to persist, brands will grow associated with these malpractices.
'If a machine breaks, they’ll fix it,' stated one refugee, 'but it anything happens to a Syrian, they’ll throw him away like a piece of cloth.'Two judges reject application by Ciaran McClean to bring judicial review of the legality of controversial parliamentary deal
A crowdfunded bid at the high court in London to challenge the government’s controversial parliamentary deal with the Democratic Unionist party has failed.
Two judges rejected an application made on Thursday by Ciaran McClean, an unsuccessful Westminster candidate for the Green party in Northern Ireland in the general election, to bring a judicial review of the legality of the £1bn deal.
The claim alleged the deal breached the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement and the Bribery Act.
McClean, who raised tens of thousands of pounds for the legal action via crowdfunding, accused the government of “buying DUP votes” to hold on to power.
He was in court to hear Lord Justice Sales, sitting with Mr Justice Lewis, rule against him. Sales said neither of the two grounds relied on by McClean in his application was “properly arguable in a court of law”. He said: “Permission to apply for judicial review should be refused.”
McClean, who pursued the legal action as a private individual and not in conjunction with the Green party, claimed the agreement breached the Bribery Act 2010 and described it as a “corrupt bargain”.
During the hearing, his lawyer tried to persuade the two judges that he had an “arguable” case, which should be given a full airing in court at a later date.
Dominic Chambers QC told them that, under the 26 June agreement, the government had “purchased” the political support of the DUP for £1bn, “and that sum will come from public money”.
He argued the agreement was made for an “unlawful purpose” and said that it was “on its face unlawful because it makes provision for the expenditure of public funds for party political advantage”.
The application was contested by two defendants, the first secretary of state and the attorney general.
Their QC, James Eadie, submitted in written argument before the judges that the criminal law of bribery “plainly does not apply to a confidence and supply agreement between political parties”.
He stated: “The allegation that the agreement entails public expenditure which is unlawful at common law and/or without parliamentary authority is misconceived in particular because the expenditure contemplated by the agreement will have appropriate parliamentary authorisation.”
The parliamentary deal – branded “shabby and reckless” by Labour – saw the DUP’s 10 MPs agree to support the Conservatives’ minority government in a series of key Westminster votes. In exchange, Northern Ireland’s largest party secured £1bn of new Treasury investment in the region.
Under the “confidence and supply” arrangement intended to last until 2022, the DUP guaranteed that its MPs would vote with the government on the Queen’s speech, the budget and legislation relating to Brexit and national security.
The DUP has insisted the Westminster arrangement will provide stability for the UK at a time of uncertainty while offering much-needed investment for the whole of Northern Ireland.
A government spokeswoman said: “We believe the claim is groundless and the court has agreed with that view. The government is very clear that making funding available under the agreement is lawful and is for the benefit of all parts of the community in Northern Ireland.”Austin Police Department
AMERICAN-STATESMAN file photo/Jessalyn Tamez
A driver of an SUV has been charged in a hit-and-run involving a downtown Austin pedicab last September, according to court documents.
A pedicab operator was heading west on Sixth Street near Guadalupe Street around 1:15 a.m. Sept. 5, when she suddenly saw a vehicle coming directly toward her, traveling in the wrong direction on the one-way street, an arrest affidavit said.
Pedestrians yelled out warnings to the pedicab operator and she veered away. But the SUV struck the pedicab, throwing the operator from her pedicab. The vehicle continued traveling down the street, the affidavit said.
The pedicab operator was taken to a hospital to be treated for a concussion, cuts and deep bruises.
Austin police obtained a description of the SUV and the license plate number that witnesses said belonged to the vehicle, and tracked down the vehicle’s registered owner. About three weeks after the crash, investigators interviewed the owner, who was identified in the affidavit as 25-year-old Jordan Taylor Liles.
According to the affidavit, Liles admitted to police that she did crash into a pedicab on Sept. 5, but added that she didn’t stop because she didn’t think she hit the pedicab that hard.
Liles faces a state jail felony charge of failure to stop and render aid.UNOFFICIAL AGDQ 2016 Final Games Predictions a guest Oct 25th, 2015 2,229 Never a guest2,229Never
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 14.38 KB UNOFFICIAL AGDQ 2016 Final Games Predictions (Spikevegeta's Picks) To note, this does not reflect what I want to be in the final schedule. What I have attempted to do was predict what the GDQ games committee will choose. I split each "tier" of games into different "Seeds" similar to how many tournaments are structured such as the NCAA Men's/Women's Basketball Tournament. 1 Seeds are considered by myself to be the safest bets to make the schedule and as you go down, they get less and less certain. Each Seed roughly represents another 10 hours of the schedule, mainly to force me to not have Seeds or groups with TONS of hours compared to others, so it kept it some-what balanced time wise. You'll notice my 15 Seeds have around 14 hours in the non-FF7 group. Generally the Committee has picked beyond 150 Hours for the initial final schedule, so you'll probably see around that number anyways. Finally, i did not predict the "Bonus" Games that are donated into the schedule, but you can assume around 5-7 hours of those get in, and I assumed games like SMB1 any% Race, maybe Goof Troop to go with the SNES Disney Block, and SMW 0 Exit Race would all go there instead of the "Main" Schedule. 1-Seeds Kaizo Mario World 2 any% 0:50 dram55 Paper Mario All Cards 3:15 GigaDB Splatoon any% 1:00 TonesBalones/Tricourage/Vespher TLoZ: Majora's Mask 100% 4P Coop 5:35 4 Runners 10:40 2 Seeds F-Zero X All Cups 1:20 UchihaSDA Gimmick! Best Ending 0:15 Aquas/becored Mega Man 6 any% 0:40 ohon/DarkTerrex/Ppotdot1 Mega Man X3 100% 0:50 Luiz Miguel/Zewing/Iceless Metroid Prime any% 1:25 Miles Shovel Knight Plague Knight 0:50 TheTaiwanNinja/MunchaKoopas Super Mario 64 120 Star 1:55 Simply/Cheese05/Puncayshun Super Mario Maker Hard Race 0:30 4 Runners Super Meat Boy 106% 1:30 vopej Super Metroid any% 2P1C 1:00 Oatsngoats/sweetnumb 20:55 3 Seeds Akumajou Densetsu Alucard 0:35 ohon/iongravirei Batman: The Video Game any% 0:15 4-Way Race Bloodborne any% 0:42 FatB Diablo any% 0:20 ShiningFace/Funkmastermp Donkey Kong Country 2 102% 1:40 Antilles58/V0oid Doom e1-3 UV Speed 0:23 wakecold Mike Tyson's Punch-out!! any% Blindfo. 0:45 sinister1/zallard1 Ninja Gaiden any% 0:25 dxtr Ninja Gaiden II any% 0:12 jimmypoopins Portal Inb./Zero/Pro 0:14/0:20/0:18 NoirCat Portal OoB 0:15 xcd Quake any% easy 0:20 wakecold Sonic Colors Egg Shuttle 1:00 DarkSpinesSonic Super Mario Bros. 3 Kaizo any% 0:40 mitchflowerpower Super Mario World 96 Exit 1:40 5 Runners 30:25 4-Seeds Banjo-Kazooie any% no RBA 1:40 Stivitybobo/themartonfi Contra any% 0:10:40 DK28/Toad22484/TMR Goldeneye 007 00 Agent Relay 0:50 7 Runners Ori and the Blind Forest All Cells 1:00 Ankamius/Gremelios/Andy Pokemon Gold any% NSC 1:00 TheTyrant14 Portal 2 Solo Coop 0:50 Azorae Super Monkey Ball Expert-Master 0:25 Barhunga Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz All Worlds 1:00 Miles TLoZ: A Link to the Past RBO 1:35 superskuj/Andy TLoZ: OOT MQ All Dungeons 1:55 ZFG 40:50 5 Seeds Alpha Zylon any% 0:09 Studio Bioshock any% 0:55 Blood_Thunder Crash Bandicoot 100% 1:25 CaneofPacci Dark Souls II: Scholar of the F.. 1-Handed 1:25 Oginam Kirby's Dream Land Extra Mode 0:15 Protomagicalgirl/TrUShade Lester the Unlikely any% 0:21 Cornshaq/Radioactive_Rat/philosoraptor42 Ratchet & Clank: UYA NG+ 0:50 ThaRixer/Xem Rockman 4: BCAS any% 0:30 Golden/Garrison Rocky & Bullwinkle any% 0:07 WhiteHat94/jimmypoopins/authorblues Sonic Advance 3 any% 0:45 Kirbymastah Sonic CD any% Tails 0:25 footbigmike/bertin TASBOT Stuff 1:00 dwangoAC The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim any% 0:50 DrTChops Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 any% 0:45 guished 50:33 6 Seeds Azure Striker Gunvolt any% all stages 1:00 Ajarmar/Trogdor/Greenalink Final Fantasy 4 any% No 64 3:20 nocashnocash/eLmaGus/puwexil/Neerrm Indiana Jones and the Temple of D. any% 0:15 Feasel Grand Theft Auto III any% 1:20 Mhmd_FVC Metroid Fusion any% 1:20 4 Runners Pepsiman any%/Cutsc. 0:30 theboyks Team Fortress 2 Jump Showcase 0:15 TomSinister TMNT IV: Turtles in Time 1p2c 0:25 Sinister1 TLoZ: A Link Between Worlds any% 1:40 Ahamplan/TheLegendofZaheer 60:18 7 Seeds Castlevania: SOTN Glitchless 0:37 Dr4gonBlitz Castlevania: SOTN any% Richter 0:07 Mecha Richter Half-Life 2 any% NE 1:40 Woobly/NoirCat Klonoa: Door to Phantomile any% 0:55 CavemanDCJ Left 4 Dead 2 Campains coop 1:25 Rawrica/2dos Meg Man ZX any% Normal 1:01 Tiki Strider any% 0:10 5 Runners Super Mario 64 16 Star 0:20 GamerDomey/SteveMassey/Fuzzyness/Biinny TLoZ: Oracle of Ages any% 2:10 Casusby/Mashystrr Utsurun Desu Best Ending 0:15 iongravirei Wario Land 3 any% 1:00 becored 70:28 8 Seeds: Battletoads 100% 0:35 TheMexicanRunner Halo 4 Legendary 1:40 proacejoker Jak 3 any% no OoB 1:00 HillaryPuff/ThaRixer Mega Man X any%/100% 0:40 TheHerpDerp88/Domalix/Iceless/Tiki Metal Slug X Very Hard 0:30 sadrunslive Resident Evil HD Remaster Chris/Jill 1:24-1:32 Pessimism/Brandino/Carcinogen Super Mario Bros. 2 All Levels 0:30 4 Runners Super Mario Bros. The Lost Lev. any% D-4 0:20 Skybilz/GameJ06 Super Mario Galaxy Luigi 2:40 frogyfro/360Chrism Super Punch-Out!! any% 0:25 zallard1 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 All Goals 0:30 Plumato 80:50 9 Seeds: Battleblock Theater Insane co-op 1:50 Mecha Richter/PJ Castlevania any% Race 0:15 Cantoutfapme/kmac Cloudbuilt Defiance 0:23 Wobs23/MidBoss Diddy Kong Racing All Trophy Ra.. 0:28 MrsGizamaluke/JoeDamilio/Toufool31 Donkey Kong Country 101% 0:52 Eazinn Gunstar Super Heroes Hard 0:30 iongravirei Hagane any% 0:20 Omnigamer Hotline Miami NG+ All Levels 0:30 Snowfats Mirror's Edge any% 0:50 SasukeAnimator Prinny: Can I Really be the.. Hell's Finest 0:40 PinkPajamas/Jimmyqballs Super Mario Kart any% 0:34 MD_Neo/KVD The Lion King any% Hard 0:20 TheMexicanRunner The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The World any% 0:20 Svenne TimeSplitters 2 Story Easy 0:40 RealmCopier 90:47 10 Seeds Blast Corps 100% 1:45 Graviton Blaster Master any% 0:35 6 Runners Castlevania: Bloodlines Expert 0:45 Klaige Crazy Taxi 2 Crazy Pyramid 0:25 2dos Disney's Aladdin any% 0:22 JoeDamilio Kirby Squeak Squad any% 0:55 Mr_Shasta Mega Man 2 Normal 0:35 duckfist Shantae: Risky's Revenge 100% 1:30 toucansham Skyblazer any% 0:28 Omnigamer Star Wars: Dark Forces Hard/any% 0:36 JackofHearts/psychoripper Streets of Rage 2 any% 0:35 TheHerpDerp88 The Legend of Zelda any% 0:35 5 Runners The Magical Quest Starring MM any% Hard 0:20 R3DninjaJOSH/darbian Velocity 2X any% 1:40 Nosraef 100:38 11 Seeds Animorphs any% 0:40 Keizaron/FFRPRO21 Buster Best Ending 0:20 bjw Escape from Atlantis any% 0:07 Authorblues/Dragondarch/Zerst Mega Man 8 any%/Cuts.. 1:15 soothingplumtea/orsa/Joka Mega Man 9/10 Bid War Proto/Bass 0:36 Slurpeeninja/TheBlacktastic Rayman Legends any% 1:35 spikevegeta/PerilousPeanut Rosenkreuzstilette Tia 0:45 AzureHakua SOMA any% 1:30 Nord/ZOMandKatgarr/Scoot Sonic Rush Blaze/Sonic 1:15/1:10 nman36 Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts any%/Chaos 0:50/1:00 PJ 110:01 12 Seeds Ape Escape 3 any% 1:16 Squid/downiebrownie Descent II Hot Shots 0:50 SpootyBiscuit Devil May Cry 3/4 Dante/Vergil 1:30 PvtCb Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Proud 3:30 KH Community Mischief Makers any% 1:00 The Inercom/Jackafur Mute Crimson+ any% 0:45 TheBlacktastic/DarkTerrex Neo Contra NG 100% 0:28 MURPHAGATOR! Ninja Gaiden III Pacifist 0:22 gusmancini Snapshot any% 0:25 Nightmare47 Trash TV any% 0:20 Studio Wrack any% 0:22 Shaddex 120:39 13 Seeds Battle Kid 2 any% 1:10 Spiriax Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction Druid/Sorcer.. 2:00/1:45 MrLlamaSC FEZ any% 0:30 Gyoo/Vulajin Jet Set Radio Future any% 2:10 FingerQuick/TwoWordlsCoexisting/Kabar1991 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards 100% 1:15 swordsmankirby/Kungfufruitcup/Supreme Lara Croft and the GoL any% NG+ coop 0:30 DrTChops/RandomPinkBunny Perfect Stride 169 Pyramids 0:06:30 Pykn Pirate Doom any% 0:30 Cubeface Shinobi any% 0:15 infinitemystery Super Time Force Ultra Super Hard 0:30 Tohloo The JoyLancer: LMK Motor Knight 0:30 halfcoordinated The Karate Kid any% 0:06 JamEvil Umihara Kawase Shun any% 0:06 tonic Vendetta Character Bids 0:25 MURPHATOR! 130:13 14 Seeds: Adventure Island 3 any% 0:25 InfestedRiche Johnny Bazookatone any% 0:22 guished Kaizo Mario World 100% 0:55 DoDeChehedron Katamari Damacy any% 0:35 MidBoss/Sunkir King of Kings: The Early Years Wise Men 0:18 Linkums Low G Man: The Low Grav... any% 0:20 ZakkyDraggy Max Payne 2 any% 0:45 Saint Millon Secret of Mana 1P2C 2:05 Yagamoth Secret of Mana Credits Warp 0:15 Yagamoth Teslagrad any% Legacy 0:35 frozentrually The Talos Principle 100% 1:10 Azorae Trauma Center: Second Op. any% 1:40 altabiscuit 140:38 15 Seeds: 1001 Spikes Ukampa/Skulls 0:25/0:26 licensetobill/Caerulius A Hat in Time 100% 0:30 Shockwve/Amyrlinn Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons any% 1:20 regameyk Child of Light any% 1:40 soloman Darksiders 2 any% 1:05 snowysnowwolf Darkwing Duck any% 0:15 Joka/DarkTerrex/TMR Eternal Daughter any% 0:30 Azurinel Goat Simulator All MMO Quests 0:20 Riekelt Kero Blaster any% 0:33 draculantern Kirby: Nightmare in Dream.. Meta 100/any 0:45/0:40 wallyaldo Mario Kart 8 200CC 1:45/1:40 UchihaSDA/AeonFrodo/Videowiz92 Mega Man X6 All St./Xtreme 0:50/1:00 4 Runners Sonic Advance Sonic 0:20 Combo Blaze Spelunky HD All Shortcuts 0:30 Bom/Jamie Star Fox 64 any% Race 0:30 5 Runners StepMania Showcase 0:25 Staiain Super Castlevania IV any% Hard 0:40:05 just_defend Super Star Wars any% 0:32 Danzel_Glovington/Striker Wolfenstein: The Old Blood any% 1:10 Blood_Thunder 154:54 (or) Final Fantasy VII any% no Slots 8:00 ajneb174 149:52
RAW Paste Data
UNOFFICIAL AGDQ 2016 Final Games Predictions (Spikevegeta's Picks) To note, this does not reflect what I want to be in the final schedule. What I have attempted to do was predict what the GDQ games committee will choose. I split each "tier" of games into different "Seeds" similar to how many tournaments are structured such as the NCAA Men's/Women's Basketball Tournament. 1 Seeds are considered by myself to be the safest bets to make the schedule and as you go down, they get less and less certain. Each Seed roughly represents another 10 hours of the schedule, mainly to force me to not have Seeds or groups with TONS of hours compared to others, so it kept it some-what balanced time wise. You'll notice my 15 Seeds have around 14 hours in the non-FF7 group. Generally the Committee has picked beyond 150 Hours for the initial final schedule, so you'll probably see around that number anyways. Finally, i did not predict the "Bonus" Games that are donated into the schedule, but you can assume around 5-7 hours of those get in, and I assumed games like SMB1 any% Race, maybe Goof Troop to go with the SNES Disney Block, and SMW 0 Exit Race would all go there instead of the "Main" Schedule. 1-Seeds Kaizo Mario World 2 any% 0:50 dram55 Paper Mario All Cards 3:15 GigaDB Splatoon any% 1:00 TonesBalones/Tricourage/Vespher TLoZ: Majora's Mask 100% 4P Coop 5:35 4 Runners 10:40 2 Seeds F-Zero X All Cups 1:20 UchihaSDA Gimmick! Best Ending 0:15 Aquas/becored Mega Man 6 any% 0:40 ohon/DarkTerrex/Ppotdot1 Mega Man X3 100% 0:50 Luiz Miguel/Zewing/Iceless Metroid Prime any% 1:25 Miles Shovel Knight Plague Knight 0:50 TheTaiwanNinja/MunchaKoopas Super Mario 64 120 Star 1:55 Simply/Cheese05/Puncayshun Super Mario Maker Hard Race 0:30 4 Runners Super Meat Boy 106% 1:30 vopej Super Metroid any% 2P1C 1:00 Oatsngoats/sweetnumb 20:55 3 Seeds Akumajou Densetsu Alucard 0:35 ohon/iongravirei Batman: The Video Game any% 0:15 4-Way Race Bloodborne any% 0:42 FatB Diablo any% 0:20 ShiningFace/Funkmastermp Donkey Kong Country 2 102% 1:40 Antilles58/V0oid Doom e1-3 UV Speed 0:23 wakecold Mike Tyson's Punch-out!! any% Blindfo. 0:45 sinister1/zallard1 Ninja Gaiden any% 0:25 dxtr Ninja Gaiden II any% 0:12 jimmypoopins Portal Inb./Zero/Pro 0:14/0:20/0:18 NoirCat Portal OoB 0:15 xcd Quake any% easy 0:20 wakecold Sonic Colors Egg Shuttle 1:00 DarkSpinesSonic Super Mario Bros. 3 Kaizo any% 0:40 mitchflowerpower Super Mario World 96 Exit 1:40 5 Runners 30:25 4-Seeds Banjo-Kazooie any% no RBA 1:40 Stivitybobo/themartonfi Contra any% 0:10:40 DK28/Toad22484/TMR Goldeneye 007 00 Agent Relay 0:50 7 Runners Ori and the Blind Forest All Cells 1:00 Ankamius/Gremelios/Andy Pokemon Gold any% NSC 1:00 TheTyrant14 Portal 2 Solo Coop 0:50 Azorae Super Monkey Ball Expert-Master 0:25 Barhunga Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz All Worlds 1:00 Miles TLoZ: A Link to the Past RBO 1:35 superskuj/Andy TLoZ: OOT MQ All Dungeons 1:55 ZFG 40:50 5 Seeds Alpha Zylon any% 0:09 Studio Bioshock any% 0:55 Blood_Thunder Crash Bandicoot 100% 1:25 CaneofPacci Dark Souls II: Scholar of the F.. 1-Handed 1:25 Oginam Kirby's Dream Land Extra Mode 0:15 Protomagicalgirl/TrUShade Lester the Unlikely any% 0:21 Cornshaq/Radioactive_Rat/philosoraptor42 Ratchet & Clank: UYA NG+ 0:50 ThaRixer/Xem Rockman 4: BCAS any% 0:30 Golden/Garrison Rocky & Bullwinkle any% 0:07 WhiteHat94/jimmypoopins/authorblues Sonic Advance 3 any% 0:45 Kirbymastah Sonic CD any% Tails 0:25 footbigmike/bertin TASBOT Stuff 1:00 dwangoAC The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim any% 0:50 DrTChops Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 any% 0:45 guished 50:33 6 Seeds Azure Striker Gunvolt any% all stages 1:00 Ajarmar/Trogdor/Greenalink Final Fantasy 4 any% No 64 3:20 nocashnocash/eLmaGus/puwexil/Neerrm Indiana Jones and the Temple of D. any% 0:15 Feasel Grand Theft Auto III any% 1:20 Mhmd_FVC Metroid Fusion any% 1:20 4 Runners Pepsiman any%/Cutsc. 0:30 theboyks Team Fortress 2 Jump Showcase 0:15 TomSinister TMNT IV: Turtles in Time 1p2c 0:25 Sinister1 TLoZ: A Link Between Worlds any% 1:40 Ahamplan/TheLegendofZaheer 60:18 7 Seeds Castlevania: SOTN Glitchless 0:37 Dr4gonBlitz Castlevania: SOTN any% Richter 0:07 Mecha Richter Half-Life 2 any% NE 1:40 Woobly/NoirCat Klonoa: Door to Phantomile any% 0:55 CavemanDCJ Left 4 Dead 2 Campains coop 1:25 Rawrica/2dos Meg Man ZX any% Normal 1:01 Tiki Strider any% 0:10 5 Runners Super Mario 64 16 Star 0:20 GamerDomey/SteveMassey/Fuzzyness/Biinny TLoZ: Oracle of Ages any% 2:10 Casusby/Mashystrr Utsurun Desu Best Ending 0:15 iongravirei Wario Land 3 any% 1:00 becored 70:28 8 Seeds: Battletoads 100% 0:35 TheMexicanRunner Halo 4 Legendary 1:40 proacejoker Jak 3 any% no OoB 1:00 HillaryPuff/ThaRixer Mega Man X any%/100% 0:40 TheHerpDerp88/Domalix/Iceless/Tiki Metal Slug X Very Hard 0:30 sadrunslive Resident Evil HD Remaster Chris/Jill 1:24-1:32 Pessimism/Brandino/Carcinogen Super Mario Bros. 2 All Levels 0:30 4 Runners Super Mario Bros. The Lost Lev. any% D-4 0:20 Skybilz/GameJ06 Super Mario Galaxy Luigi 2:40 frogyfro/360Chrism Super Punch-Out!! any% 0:25 zallard1 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 All Goals 0:30 Plumato 80:50 9 Seeds: Battleblock Theater Insane co-op 1:50 Mecha Richter/PJ Castlevania any% Race 0:15 Cantoutfapme/kmac Cloudbuilt Defiance 0:23 Wobs23/MidBoss Diddy Kong Racing All Trophy Ra.. 0:28 MrsGizamaluke/JoeDamilio/Toufool31 Donkey Kong Country 101% 0:52 Eazinn Gunstar Super Heroes Hard 0:30 iongravirei Hagane any% 0:20 Omnigamer Hotline Miami NG+ All Levels 0:30 Snowfats Mirror's Edge any% 0:50 SasukeAnimator Prinny: Can I Really be the.. Hell's Finest 0:40 PinkPajamas/Jimmyqballs Super Mario Kart any% 0:34 MD_Neo/KVD The Lion King any% Hard 0:20 TheMexicanRunner The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The World any% 0:20 Svenne TimeSplitters 2 Story Easy 0:40 RealmCopier 90:47 10 Seeds Blast Corps 100% 1:45 Graviton Blaster Master any% 0:35 6 Runners Castlevania: Bloodlines Expert 0:45 Klaige Crazy Taxi 2 Crazy Pyramid 0:25 2dos Disney's Aladdin any% 0:22 JoeDamilio Kirby Squeak Squad any% 0:55 Mr_Shasta Mega Man 2 Normal 0:35 duckfist Shantae: Risky's Revenge 100% 1:30 toucansham Skyblazer |
workers, including for those already practicing; reform regulations that unnecessarily impede accessibility of pain medications; and take action to ensure their affordability. While this is a considerable task, various countries, such as Romania, Uganda and Vietnam, have shown that such a comprehensive approach is feasible in low and middle-income countries and can be successful. In pursuing steps to improve pain treatment, countries should draw on the expertise and assistance of the WHO Access to Controlled Medications Programme and INCB. The international community should address the poor availability of pain treatment with urgency. The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs that will take place in Vienna in March 2009 is a unique opportunity to begin to do so. At the meeting, which will conclude a year-long review of the last ten years of drug policy, countries will set priorities for the next ten years of global drug policy. In Vienna, the international community should recommit itself to the mandate of the 1961 Single Convention for states to ensure adequate availability of controlled medicines for the relief of pain and suffering. For too long, the global drug policy debate has been strongly focused on prevention of the use and trade of illicit drugs, distorting the balance that was envisioned by the Convention. In March 2009, the international community should set ambitious and measurable goals to significantly improve access to opioid analgesics-pain medications made from opiates-and other controlled medicines worldwide over the coming ten years. After March 2009, global drug policy actors, such as the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and INCB, should regularly review progress made by countries toward adequate availability of pain treatment medications, carefully analyzing steps taken to advance this important issue. Donor countries and agencies, including the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, should actively encourage countries to undertake comprehensive steps to improve access to pain relief medications and support those that do, including through support for the WHO Access to Controlled Medications Programme. UN and regional human rights bodies should routinely remind countries of their obligation under human rights law to ensure adequate availability of pain medications.
Background: Pain in the World Today Prevalence of Pain Chronic moderate and severe pain is a common symptom of cancer and HIV/AIDS, as well as of various other health conditions.[5] A recent review of pain studies in cancer patients found that more than fifty percent of cancer patients experience pain symptoms[6] and research consistently finds that 60 to 90 percent of patients with advanced cancer experience moderate to severe pain.[7] The intensity of the pain and its effect vary depending on to the type of cancer, treatment, and personal characteristics. Prevalence and severity of pain usually increase with disease progression. Although no population-based studies of AIDS-related pain have been published, multiple studies report that 60 to 80 percent of patients in the last phases of illness experience significant pain.[8] Even though the increasing availability of antiretroviral drugs in middle and low income countries is prolonging the lives of many people with HIV, pain symptoms continue to be a problem for a significant proportion of these patients.[9] Several studies have found that between 29 and 74 percent of people who receive antiretroviral treatment experience pain symptoms.[10] Experts believe that worldwide there are 24.6 million people who suffer from cancer annually, and that more than 7 million people die of it every year. Overall, 12 percent of all deaths worldwide are due to cancer.[11][12] WHO warns that these numbers will continue to grow over the coming years, with 30 million people projected to be living with cancer by 2020.[13] UNAIDS estimates that about 32 million people live with HIV worldwide, that some 4.1 million people are newly infected each year, and that almost 3 million die of the disease.[14][15] The Impact of Pain Moderate to severe pain has a profound impact on quality of life. Scientific research has demonstrated that persistent pain has a series of physical, psychological and social consequences. It can lead to reduced mobility and consequent loss of strength; compromise the immune system; interfere with a person's ability to eat, concentrate, sleep, or interact with others.[16] The psychological consequences are also profound. A WHO study found that people who live with chronic pain are four time more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety.[17] The physical effect of chronic pain and the psychological strain it causes can even influence the course of disease. According to WHO, "[p]ain can kill..."[18] Pain has social consequences for people experiencing it and often also for their care givers, who may face sleep deprivation and other problems as a result. These social consequences include inability to work, care for children or other family members, and participate in social activities.[19] Pain can also interfere with a dying person's ability to bid farewell to loved ones and make final arrangements. While the physical, psychological and social consequences of pain are measurable, the suffering caused by the pain is not. Yet, there can be little dispute about enormity of the misery it inflicts. People who experience severe but untreated pain often live in agony for much of the day and often for extended periods of time. Many people interviewed by Human Rights Watch who had experienced severe pain in India, expressed the exact same sentiment as torture survivors: all they wanted was for the pain to stop. Unable to sign a confession to make that happen, several people told us that they had wanted to commit suicide to end the pain, prayed to be taken away, or told doctors or relatives that they wanted to die.[20] Pain Management: Elements, Effectiveness, Cost According to WHO, "Most, if not all, pain due to cancer could be relieved if we implemented existing medical knowledge and treatments."[21] The mainstay medication for the treatment of moderate to severe pain is morphine, an opioid that is made of an extract of the poppy plant. Morphine can both be injected and taken orally. It is mostly injected to treat acute pain, generally in hospital settings. Oral morphine is the drug of choice for chronic pain, and can be taken both institutional settings and at home. Due to the potential for its abuse, morphine is a controlled medication, meaning that its manufacture, distribution and dispensing is strictly controlled both at the international and national levels. The WHO Pain Relief Ladder is the basis for modern pain management. Originally developed for treating cancer pain, it has since been applied successfully to HIV/AIDS-related pain.[22] The ladder recommends the administration of different types of pain medications, or analgesics, according to the severity of the pain. For mild pain, it calls for basic pain relievers like acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that are usually widely available and without prescription. For mild to moderate pain, it recommends a combination of basic pain relievers and a weak opioid, like codeine. For moderate to severe pain, it calls for strong opioids, like morphine. Indeed, WHO has held that for managing cancer pain, opioids are "absolutely necessary" and, when pain is moderate to severe, "there is no substitute for opioids" such as morphine."[23] The Pain Relief Ladder also recommends various other medications, known as adjuvant drugs, that serve to increase the effectiveness of analgesics or counter their side effects, including laxatives, anti-convulsants and anti-depressants. Pain medications vary greatly in terms of cost. Basic oral morphine in powder or tablet form is not protected by any patent and can be produced for as little as US$0.01 per milligram.[24] (A typical daily dose in low and middle-income countries ranges, according to one estimate, from 60 to 75 milligrams per day).[25] Other pain medications, such as Fentanyl skin patches that gradually release the active substance, are very costly, and some protect by patent. Because oral morphine can be produced cheaply, providing pain management should be possible at the community level even in developing countries. However, a 2004 study by De Lima and others found that, for a variety of reasons (see below, under Cost), opioid analgesics, including basic oral morphine, tend to be considerably more expensive in both relative and absolute terms in low and middle income countries than in industrialized nations.[26] Chronic pain management often comes as a part of broader palliative care services. Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.[27] The World Health Organization recognizes palliative care as an essential component of a national response to HIV/AIDS, cancer and other diseases.[28] The organization estimates that, despite an overall 5-year survival rate of nearly 50% in developed countries, the majority of cancer patients will need palliative care sooner or later. In developing countries, the proportion requiring palliative care is at least 80%. Worldwide, most cancers are diagnosed when already advanced and incurable. [29] For those with incurable cancers, the only realistic treatment options are pain relief and palliative care.[30] Palliative care is often provided alongside curative care services.[31] While palliative care providers may offer inpatient services at hospices or hospitals, their focus is frequently on home-based care for people who are terminally ill or have life-limiting conditions, thus reaching people who otherwise might not have any access to healthcare services, including pain management. Widespread Consensus: Pain Relief Medications Must Be Available For decades, there has been a consensus among health experts that opioid pain relievers like morphine and codeine must be available for the treatment of moderate and severe pain. Almost fifty years ago, UN member states articulated that consensus as follows when they adopted the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs: The medical use of narcotic drugs continues to be indispensable for the relief of pain and suffering and adequate provision must be made to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs for such purposes. [32] The International Narcotic Control Board, the body charged with overseeing the implementation of the UN drug conventions, clarified in 1995 that the Convention "establishes a dual drug control obligation: to ensure adequate availability of narcotic drugs, including opiates, for medical and scientific purposes, while at the same time preventing illicit production of, trafficking in and use of such drugs."[33] The World Health Organization has included both morphine and codeine in its Model List of Essential Medicines, a list of the minimum essential medications that should be available to all persons who need them. WHO has also repeatedly stated that palliative care and pain treatment are an essential-not optional-component of care for cancer and HIV/AIDS. For example, in its guide on the development of national cancer control programs it observes that "a national disease control plan for AIDS, cancer and noncommunicable disorders cannot claim to exist unless it has an identifiable palliative care component."[34] Over the last twenty years, the INCB, WHO and other international bodies have repeatedly reminded countries of their obligation to ensure adequate availability of opioids for the treatment of pain. ·In 1986, the WHO recommended the use of oral morphine for treatment of long term pain. ·In 1989, INCB made a series of recommendations to states on the need to improve availability of opioid analgesics.[35] ·In 1994/5, it conducted a survey to identify obstacles to improving such availability and assess the response of member states to its 1989 recommendations.[36] ·In 1987 and 1996, the WHO issued guides to cancer pain relief with recommendations for countries on improving opioid analgesic availability.[37] ·In 1999, INCB devoted a chapter in its annual report to the issue.[38] ·In 2000, WHO developed a tool for governments and providers to use in evaluating national opioid control policies and recommendations on improving availability.[39] ·In 2007, in consultation with INCB, WHO established the Access to Controlled Medications Programme, which aims to address all identified impediments to accessibility of controlled medicines, with a focus on regulatory, attitude and knowledge impediments.[40] In its annual reports, INCB routinely expresses concern about the poor availability of pain treatment medications in many countries and calls on member states to take further steps. Various other international bodies, such as the UN Economic and Social Council and the World Health Assembly, have also called on countries to ensure adequate availability of opioid analgesics.[41] The Pain Treatment Gap "Most, if not all, pain due to cancer could be relieved if we implemented existing medical knowledge and treatments…There is a treatment gap: it is the difference between what can be done, and what is done about cancer pain." – World Health Organization [42] Despite the clear consensus that pain treatment medications should be available, approximately 80 percent of the world population has either no or insufficient access to treatment for moderate to severe pain and tens of millions of people around the world, including around four million cancer patients and 0.8 million end-stage HIV/AIDS patients, suffer from moderate to severe pain each year without treatment, according to the World Health Organization.[43] Approximately 89 percent of the total world consumption of morphine occurs in countries in North America and Europe.[44] Low and middle income countries consume only 6 percent of the morphine used worldwide[45]-while having about half of all cancer patients[46] and 95 percent of new HIV infections.[47] Thirty-two countries in Africa have almost no morphine distribution at all,[48] and only fourteen have oral morphine.[49] However, inadequate pain management is also prevalent in developed countries. In the United States, an estimated 25 million people experience acute pain as a result of injury or surgery, and between 70 and 90 percent of advanced cancer patients experience pain. Surveys of subjects ranging from children to elderly patients have shown that over one third are not adequately treated for pain.[50] Lack of access to pain medication in pharmacies and fear of addiction on the part of both patients and providers are significant limiting factors in the United States.[51] Studies in Western Europe also document under-treatment of pain. A study of people living with HIV in France found that doctors underestimated pain severity in over half of their patients and under-prescribed both opioids and antidepressants.[52] Up to 85 percent of people living with HIV have untreated pain, twice the proportion of people with cancer whose pain is untreated.[53] A study in the U.S. found that less than 8 percent of AIDS patients who reported severe pain were treated according to official treatment guidelines, and women, less-educated patients, and patients with histories of injection drug use were most likely to report inadequate treatment for pain.[54]
Pain Treatment, Palliative Care and Human Rights Health as a Human Right Health is a fundamental human right enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments.[55] The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) specifies that everyone has a right "to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health." The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the body charged with monitoring compliance with the ICESCR, has held that states must make available in sufficient quantity "functioning public health and health-care facilities, goods and services, as well as programmes" and that these services must be accessible. Because states have different levels of resources, international law does not mandate the kind of health care to be provided. The right to health is considered a right of "progressive realization." By becoming party to the international agreements, a state agrees "to take steps… to the maximum of its available resources" to achieve the full realization of the right to health. In other words, high income countries will generally have to provide healthcare services at a higher level than those with limited resources. But all countries will be expected to take concrete steps towards increased services, and regression in the provision of health services will, in most cases, constitute a violation of the right to health. But the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has also held that there are certain core obligations that are so fundamental that states must fulfill them. While resource constraints may justify only partial fulfillment of some aspects of the right to health, the Committee has observed vis-à-vis the core obligations that "a State party cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, justify its non-compliance with the core obligations…, which are non-derogable." The Committee has identified, among others, the following core obligations: ·To ensure the right of access to health facilities, goods and services on a non-discriminatory basis, especially for vulnerable or marginalized groups; ·To provide essential drugs, as from time to time defined under the WHO Action Programme on Essential Drugs; ·To ensure equitable distribution of all health facilities, goods and services; ·To adopt and implement a national public health strategy and plan of action, on the basis of epidemiological evidence, addressing the health concerns of the whole population.[56] Pain Treatment and the Right to Health As morphine and codeine are on the WHO List of Essential Medicines, countries have to provide these medications as part of their core obligations under the right to health, regardless of whether they have been included on their domestic essential medicines lists.[57] They must make sure that they are both available in adequate quantities and physically and financially accessible for those who need them. In order to ensure availability and accessibility, states have, among others, the following obligations: ·Since manufacturing and distribution of controlled medicines like morphine and codeine are completely in government hands, states must put in place an effective procurement and distribution system and create a legal and regulatory framework that enables healthcare providers in both the public and private sector to obtain, prescribe and dispense these medications. Any regulations that arbitrarily impede the procurement and dispensing of these medications will violate the right to health. ·States must adopt and implement a strategy and plan of action for the roll out of pain treatment and palliative care services. Such strategy and plan of action should identify obstacles to improved services as well as steps to eliminate them. ·States should regularly measure progress made in ensuring availability and accessibility of pain relief medications. ·The requirement of physical accessibility means that these medications must be "within safe physical reach for all sections of the population, especially vulnerable or marginalized groups, such as…persons with HIV/AIDS."[58] This means that states must ensure that a sufficient number of healthcare providers or pharmacies stock and dispense morphine and codeine, and that an adequate number of healthcare workers are trained and authorized to prescribe these medications. ·Financial accessibility means that, while the right to health does not require states to offer medications free of charge, they must be "affordable for all."[59] In the words of the Committee: Payment for health-care services…has to be based on the principle of equity, ensuing that these services, whether privately or publicly provided, are affordable to all, including socially disadvantaged groups. Equity demands that poorer households should not be disproportionately burdened with health expenses as compared to richer households. [60] Countries also have an obligation to progressively implement palliative care services, which, according to WHO, must have "priority status within public health and disease control programmes."[61] Countries must ensure an adequate policy and regulatory framework, develop a plan for implementation of these services, and take all steps that are reasonable within available resources to execute the plan. Failure to attach adequate priority to developing palliative care services within healthcare services will violate the right to health. Pain Treatment and the Right to Be Free from Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment The right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is a fundamental human right that is recognized in numerous international human rights instruments.[62] Apart from prohibiting the use of torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, the right also creates a positive obligation for states to protect persons in their jurisdiction from such treatment.[63] As part of this positive obligation, states have to take steps to protect people from unnecessary pain related to a health condition. As the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment wrote in a joint letter with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in December 2008, Governments also have an obligation to take measures to protect people under their jurisdiction from inhuman and degrading treatment. Failure of governments to take reasonable measures to ensure accessibility of pain treatment, which leaves millions of people to suffer needlessly from severe and often prolonged pain, raises questions whether they have adequately discharged this obligation. [64]
Obstacles to Provision of Pain Treatment and Palliative Care There is no lack of information about the reasons why so many people who suffer from severe pain cannot get access to adequate pain treatment. In dozens of publications spanning several decades, the World Health Organization, the International Narcotics Control Board, healthcare providers, academics and others have chronicled the barriers in great detail.[65] A common theme of many of these publications is the failure of many governments around the world to take reasonable steps to improve access to pain treatment and palliative care services and to strike the right balance between ensuring availability of controlled medications for legitimate purposes and preventing their abuse. In its 2007 Annual Report, the INCB repeated its previous calls for improvement: The low levels of consumption of opioid analgesics for the treatment of pain in many countries…continue to be a matter of serious concern to the Board. The Board again urges all Governments concerned to identify the impediments in their countries to adequate use of opioid analgesics for the treatment of pain and to take steps to improve the availability of those narcotic drugs for medical purposes... [66] To date, these calls have largely fallen on deaf ears. Because of countries' failure to act on the recommendations of WHO and INCB, many of the same obstacles that the organizations identified two decades ago remain today. These barriers include the failure of many governments to put in place functioning drug supply systems; the failure to enact policies on pain treatment and palliative care; the existence of unnecessarily restrictive drug control regulations and practices; fear among healthcare workers of legal sanctions for legitimate medical practice; poor training of healthcare workers; and the unnecessarily high cost of pain treatment. While there is no doubt that it will not be easy to overcome some of these barriers and implement comprehensive pain treatment and palliative care services, particularly for countries with limited resources, much progress could be made if governments took the action required of them by international human rights standards and the UN drug conventions. Indeed, the governments of countries like Romania, Uganda and Vietnam-each of which have adopted comprehensive approaches to improving availability of pain treatment-have shown that much can be done to comply with the basic standards required, even by countries with limited resources. While each of these countries still has much to do to make pain treatment and palliative care fully available they are all moving in the right direction. Failure to Ensure Functioning and Effective Supply System Opioid analgesics are controlled medicines. As such, their manufacture, distribution and prescription are strictly regulated; these medications cannot be traded freely on the market. The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has created a system to regulate supply and demand. Every year, countries submit estimates of their need for morphine and other controlled medications to INCB, which then approves a quota for countries and authorizes producing countries to grow a specified amount of raw material. Once INCB has approved their quota, countries may then purchase morphine up to the approved amount. Each individual transaction across international borders must be authorized and registered by INCB. On a national level, special drug control agencies are responsible for communicating with INCB about the need for morphine, imports and exports, and for regulating and overseeing all domestic transactions involving controlled medications. Under the UN drug conventions, countries have an obligation to ensure a functioning and effective supply system for controlled medications. The INCB has held that …an efficient national drug control regime must involve not only a programme to prevent illicit trafficking and diversion but also a programme to ensure the adequate availability of narcotic drugs for medical and scientific purposes. [67] Such drug availability programs must be capable of ensuring that adequate amounts of morphine and other controlled medicines are available in the country at any given time, that an effective system of distribution is in place to provide healthcare providers and pharmacies with a continuous and adequate supply of the medications, and that a sufficient number of pharmacies and health facilities stock them so that healthcare providers and patients around the country can reasonably gain access to them at need. As the World Health Organization has noted, good communication between health workers and drug regulators is crucial to meet these goals.[68] Because the production, distribution and dispensing of controlled medicines is under exclusive government control, governments have a particularly strong responsibility to ensure their availability and accessibility. With medications that are not controlled, private actors, including healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and nongovernmental organizations, can produce or import medications themselves without limited or no government facilitation. That is not the case with controlled medications–if a government does nothing to ensure an adequate supply and a functioning distribution system, they will simply not be legally available. Yet, many governments, particularly in low and middle income countries, have failed to put in place functioning and effective supply systems for controlled medicines. Indeed, judging by the fact that in dozens of countries almost no morphine is used, it appears that many do not have a functioning supply system at all. In 1999, the INCB noted that this is not just the result of resource limitations but also of "a lack of determination on the part of Governments and their services."[69] Research that the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) conducted in 2006 illustrates the lack of commitment of some African countries to ensuring availability of controlled medicines. The organization tried to conduct a survey among palliative care providers and drug control authorities in twelve African countries to identify challenges in implementation of palliative care and pain treatment services. The organization succeeded in securing the participation of drug control agencies in five of the twelve target countries in the survey. The survey findings suggest a considerable disconnect between drug control authorities and the healthcare system. Three of the five drug control agencies-from Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia-stated that they believed the regulatory system worked well, even though morphine consumption in each of these countries is far below estimated need and the palliative care providers surveyed identified myriad problems with the regulatory system.[70] Furthermore, the survey suggested that drug control agencies in each of the five countries listed controlled medicines as available in healthcare settings when none of the palliative care providers actually had access to them. In its report, APCA wrote: In every country without exception INCB competent authorities cited specific opioids that they believed to be available in-country that were never cited by any [palliative care] service within that country. [71] Estimating National Need Many countries do not submit estimates for their need for controlled substances based upon careful assessment of population needs to the INCB, as required by the UN drug conventions. Some countries submit no estimate or estimates that are only symbolic in nature. For example, the West African nation of Burkina Faso estimated that it will need 49 grams of morphine in 2009.[72] Using Foley's estimate that the average terminal cancer or AIDS patient who suffers from severe pain will need 60 to 75mg of morphine per day for an average of about 90 days, this amount would suffice for about 8 patients. As a result, countries like Burkina Faso receive quotas from INCB for morphine that are so low that they cannot possibly ensure adequate availability of morphine for pain treatment in the country.[73] Many other countries submit estimates that vastly understate the actual medical need for morphine. Often, these estimates are not based on actual need but on morphine consumption during the previous year. Some countries appear to simply reproduce the same estimate each year, regardless of demographic changes or true estimates of need.[74] Figure 1. Morphine Estimates, Mortality, and Pain Treatment Need * Country Cancer Deaths 2002 Estimate AIDS Deaths 2005 Estimate # of individuals expected to Need Pain Treatment in 2009 Estimated total morphine need in 2009 (kgs) Estimate of morphine need provided by country to INCB for 2009 (kgs) # of individuals estimate is sufficient for Percentage of those needing treatment who would be covered by estimate Countries that estimate almost no need for morphine Benin 13490 9986 15786 96 0.5 83 0.50% Senegal 17625 5432 16816 102 0.6 99 0.60% Rwanda 14196 21956 22335 136 0.8 132 0.60% Gambia 2395 1430 2631 16 0.18 31 1.20% Bhutan 727 <10 per 100,000 582 3.5 0.08 14 2.30% Burkina Faso 23262 13067 25143 153 0.05 8 0.03% Eritrea 6240 5959 7972 48 0.075 12 0.15% Gabon 2071 4457 3886 24 0.088 14 0.40% Swaziland 1837 17577 10258 62 0.5 82 0.80% Selected other countries Egypt 62299 <10 per 100,000 49840 303 10 1646 3% Philippines 78500 <10 per 100,000 62800 382 31 5103 8% Kenya 50809 149502 115398 701 30 4938 4% Russian Federation 217696 N/A 174157 1058 200 32922 15% Mexico 92701 6321 77321 470 180 29630 38% INCB has repeatedly reminded countries of their obligation to submit estimates based upon population need and has encouraged all countries to review their methods for preparing estimates so as to ensure that they actually reflect the need for controlled medications.[79] Ensuring Effective Distribution Without an effective distribution system, accessibility of morphine to those who need it cannot be assured. As controlled medications may only be transferred between parties that have been authorized under national law, governments play a key role in putting in place such a distribution system. They must ensure that a sufficient number of pharmacies are licensed to handle morphine. They must also ensure that procedures for procuring, stocking and dispensing it are workable; in other words, they must strike the appropriate balance between ensuring pharmacies can obtain it without unnecessarily cumbersome or expensive procedures and preventing abuse. Yet, in many countries few hospitals or pharmacies actually stock morphine. In some cases, this is due to government regulations that allow only specific institutions to stock the medication. The APCA study, for example, found that in Zambia only hospitals can stock morphine and that in Nigeria oral morphine is available only from one pharmacy, the National Drug Store.[80] Similarly, in Cameroon only one pharmacy prepares oral morphine.[81] In some countries, excessively burdensome procedures for procurement, dispensing and accounting discourage health institutions from procuring morphine. In India, Human Rights Watch found that many hospitals do not stock oral morphine because they must obtain a number of different licenses for each order of morphine that is procured and these licenses are often very difficult to obtain. In Mexico City, a city of 18 million people, only nine hospitals and pharmacies stock morphine, apparently due to regulatory requirements around controlled medications.[82] Restrictions on licenses or cumbersome handling procedures that are not necessary for preventing abuse of these medications violate the right to health, and should be reformed. As countries are under the obligation to ensure adequate availability of opioid analgesics, they must take steps to ensure that a sufficient number of pharmacies or hospitals stock them. Recognizing this obligation, Vietnam adopted a new opioid prescription regulation in February 2008 which obliges district hospitals to stock opioids if no pharmacies in the district do.[83] Where hospitals and pharmacies do stock morphine, problems with inefficient distribution systems are common. In India, for example, Human Rights Watch found that the excessively burdensome procurement procedures in many states can lead to stock-outs and delays in dispensing.[84] In Colombia, morphine has regularly been out of stock in the province of Valle del Cauca over the last several years, resulting in numerous patients being unable to obtain morphine to treat their pain. By contrast, other prescription medications have been widely available.[85] APCA's survey of palliative care providers in twelve African countries found "massive delays between scripts [physician prescription] and dispensing" due to problems with supply and distribution systems.[86] Failure to Enact Palliative Care and Pain Treatment Policies A core obligation under the right to health holds that countries must "adopt and implement a national public health strategy and plan of action, on the basis of epidemiological evidence, addressing the health concerns of the whole population." As part of this obligation, countries must develop a strategy and plan of action for the implementation of palliative care and pain treatment services. While these do not have to provide for the immediate implementation of the full range of services, they must set out a road map for their progressive implementation. There will be a strong presumption that any cost neutral steps will have to be taken immediately.[87] In 1996, WHO identified the absence of national policies on cancer relief pain and palliative care as one of the reasons why cancer pain is so often not adequately treated.[88] In 2000, the organization noted that pain treatment continued to be a "low priority" in healthcare systems. In its 2002 book on cancer control programs, WHO noted that although governments around the world have endorsed the integration of palliative care principles into public health and disease control programs, "a yawning gap is evident between rhetoric and realization."[89] Two leading experts on palliative care stress the importance of having a comprehensive strategy, pointing out that some policies have failed because they omitted community involvement in the provision of palliative care services.[90] Yet, as these experts have observed, most countries do not have palliative care and pain treatment policies, whether as stand-alone policies or as part of cancer or HIV/AIDS control efforts.[91] In a 2007 report on palliative care and HIV/AIDS, the UK government's Department for International Development found that palliative care was often not "integrated into health sector policies and National AIDS Frameworks."[92] Many countries have even failed to take relatively cost-neutral steps that are crucial to improving access to pain treatment and palliative care, such as adding oral morphine and other opioid-based medicines to their list of essential medicines or issuing guidelines on pain management for healthcare workers. For example, respondents to APCA's 2007 survey of palliative care providers from four countries-Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda-reported that oral morphine was not on their country's list of essential medicines.[93] According to Anne Merriman, a leading palliative care advocate in Africa, only fourteen African nations have oral morphine-all others only have injectable morphine, which is primarily used to treat acute pain in hospital settings.[94] INCB has recommended that national drug control laws must recognize the indispensible nature of narcotic drugs for the relief of pain and suffering as well as the obligation to ensure their availability for medical purposes. Its 1995 survey found that the laws of 48 percent of responding governments contained the former and of 63 percent the latter.[95] Although it is not known exactly how many countries still do not have the relevant language in their legislation, it is telling that the model laws and regulations on drug control that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has developed for the use of countries in developing national drug control laws and regulations themselves do not contain these provisions.[96] A new draft drug control law that is currently under consideration in Cambodia makes no reference to the fact that controlled medications are indispensible for the relief of pain and suffering or of the obligation to ensure their availability.[97] Lack of Training for Healthcare Workers One of the biggest obstacles to provision of good palliative and pain treatment services in many countries around the world is a lack of training for healthcare workers. As Brennan and others put it, "for too long, pain and its management have been prisoners of myth, irrationality, and cultural bias."[98] While misinformation about oral morphine remains extremely common among healthcare workers, knowledge about how to assess and treat pain is often absent or deeply inadequate. The combination of ignorance among healthcare workers with myths about opioids results in failure to treat patients, who are suffering from severe pain, with opioid analgesics. Some of the most common myths hold that treatment with opioids leads to addiction-the most frequently cited impediment to the medical use of opioids in INCB 1995 study;[99] that pain is necessary; that it is essential for diagnosis; that it is unavoidable; and that it has negligible consequences. Each of these myths is inaccurate.[100] Numerous studies have shown that treatment of pain with opioids very rarely leads to addiction;[101] most pain can be treated well;[102] pain is not necessary for diagnosis;[103] and pain has considerable social, economic and psychological consequences as it keeps people who suffer from pain and often their caregivers out of productive life.[104] Ignorance about the use of opioid medications is the result of a failure, across much of the world including in some industrialized countries, to provide healthcare workers with adequate instruction on palliative care and pain management. A survey by the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance among healthcare workers in 69 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America found that 82 percent of healthcare workers in Latin America and 71 percent in Asia had not received any instruction on pain or opioids in undergraduate medical studies. In Africa, the figure was 39 percent.[105] In a 2007 African Palliative Care Association survey, 33 out of 56 participating healthcare providers felt that there were insufficient training opportunities on palliative care and pain treatment. Twenty-one of the twenty-three providers that said that there was adequate opportunity for training were based in South Africa and Uganda, two countries where considerable training is available.[106] Even in industrialized countries instruction on palliative care and pain treatment remains a considerable challenge. A 1999 review of literature regarding barriers to effective cancer pain management in industrialized nations found, for example, that considerable numbers of healthcare workers surveyed had insufficient factual knowledge about pain management.[107] Under the right to health, governments must take reasonable steps to ensure healthcare workers have appropriate training on palliative care and pain management. As an integral part of care and treatment for cancer and HIV, two key diseases around the world, countries need to ensure that basic instruction on palliative and pain management is part of undergraduate medical studies, nursing school, and continuing medical education. Specialized instruction should be available for healthcare workers who pursue a specialization in oncology, HIV and AIDS and other disciplines where knowledge of pain management and palliative care is an integral part of care. Excessively Restrictive Drug Control Regulations or Enforcement Practices The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs lays out three minimum criteria that countries must observe in developing national regulations regarding the handling of opioids: ·Individuals must be authorized to dispense opioids by their professional license to practice, or be specially licensed to do so; ·Movement of opioids may occur only between institutions or individuals so authorized under national law; ·A medical prescription is required before opioids may be dispensed to a patient. Governments may, under the Convention |
hold the gun shop owner or the manufacturer of that gun liable? If that is the point, I have to tell you I disagree. I disagree because you hold people — in terms of this liability thing, where you hold manufacturers' liable is if they understand that they're selling guns into an area that — it's getting into the hands of criminals, of course they should be held liable. But if they are selling a product to a person who buys it legally, what you're really talking about is ending gun manufacturing in America. I don't agree with that.
Sanders clearly has his reasons for offering answers like these; as he likes to note, he hails from a very pro-guns-rights rural state, and that has made explaining his record difficult at times. But in a Democratic Party that is increasingly focused on gun control, it's probably not doing him any favors to keep talking about it.
Also not doing him any favors is the National Rifle Association, which on Monday morning praised Sanders for his debate comments.
Also during Sunday's debate, Sanders made clear to emphasize that he has a D-minus rating from the NRA. Clearly, he doesn't want to be tied to the NRA. Apparently, the NRA has other ideas.
But why is the NRA doing this? It would almost seem as though they are punishing a Democrat for offering a middle-ground view on an issue of import to gun owners. Maybe they felt the need to point out that even Bernie Sanders is with them on such issues?
Whatever the case, Sanders would probably prefer they pipe down.Wojciech Szczesny is facing another fight to hold on to his place as Arsenal ’s automatic first-choice goalkeeper.
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger must decide whether to replace Szczesny with deputy Lukasz Fabianski for Tuesday night’s Premier League game against Swansea City, following Saturday’s 6-0 thrashing at Chelsea.
But even if he keeps his place for the visit of Swansea, Szczesny faces a battle to keep hold of the long-term No 1 spot because Arsenal are reviewing their goalkeeping options for the summer.
With Fabianski set to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season and Emiliano Viviano’s loan due to expire, Arsenal plan to sign a new goalkeeper and take back 21-year-old Damian Martínez from his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday.
Scouting dossiers have been drawn up on a number of back-up and senior options, including Monaco target Victor Valdes and Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas.
Arsenal will make a firm decision over whether to replace Fabianski with another deputy or provide Szczesny with stiff competition for his place over the coming weeks, when the 23-year-old’s form and behaviour will be assessed.
Having bounced back from being dropped last season, Szczesny will not shy away from the challenge.
Ahead of conceding six goals at Chelsea, Szczesny said: “I am not afraid to fight for No 1 with anyone, Fabianski or Casillas.
“I hope I won’t make the boss think, ‘Wojciech’s not my No 1’. It’s all my hands. I am in the best form of my life.”
Members of staff were less than impressed with Szczesny taking pictures of himself and team-mates on the White Hart Lane pitch after the victory over Tottenham, particularly as one mistake almost cost his team a goal.
Szczesny was at fault for Oscar’s second goal at Stamford Bridge, which has prompted Wenger to consider the claims of Fabianski, who has performed well when called upon this season.
Fabianski has turned down a new contract and plans to quit the Emirates in the summer, even if he is recalled to face Swansea and subsequently plays a significant part in Arsenal’s run-in.
Wenger replaced Szczesny with Fabianski at the back end of last season and Arsenal won all five games the 28-year-old started.
But Szczesny regained his place and impressed Wenger with a string of fine displays and a more mature attitude. He now needs to produce a similar reaction to convince Arsenal they only need a new back-up.A Post By: Darren Rowse
No doubt, today’s media and advertising industry heavily exploits “fashion” and “sexy” themes (sometimes indeed too much). Over time public perception of what is acceptable has also broadened. This trend drives the demand and naturally glamour photography is increasing in popularity. Specialized glamour photo studios are opening with photographers working together with professional hair and makeup artists in order to provide a kind of “fashion model” experience for their clients.
Increasing popularity of this genre of photography is not surprising, many women like the whole experience – dressing up, trying on different ideas and accessories, creating different moods. And glamour is the perfect match for that. But there are several factors each of which can mean all the difference for the final result – hair and makeup, clothing and accessories, lights and posing. Of course, each of these are a broad subjects and in this article we will only touch the surface of the posing part.
So here follow sample poses that you can use as the starting point for your glamour portraits or simply as an idea for a shot.
1. Good starting pose for an intimate glamour. Works well in different surface settings: the model, for example, might lie on a bed, on the ground, in the grass, or on a sandy beach.
2. Just a different variant for the model lying down. Works very well with all body types.
3. Really nice and lovely pose. Shoot from a low angle. Ask the model to keep her upper body slightly lifted, but the head – slightly tilted down. Toes should always be pointed.
4. A demanding pose. A few things need to be checked: Supporting hand must be turned away from the body, stomach muscles should be controlled, and feet need to be stretched. Works only with slim to athletic body types.
5. Another challenging pose. Not so easy to pose and very demanding for a photographer. In order to shoot this pose successfully you have to pay attention and scan all body parts – hands, head, waist (avoid skin creases!), hips and finally legs.
6. Beautiful pose for an outdoor shooting. Ask your model to lay down, curve her back and stretch her feet.
7. Beautiful pose for the model lying on the ground. Upper body should be slightly lifted and the model looking back over her shoulder. Works well with all body types. Try different angles and look for the best position by moving gradually around the model.
8. Easy and simple pose to emphasize a feminine shape. Works also well as a silhouette against a bright background.
9. Variant for fine arts nude photography. Variations are endless with different hand, leg and head positioning.
10. Easy and gentle pose. A model should sit on both of her legs and feet, but it shouldn’t be too heavy. Eyes looking over her shoulder.
11. Easy yet gorgeous pose. Works well in different settings, both indoors and outdoors. Also suitable for a silhouette shot against a bright background.
12. An absolutely gorgeous pose if done properly. Correct limb positioning is crucial. Works exceptionally well with all body types. Also note that you should make your shots from a slightly elevated angle.
13. Very challenging pose, leg positioning being the decisive factor for good results. Carefully guide your model to the intended postures. High heel shoes are a must.
14. Simple and dignified pose. Make sure that model’s face is not partly covered by her hand or shoulder. Eyes looking down to her body creates particularly romantic mood. The raised elbow should be pointing away from the camera.
15. Very feminine and delicate pose. Remember that glamour and nude photography doesn’t exclude using some props. Sometimes a single piece of clothing might be a superb addition to a shot. Thus, the model might partly cover her body.
16. Very helpful aid for creating different poses is utilizing a wall (or any other object of a kind). Wall can be used as a place to put hands on, support a body, back, legs etc.
17. Full height at the wall shot. Again, endless variation and shooting angles are possible.
18. Following from the previous, for example, change you angle and shoot as well from the back.
19. An exquisite pose for slim to athletic models. Many variations are possible. Ask the model to curve a body in S shape, twist her hips and change hand positions. Let her turn her head in different directions.
20. Using a sheer textile as a prop creates endless possibilities for the model and photographer to create very rewarding and outstanding results. Especially marvelous looks can be made in windy weather conditions outdoors.
21. Another good idea for a creative glamour photography is to shoot in vast open fields, for example, some cornfield or wildflowers meadow or even in a deserted landscape. As previously mentioned some textile or other piece of clothing is very helpful for the model to come up with some interesting and graceful postures.
As a final note I will say once again – each of these initial sample poses is only a starting point. Each pose has endless variations. First of all, the model can always try different face expressions, smiles, head turns, hand and leg placements, body turns and twists etc. Only slight variations can make a completely different pose (and a better one!). Moreover, always remember to take a shot from different angles (up and down, right and left), try changing your distance to subject, try different crops and compositions of your shots. After all, posing is trial and error effort. The more variations you will try, the better results you will get.
Finally, you may want to look at Posing Women Part I and Posing Women Part II articles in this series for additional ideas on posing your models.
And I would really like to hear your experience with these posing samples. Please feel free to leave a comment.
More Posing Guides
If you find this article helpful, you may want to check out previous articles from the posing guide series:
Grab Our Guide to Portrait Posing
Kaspars Grinvalds is a photographer working and living in Riga, Latvia. He is the author of Posing App where more poses and tips about people photography are available.The extent of skeletal muscle hypertrophy in response to resistance training is highly variable in humans. The main objective of this study was to explain the nature of this variability. More specifically, we focused on the myogenic stem cell population, the satellite cell (SC) as a potential mediator of hypertrophy. Twenty-three males (aged 18–35 yrs) participated in 16 wk of progressive, whole body resistance training, resulting in changes of 7.9±1.6% (range of −1.9–24.7%) and 21.0±4.0% (range of −7.0 to 51.7%) in quadriceps volume and myofibre cross-sectional area (CSA), respectively. The SC response to a single bout of resistance exercise (80% 1RM), analyzed via immunofluorescent staining resulted in an expansion of type II fibre associated SC 72 h following exercise (pre: 11.3±0.9; 72 h: 14.8±1.4 SC/type II fibre; p<0.05). Training resulted in an expansion of the SC pool associated with type I (pre: 10.7±1.1; post: 12.1±1.2 SC/type I fibre; p<0.05) and type II fibres (pre: 11.3±0.9; post: 13.0±1.2 SC/type II fibre; p<0.05). Analysis of individual SC responses revealed a correlation between the relative change in type I associated SC 24 to 72 hours following an acute bout of resistance exercise and the percentage increase in quadriceps lean tissue mass assessed by MRI (r 2 = 0.566, p = 0.012) and the relative change in type II associated SC following 16 weeks of resistance training and the percentage increase in quadriceps lean tissue mass assessed by MRI (r 2 = 0.493, p = 0.027). Our results suggest that the SC response to resistance exercise is related to the extent of muscular hypertrophy induced by training.
The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether either the acute SC response to a bout of resistance exercise or the expansion of the SC pool was related to muscle hypertrophy following training. We hypothesized that individuals with an elevated acute SC response, based on expansion of the SC pool and progression of SCs through the myogenic program, would also demonstrate the greatest increase in lean tissue mass.
Myostatin (MSTN, or growth-differentiation factor 8, GDF-8), a transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) family member, is a negative regulator of muscle growth [22]. Knockouts of MSTN in multiple species (including a human case study) resulted in gross muscle hypertrophy and an overall increase in body mass of 2–3 fold as compared to wild-type counterparts [22]. Importantly, there appears to be a conserved role for MSTN in humans, which we demonstrated by showing an acute reduction in the co-localization of MSTN to SC in human skeletal muscle in vivo following a single exercise bout. Furthermore, aging was found to be associated with an impaired ability to decrease the proportion of SC co-localized with MSTN following exercise [9]. Collectively, these results imply a role for MSTN in the regulation of human SC function and suggest that MSTN may regulate hypertrophy [23].
Skeletal muscle possesses a functional population of resident stem cells commonly referred to as satellite cells (SC) [9]. SC are activated, proliferate and fuse giving rise to nascent myotubes or fuse to existing muscle fibres in response to various stressors such as mechanical loading or injury [10]. The progression of SC from activation, proliferation through to terminal differentiation is governed by a network of transcription factors referred to as myogenic regulatory factors (MRF) [11] – [13]. Although the essential role that SC play in the maintenance of healthy skeletal muscle function is widely accepted their role in mediating exercise induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy is debatable. Various findings from studies of resistance exercise training-induced hypertrophy in humans highlight the association of SC with muscle hypertrophy [2], [14]. However based on results from rodent models others propose that SC are dispensable in mediating muscle hypertrophy [15], [16]. We propose, however, that because hypertrophy can occur in SC-depleted rodent models does not necessarily render their contribution unimportant in contributing to hypertrophy in humans under physiological conditions. Instead, models of selective SC depletion that demonstrate hypertrophy, under conditions of extreme overload, merely establish the capacity of redundant mechanisms to compensate and result in hypertrophy.
There is a high degree of inter-individual variation in skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise training despite exposure to exercise of the same relative intensity [1], [2]. Individuals response to hypertrophic stimuli like resistance exercise leads to a highly variable response with respect to the accretion of lean tissue [1]. The basis for the variability in hypertrophic responses to training is poorly understood; however factors such as genetic variation [3], genetic polymorphisms [4], [5], transcriptomic profiles [6] the ability to activate specific signaling proteins known to be important in muscle protein synthesis [7], and microRNA expression [8] have been identified as potential control points in regulating the hypertrophic response.
RNA was isolated from 15–25 mg of muscle using the Trizol/RNeasy method. All samples were homogenized with 1 mL of Trizol Reagent (Life Technologies, Burlington, ON, Canada), in Lysing Maxtrix D tubes (MP Biomedicals, Solon, OH, USA), with the FastPrep-24 Tissue and Cell Homogenizer (MP Biomedicals, Solon, OH, USA) for a duration of 40 sec at a setting of 6 m/sec. Following a five minute room temperature incubation, homogenized samples were stored at −80°C for one month (samples may be stored up to one year), until further processing. After thawing on ice, 200 µl of cholorform reagent (Sigma-Aldrich, Oakville, ON, Canada) was added to each sample, mixed vigorously for 15 sec, incubated at RT for 5 min, and spun at 12000 g for 10 min at 4°C. The RNA (aqueous) phase was purified using the commercially available E.Z.N.A. Total RNA Kit 1 (Omega Bio-Tek, Norcross, GA, USA) as per manufacturer's instructions. RNA concentration (ng/µl) and purity (260/280) was determined with the Nano-Drop 1000 Spectorophotometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Rockville, MD, USA). RNA integrity reported via RNA integrity numbers (RIN scale of 0–10) were determined with the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Toronto, ON, Canada). Samples were reverse transcribed using the commercially available high capacity cDNA reverse transcription kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) in 20 µl reaction volumes, as per manufacturer's instructions, using an Eppendorf Mastercycler epgradient thermal cycler (Eppendorf, Mississauga, ON, Canada) to obtain cDNA for gene expression analysis.
Muscle cryosections, 7 µm in thickness, were prepared from OCT embedded samples, allowed to air dry for 15–45 minutes and stored at −80°C. Tissue sections were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) for 10 min, washed 3×5 min in PBST, blocked for 60 min at RT (in PBS containing 2% bovine serum albumin, 5% FBS, 0.2% Triton x-100, 0.1% NaAzide, and 2% goat serum), and subsequently incubated in primary antibodies Pax7 (neat, DSHB), Laminin (1∶250 or 1∶750, Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA), MHCI (neat, DSHB, Iowa City, IA, USA), MHCII (1∶1000, Abcam, Cambride, MA, USA), and Myostatin (1∶150, Millipore, Etobicoke, ON, Canada) for 2 hr at RT or overnight at 4°C. Secondary antibody detection included Pax7 (Alexa Fluor 594 goat anti-mouse, 1∶500), Laminin (Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-rabbit, 1∶500), MHCI (Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse, 1∶500), MHCII and Myostatin (Alexa Fluor goat anti-rabbit, 1∶500), all from Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA, for 2 hr at RT. Nuclei were labelled with DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) (1∶20000, Sigma-Aldrich, Oakville, ON, Canada), prior to cover slipping slides with fluorescent mounting media (DAKO, Burlington, ON, Canada). Images were taken with a Nikon Eclipse 90i microscope at 20× magnification and captured with a high-resolution QImaging fluorescent camera (Nikon Instruments, Melville, NY, USA). SC quantity and myostatin positive cells were quantified using the Nikon NIS Elements AR 3.0 software (Nikon Instruments, Melville, NY, USA) on large scale images consisting of ≥100 fibres/subject/timepoint in a blinded fashion.
Approximately 65 mg of muscle obtained from biopsies prior to training (Pre-1, 24-1, 72-1) were prepared for flow cytometry analysis. Briefly, muscle samples were weighed prior to mulching with sterile surgical scissors in 35 mm tissue culture plates. Single cell suspensions were achieved using enzymatic digestion. 400 µl of Collagenase/dispase solution (10 mg/ml Collagenase B, Roche Diagnotsics, Mannheim, Germany; 2.4 U/ml dispase, Life Technologies, Garlsbad, CA, USA; containing 5 µl/ml of 0.5 M CaCl 2 ) was added to each plate, triturated for ∼2 min, and incubated at 37°C for 9 min, this step was then repeated with an incubation time of 5 min. The sample was then filtered using a 70 µm mesh filter and centrifuged at 800 g for 5 min to obtain a pellet of mononuclear cells. Cells were fixed in ice cold 70% ethanol and stored at −20°C. Samples were prepared as previously described [26] by incubation in Pax7 primary antibody (neat, Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank, Iowa City, IA, USA), Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse secondary antibody (1∶500, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), and propidium iodide. Flow cytometry analysis was completed on a Beckman-Coulter Epics XL (Beckman-Coulter Inc., Brea, CA, USA) instrument operated by a trained technician.
Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis before, 24 h and 72 h after an acute exercise bout prior to (Pre-1, 24-1, 72-1) and following (Pre-2, 24-2, 72-2) 16 weeks of exercise training using a modified 5 mm Bergström needle with manual suction under local anaesthesia (2% xylocaine). Subjects had not participated in any physical activity at least 96 hours before the collection of the baseline biopsy (Pre). Upon excision, the muscle samples were immediately dissected into pieces that were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen (gene expression analysis), embedded in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound for immunofluorescence analysis, or maintained as fresh tissue in growth media (Dulbecco's modified eagle medium - DMEM containing 20% fetal bovine serum - FBS) for flow cytometry analysis.
Body composition was assessed using whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan (QDR-4500A, software version 12.31; Hologic, Bedford, MA). Subjects were fasted and had not completed any exercise prior to the scan. All scans were performed and analyzed by a trained technician. All scans were completed according to the AIS whole-body DEXA protocol [24], [25]. Prior to the measurement the DEXA was calibrated as per manufacture guidelines. All subjects were centrally aligned prior to the scan, hands and feet were secured for consistency.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the quadriceps were completed by all participants prior to and following the training program. Prior to scanning, participants rested in the supine position for 1 h to prevent the influence of fluid shift on muscle volume. Imaging was performed in a 3T HD scanner (Signa MRI System, GE Medical, Milwaukee, WI). Image acquisition in the axial plane was performed with the following parameters: repetition time/echo time = 2100 ms/23.58 ms; field of view = 28 cm; matrix size = 320/320 reconstructed to 512/512 phase/frequency; slice thickness = 5 mm. Thigh image acquisition utilized an eight-channel torso coil with two excitations. There was a 10 mm gap between slices. Quadriceps volume was measured from the first slice where the rectus femoris was visible to the first slice where the gluteus maximus was visible, and calculated by multiplying the slice area by the distance between slices. The area of each slice was determined with Image J software (U. S. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA). Time of day, joint angle and leg compression were matched in all pre- and post-training scans.
The training program has been previously described elsewhere [24]. In brief, however, training consisted of four supervised sessions per week, divided into two upper and two lower body sessions. The upper body sessions consisted of chest press, shoulder press, lat pull down, row, bicep curl and triceps extension exercise. The lower body sessions consisted of leg press, leg extension, leg curl, calf press, and abdominal exercise. Training progressed from two sets performed at 70% of 1 repetition maximum (RM) to four sets performed at 85% of 1RM, with all sets performed to the point of momentary muscle exhaustion. At the conclusion of each workout, participants consumed a beverage containing 30 g of whey protein, 25.9 g of carbohydrates and 3.4 g of fat (Musashi p30, Notting Hill Victoria, Australia).
(A), representative image (merge) of a MSTN/Pax7/Laminin/MHCI immunofluorescent stain. The arrow denotes a MSTN+/Pax7+ cell associated to a type 2 fibre. Single channel views of (a) Pax7 (red), (b) MSTN (yellow), (c) DAPI (blue), and (d) MHCI and Laminin (green) are provided, scale bar measures 10 µm. Quantification of MSTN colocalization to SCs was done in a fiber type specific manner. The changes in colocalization as a result of (B) an acute bout of resistance exercise and (C) 16 weeks of training is displayed. * and ** denote significant differences from the pre timepoint (p<0.05 and p<0.001 respectively). # and ## denote significant differences from the 24 hour timepoint (p<0.05 and p<0.001 respectively).
To further describe the SC response following acute resistance exercise and following a resistance training program the relation of MSTN, a known negative regulator of myogenesis, specific to the SC was assessed via immunofluorescence of muscle cross sections ( Fig 6A ). The proportion of MSTN positive SC associated with type I (pre: 66±4%; 24 hrs: 51±3%; 72 hrs: 33±5% type I SC positive for MSTN) and type II fibres (pre: 65±3%; 24 hrs: 49±2%; 72 hrs: 29±2% type II SC positive for MSTN) decreased 24 and 72 hours following acute resistance exercise completed before training ( Fig 6B ). Resistance training did not affect the proportion of SC positive for MSTN associated with either fibre type ( Fig 6C ).
(A) displays a significant correlation between the increases in quadricep volume as measured by MRI as a result of training and type 1 fibre associated SC pool expansion from 24 to 72 hours after exercise. No such correlation is seen in (B) the type 2 fibre associated SC at that time point. However, a significant correlation (C) was seen between the MRI measured increase in quadricep volume and type 2 fibre associated SC pool expansion as a result of training. No correlation (D) associated with the increase in type 1 fibre associated SC as a result of training was seen with hypertrophy.
To determine the relationship between the acute exercise-mediated SC responses and the changes in baseline SC content following resistance training the relative changes in these variables were individually compared to relative gains in lean tissue mass. Acute exercise completed before training resulted in a highly variable SC response across individuals; however examination of individual responses revealed a significant correlation between the relative changes in SC associated with type I fibres between 24 and 72 hours following acute exercise completed before the onset of training and the relative change in quadriceps volume as assessed by MRI following 16 weeks of training (r 2 = 0.566; p = 0.012, Fig 5A ). There was no correlation in SC associated with type II fibres with the relative change in quadriceps volume following training (r 2 = 0.248; p = 0.307, Fig 5B ). There was a correlation between the change in SC associated with type II fibres following training and the change in quadriceps volume (r 2 = 0.49; p = 0.027, Fig 5C ). However, there was no correlation with the change in SC associated with type I fibres and the change in quadriceps volume following training (r 2 = 0.110; p = 0.653).
SC cell cycle kinetics in response to a bout of resistance exercise was analyzed through flow cytometry analysis of Pax7/PI staining in the acute time-course pre-training. Percentage of SC (Pax7 + ) in (A) all cell cycle phases (G o /G I, S, G 2 /M), and (B) S-phase are demonstrated. Representative FACS plots of cell cycle of Pax7+ cells pre (C), 24 h (D) and 72 h (E) following an acute bout of exercise. S phase is highlighted in each representative plot. Pax7+ cells in S phase represent 8.2% (C), 9.2% (D), and 12.3% (E) of total cells pre, 24 h and 72 h respectively. * denotes a significant difference from respective Pre timepoint (p<0.01).
(A), representative image (merge) of a Pax7/Laminin/MHCI/MCHII immunofluorescent stain. Arrow denotes a Pax7+ cell associated with a type 2 fibre. Single channel views of (a) Pax7 (pink), (b) DAPI (blue), (c) MHCII (red), (d) MHCI and laminin (green)are provided. Scale bar measures 10 µm. SC response to (B) an acute bout of resistance exercise and (C) 16 weeks of training are expressed as satellite cell number per 100 myofibres and are specific to fiber type. Changes in SC number correspond to increases in whole muscle Pax7 mRNA in both (C) the acute time course and (D) the training response of Pax7 mRNA. * denotes significant differences from pre- time point (p≤0.05).
Sixteen weeks of whole body resistance training resulted in skeletal muscle hypertrophy as assessed by DEXA, MRI and immunofluorescence ( Fig 1 ). DEXA and MRI scans revealed a significant increase in total lean mass (pre: 62.6±2.0 kg; post: 64.8±2.1 kg; p<0.001) ( Fig 1A ), and in quadriceps volume (pre: 1837±82 cm 3 ; post: 1970±53 cm 3 ; p<0.001) ( Fig 1B ), respectively following training. Fibre CSA was assesed via immunofluorescent staining of muscle cross sections for type I (MHCI) and type II (MHCII); 16 weeks of training increased CSA for both type I (pre: 5355±324 µm 2 ; post: 6099±310 µm 2 ) and type II fibres (pre: 6284±390 µm 2 ; post: 7543±362 µm 2 ; p<0.001), as previously reported [24]. Myonuclear domain size, defined as the fiber CSA per nuclei, was maintained in type I (pre: 1409.6±72.5 µm 2 /nuclei; post: 1341.1±61.5 µm 2 /nuclei) and in type II fibres (pre: 1799.6±96.7 µm 2 /nuclei; post: 1987.1±111.8 µm 2 /nuclei), with an increase in the number of nuclei per muscle cross section of type I fibres (pre: 3.9±0.2; post: 4.6±0.2; p<0.05) and a strong trend for an increase in type II fibres (pre: 3.6±0.2; post: 3.9±0.2; p = 0.07) observed with training ( Fig 2A and B ).
Discussion
For the first time, we report a relationship between the acute temporal SC response to exercise and the accretion of lean mass as a result of exercise training. Together this suggests that the acute SC response is important in the hypertrophic response to resistance training. Additionally, we demonstrated that an expansion of the SC pool following exercise training is also related to muscle hypertrophy. Finally we showed that basal MSTN co-localization to SC following resistance training was not affected with resistance training indicating that basal expression of MSTN within the SC appears to be independent of training status. In agreement with previous, work we also reported an increase in the number of SC associated with type II fibres following acute resistance exercise [9]. This increase in the SC pool following acute exercise was supported by cell cycle analysis demonstrating an increase in the number of SC entering S-phase indicative of SC proliferation to support remodeling. Whether SC are a contributor to muscle hypertrophy has been hotly debated but the question remains unresolved. While ours is not the first investigation to correlate myonuclear content of skeletal muscle cross sections and muscle fibre CSA [1], [27] or demonstrate an increase in SC number in conjunction with hypertrophy [14], [28], [29], we are the first to demonstrate an association between the acute SC response associated with type I fibres following a single bout of resistance exercise with the degree of hypertrophy observed following a resistance training program.
To date, numerous factors have been identified for their role in regulating skeletal muscle hypertrophy yet these factors can only account for a small degree of the variation in muscle growth [30]. During hypertrophy in humans the addition of new nuclei via the SC is necessary in order to support myofiber growth and maintain the myonuclear domain [31]. Consistent with others [1] we observed a great degree of individual variability in muscle growth assessed using various measures. The observation of unaltered myonuclear domain size in both type I and II fibres in addition to an increase in the average number of nuclei per muscle fibre cross section of type I myofibre and a strong trend for an increase per type II myofibre (p =.07) following training strongly suggests a role for nuclear addition in the process of hypertrophy. CSA of type I and II fibres increased following training with a concomitant increase in the number of myonuclei and of SC per fibre suggesting that SC contribute to hypertrophy. Consistent with previous work [27], [32], [33] our data suggests that as myofibre size increases there is a concomitant increase in the progenitor pool to maintain and support growth of the myofibre.
Following acute exercise we demonstrated that the acute response of type I associated SC was associated with skeletal muscle hypertrophy. In line with other reports we observed a significant increase in the number of SC associated with both type II [34] and type I [27] fibres following training, consistent with the increase in CSA observed in both fibre types. Previous work has demonstrated an increase in the basal SC pool following resistance training in individuals who had the greatest gains in muscle mass when ‘clusters’ of responders were examined [35]. Here we extend previous findings showing that the expansion of the SC pool associated with type II, but not type I, fibres was associated with the greatest degree of hypertrophy with training. Collectively, our results along with previous investigations [27], [34] suggest a role for myonuclear contribution in the process of muscle adaptation and growth.
Further analysis of the acute SC response suggests that individuals who saw the greatest gains in muscle mass following training were also the ones with a progressive increase in SC associated, with both type I and II fibres, 24 to 72 hours following acute exercise in all individuals except for one (Figure S2 B, D). While individuals who had the smallest or no gains in muscle mass following training all had a decrease in the number of SC associated with type I and II fibres between 24 and 72 hours except for one individual (Figure S2 A,C). It seems likely that the ability to sustain an increase in the SC response beyond 24 hours following acute resistance exercise is an important factor in determining the degree of muscle hypertrophy. The positive correlation between the number of SC associated with type I fibres from 24 to 72 hours following exercise and the degree of muscle hypertrophy following training suggests that the variability in the response of type I associated SC coincides with gains in muscle mass. All but one of the individuals with the greatest gains in muscle mass had an increase in the number of SC associated with type II fibres following training; while individuals with the smallest/no gains in muscle mass, with the exception of one subject, experienced a decrease or no change in the number of SC associated with type II fibres following training. These data reinforce that although a relationship exists between the acute response of SC associated with type I fibres following acute exercise and muscle growth it is the expansion of the SC pool associated with type II fibres following a period of resistance training that is associated with the greatest gains in muscle mass.
MSTN has been recognized as one of the most potent regulators of muscle mass. Some reports suggest that MSTN gene expression is down-regulated in response to a resistance exercise bout [9], and 24 hours following remobilization after two weeks of immobilization [36]. Furthermore, MSTN has been implicated in the regulation of SC function by impairing activation and differentiation in animals [37] and cell culture models [38]. Recent work from our lab demonstrated an acute down-regulation of the proportion of SC co-localizing with MSTN in response to an acute exercise bout in young and older men [9]. In the current investigation we demonstrate a reduction in the proportion of SC co-localizing with MSTN in both type I and II fibres 24 and 72 hours following acute resistance exercise (Fig 6B); however, following 16 weeks of resistance training with significant hypertrophy, there was no difference in the extent of MSTN co-localization with the SC. This finding is in accordance with some reports which suggest that the inhibition of MSTN resulting in hypertrophy may be associated with changes in MSTN at the myofibre level and not the SC [39], [40]. Although not significant, whole muscle mRNA expression analysis revealed a trend (p = 0.103) for a decrease in MSTN expression following training and a significant increase in follistatin like 1 (FSTL1) expression (Figure S1). FSTL1 is an antagonist of MSTN and its up-regulation may in part mediate the gains in muscle mass following training. Our results suggest that myostatin |
down,” Murphy told the magazine.
Pence’s brothers were furious with him, but he maintained a good relationship with the administration. In fact, he was so beloved by school officials that Hanover offered him a job after he graduated, according to The Atlantic.
The profile also divulges other details from Pence's college days in Indiana. In one picture in which he’s donning a fortune teller costume, Pence, who believes that women and men should never dine alone, smugly looks at the camera while a woman sits on his lap.
He wasn’t a particularly stellar student and had a B average, according to The Atlantic. An evangelical Christian, he once attended a music festival billed as the Christian Woodstock and spent days “rocking out to Jesus-loving prog-rock bands and born-again Bob Dylan imitators.”
The future vice president reportedly “agonized over his ‘calling’” and talked about becoming a priest, Murphy said, although it was “obvious” that Pence wanted to be president one day.
The White House did not return a request for comment.Some companies have threatened lawsuits against people who left bad reviews online.
Writing a bad review is a powerful form of catharsis. You spent money on a good or service and had a negative experience, so you do the only thing you can: try to warn others.
Internet denizens have a variety of critical tools at their disposal, from the humble Amazon review section to organized forums like Yelp, to paid communities such as Angie's List. But what happens when the business you're reviewing takes issue with your commentary? Recently, some authors of negative reviews have begun receiving lawsuit threats.
One Bad Review Away From a Lawsuit
Last month, a man who left a bad review for a Medialink router on Amazon received a letter saying he'd face a defamation lawsuit if he didn't delete the comments. The man posted the letter to Reddit, causing an immediate backlash against Mediabridge Products, the makers of the router. In a statement on the company's Facebook page (which has since been deleted), the company reportedly denied having actually filed a lawsuit against the reviewer but admitted that "Amazon has revoked our selling privileges."
It is heartening to see that Amazon would support a customer's right to leave a bad review in this manner. However, there's no denying that another customer may not have been able elicit the same Internet backlash, which likely prompted Amazon's response. Staring down the barrel of litigation, another customer might have been bullied into deleting the review. Unfortunately, online reviews are increasingly becoming the subject of court battles.
For example, in January a Virgina court ordered Yelp to reveal the names of seven people who left negative reviews for for a carpet cleaning company. "Consumers may feel the need to speak anonymously for privacy reasons or for fear of unfair retaliation by a business," Yelp said in a statement to Cnet. "This ruling also shows the need for strong state and federal legislation to prevent meritless lawsuits aimed solely at stifling free speech."
The Truth is On Your Side
Ultimately, you have every right to leave a bad review, as long as you act in good faith and don't lie. The difference between a legal negative review and an illegal one comes down to libel in many cases: "While defamation laws can vary depending on the jurisdiction, libel is the defamation of a company or individual in written form," explained TekRevue. "To prevail on a libel claim, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant made a published statement about the plaintiff that was false, injurious, and unprivileged." So what does that mean for reviewers? We're not dispensing legal advice, but everyone knows that honesty is the best policy.
Of course, not all reviewers have good intentions. As The Telegraph reported, some British hotels and restaurants claim they've been "blackmailed" by guests "who demand free meals and stays in exchange for not writing bad reviews on the TripAdvisor website." However, knowingly lying in an online review falls under the definition of libel — and that's a lawsuit you'll probably lose.
Negative Reviews Can Help Businesses
No one wants to deal with with public criticism, but recent research suggests that a few 1-star reviews may actually help a company's reputation. A study published the Journal of Consumer Research "found that polite but negative reviews could improve the way a customer views your products and services," reported Forbes. "Participants even named a brand more honest, down-to-earth, cheerful, and wholesome when there was a polite customer complaint, compared to no complaint at all."
There's a lesson here for businesses and consumers: online reviews should be seen as a form of constructive criticism, not revenge. When a customer shares a bad buying experience online, it's a chance for that company to learn from its mistakes. In the worst case scenarios, well-intentioned negative reviews can warn other customers away from bad apples. But if the customer isn't interested in being helpful and instead chooses to lie, then they could face genuine legal trouble.
Readers, have you had a bad online review challenged by a company? Or maybe you're a business owner who's been the target of malicious reviewers?
Republished with permission. Marcy Bonebright is a features editor at dealnews.NEW YORK -- Baseball owners and players have ratified the sport's new five-year collective bargaining agreement, extending their labor peace to 26 years through 2021.
The sides announced their approvals Wednesday, a day after holding votes in separate telephone meetings.
"This agreement allows us to build on the positive momentum from last season and promote a generation of young players," baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
Editor's Picks RHP Street pens editorial favoring rookie dress-up Angels reliever Huston Street is in favor of the rookie dress-up tradition, writing in an editorial piece for the Associated Press that it's a part of "team building."
After eight work stoppages from 1972 to 1995, the sides have negotiated deals without a strike or lockout in 2002, 2006, 2011 and this year. The new deal expires Dec. 1, 2021.
Teams voted 29-1 to approve, and Tampa Bay Rays managing general partner Stuart Sternberg was the lone dissenting vote, a person familiar with that meeting told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the vote breakdown was not announced.
While Sternberg declined to comment on the vote, he did express his views on the deal.
"I am thankful for the hard work, leadership, and spirit of compromise that were essential to this agreement coming together," he said in an email to the AP. "However, twice a decade, the bargaining process provides an opportunity to address the extraordinary and widening competitive gap that exists on-field between higher and lower revenue clubs. I feel that opportunity was missed here."
The union said its executive board unanimously ratified the Basic Agreement, Benefit Plan Agreement, Joint Drug Agreement and Joint Policy on Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse.
Former All-Star first baseman Tony Clark led the union's negotiations for the first time. He took over as executive director of the MLB Players Association after the death of Michael Weiner in November 2013.
"The players' involvement during negotiations was both essential and unprecedented, and today's unanimous vote was the culmination of those efforts," Clark said in a statement. "This was a team effort from beginning to end."
Negotiators reached an agreement Nov. 30 in Irving, Texas, about three hours before the expiration of the previous contract.
The deal raises the luxury tax thresholds, increases some of the tax rates, imposes a hard cap on signing bonuses for international amateurs and bans smokeless tobacco for players who do not already have major league service.
It also eliminates the provision that gave World Series home-field advantage to the All-Star winner and bans rookie hazing that includes costumes as women.These are images from Charlottesville, Virginia last night.
These are white people in their twenties and thirties. Like me.
These are people who are in my generation, the millennial generation, the one frequently lambasted for “participation trophies” and “needing safe spaces.”
These are people that look like my coworkers, my colleagues, my brothers, my cousins. People I know and love, who also have white skin and wear polo shirts.
These are people who, like I was, were raised on a diet of Sesame Street and Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood, which teaches tolerance and understanding of others. They’ve probably seen the Indiana Jones films, where punching Nazis is considered a virtuous act. These are my actual demographic peers in the United States of America, which means that these are people who sat through the unit on the second world war in their history class and looked at images of concentration camps and gas chambers and burning books and Anne Frank’s attic and still thought, well, hang on, maybe those Nazis had some interesting ideas.
These are people who chanted “Jew will not replace us.”
These are people who yelled “The heat here is nothing compared to what you’re going to get in the ovens.”
These are people who didn’t even bother to wear hoods.
What does it say that in 2017, I’m struck by the fact that the Ku Klux Klan members at least shielded their faces so that no one could identify them? That the same type of societal pressure apparently no longer exists today? That these people feel comfortable espousing the rhetoric of racist, genocidal maniacs in a public space that was widely photographed and broadcast?
My anger is bigger than my ability to write, but I’m going to try to say this as succinctly as I can.
White nationalism is morally indefensible. This is not a point that is up for discussion.
If you are willing to give these people the benefit of the doubt, you are complicit in the rhetoric of racists and bigots. Playing “devil’s advocate” is unacceptable.
I am not willing to listen to one more interview or read one more article about the “economic anxiety” of the American racist.
If you disagree with the central premise that white nationalism is evil and morally wrong, then I have no words for you. May God have mercy on your soul.
If you can identify that this is evil and wrong, ask yourself why these men (and more than a few women) are angry. Why? What has provoked these people to buy a bunch of Wal-Mart tiki torches and scream Nazi slogans at a Confederate statue?
Imagine for just one second that these protestors were black.
You want to tell me your problems with Colin Kaepernick and why you think Black Lives Matter is a racist slogan? I’m not interested. If you think that Philando Castille or Mike Brown could have just “handled it differently” and they wouldn’t have died? Imagine for one second that a mob of angry black people descended upon a public space with torches, screaming about wanting to kill those who didn’t look like them. Compare the crystal-clear images of these white men with the tear-gassed protestors from Ferguson.
This is a country where racists are empowered.
You failed to read all of those stories over the past five years from women on the internet, like Brianna Wu and Anita Sarkeesian and Lindy West? You thought those “feminists” were just “overreacting,” that there was no such thing as actual harassment from an internet troll, that their desire for online speech to have consequences when it devolved into doxxing and threats was a muzzle on free speech?
You still think that Hillary’s problems had nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman?
Welcome. This is a country where sexists are empowered. They’ve been on the internet terrorizing women for years. This is what they look like when they leave their computer screens behind.
I am no longer interested in anyone’s opinion that the Confederate Flag is merely a symbol of local heritage.
This is your heritage now.
I am no longer interested in your hot take on “economic anxiety.” On “giving President Trump a chance.” On “identity politics are ruining the country.” On “reverse racism.” On “all those swastikas drawn on buildings after the election were just put there by liberals trying to give conservatives a bad name.” I am no longer here for a peaceful discussion with the “other side,” when the “other side” believes that my inherent worth and humanity, and anyone else who doesn’t look or think similarly, deserves to be frightened, tortured, expelled, or harmed.
Women, people of color, religious and ethnic minorities, disabled people, gay people, trans people, and members of other marginalized groups in this country asked for their civil rights and their humanity to be respected. When you hear that the “left” are the “truly intolerant,” please remember that this is the face of the right today.
This is domestic terrorism. This is what it looks like.
I am no longer interested in anyone trying to tell me that being frightened of angry white men is ‘racist’ when angry white men commit the vast majority of violent crimes in our country.
At the time of publication, many hours after these incidents, the President of the United States had yet to condemn this behavior.* This is not surprising information to literally anyone who has spent a scintilla of time on the internet — in Reddit’s /theDonald, in Alex Jones’ InfoWars channel, in the comment section of Breitbart, in any number of places where the overlap between nationalist views, white supremacist views, misogynistic views, xenophobic views, homophobic views, and Donald Trump’s political agenda is less of a Venn Diagram and more of a circle. The President of the United States was elected by dog-whistling to these views.
KKK leader David Duke is currently in Charlottesville ebulliently giving interviews claiming that this rally “fulfills the promises of Donald Trump.” For once, I agree with David Duke about something.
This is the natural byproduct of a racist, sexist president. This is the legacy of a racist, sexist country.
My fellow white Americans, do you see it? Do you see it now?
*****
I am editing this post to add information that I think is important. I struggled to write it earlier, and couldn’t quite find the words. This writer did.
I think I think he says it better. I’m including it in its entirety.
Imagine if these people faced actual oppression.
Nobody is trying to legislate away their right to marry.
Nobody is trying to make them buy insurance to pay for “male health care.”
The law never…
Enslaved their great-grandparents
Robbed their grandparents
Imprisoned their parents
Shot them when unarmed.
There is no massive effort at the state and local level to disenfranchise them of the vote. There is no history of centuries of bad science dedicated to “proving” their intellectual inferiority. There is no travel ban on them because of their religion. There is no danger for them when they carry dangerous weapons publicly.
Their churches were never burned. Their lawns were never decorated with burning crosses. Their ancestors never hung from trees.
Their mothers aren’t being torn away by ICE troopers and sent away forever. They won’t be forced to leave the only country they ever knew. The president has not set up a hotline to report crime committed at their hands.
They are chanting “We will not be replaced.” Replaced… as what?
I’ll tell you.
Replaced as the only voice in public discussions. Replaced as the only bodies in the public arena. Replaced as the only life that matters.
THIS is ‘white people’ oppression: We used to be the only voice. Now we hold the only microphone. THIS is ‘white man’ oppression. We face criticism now. We were free from it, because others feared the consequences.
THIS is ‘oppression’ of white Christians in this country. Christmas used to be the only holiday acknowledged, now it’s not.
I would so love to see these people get all the oppression they insist they receive, just for a year. Just to see.
Give them a world where you ACTUALLY can’t say Christmas. A world where the name “Geoff” on a resume puts it in the trash. Give them a world where they suddenly get a 20% pay cut, and then 70 women every day tell them to smile more.
Give them a world where their polo shirt makes people nervous, so they’re kicked off the flight from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis.
Give them a world where they inherited nothing but a very real understanding of what oppression really fucking is.
Give them a world where if they pulled up on a campus with torches lit and started throwing hands, the cops would punch their eyes out. Put THAT in your Tiki torches and light it, you sorry Nazi bitches.
************************************************************************
** Yes, the President has, since I wrote this post, put out a weak-sauce tweet denouncing these events in the most vague of terms. Know how I know that it’s weak and vague? Richard Spencer, the Nazi responsible for this, has trolled it so effectively that we understand that it could apply to literally any side of this argument. Behold:
For the back of the house: no, all Trump voters are not white supremacists. YES, all Trump voters were comfortable electing a white supremacist to the highest office in the nation. This tweet is weak because the President doesn’t want to upset the members of his base because the members of his base are either okay with this or they are the very tiki-torch-lit assholes pictured above. These are guys wearing MAGA hats. These ARE the faces of your base. This IS the same rhetoric that Trump has always espoused. It’s Racism Classic™, now with Extra Tiki.
If you need further proof that the President doesn’t actually seem to care very much that this is happening in his name in his country, If you need further proof that the President doesn’t actually seem to care very much that this is happening in his name in his country, please enjoy this side-by-side comparison of the President’s stance on white supremacist Nazis versus his strong condemnation of sharks.
** Edited a second time to add: the President of the United States, after one person has been confirmed dead after a car deliberately drove into a group of anti-racist counter-protestors, has just condemned these violent acts “on many sides.”
This is literally the same as saying that he condemns the violent actions of Nazis, as well as the groups protesting the Nazis.
All I’m saying is that if violent acts are happening in your name and endorsed by David Duke and perpetrated by people waving signs with your name on it and wearing hats with your catchphrase on it, after you have asked Jeff Sessions and the department of Justice to stop investigating white supremacist terror groups exactly like this one, and all you can say is “I condemn this on many sides” rather than “stop doing this in my name” or “white supremacy is not tolerated in this country” or without using the phrase “domestic terrorism,” you’ll have to forgive me for drawing the logical conclusion that the President of the United States, in choosing his words carefully so as not to offend a racist, torch-wielding mob, gives more fucks about the feelings of actual Nazis than anyone or anything else. If you’re willing to speak “off the cuff” about North Korean missile strikes or classified intel or fallen soldiers or disabled reporters or Gold Star families but recognize that your words have impact when you’re worried about offending ACTUAL NAZIS, may you and every single person who ever defended you feel a shame that burns hotter than any collection of tiki torches.
—
—
We have weekly phone calls to help #StopRacism—as well as other groups and calls to help solve some of the most difficult challenges the world has today. Calls are for Members Only. Not yet a member of The Good Men Project? Join now.
Join The Good Men Project Community.
The $50 Platinum Level is an ALL-ACCESS PASS—join as many groups and classes as you want for the entire year. The $20 Gold Level gives you access to any ONE Social Interest Group and ONE Class–and other benefits listed below the form. Or…for $5, join as a Bronze Member and support our mission.
Register New Account
if you wish to renew an existing subscription. Log in if you wish to renew an existing subscription. Username Email First Name Last Name Password Password Again Choose your subscription level Annual Platinum - $50.00 - 1 Year
Annual Gold - $25.00 - 1 Year
Annual Bronze - $5.00 - 1 Year Subscription Amount Annual Platinum $50.00 Total Today $50.00 Auto Renew Invitation to Good Men Project Weekly Conference calls and other events Invitation to Good Men Project 'Members Only' Facebook Group Include my name on a "Friends of Good Men Project" page on our website How do you want your name to appear on the "Friends of GMP" page"? How do you want your name to appear on the "Friends of GMP" page"? Subscribe to The Good Men Project Daily Newsletter
*Payment is by PayPal.
Please note: If you are already a writer/contributor at The Good Men Project, Please note: If you are already a writer/contributor at The Good Men Project, log in here before registering. (Request new password if needed).
◊♦◊
ANNUAL PLATINUM membership ($50 per year) includes:
1. AN ALL ACCESS PASS — Join ANY and ALL of our weekly calls, Social Interest Groups, classes, workshops and private Facebook groups. We have at least one group phone call or online class every day of the week.
2. See the website with no ads when logged in!
3. PLATINUM MEMBER commenting badge and listing on our “Friends of The Good Men Project” page.
***
ANNUAL GOLD membership ($25 per year) includes all the benefits above — but only ONE Weekly Social Interest Group and ONE class.
***
ANNUAL BRONZE membership ($5 per year) is great if you are not ready to join the full conversation but want to support our mission anyway. You’ll still get a BRONZE commenting badge, a listing on our Friends page, and you can pop into any of our weekly Friday Calls with the Publisher when you have time. This is for people who believe—like we do—that this conversation about men and changing roles and goodness in the 21st century is one of the most important conversations you can have today.
Here is what we will be discussing on Tuesday. Click to RSVP:
♦◊♦
We have pioneered the largest worldwide conversation about what it means to be a good man in the 21st century. Your support of our work is inspiring and invaluable.
◊♦◊CLOSE Hurricane Maria left a path of destruction in Puerto Rico, leaving most of its citizens without access to electricity and clean drinking water. The island's residents talk about their daily struggle to survive and make end's meet. USA TODAY
President Trump gives food to a crowd affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits a disaster relief distribution center at Calgary Chapel in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 3, 2017. (Photo11: Evan Vucci, AP)
President Trump is suggesting that Puerto Rico's debt should be wiped out to give the island a fresh start after Hurricane Maria deepened the U.S. territory's economic catastrophe.
The president's comments Tuesday come after Puerto Rico filed for the equivalent of federal bankruptcy protection in May after years of financial mistakes and economic decline.
Puerto Rico owed $74 billion in debts and $49 billion in pension liabilities before entering the so-called Title III restructuring process that Congress designed for distressed U.S. territories.
Those financial obligations — combined with bureaucratic inertia, population decline and lack of economic opportunity — hobbled the island's ability to pay for basic services such as public safety and health care.
More: 6 reasons why Puerto Rico slid into financial crisis
More: Puerto Rico declares bankruptcy. Here's how it's going to unfold
More: Why you can't ignore Puerto Rico's bankruptcy
More: Trump praises Puerto Rico recovery, but critics assail comments on budget and death toll
In the island's municipal bankruptcy case, a federal oversight board is aiming to negotiate debt reductions with the island's creditors on behalf of Puerto Rico.
"They owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street and we're going to have to wipe that out," Trump told Fox News. "You can say goodbye to that."
Trump, who made the comments after touring the island to see Maria's wreckage, does not exert direct control over Puerto Rico's debt restructuring. He could theoretically pursue a federal bailout to cover the island's debts, which would require Congressional action, but that's unlikely.
Still, political momentum to aide Puerto Rico after Maria devastated the island could put pressure on creditors to capitulate in the debt negotiating process.
CLOSE President Trump tells Puerto Rico hurricane destruction Killed the U.S. budget. Time
Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2kmwfwPTall towers of Seattle's future
Greenscape at 1208 Pine St. Sustainable-minded developer SolTerra is planning this unusual terraced residential building for the base of Capitol Hill, called the Esker. Though it's hardly a tower, it will be a standout apartment building with seven rotated terraced levels, interconnected by living walls and dressed in greenscapes with views toward the Olympic Mountains. The plan calls for 72 units, 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and a rooftop restaurant. This rendering shows how the unique building might look from the west. The view is looking east with Pine Street running up the hill beyond. less Greenscape at 1208 Pine St. Sustainable-minded developer SolTerra is planning this unusual terraced residential building for the base of Capitol Hill, called the Esker. Though it's hardly a tower, it will be a... more Photo: Courtesy SolTerra Photo: Courtesy SolTerra Image 1 of / 49 Caption Close Tall towers of Seattle's future 1 / 49 Back to Gallery
Back in 2000, standing 20-some stories up in the then-under-construction expansion of the Washington State Convention Center, I looked out across a skyline that was booming.
The other drywall and framing guys I worked with joked that the tower crane should be the official bird of Seattle, because everywhere you looked, there seemed to be one.
We didn't know what the future held.
Today, you can look up from the ground and count half a dozen tower cranes across much of downtown Seattle.
And it just keeps on going.
From the tech titans to foreign investors, plans for big buildings are piled almost as high as some of the towers.
Four 40-story towers in Bellevue; 600,000 square feet of office space along Mercer for Google; Amazon's behemoth Denny Triangle development of over 4 million square feet of office space; towers planned on three sides of the present Seattle Times building (one already under construction)... you get the idea.
I pulled together a refreshed and more comprehensive list of some of the biggest or most unusual projects planned for downtown Seattle or the greater region. From monstrously big to just plain weird, there's a little bit of everything. Click through to see them all.American Samoa's battle against obesity as 95 per cent of the nation are declared overweight
WHO figures reveal extent of the obesity crisis in the small Pacific island
One airline charging passengers tickets based on their weight to save costs
Island-wide health push to encourage healthier eating and more activity
It has been officially ranked the fattest population in the world - with estimates as high as 94 per cent obesity.
The sheer scale of the problem has prompted both public and private sector organisations to take action.
One airline has has become unpopular with the locals by making every passenger stand on a set of scales with their luggage and making them pay according to their individual weight.
Officially fattest: Islanders living on the beautiful American Samoa archipelago are officially the fattest in the world, according to WHO figures
Local American Samoans performing a cultural show; the island's inhabitants have been ranked the fattest in the world
While the healthcare sector is actively encouraging the island's inhabitants to pursue healthier lifestyles in a bid to prevent the ticking time-bomb of health complications later in life, associated with obesity.
The American-owned island, which forms part of the Samoan archipelago chain in the Pacific Ocean, only has a population of 700,000, according to a 2013 census.
But, according to World Health Organization records, 94 per cent, or 658,000 of them are overweight.
The dire statistic is blamed on an unhealthy fast-food culture, influenced by its mainland powerhouse, and a penchant for a sedentary lifestyle.
Almost all of the food in American Samoa is imported and therefore expensive, but fast-food chains offer a cheap and convenient alternative.
WHERE ARE THE WORLD'S FATTEST PLACES... 1. American Samoa - 94 per cent 2. Kiribati, Central Pacific - 82 per cent 3. French Polynesia - 74 per cent 4. Saudi Arabia - 73 per cent 5. Panama - 67.4 per cent
6. The U.S. - 66.9 per cent 7. Germany - 66.5 per cent 8. Egypt - 66 per cent 9. Kuwait - 64 per cent
10. Bosnia and Herzegovina - 63 per cent 11. New Zealand - 62.7 per cent 12. Malta - 62.3 per cent 13. Israel - 61.9 per cent 14. Croatia - 61.4 per cent 15. Bahrain - 61 per cent 16. Macedonia - 60.4 per cent 17. Barbados - 60.4 per cent 18. Seychelles - 60.1 per cent 19. Canada - 59.1 per cent 20. Chile - 59.7 per cent
Samoa Air's new 'pay-by-weight' system may be having an effect on its passengers, however, so perhaps this is the way forward for fat countries?
The island's obesity epidemic is at crisis point, since its population is now giving birth to overweight babies, starting life with a plethora of health complications.
One study found that at just 15 months old, 40 per cent of boys and 30 per cent of girl babies were classed as overweight.
Being overweight is associated with a catalogue of awful chronic diseases and health complications, including hypertension and heart disease, diabetes and subsequent renal failure and liver disease. It is also linked the asthma, cancer, depression, stroke and problems associated with digestion.
The implications and burdens of such crippling chronic diseases, not just to the individual and their relatives, but also for the the country's healthcare system, are immense.
But at last, it appears the island's health push is apparently sinking in.
An early morning exercise class at the island's only sports stadium is attracting more members.
Olivia Reid-Gillet attends twice a week because she became aware of how serious her weight issues were.
Quoted by CBS News, she said: 'I needed to get healthier. I had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol.'
Clinics including dietary advice, wellness programmes, and childhood obesity tracking are also being offered to educate people so they can take more control of their disease.Did you know that journalists and whistleblowers could soon be sent to prison for 14 years for exposing corruption and government wrongdoing?
Imagine living in a society where abuses of power, corruption and wrongdoing could go unreported and unchallenged - it could be closer than you think...
Join us on Wednesday 12th April to find out from Jim Killock (https://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#jim), Executive Director of the Open Rights Group, about what the new law means for journalists and whistleblowers and what you can do to stop the Law Commission's proposals.
About the Espionage Act
The Law Commission is advising the Government how to update the law about classified state secrets - they want a new Espionage Act to increase the penalties, and allow journalists handling secret documents to be treated like spies.
Their proposals would stop investigative journalism and public-interest whistleblowing concerning the secret state.
Would you risk 14 years in jail just for examining secret documents?
Whistleblowers and journalists wouldn't be able to use a public interest defence to protect themselves if they were prosecuted under the proposed Espionage Act. Instead, government staff would have to raise concerns internally. Journalists would have to turn down requests to investigate and report - or risk jail.
Journalists and whistleblowers wouldn't have to give the documents to foreign powers, cause harm or even publish the documents to be jailed for 14 years.
Event Details
Location: The Sovereign Suite, Cosmopolitan Hotel, Leeds, LS1 4AE.
Timings: Please arrive from 18:15, the event will begin at approx. 18:30, there will be the opportunity to socialise before and afterwards.
Our lead speaker for the evening will be Jim Killock (https://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#jim), Executive Director of the Open Rights Group, who will be providing an overview of the proposed law and its implications followed by a Q&A style discussion.
About the speaker:
Since joining Open Rights Group in January 2009, Jim has led numerous campaigns on digital rights issues, most recently against the Investigatory Powers Act (Snoopers Charter) and the Digital Economy Bill.
He was named as one of the 50 most influential people on IP issues by Managing IP in 2012. In the same year ORG won Liberty's Human Rights Campaigner of Year award alongside 38 Degrees, for work on issues from copyright to the Snooper’s Charter.
Before joining ORG, Jim worked as External Communications Co-ordinator of the Green Party. At the Green Party, he promoted campaigns on open source, intellectual property and digital rights. He was also a leading figure in the campaign to elect their first party leader, Caroline Lucas MP.
Sign the petition
Nearly 20,000 people have already signed the Open Rights Group's petition, demanding the Law Commission drop plans to criminalise journalists and public-interest whistleblowers. Speak up by signing the petition today! (https://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/espionage-act/14-years-in-prison-for-journalists-sign-the-petition-1) Thank you.Photographs appear to show Islamic State group flanked by civilians as they retreat from Manbij after defeat by US-backed fighters
Photographs released on Friday appear to show the Islamic State group using civilians as human shields to flee the Syrian town of Manbij after being defeated by US-backed fighters.
The pictures, tweeted by the Syrian Democratic Force on Friday, show a long convoy of vehicles fleeing the town, each purportedly containing non-combatants to prevent attacks by coalition forces.
The militants were fleeing north, towards Turkey, after being pushed out of Manbij following weeks of fighting.
SDF Press Center (@SDF_Press_1) بالصور لحظة فرار داعش مع المدنيين من #منبج
Daesh pictures how to use civilians as human shields to flee #Manbej pic.twitter.com/C1oJm8sFHv
It was unclear whether the civilians were hostages or family members of the Islamic State fighters.
On Tuesday, Col Chris Garver, a spokesman for the US-led coalition against Isis, said SDF fighters had allowed 100 to 200 vehicles of Isis fighters to leave Manbij as they contained civilians.
“Civilians were observed in the convoy intermingled with fighters in every vehicle,” Garver said in a press briefing.
He said it was unclear how many of the civilians were in the cars voluntarily, but it was likely some were hostages.
The SDF, an Arab-Kurdish alliance of fighters, took control of the northern Syrian city of Manbij last week after 10 weeks of fierce fighting. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the battle claimed the lives of at least 437 civilians, 299 SDF fighters and 1,019 jihadists.
According to the SDF, Isis took 2,000 hostages as they were fleeing the city to the north to use as human shields, but the hostages were later released.
The jihadist group has repeatedly used human shields during combat in its ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
During fighting in Fallujah in May and June, Isis held thousands of civilians captive to use as human shields in order to blunt the advance of Iraqi and coalition forces.
There was also confusion surrounding the presence of civilians in another Isis convoy which came under fire as it was leaving Falluja, after the militants were pushed out of the city in late June. An investigation into the presence of civilians by open-source researcher Bellingcat into the incident was inconclusive. Chris Woods, director of Airwars, a group which monitors the coalition’s airstrikes, said it would “make sense” if civilians were present.One of the less obvious ways that the people who own the Megaphone control the Narrative is by which anniversaries they choose to commemorate. For example, the 20th Anniversary of The Bell Curve appears to be of some interest in that my two Taki’s Magazine columns on the subject have gotten 618 and 756 comments.
But articles on the anniversary have been limited in number, because it’s, uh, inappropriate. Now the American Enterprise Institute has an interview with their fellow:
‘The Bell Curve’ 20 years later: A Q&A with Charles Murray
Natalie Scholl | October 16, 2014, 1:57 pm
The Bell Curve and Charles Murray
October marks the 20th anniversary of “The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life,” the extraordinarily influential and controversial book by AEI scholar Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein. Here, Murray answers a few questions about the predictions, controversy, and legacy of his book.
Q. It’s been 20 years since “The Bell Curve” was published. Which theses of the book do you think are the most relevant right now to American political and social life?
A. American political and social life today is pretty much one great big “Q.E.D.” for the two main theses of “The Bell Curve.” …
Unchecked, these trends will lead the U.S. toward something resembling a caste society, with the underclass mired ever more firmly at the bottom and the cognitive elite ever more firmly anchored at the top, restructuring the rules of society so that it becomes harder and harder for them to lose. (p. 509)
Remind you of anything you’ve noticed about the US recently? If you look at the first three chapters of the book I published in 2012, “Coming Apart,” you’ll find that they amount to an update of “The Bell Curve,” showing how the trends that we wrote about in the early 1990s had continued and in some cases intensified since 1994. I immodestly suggest that “The Bell Curve” was about as prescient as social science gets.
Q. But none of those issues has anything to do with race, and let’s face it: the firestorm of controversy about “The Bell Curve” was all about race. We now have 20 more years of research and data since you published the book. How does your position hold up?
A. First, a little background: Why did Dick and I talk about race at all? Not because we |
execs at soapland. Miyamoto handled the payoff, and then the next shakedown, and soon he became the firm’s de-facto yakuza liaison. The gangsters liked what they saw and recruited him away from the agency. Since then, Miyamoto had become a full gang member, although his oyabun had told him to avoid tattoos, because they would be a liability in the corporate world. He had kept all his fingers for the same reason. Nowadays, he helped his gang manage three hedge funds. At the restaurant, he handed Adelstein a new business card. “Be really careful with this card, because it’s my legitimate business,” he said, in English. “If this gets out, we won’t get listed on the stock market.” The favor he needed was personal. His wife had left him after he became a yakuza, and he hadn’t seen his child for years. The recent tsunami, which had occurred less than two months earlier, made him want to get back in touch. He asked Adelstein to contact his estranged wife and tell her that he wasn’t a yakuza anymore. “I can’t lie to her,” Adelstein said. “I can say you’re doing legitimate business. But I can’t say you’re not a yakuza.” Miyamoto agreed, and then he talked about other corporate gangsters, mentioning a well-known gang. “They now have a guy who worked for Deutsche Bank,” he said. Adelstein remarked that Miyamoto had posted his gang symbol online, and he warned him to be careful. “You need to back off on Twitter.” “Man, I’ve got a thousand followers!” “You shouldn’t say that stuff on Twitter about your bitches giving you money.” “The police won’t read it. People think it’s fake, anyway.” “Well, there’s a new law going on the books in October, and if you’re talking about taking protection money you could get arrested,” Adelstein said. There was never any mention of what Miyamoto might do in exchange for Adelstein’s contacting his wife. But after a while the yakuza leaned forward and spoke in a low voice about the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, which owns and manages the Fukushima nuclear reactors that had been damaged by the tsunami. There had been accusations of mismanagement, and Miyamoto suggested that Adelstein research potential links between TEPCO and the Matsuba-kai, a criminal organization. “You know what’s really interesting?” he said. “The Matsuba-kai guys play golf with the waste-disposal guys for TEPCO. That’s what you need to look into.” He also named a yakuza from another gang who had supposedly made a million-dollar profit from supplying workers and construction materials to the reactors. During the following weeks, Adelstein took pieces of information about the reactors to various contacts. Over the summer, he published a number of articles in The Atlantic online, the London Independent, and some Japanese publications, exposing criminal links at TEPCO. He described how yakuza front companies had supplied equipment and contract workers, and he quoted an engineer who had noticed something strange when he saw some cleanup crews change clothes: beneath the white hazmat suits, their bodies were covered with tattoos.
When Adelstein worked for the Yomiuri, he says there was a tacit understanding that investigative reporting on the yakuza shouldn’t go too far. Media companies, like many big Japanese corporations, often had links to criminal groups, and even the police tried not to be too combative. For one thing, tools were limited: Japanese authorities can’t engage in plea bargaining or witness relocation, and wiretapping is almost never allowed. In the past, yakuza were rarely violent, and if they did attack somebody it was usually another gang member, which wasn’t considered a problem. One officer in the organized-crime-prevention unit told me that, in the nineteen-eighties, if a yakuza killed a rival he often turned himself in. “The guilty person would appear the next day at the police station with the gun and say, ‘I did it,’ ” the cop said. “He’d be in jail for only two or three years. It wasn’t like killing a real person.” Even the police officer believed that yakuza serve some useful functions. “Japanese society doesn’t really have any place for juvenile delinquents,” he said. “That’s one role the yakuza play. Traditionally, it’s a place where people can send juvenile delinquents.” The fact that these delinquents are subsequently raised to become yakuza didn’t seem to bother the cop too much. When I asked if he had ever fired his gun, he said that he hadn’t even used his nightstick. His business card identified his specialty as “Violent Crime Investigation,” and it featured the smiling Pipo-kun with his antenna, which symbolized how police can sense things happening everywhere in society. The officer explained that until recently the cops would notify yakuza before making a bust, out of respect, which allowed gangsters to hide any particularly damning evidence. “Now we don’t do that anymore,” he said. He lamented a loss of civility among a new generation of yakuza. “It used to be that they didn’t do theft or robbery,” he said. “It was considered shameful.” He blamed greed: when the bubble economy collapsed, in the nineties, many wealthy yakuza had trouble adjusting. After years of adopting the façade of dangerous sociopaths, some began to live up to the image. The officer identified a gangster named Tadamasa Goto as an example of the new breed. “He’s much more ruthless than yakuza were in the past,” he said. “He’ll go after civilians. Unfortunately, more yakuza have become like that.” Six days before our conversation, one of Goto’s former underlings had been shot dead in Thailand. For years, he had been on the run, a suspect in the murder of a man who had stood in Goto’s way in a real-estate deal. The cop said that Goto was cleaning up potential witnesses, and he reminded me that the gangster had also issued death threats against Adelstein. The most recent had been made last year, when Goto published his autobiography. “We suspect Goto of being involved in the killing of seventeen people,” the cop said. “Say the egg didn’t come back—then what?” The criminal autobiography is a perverse genre anywhere, but this is especially true in Japan, where Goto’s book appeared with the title “Habakarinagara,” a polite phrase that means “with all due respect.” At the time of publication, the author announced that all royalties would be dedicated to a charity for the disabled in Cambodia and to a Buddhist temple in Burma. The book begins in a David Copperfield vein: As a boy, Goto lacked shoes, and he ate barley instead of rice. (“Those years were extremely tough, with an alcoholic bum for a father.”) He describes the rise from juvenile delinquency to the yakuza with a nice baseball metaphor. (“I felt as though we had been playing neighborhood baseball in a weedy field then suddenly got scouted to play in the major leagues.”) Crimes are mentioned breezily, with few details, although even the offhand ones tend to be memorable. (“My third brother, Yasutaka, was one of the guys who threw leaflets and excrement around Suruga Bank, and he went to prison for that.”) Goto emphasizes his sense of honor; if nothing else, he has the courage of his convictions. (“I couldn’t go apologize and beg forgiveness. I am not cut out that way. I have pride. So instead I chopped off one of my fingers and brought it to Kawauchi.”) For years, this auto-amputee was one of the largest shareholders of Japan Airlines. According to police estimates, Goto’s assets are worth about a billion dollars, and he controlled his own faction within the Yamaguchi-gumi, the top criminal organization in the country. He is notorious for an attack on Juzo Itami, one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers. In May of 1992, Itami released “Minbo, or the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion,” a movie that portrayed yakuza as fakes who don’t live up to their tough-guy image. Days later, five members of Goto’s organization attacked the filmmaker in front of his home, slashing his face and neck with knives. Afterward, Itami became even more outspoken. Five years later, he apparently committed suicide, leaping from the roof of his office building. He left a note explaining that he was distraught over an alleged love affair. But Adelstein, citing an unnamed yakuza source, subsequently reported that the filmmaker had been forced to sign the note and jump, and the police have treated the case as a possible homicide. The American lawyer who researches organized crime told me that some yakuza groups specialize in murders that look like suicide. “I used to think they committed suicide out of shame, because the Japanese do that, culturally,” he said. “But nowadays when I hear that somebody killed himself I often doubt that’s what happened.” At the Yomiuri, Adelstein started investigating Goto. He had been making progress when one of his sources, a foreign prostitute, disappeared. Adelstein was convinced that she had been murdered, and soon he became obsessed with the case. He was married to a Japanese journalist named Sunao, and they had two small children. But Adelstein rarely made it home before midnight, because Japanese crime reporters are expected to smoke and drink heavily with cops and other contacts. Sometimes he was threatened by yakuza; once he was badly beaten and suffered damage to his knee and spine. Like many people with Marfan syndrome, he took daily medication for his heart, and there were signs that his life style was becoming self-destructive. He had always had a tendency to dramatize his health problems—this was part of his image—but now he seemed to be growing into the role of the troubled crime reporter. Years later, both Adelstein and his wife said that this period destroyed their marriage. It also finished his career at the Yomiuri. After a certain point, he says, the paper balked at publishing more stories about Goto, and Adelstein quit. To this day, nobody at the paper will speak on the record about him; some reporters told me that he was a liar, while others said that the Yomiuri had been frustrated by his obsession. A couple of people alleged that he worked for the C.I.A. Staff from competing papers seemed more likely to praise his work, and a number of people indicated that the Japanese media tended to shy away from stories that would anger powerful yakuza figures like Goto. They also said that people at the Yomiuri were angry about Adelstein’s departure because it violated traditional corporate loyalty. After leaving the Yomiuri, Adelstein kept investigating, until finally he homed in on Goto’s liver. For yakuza, the liver is a crucial body part, a target of self-abuse on a par with the pinkie finger. Many gangsters inject methamphetamines, and dirty needles can spread hepatitis C, which is also a risk of the big tattoos. In addition, there’s a lot of drinking and smoking. In the yakuza community, a sick liver is a badge of honor, something that a proud samurai like Goto brags about in his memoirs. (“I drank enough to destroy three livers.”) But it also means that yakuza often need transplants, and a criminal source told Adelstein that Goto had received a new liver in the United States, where his extensive record would make him ineligible for a visa. After months of investigation, Adelstein discovered that Goto and three other yakuza had been patients at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center, one of the nation’s premier transplant facilities. Goto had been granted a visa because of a deal with the F.B.I.—he had agreed to rat out other yakuza. Adelstein broke the story in May of 2008, first in the Washington Post and then with details that he gave to reporters at the Los Angeles Times. Jim Stern, a retired head of the F.B.I.’s Asian criminal-enterprise unit, confirmed the deal, although he told the L.A. Times, “I don’t think Goto gave the bureau anything of significance.” (Stern was not involved in the deal.) According to Adelstein’s Japanese police sources, the U.C.L.A. Medical Center received donations in excess of a million dollars from yakuza. An investigation at U.C.L.A. found no wrongdoing, and the medical center reported only two hundred thousand dollars in donations, although it acknowledged other signs of giri—for example, one yakuza gave his doctor a case of wine, a watch, and ten thousand dollars. The year that Goto received his liver, a hundred and eighty-six Americans in the Los Angeles area died while waiting for a transplant. Long before the articles appeared, Goto’s men had contacted Adelstein. He says that they threatened to kill him, while another gang leader offered him half a million dollars to drop the story. After that, Adelstein was placed under Tokyo police protection, and the F.B.I. monitored his wife and children, who had moved to the United States. In 2008, the Yamaguchi-gumi officially expelled Goto. He undertook the training necessary to be certified as a Buddhist priest, a step that’s not uncommon for ex-yakuza who fear retribution from former colleagues. It’s bad karma to kill a priest, even if he’s a former crime boss who reportedly still commands many loyal followers. And Goto is the type of Buddhist priest who uses his autobiography to issue oblique threats. “Just because I’ve retired from the business, doesn’t mean I have the time to track down this American novelist,” he says in “With All Due Respect.” “If I did meet him it would be a serious matter. He’d have to write, ‘Goto is after me’ instead of ‘Goto may come after me.’ ” In 2010, Adelstein hired a lawyer named Toshiro Igari to sue Goto’s publisher and force the retraction of this threat. Igari was involved in many anti-yakuza cases, including investigations into fixing sumo matches and professional baseball games. In August, the lawyer went on vacation to the Philippines, where he was found dead in a room with a cup of sleeping pills, a set of box cutters, a glass of wine, and a shallow cut on his wrist. The Philippine police report was inconclusive, although most Japanese newspapers reported the death as a suicide. In Japan, Goto’s book has sold more than two hundred thousand copies, and, since the earthquake in March, all royalties have been dedicated to tsunami relief.
During the spring, I visited Adelstein in Tokyo, and the first thing he told me was that a week earlier he had been given a diagnosis of liver cancer. He had also nearly completed training to become a Zen Buddhist priest. Adelstein figured that if Goto could do it for protection he could, too. He considered himself a Buddhist, and he liked the concept of karma, although he had told the priest who was training him that he didn’t believe in reincarnation. “He said you don’t have to believe,” Adelstein said. “In Buddhism, it’s not about faith. It’s about doing.” He seemed neither surprised nor upset about the cancer diagnosis. The disease had been discovered in the early stages, and doctors at a clinic in Tokyo were treating it with injections of ethanol. They had told Adelstein that the cancer might be connected to diet, or to years of drinking and smoking, or even to Marfan syndrome. Regardless, his tranquillity probably had less to do with Zen than it did with operating in a milieu where everybody knows something about liver problems. One afternoon, we stopped by the neighborhood police station, where Adelstein mentioned the diagnosis to a detective friend. “Wow, you’re just like a yakuza!” the cop said. “Are you actually covered with tattoos?” When we met with one of Adelstein’s criminal contacts, he talked about how his gang boss had originally hoped to get a U.C.L.A. liver, but after Adelstein’s exposé he had been forced to settle for an Australian organ instead. (He eventually went through two Aussie livers, and then died.) Periodically, Adelstein’s driver gave updates on a mutual acquaintance whose liver hadn’t responded to ethanol and was currently being zapped with radio-wave treatment. The driver himself had a lucky liver—his hepatitis C had been successfully treated with interferon. The driver’s name was Teruo Mochizuki, and he had a long criminal history. As a teen-ager, he had been a delinquent, until finally his parents, in frustration, passed him off to a local yakuza. Mochizuki joined the Inagawa-kai, and he became addicted to methamphetamines. He had gone to prison four times on drug-related charges. Now in his fifties, he said he had been clean for more than two decades. He was powerfully built, with broad shoulders, no neck, and a bullet-shaped head. Like other yakuza I met, he had expressive eyes, although even the manga brows remained still when I asked about his left hand. He said quietly, “There was some trouble and I had to lose the finger.” He had done it in front of his boss at the gang’s office. A doctor stopped the bleeding, but Mochizuki had declined treatment of the nerve endings. “To repair the finger would be to take back the apology,” he explained. He said that the yakuza tradition is connected to the way that samurai warriors ritually sliced their own stomachs in ancient times. He also remarked that Japanese law grants disability status to a nine-fingered person, but Mochizuki refused to apply, out of respect for his digital apology. He had known Adelstein for more than fifteen years. When I asked how they had first met, he told the story casually, as if these were the details of an everyday personal encounter. In 1993, an associate of Mochizuki’s was blackmailing the criminal owner of a pet store, so the owner murdered the yakuza, and, according to rumor, carved up the body and fed it to his dogs. Adelstein, who was single at the time, covered the story and interviewed the dead yakuza’s meth-head girlfriend; almost immediately, they began sleeping together. One day, Mochizuki went to the girlfriend’s house to pay his condolences, and Adelstein answered the door, postcoital. I had lots of possible questions but decided to go with the most obvious: “What was your first impression of Jake-san?” “My first impression was ‘What an idiot!’ ” Mochizuki said. “You can look all over Japan and you won’t find a reporter willing to do these things. I was surprised that he was fearless. He was just so strange.” Over the years, Adelstein and Mochizuki became friends. In 2007, Mochizuki was expelled from the Inagawa-kai, after an internal conflict that he didn’t want to talk about. The following year, Adelstein offered Mochizuki a job as his bodyguard and driver. “I didn’t want to do it,” Mochizuki told me. “Goto is one of the most influential guys in Japan, and nobody would want a job like that. But I felt like I had no other choice.” He explained that Tokyo job prospects are poor for an uneducated middle-aged man with nine fingers and tattoos that show beneath a dress shirt. He now earns about thirty-five hundred dollars a month for driving Adelstein around Tokyo in a black Mercedes S600, which is a common yakuza car model. Adelstein had bought it cheap from a gang contact who was retiring and no longer needed a statement vehicle. Mochizuki told me that Adelstein behaved differently from typical Japanese journalists, who are careful not to cross certain lines. “He has no regard for those taboos or restrictions,” he said. “If he were Japanese, he wouldn’t be around right now.” Mochizuki explained that some yakuza dislike Adelstein’s stories, but he is widely recognized as a man of his word. “He has a heart,” Mochizuki said. “People appreciate him for that. It’s not common for somebody who is not Japanese to have this feeling of obligation.” Adelstein has published a book about his adventures on the police beat, “Tokyo Vice,” and is working on two more. A few years ago, he researched human trafficking for the U.S. State Department, and now he serves as a board member for the Polaris Project Japan, a nonprofit that combats the sex trade. Periodically, he does investigations for corporations. The American lawyer who researches organized crime told me that when he first met Adelstein his image was off-putting. But he had become deeply impressed by his work. “He’s a craftsman,” he said. “He takes pride in doing the kind of research he does correctly.” He continued, “It’s this odd thing where you have this white guy who is as close to that part of Japanese society as a person can get.” Adelstein follows his strict rules of reciprocity and protection of sources, but otherwise he is willing to do nearly anything to get a story. He said that once, after his marriage had fallen apart, a lonely female cop offered access to a file on Goto if he slept with her, so he did. In the red-light district, he relies on foreign strippers for information, and on a few occasions when they have run into visa problems he has introduced them to gay salarymen who need wives in order to rise at their conservative Japanese companies. Adelstein says he never breaks the law—he puts these people in touch and tells them that they are free to fall in love and get married, and then they are also free to apply for spousal visas and to show up at corporate events together. But he acknowledges that a journalist in America would be appalled. “I’ve slept with sources,” he told me. “I’ve done hard negotiations that are probably tantamount to blackmail. I’ve ransacked rubbish bins for information. I’m willing to get information from organized crime or antisocial forces if the information is good.” By now, he’s played the stereotypical role of the crime reporter for so long that he can’t shake the life style. Whenever I went out with him, we always seemed to end up having drinks with some beautiful, bright woman. For five years, he has rented a house in a quiet neighborhood, but it was as if he had just moved in: at night, he dragged a futon out of a closet and slept on the floor of his office. For breakfast, he microwaved instant meals from a convenience store and served them on paper plates. In the kitchen, I counted five bottles of whiskey, four bottles of vodka, and three spoons. There was no table; he ate takeout meals on the couch. He marked his hand with a pen every time he lit a clove cigarette, supposedly to cut back, although once I watched him accumulate six marks while we were en route to a cancer treatment. On that particular day, the doctor decided to postpone the injection of ethanol, but I wasn’t sure that Adelstein’s body noticed the difference. We went straight from the appointment to dinner at a shabu-shabu restaurant, where he ordered two bottles of sake and finished them while waiting for an elegant Japanese-American woman to join us. After that, he had five more drinks at three different bars, and he was still going strong at two in the morning.
In the farmland of southern Boone County, atop the last line of hills that overlook the Missouri River, stands a six-sided pagoda. The structure has three tiers marked by upturned eaves. “It was my impression of what a Japanese house should be,” Eddie Adelstein told me, when I visited in April. He said that he didn’t know much about Japan, having travelled there only once to see his son, but he had always liked the idea of an Asian house. He had a friend in Kansas who specialized in designing six-sided buildings, so they combined their interests. Since 2005, the pagoda has been home to Sunao Adelstein and her two children. Eddie and his wife, Willa, live in another building on the property. The neighbors are mostly farmers and people who moved to the countryside for the quiet, but they’ve picked up certain ideas about the yakuza and Tadamasa Goto. “When it started, somebody from the F.B.I. came by and talked to everybody,” Heidi Branaugh, a nurse who lives on a small farm nearby, told me. “It was just odd. The first night I was here, after the sheriff came by, there was a helicopter overhead.” Branaugh keeps a donkey, forty chickens, ten goats, and a dog named Bessie. She said that for a year Bessie barked at the car that the sheriff’s department parked near the pagoda every evening. “They’d sit right up there on the drive, watching. Once, they chased some guys who were looking for mushrooms.” Sunao Adelstein told me that she was tired of thinking about Goto. In 2008, the F.B.I. had advised the family to install an alarm system and buy some guns, because it wouldn’t be too hard for a hit man to track down a pagoda near the Missouri River. Since then, the authorities believed that the local risk had passed, although at the time of my visit Sunao had not returned to Japan for two years, because the Tokyo police were still concerned about Goto’s threat. Sunao used to work as a business reporter in Tokyo, but now she was studying accounting and trying to adjust to life in rural Missouri. She liked the pagoda, although she complained that there was almost no closet space, because the designer had been so obsessed with the Japanese exterior. Who would have imagined that a pagoda needed closets? “Very often I think, Why am I living here?” she said. “I grew up in Saitama. It’s not a big city, but it’s a suburb of Tokyo. I never dealt with ticks, with bugs. I hate ticks!” Sunao is a slender, pretty woman, and she took me for a walk in the countryside with the children. She wore a short red skirt and black leggings; periodically, she stopped to check for ticks. After years of living apart, she and Jake had finally decided to file for legal separation. She said that her husband had changed after his research took him deep into the criminal underworld. “He was beaten by somebody, so he was wary. He was not goofy Jake anymore,” she said. “He would use words the yakuza way.” She continued, “It has to do with the facial expression, the way they speak. When he got angry, he was like this. We argued once and he said, ‘Omae niwa kankeine! Kono Bakayaro!’ I thought, Oh, he knows bad Japanese now.” “He’s bicoastal.” She said that at one time she had hoped he would find a different career, but now she realized that it would never happen. Some of Adelstein’s friends and family told me that he was addicted to the excitement, while others mentioned that he was too attached to the character that he had created. But beneath the chaotic personal life there was also something deeply moralistic about his outlook. He seemed to have more faith in giri than he did in any system of justice, and he could respect even a criminal as long as the man kept his word. “He expects people to be fair and honest,” his father told me. Eddie Adelstein said that his own experiences with crime had influenced his son. He worked as a pathologist at the V.A. hospital in Columbia, and had served as the county medical examiner for more than twenty years. In the early nineteen-nineties, patients suddenly began dying at a high rate, and there were rumors about a nurse named Richard Williams. Finally, Dr. Adelstein commissioned an epidemiologist, who performed a study and said that there was evidence of foul play: it was ten times more likely that a patient would die during one of Williams’s shifts than under another nurse’s care. Some believed that the nurse might be killing patients by injecting codeine, but nobody knew for certain. When Dr. Adelstein approached hospital administrators, their first response was to hide the findings. “Everybody who took part in the coverup was promoted, and everybody who tried to expose it was punished,” he said. Williams eventually left the hospital, but the director gave him a letter of recommendation that helped him find a job at a rural nursing home. During Williams’s first year at the nursing home, there was a sudden increase in deaths over the preceding year. Dr. Adelstein and others took the story to the F.B.I., Congress, and “ABC News.” The F.B.I. investigated, but forensic results were incomplete, in part because labs were too busy with tests related to the O. J. Simpson trial. Williams was charged, but the case was dismissed when prosecutors could not determine the cause of death. At last report, he was living quietly in suburban St. Louis. He is suspected of murdering as many as forty-two people, many of them war veterans—more victims than are attributed to Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, or Tadamasa Goto. All that had happened while Jake Adelstein was starting his career in Japan. “It made me extremely distrustful of everyone,” he told me. “The biggest lesson I took was that even when you’re in the right, when you’re doing something good, you won’t be rewarded.” And it occurred to me that the darkest element of his life wasn’t the image he projected of the tormented reporter, or even the crazy yakuza stories. Beneath all the exoticism, it was actually the normalcy of crime that was most disturbing. Whether you’re in Missouri or Tokyo, things aren’t always what they seem—the nurse might be a murderer, and the gangster might run a hedge fund. During one of my trips to Japan, I contacted Tadamasa Goto’s publicist, who said that his client wasn’t accepting interviews. So I got in touch with Tomohiko Suzuki, a journalist who has written for yakuza fanzines, which cover criminals as celebrities. Recently, there had been rumors that Suzuki was channelling messages from Goto. We met at a Tokyo coffeehouse. Suzuki wore blue work clothes and heavy boots, because he had just returned from a charity event in a town called Minamisoma, which was still suffering from the effects of the tsunami. In recent weeks, yakuza had been donating aid, and Goto had pitched in by sponsoring the day’s charity event, which was called With All Due Respect. When I asked if any famous yakuza had attended, Suzuki named one and said, “He’s the guy who stabbed the cult member in front of the media.” I didn’t pursue the details; by now I understood that the blandly offhand tone of such statements was basically the point. Suzuki said that Adelstein’s status as a foreigner had protected him from Goto. People in law enforcement and in diplomatic circles had told me that they still took the threats seriously, but Suzuki said that their caution wasn’t necessary anymore. “Those are the kinds of things that yakuza say all the time,” he said. “It’s kind of like saying ‘Hello’ for a yakuza.” A few months later, though, there were reports that Goto had become formally active again in organized crime. Not long after that, new laws went into effect that finally made it illegal to pay off yakuza. It was unclear how rigorously such regulations would be enforced, but they seemed to reflect a growing desire to control criminal groups. Suzuki hadn’t said anything about Goto’s plans during our meeting. He had visited the crime boss just a week earlier. “I didn’t notice anything wrong with him—he looked very healthy,” Suzuki said. “I think U.C.L.A. did a good job.”We all know that the Jewish domination of Hollywood leads to consistently positive portrayals of all things Jewish and invidious portrayals of Christianity and anything touching on White identity or interests (see here, p. 53ff). But part of the art of Hollywood is to embed Jewish attitudes and values in other characters. After all, non-Jewish audiences are not going to relate to yarmulke-wearing, overtly Jewish characters preaching to them on the superiority of supposed Jewish values. So a more subtle approach is needed.
One such approach is to present characters that are Jewish in every way except that there are no explicit assertions of Jewish identity. Seinfeld was a great example. Although Jerry’s character was overtly Jewish, the character of George Costanza was obviously Jewish but presented as not Jewish. George is presented as Italian, but he is played by a Jewish actor whose parents on the show are also played by Jewish actors exhibiting stereotypical Jewish family patterns; George’s character was based on the show’s co-creator, Larry David who is quintessentially Jewish. It always seemed to me that the same could be said of the Elaine character, but perhaps less obviously so. She is played by a Jewish actress but is often seen wearing a crucifix; her name suggests she is Czech and in one episode she explicitly states she is not Jewish. But her character, her appearance, her interests, her mannerisms, her voice, and her rapport with Jerry and George seem obviously Jewish. None of this could be said about the Kramer character played by Michael Richards. Clearly a goy.
Such characters might be called implicitly Jewish—ways of expressing a Jewish sensibility without being overtly Jewish.
The Switch (2010), written by Allan Loeb, is a great example of implicit Jewishness. Here the motive for lack of explicit Jewishness is obvious. The movie is about nothing less than the contrast between Nordic and Jewish character traits seen as genetically caused—a point that seems to have been completely lost on critics. And while the movie is quite explicit about its presentation of Nordics, it would not want to draw too much attention to the contrast with Jewish traits, especially when it’s quite clear that Jewish traits are presented as superior.
The basic plot is that Kassie Larson (played by actress Jennifer Aniston) seeks a sperm donor because that seems the only way she can be a mother. She has a longtime friendship relationship with Wally Mars, played by Jason Bateman. Bateman is not Jewish, but compared to his rival, the very Nordic-looking Patrick Wilson, he could certainly pass as Jewish. The name ‘Mars’ is completely opaque ethnically, so it his personality and attitudes that mark him as Jewish. Perhaps the main sign that Wally is Jewish is that, while he can’t relate at all to his Nordic rival, his best friend and confidante is Leonard, played by Jeff Goldblum, a quintessentially Jewish character actor who couldn’t possibly be seen as anything other than Jewish. Leonard runs a financial company where Wally is employed, and they have a great deal of rapport.
The relationship between Kassie and Wally started romantically but never quite got to the point of marriage. She briefly considers Wally as the donor but rejects the idea; Wally seems ambivalent about the choice. She chooses Roland, played by Patrick Wilson, as the sperm donor. Roland is quintessentially Nordic in appearance and is referred to as “the Viking” in the film: blond hair, blue eyes, long face. He is athletic and handsome, and loves outdoor sports; he is named after an often romanticized Frankish military hero. He is also portrayed as intelligent—an Assistant Professor of English at Columbia. He is also presumably liberal: he specializes in feminist literary something-or-other. So what’s not to like?
At a party in honor of the soon-to-be immaculate conception, Wally gets fall-over drunk and accidentally spills Roland’s sperm. He then substitutes his own, but has only a vague recollection of the event which he more or less completely suppresses. Kassie goes back home to Minnesota for 5 years; when she comes back she resumes her friendship with Wally, but begins seeing Roland romantically—the idea being that the three of them, including what they take to be their biological child, could become a family.
The problem is that Sebastian, the child, is not at all like Roland but quite a bit like Wally (including physical resemblance), setting off a culture clash. Wally comes off as a slightly less extreme version of Jewish neurotic character traits made famous by Woody Allen. Sebastian is a chip off the old block: neurotic and precociously intelligent, speaking in long sentences that seem odd coming from someone so young. Like Wally, he is prone to hypochondria, looking up diseases that he might have on WebMD. Like Wally when he was a child, Sebastian is victimized in school by a bully with an Irish last name—a stereotype of sensitive Jewish children being bullied by vicious non-Jews.
Sebastian is very empathic. We first get a glimpse of that when he refuses to eat duck because of how ducks are treated. This sensitivity is presented as entirely his own—the result of his precocious reading and his natural empathy, not as influenced by his mother.
Sebastian is very imaginative—for example, making up stories to go with the models in photographic frames. Wally describes himself and Sebastian as introspective and notes that Roland is not at all like that; he also points out that introspection is a superior psychological style.
Wally and Sebastian even have some of the same mannerisms. When they go to the aquarium, they both put their left foot sideways on a railing in exactly the same way—a touch that recalls Tom Bouchard’s famous studies of identical twins reared apart drinking the same brand of beer and smashing the used cans in the exact same way. Wally and Sebastian get along famously, to the point that Sebastian sees Wally as a source of comfort in times of distress. All this makes Wally recollect that he is in fact the biological father.
Roland tries his best to be a good father figure, but he and Sebastian have no rapport. Roland picks a rock-climbing venue for Sebastian’s birthday party, whereas super-empathic Sebastian wanted to have it at a kill shelter for dogs, hoping that a party attendee would adopt a dog. Sebastian is terrified of wall climbing (i.e., overly fearful of physical danger, an aspect of his neuroticism). Roland pushes the issue, getting Sebastian to climb the wall a ways, but then Sebastian cries out in terror, demanding to get down. Fearless |
— Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang) February 25, 2014
17. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (28-19-3-4)
After being swept in a two game set by the Hershey Bears, the Penguins’ AHL affiliate has not yet rebounded. They face the Bears once again and the improving Devils this week, looking for their first win in seven games. They’re 0-3-2-1 in their last six games.
Upcoming Schedule: February 25th vs. Hershey, 28th at Syracuse and March 1st at Albany
18. San Antonio Rampage (23-23-3-5)
Although currently at the.500 mark, the Rampage sit just four points out of the playoffs with over 20 games left on their schedule. They’ve gone 6-2-1-1 in their past ten contests.
Upcoming Schedule: February 26th at Utica, March 1st vs. Texas and 2nd at Oklahoma City
19. Oklahoma City Barons (23-24-1-6)
Edmonton’s AHL affiliate hasn’t had a strong year by any means, but still has an outside chance at playing in the Calder Cup playoffs. They’re 7-2-0-1 in their last ten games and trail a playoff spot by five points and San Antonio by just one standings point.
Upcoming Schedule: February 28th and March 1st vs. Rockford and March 2nd vs. San Antonio
20. Syracuse Crunch (20-23-4-5)
Playing in arguably the best division in the AHL, call ups to the Tampa Bay Lightning have had an adverse effect on the Crunch. However, they picked up two big wins over the Hershey Bears this weekend, with their latest victory coming at Verizon Center in Washington D.C.
Upcoming Schedule: February 28th vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, March 1st vs. Adirondack and 2nd at Adirondack
21. Iowa Wild (22-20-6-4)
Although they’ve been outscored by 18 goals this season, Minnesota’s AHL affiliate is two games over.500 with 24 matchups left on the docket. Defenseman Brian Connelly is 10th in scoring for blue liners, with 32 points in 49 games.
Upcoming Schedule: February 25th and 27th vs. Rochester and March 2nd at Chicago
22. Charlotte Checkers (24-25-1-2)
After getting smoked by Hershey at home earlier this season, the Checkers have a shot at redemption this weekend against the Bears at Giant Center. Aaron Palushaj is 16th in AHL scoring with 44 points on the campaign.
Upcoming Schedule: February 26th at Norfolk, March 1st and 2nd at Hershey
23. Hamilton Bulldogs (23-25-1-4)
The Bulldogs are another Western Conference bottom dweller, but still only trails a playoff spot by seven points. Their matchup against the Marlies on Saturday will be a big challenge for Hamilton.
Upcoming Schedule: February 28th vs. Lake Erie and March 1st at Toronto
24. Milwaukee Admirals (23-18-6-6)
The Admirals currently sit eighth in the Western Conference, but have struggled of late. They face a tough team in Grand Rapids this week and have zero regulation wins in their last four games (0-3-0-1).
Upcoming Schedule: February 26th vs. Grand Rapids, 28th vs. Iowa and March 2nd vs. Rochester
25. Hartford Wolf Pack (20-26-0-6)
The Rangers’ AHL affiliate has struggled all year, but they’ve been playing better of late. They have the lowest winning percentage in the league (.442), but enter this week following a win last weekend.
Upcoming Schedule: February 25th at Portland, 28th vs. Hershey, March 1st vs. Portland and 2nd at Portland
26. Lake Erie Monsters (22-24-0-5)
Colorado’s AHL affiliate sits last in the Western Conference with 49 points on the season and faces tough matchups against the Stars and Marlies this week. They’re on a three game point streak (2-0-0-1) with a four game week ahead.
Upcoming Schedule: February 25th and 26th vs. Texas, 28th at Hamilton and March 2nd at Toronto
27. Utica Comets (22-24-3-4)
This relocated AHL franchise is another struggling Western Conference; just two points ahead the last place Lake Erie Monsters. They’re 6-3-1-0 in their last ten games.
Upcoming Schedule: February 26th vs. San Antonio, 28th vs. Adirondack and March 2nd at Bridgeport
28. Worcester Sharks (23-25-3-1)
San Jose’s AHL affiliate is one of the coldest teams in the AHL, entering this week’s schedule of three games on a six game losing streak. They have just three wins in their last ten games (3-7).
Upcoming Schedule: February 27th at Portland, March 1st at Bridgeport and 2nd vs. Springfield
29. Portland Pirates (19-24-2-7)
Sitting five games under.500, Phoenix’s AHL affiliate is 14th in the Eastern Conference and enter this week on a three game losing streak. Defenseman Brandon Gormley has been a bright spot for the anemic Pirates.
Upcoming Schedule: February 25th vs. Hartford, 27th vs. Worcester, March 1st at Hartford and 2nd vs. Hartford
30. Adirondack Phantoms (22-27-0-3)
Like Worcester, the Phantoms can’t seem to be able to buy a win. They don’t have a win in their last eight games (0-7-0-1) and have just one lone regulation win in their last ten games.
Upcoming Schedule: February 28th at Utica, March 1st at Syracuse and 2nd vs. Syracuse
You can follow Matthew on twitter @m_speck and email him at mspeck21@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.“Finn’s Mom! Finn’s Mom! Finn says he doesn’t pray every night!”
I think I was supposed to be upset. But when my son’s friend blurted this out to me on the school bus during a field trip, my calm response was, “Well, honey, not everyone does that. I know that Finn doesn’t pray. We don’t do that in our family.”
It’s a dilemma freethinking parents face as their kids grow older and they start talking about stuff like this. We are by far in the minority, though my son’s school is highly diverse, and many religions are practiced by the families who send their kids there. My guess is that the highest percentage of families are Muslim followed closely by Christian, and so on, and so on. It’s impossible to identify the freethinkers. When you spend more time with parents, you begin to have the tentative conversations that reveal non-religious people, and you realize you are not alone, but you know that you are going to have to give your child the comparative religion skills necessary to cope with kids’ questions and their ensuing shock.
“Finn says he doesn’t pray every night!”
We have conversations about his friends and their religion, many of whom are Muslim, and many of the girls wear the hijab. When we came back from the winter break, I talked with him about how to ask his friends about their time away. “You know how we celebrate around Christmas, but we don’t go to church, and, for us, it’s not about Jesus or God? Well, a lot of your friends don’t celebrate Christmas or any holiday at this time, so don’t ask them, ‘What did you get for Christmas?’ Ask them, ‘What did you do on your break?'” Not to mention the fact that he attends a high poverty school, and who knows what circumstances his friends’ families are dealing with at home.
The unfortunate thing is, as I embark on this journey of teaching my child about freethinking, world religions, and specifically religion in the United States, it doesn’t appear that many of the religious families are having similar conversations with their children.
P.S. I am always interested in resources for freethinking parents.The U.S. announced Thursday that it is withdrawing from the U.N.’s educational, scientific, and cultural body (UNESCO), citing long-standing concerns of significant anti-Israel bias at the organization — part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration against the bias that it sees as present throughout the U.N.
“This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,” the State Department said in a statement.
The decision comes after a series of anti-Israel decisions by the body, including accepting Palestine as a permanent member in 2011 and most recently in July declaring the Tomb of the Patriarchs – considered the second holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount – to be a Palestinian world heritage site in danger.
Another UNESCO decision recently disavowed Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.
“The purpose of UNESCO is a good one. Unfortunately, its extreme politicization has become a chronic embarrassment,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said in a statement. “Just as we said in 1984 when President Reagan withdrew from UNESCO, U.S. taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon hailed the move as a “turning point” for UNESCO:
UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose. Today’s decision is a turning point for UNESCO. The organization’s absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences. Today is a new day at the UN, where there is price to pay for discrimination against Israel. The United States stands by Israel and is a true leader for change at the UN. The alliance between our two countries is stronger than ever.
Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, expressed “profound regret” at the U.S. decision.
“At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues,” Bokova said at the end of a lengthy statement.
It isn’t the first time the U.S. has quit UNESCO. The U.S. left the body under President Ronald Reagan in 1984 over claims the body had a pro-Soviet bias. The U.S. re-entered in 2002 during the Bush administration but later cut its funding to the body in 2011 over the decision to admit “Palestine,” which is not a state.
The State Department said that it wishes to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO:
The United States indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education.
Haley has focused much of her time as ambassador on combating anti-Israel bias, calling out both members of the Security Council and also the Human Rights Council for instances of perceived bias against Israel.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNYPhoto by Baldur Kristjans
In Iceland, nature is something to be feared and respected. The whole country blows hot and cold: thirty active volcanoes bubble and steam while Arctic winds can send temperatures plummeting to as low as -30C in the north. It makes sense, then, that Iceland’s first female fighter to hit the big time is named after a cataclysmic weather event.
Sunna ‘Tsunami’ Davíðsdóttir, 30, was a latecomer to the fight game. “I didn’t start working at it until I was about 25,” she says over Skype. Signing with all-female MMA promotion Invicta FC after such a short time “feels awesome,” she says. “It’s unreal. Back then I didn’t realise what I was getting into or where I’d be today.”
Where Sunna is today is in a position many would swap a kidney for. She coaches and trains at Iceland’s flagship MMA gym, Mjölnir. Her training buddies include UFC stars Conor McGregor and Gunnar Nelson. The ocean, the mountains, and the wilderness are at her doorstep and, if all goes to plan with Invicta, glory lies round the corner.
Photo by Baldur Kristjans
Her path so far has been far from smooth. Despite having a history of breeding some of the world’s most ferocious fighters—the Vikings—combat sports are technically illegal in Iceland. Hopeful contenders can hardly expect much support from the state. Juggling several jobs, training, coaching, and a young daughter—who is also training to fight—was never going to be easy.
“The past years have been hard,” says Sunna. “As an amateur fighter in Iceland, because it’s not legal or anything, you don’t get any money. Every time I went to fight, it was on me. I’d be driving the taxi, working in the bars, working nightshifts as a bouncer and then I’d be coming in for training. That can be kind of heavy. Sometimes I just had to lie down and meditate for twenty minutes because my head wasn’t clear.”
Photo by Baldur Kristjans
At the start of the year she quit her various jobs in order to train, coach, and fight full time. In the hope of encouraging more Icelandic women to join the sport—to act as training partners if nothing else—Sunna runs a women-only training group, named after the Norse myth of the Valkyrie.
“The Valkyrie are supernatural female figures. They’re really strong. They ride big horses. They’ve got big shields and swords,” she says. “They decide in the battlefields who dies and who lives and they take the ones who deserve it to Valhalla.”
Until that glorious day, however, most of the training partners at her skill level at Mjölnir are men. But what men to train with.
“Gunnar and Conor have both probably got at least 20kg on me,” says Sunna. “Gunnar’s a welterweight. Conor’s a lightweight. I’m a strawweight. Conor’s a cool guy. He’s got that flow. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a good fighter and he’s a good friend and he’s a good training partner. He actually has a lot of respect for his training partners. That’s what I’ve experienced.”
Photo by Snorri Björns
Photo by Snorri Björns
Photo by Snorri Björns
And Gunnar?
“I looked up to him since before I started,” says Sunna. “It’s everything about him: he’s a good fighter, he’s a good person, he’s a good human being. He’s got this way of talking. He’s got this calm mind. He gives this positive good vibe and today I’m actually friends with him. He’s always going to be my number one. My daughter really looks up to him too.”
Thinking of mother-daughter fighting duos immediately brings Ronda Rousey to mind. But the relationship between Sunna and her eleven-year-old daughter seems like the perfect opposite: there’s none of the terrifying pressure Rousey was submitted to by her judoka mother.
“She has her own will,” says Sunna. “I’m not standing in her way. I’m not pushing her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. She has tried other things but she always sticks with this. I can see her maybe starting her career when I’m about to finish mine. She’s eleven today and I’m about to be 31 so I would not be surprised if she’d be taking her first steps in her career. Whatever she does I’ll be sticking around and supporting her 100%.”
Unlike Ronda Rousey, who writes in her memoir of being regularly attacked in her bed by her mother, it’s mini-Tsunami who takes the lead.
“We have these moments where we’re in bed—I have this huge bed—and she ends up attacking me and taking me in the arm bar. I’m the one who has to escape!”
Photo by Baldur Kristjans
Looking forward—at her career, at her daughter’s future, at the future of fighting in Iceland—Sunna the Tsunami feels, despite her name, calm and content.
“I think I’ve found the balance to make this work,” she says. “I’m happy being in Invicta. I’m just going to enjoy that moment. The UFC is right next to it: I hope to be in there someday. I hope to experience as much as I can through this journey. Maybe I’ll move there once I’m finished with Invicta. First I’m going to go get that belt. Then I’ll jump over for the UFC too.”
Follow the author on twitter.
Check out these related stories:
Who Will Fight the Vikings from Iceland?
Outlaws and Ancient Gods: Fighting the Law with the Champions of MjölnirPresident-elect Donald Trump is nominating retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly for secretary of homeland security. Here's what you need to know about him. (Sarah Parnass,Osman Malik/The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump is nominating retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly for secretary of homeland security. Here's what you need to know about him. (Sarah Parnass,Osman Malik/The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump has selected retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly as secretary of homeland security, officials familiar with the decision said Wednesday, recruiting a third former member of the military’s brass to serve at the highest levels of his administration.
Trump’s choice of Kelly — and his continued deliberations about tapping as many as two more military figures for other posts — has intensified worries among some members of Congress and national security experts that the new administration’s policies may be shaped disproportionately by military commanders.
“I’m concerned,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “Each of these individuals may have great merit in their own right, but what we’ve learned over the past 15 years is that when we view problems in the world through a military lens, we make big mistakes.”
Despite making regular remarks on the campaign trail disparaging the nation’s generals, Trump has long shown an affinity for them. In shaping his administration, Trump has prioritized what one adviser described as “can-do, no-bull types,” which the president-elect sees as a deliberate contrast from the personnel choices President Obama has made.
If confirmed, Kelly and defense secretary nominee James Mattis, a retired Marine general with the nickname “Mad Dog,” would join retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, Trump’s pick for White House national security adviser. Meanwhile, retired Army Gen. David H. Petraeus is under consideration for secretary of state, and Navy Adm. Michael S. Rogers is a contender for director of national intelligence.
President-elect Donald Trump has already tapped three former generals to serve in his administration. The Washington Post's Jenna Johnson explains what attracts Trump to these men. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
Other figures with military backgrounds are populating the administration as well, including Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), who graduated from West Point and served in the Army in the Gulf War, is Trump’s nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, while Stephen K. Bannon, a former naval officer, will serve the president in the West Wing as chief strategist and senior counselor.
[What Trump may not know about the generals he’s eyeing for top positions]
Trump, who received multiple draft deferments and who has no military experience beyond his years at a military boarding school, is said to be drawn to generals by their swagger and dazzled by their tales from the battlefield.
Many of those he has been interviewing and consulting have spent much of the past decade and a half at war, intimately involved in the U.S. fight against global terrorism. Trump’s choices also are striking considering his noninterventionist posture in the campaign and sharp criticism of the war in Iraq and other military adventures.
As Trump formally introduced Mattis as his pick to run the Pentagon, he relished in recalling the general’s exploits, and he has likened him to George S. Patton, the legendary World War II Army general.
“ ‘Mad Dog’ plays no games, right?” Trump told a roaring crowd Tuesday night in Fayetteville, N.C. “Led the forces that went after the Taliban and commanded the First Marine Division in Iraq. He is one of the most effective generals that we’ve had in many, many decades.”
To be confirmed, Mattis would have to receive a waiver from Congress because the law requires the defense secretary be a civilian for at least seven years before taking office. Mattis retired in 2013.
1 of 35 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Here’s a look at Trump’s administration so far View Photos President-elect Donald Trump faces a challenge as he prepares for his move to the White House: selecting the men and women who will fill his administration. Caption The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Scott Gottlieb, nominee for commissioner of FDA President Trump is set to nominate Scott Gottlieb, a conservative physician and businessman with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a White House official said. Courtesy of American Enterprise Institute/via Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said of Trump, “For a guy who got four or five deferments from the draft, he seems pretty impressed with the military.”
Trump’s heavy reliance on military leaders marks a departure from the previous three presidents, who tapped a few generals for the highest jobs with mixed success and relied mostly on people who had spent decades in civilian service, as politicians or academics or lawyers.
“Trump is clearly operating out of a particular model,” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Almost all of his Cabinet will be made up of people from the military or people from a corporate background, and what they have in common is strong leadership and executive decision-making.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) quipped: “It’s the G&G cabinet. It does seem to be fairly limited to Goldman Sachs and generals.”
On Capitol Hill, the two generals Trump has nominated for Senate-confirmed positions — Mattis and Kelly — have been relatively well-received.
“Can you have a Cabinet full of generals? No — [not] any more than you can have a Cabinet full of lawyers or a Cabinet full of business people or whatever,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.). But, he said: “I’m thinking of the individuals. They’re people I have incredible respect for.”
[Retired Marine general John F. Kelly picked to head Department of Homeland Security]
Kelly especially is likely to benefit from the relationships he cultivated among lawmakers during his years in uniform, including his role in 2014 as commander of the U.S. Southern Command, managing an influx of migrant children at the border with Mexico.
Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), the former chairman of the Homeland Security panel, said Kelly has “genuine compassion” for immigrants and understands the root causes of the nation’s immigration challenges in such Central American countries as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
“I will reserve judgment on many of the president-elect’s other nominees,” Carper said, “but with General Kelly, he’s hit a home run with runners on base.”
There does not yet appear to be a Democratic strategy to derail either nomination because of the preponderance of military figures. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, summed up the approach: “Take ’em one at a time.”
That posture could change if Trump nominates another general to a top post, such as Petraeus at the State Department.
Daniel Benjamin, the former senior counterterrorism official at the State Department in the Obama administration and now a professor at Dartmouth College, said having too many generals in what are traditionally civilian positions is “a matter of deep concern.”
“Generals as a rule believe in hierarchies and taking orders, and if the president gives them an order you have to wonder how likely they are to push back against it,” Benjamin said. “Generals have one set of skills, and diplomacy is not in the top drawer of that tool kit.”
On social media Wednesday, there was some snarky commentary about Trump’s emerging Cabinet resembling “a military junta.” Anthony Scaramucci, a Trump transition team official, defended Trump’s selections on Twitter: “Decorated American Generals aren’t warmongers — they’re among the most intelligent, disciplined & patriotic people our country has to offer!”
Most military officers have spent their entire careers within structured organizations with large staffs and clear chains of command. Sometimes they struggle in the more freewheeling world of politics and policy — to say nothing of what is expected to be the Trump White House’s unpredictable environment.
“Great generals don’t always make great Cabinet officials,” said Phil Carter, an Iraq War veteran and senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security.
Obama tapped as his first national security adviser retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones Jr., who had a highly successful military career but struggled with the politics of serving and was replaced relatively early in Obama’s first term. Similarly, retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki served as Obama’s first secretary of veterans affairs, presiding over a bureaucracy that was overwhelmed by returning service members from Iraq and Afghanistan and scandals over forged records.
Other retired military officers had far smoother transitions to civilian administrations, including Brent Scowcroft, a former Air Force general who served as national security adviser to former president George H.W. Bush. Scowcroft is widely hailed as one of the most successful national security advisers in the history of the job.
“The United States military is the finest training organization in the world,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who will chair confirmation hearings for Kelly. “It produces real leaders, people who know how to solve problems and take a very structured approach to doing so.”
Galston, a Democrat who served as a White House policy adviser to former president Bill Clinton, said the concerns about generals “charging ahead” with no regard for legal or constitutional constraints — or without a willingness to challenge the president’s decisions — are misplaced. Galston said modern-day generals are trained to navigate a minefield of potential conflicts and legal concerns.
“They’re schooled to believe that if they or any subordinates receive an unlawful order, it’s not to be obeyed,” Galston said. “If you asked me, would I prefer a government of generals or a government of lawyers, that’s not an easy choice. We’ve experimented with a government of lawyers, and that hasn’t been so fantastic, has it? Maybe it’s time to give the generals a chance.”
Karoun Demirjian, Greg Jaffe and Greg Miller contributed to this report.Indiana University head men's soccer coachannounced the program's five-game spring soccer slate today, featuring three high-level matches in Bloomington.
"Playing against top level competition this spring will provide our staff and players with a honest evaluation as we prepare for next fall," Yeagley said. "The ability to experiment and move our retuning players into new positions and roles will pay dividends heading into next season."
The spring season begins on Tuesday, March 3 as the Hoosiers take on Louisville FC, Louisville's USL PRO team beginning its inaugural season in 2015. The match will take place at 6 p.m. in Mellencamp Pavilion. For safety reasons and because there is no spectator seating area the game will be closed to the public.
On Friday, March 6, Indiana will square off with the Indy Eleven at 5:30 p.m. at Mellencamp Pavilion. Due to the match being played indoors it will not be open to the public. The meeting between IU and Indianapolis' pro soccer franchise is part of the annual Coaches Symposium held on the IU campus.
"Our spring schedule will be a tremendous challenge as we face top level competition," Yeagley said. "Playing against two professional teams in Indy Eleven and Louisville FC will be a big test for our team."
Indiana returns to action with its annual spring meeting with Notre Dame, taking place Saturday, April 11, at 6 p.m. ET in Fort Wayne. Part of the Shindigz National Soccer Festival, the Hoosiers-Fighting Irish matchup will take place at the University of Saint Francis' Bishop John D'Arcy Football Stadium.
Indiana and Notre Dame last matched up on October 22, with the Hoosiers topping the then-No. 1 ranked Fighting Irish by a 1-0 score in Bloomington.
Saturday, April 18, features a meeting between Indiana and Butler at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind. The 7 p.m. match will be the Hoosiers' first visit to the 400-acre sports complex. The Hoosiers and Bulldogs played to a 0-0 double overtime tie during the 2014 regular season.
"Our annual spring match in Ft. Wayne with in-state rival and ACC leader Notre Dame, will be a great contest with an atmosphere that replicates the fall season," Yeagley said. "Our match with Butler up at Grand Park, a beautiful new soccer complex in Westfield will be an exciting match."
The highlight of the spring season for Indiana takes place on Tuesday, April 21, with the annual match against a Mexican Youth National Team side. After a move to Indianapolis last year, this year's match will take place at Armstrong Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET.
"Wrapping up our spring contests against the Mexican Youth National team will be a highlight for our players, fans and community," Yeagley said. "It's an honor to host this special international match right here at Armstrong Stadium. The game day atmosphere and high level competition have made this match over the years one of the most entertaining events we host on campus. Matching up against some of the finest young international players in the world is a big challenge for our team and we love the challenge."
This is the ninth meeting between the squads with Indiana holding a 2-6 record against its Mexican counterparts. Last year's meeting resulted in a 3-0 victory for Mexico.
Admission to the Louisville FC, Indy Eleven, Wright State and Butler matches is free. Ticket prices and information for the match against Mexico will be available in the coming weeks. Ticket information for the match vs. Notre Dame will be available on the National Soccer Festival website (www.nationalsoccerfestival.com).
Indiana is coming off a season where it finished 12-5-5, advancing to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament and earning a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers return seven starters from last year's team, including NSCAA All-American Tanner Thompson and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Grant Lillard.
2015 Soccer Spring Schedule Day/Date Opponent Location Time/Result Tuesday, March 3 Louisville FC Bloomington, Ind. (closed scrimmage) 6 p.m. Friday, March 6 Indy Eleven Bloomington, Ind. (closed scrimmage) 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11 Notre Dame Fort Wayne, Ind. 6 p.m. Saturday, April 18 Butler Westfield, Ind. 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 Mexico Bloomington, Ind. 7:30 p.m.
* Schedule subject to change. Visit IUHoosiers.com for latest informationPhotos show migrants riding trains through Mexico to U.S.
Photo: ©2013 San Antonio Express-News Photo: ©2013 San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close Photos show migrants riding trains through Mexico to U.S. 1 / 59 Back to Gallery
SAN ANTONIO - Tens of thousands of Central American migrants have used trains as a method to trek more than 1,200 miles through Mexico to the United States.
But even as the country has focused on the more than 230,000 immigrants detained on the southwest border, few photos have emerged of the brutal and dangerous trip the people have endured to illegally cross into the United States.
However, two San Antonio Express-News photographers recently captured images of the migrants in Arriaga and Tenosique, Mexico.
Explore the photos from Bob Owen and Jerry Lara in the gallery above.
To hear stories of some of the migrants in the southern Mexican town who are staying in makeshift shelters while awaiting an opportunity to board a train, read reporter Aaron Nelsen's dispatch, which was published in Sunday's print edition.
The train is known as La Bestia, or The Beast, so-called for the lives and limbs of passengers it has claimed, Nelsen writes.
"We'll wait to see if the train stops. Or we'll have to seek refuge in Mexico, because we have no other option," said Jaime Miranda, 31, who has stayed in the shelter since missing the last train on July 31.
Nelsen also points out that immigrants detained in Texas have significantly dropped in recent weeks.
"But even as the numbers in South Texas... dropped from a peak of 300 per day in June to about 100 in recent weeks, the U.S. continues to speed the deportation of Central American families, while pressing Mexico to do more to stem the tide of young migrants," he writes.
kparker@express-news.net
Twitter: @KoltenParkerTurns out there is a stark divide among Americans about Game of Thrones, which seems to correspond to what political party they affiliate with — as if this country needed more things to be partisan about, in the midst of political conventions.
According to a new study from research firm E-Score, TV shows' popularity may split down party lines. The study analyzed over 750 programs on broadcast and cable networks, plus streaming services like Netflix, to determine the findings.
Game of Thrones, as it turns out, was a divisive show between the two parties. Democrats placed it at the top of their list of favorites, while it didn't even make the Republicans' top 10 list. There were some similarities between the parties, however; The Walking Dead, Supernatural and The Big Bang Theory scored high on both lists.
Here's how the top 10 break down for both parties:
Among other key takeaways from the study: Democrats prefer shows that were categorized as "ethnically diverse," "sexy" and "emotionally involving." Republicans, meanwhile, favored "funny," "family-friendly" series that had clear distinctions between "good vs. evil."
Rest assured, apparent Republican distaste for Game of Thrones will likely do nothing to hinder the show's chances of winning big again at the 2016 Emmy Awards after nabbing 23 nominations. In fact, maybe it'll encourage some conservative fans to check it out. At the very least, it's less prone to fan-angering cliffhangers than The Walking Dead.American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray wrote a fierce rebuttal this weekend to the left-wing demonstrators who attacked him and a Middlebury College professor last Thursday during an appearance on the Vermont-based campus.
Murray was scheduled to speak at Middlebury on the subject of his 2012 book, “Coming Apart,” and how its analysis of the white-working class explains the 2016 election. Demonstrators, however, forced him to deliver his address via livestream video and attacked him and Professor Allison Stanger as they were leaving campus.
Stanger suffered neck injuries and is now having to wear a neck brace following the assault.
Demonstrators justified their violence over the allegation Murray is a “white supremacist” because his 1994 book, “The Bell Curve,” connected genetics with socioeconomic outcomes.
Murray recalled the disruptions and assault in his letter published on AEI’s website Sunday.
“[M]any looked like they had come straight out of casting for a film of brownshirt rallies,” the conservative scholar recalled of some of the demonstrators who wished to attack him. “In some cases, I can only describe their eyes as crazed and their expressions as snarls. Melodramatic, I know. But that’s what they looked like.”
He also recalled that many of the members of the mob that attacked him and Stanger were wearing ski masks. “That was disquieting.”
He narrates the harrowing escape from the angry mob that surrounded his car and jumped on its hood, and how the protesters forced the scholar and his dinner party to choose a restaurant several miles away from campus to avoid any further attacks.
“Absent an adequate disciplinary response, I fear that the Middlebury episode could become an inflection point,” Murray wrote of his thoughts on the larger meaning of the protests.
“If this becomes the new normal, the number of colleges willing to let themselves in for an experience like Middlebury’s will plunge to near zero. Academia is already largely sequestered in an ideological bubble, but at least it’s translucent. That bubble will become opaque,” he added. “Worse yet, the intellectual thugs will take over many campuses.”
According to Murray, things have gotten much worse on college campuses since the release of his most controversial book, “The Bell Curve.”
“In the mid-1990s, I could count on students who had wanted to listen to start yelling at the protesters after a certain point, ‘Sit down and shut up, we want to hear what he has to say,’” he said. “That kind of pushback had an effect. It reminded the protesters that they were a minority. I am assured by people at Middlebury that their protesters are a minority as well. But they are a minority that has intimidated the majority. The people in the audience who wanted to hear me speak were completely cowed.”
In Murray’s opinion, that’s a win for the “intellectual thugs.”
“That cannot be allowed to stand,” he argues. “A campus where a majority of students are fearful to speak openly because they know a minority will jump on them is no longer an intellectually free campus in any meaningful sense.”
He puts believes college professors have the power to effectively push back against this illiberal behavior and set an example for free speech defense. But Murray questions whether there are enough faculty in America to openly express such sentiments and thinks “a minority of faculty are cowing a majority in the same way that a minority of students are cowing the majority.”
While the AEI scholar hopes severe penalties will be imposed on the offending students, he believes Middlebury’s reaction “will fall short” due to the potential for intense backlash toward tough consequences from parents and other universities |
track record in dealing with these types of cases, as they tend to drag on for years, even decades,” he said.Introducing Cell System
August 6, 2015 - Crytivo
In today’s update, we are introducing The Universim Cell System. The Crytivo Games team designed the Cell System with customization in mind, allowing users to expand and evolve Epicenters, upgrade buildings, and customize cities.
What is a Cell? In the Universim, cities grow around the Epicenter. As the population of a city increases, buildings are constructed outward from the nearest Epicenter. Invisible cells around the Epicenter define where houses, buildings, and props can be placed.
During each Era, cells will spawn around the Epicenter and your cities will grow dynamically with the population. During the Stone Age, Stone Age Huts will begin to appear around the Epicenter as the population expands. Cells will continue to spawn to keep up with your population growth. For example, one cell might be capable of holding three Stone Age Huts, which can in turn house a total population of ten. In this case, for a population of fifty, five total cells will be generated. If the population increases to seventy-five, the system will spawn three more cells.
READ MORE HERE [theuniversim.com]
Support The Universim Click Here To Tweet [ctt.ec]WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - North Carolina’s governor on Wednesday signed into law a measure that blocks local governments in the state from enacting ordinances to allow transgender people to use public bathrooms that match their gender identities.
Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory introduces candidate for U.S. Senate Thom Tillis (R-NC) at a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Keane
The legislation came in response to such a provision approved last month in Charlotte, the state’s largest city, as part of an expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that also added protections for marital and familial status, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity.
The bill passed both chambers of the legislature during a one-day special session convened in Raleigh to address the Charlotte law. Republican Governor Pat McCrory, who signed the bill late on Wednesday, said the Charlotte measure “defies common sense.”
“The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte,” McCrory said in a statement.
Controversy over the bathroom component echoed similar fights across the country as transgender advocates push for the right to choose restrooms and locker rooms, including in schools, based on gender identity rather than birth gender.
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina warned that the “radical” Charlotte measure would create a public safety issue by giving men, including sex offenders, access to women’s bathrooms if allowed to take effect on April 1.
“This is a common sense bill that protects the privacy expectations of our citizens while clarifying local authority,” said Republican Representative Paul Stam.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups condemned the law’s passage and said they were exploring legal challenges.
They say no public safety risks had resulted in the more than 200 U.S. cities that have enacted protections similar to those passed in Charlotte.
“We are disappointed that Governor McCrory did not do right by North Carolina’s families, communities, and businesses by vetoing this horribly discriminatory bill,” said Chris Brook, legal director of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union.
The bill requires multiple-occupancy bathrooms and locker rooms in public schools and government buildings to be used by people only according to their biological sex.
The measure also creates North Carolina’s first statewide nondiscrimination policy for public places, including restaurants, hotels and taxis. But it limits the protections against discrimination to race, religion, color, national origin and biological sex.
Local governments would be prohibited from passing anti-discrimination ordinances that extended the protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation.Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images.
People are showing their support for local dairy farmers by posting images of empty milk shelves at Coles and Woolworths.
The “milk crisis” has been spurred by dairy giants Murray Goulburn and Fonterra who slashed the price of milk solids from $5.60 a kilogram to between $4.75 and $5 leaving local milk farmers to be paid less than production costs.
Struggling farmers also haven’t been helped by the sale of home brand milk at $1-per-litre at major supermarkets including Coles and Woolworths.
In response, supporters have created a group on Facebook called “Dairy Farmers Need Your Help please” which has already garnered close to 50,000 members.
In the group, many people have posted photos of empty milk shelves at their local supermarket leaving only the discounted milk products.
Members have also posted complaints suggesting that Coles and Woolworths have not restocked the shelves of branded milk in an attempt to get customers to buy the remaining “unbranded milk”.
“They (dairy farmers) deserve to make a decent living and a fair return on their investment. Right now many of them feel as though they’re feudal serfs,” said independent senator Nick Xenophon who called for a temporary levy on milk on Friday.
“If we don’t act now the dairy industry with its 6000 farmers will shrink to a level from which it may never recover.”
Here’s a look at the empty shelves below:
https://instagram.com/p/BFqX-GXNhBV/?tagged=brandedmilk
If I could buy a product that would make Supermarket execs go broke, I'd buy it. @Coles @Woolsworth #milkcrisis pic.twitter.com/D3us08ncVP — Rob Török (@Torok762) May 21, 2016
Fridge section in Coles, totally sold out of all brand-name milk, only Coles-brand left. #milkcrisis pic.twitter.com/hJewoYv6UY — Gareth (@liquidparanoia) May 19, 2016
Here’s a list of Australian produced, brand name milk, cheese and yoghurt that consumers have been urged to support.
Business Insider Emails & Alerts Site highlights each day to your inbox. Email Address Join
Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.This year, we’ve gathered our ten best pie recipes, including apple pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and others! Here at the Almanac, we love to bake—and, to us, a delicious pie is still THE classic dessert for any holiday meal.
From flakey crust to comforting fillings, there is a perfect pie for you. Get more tips on how to bake the perfect pie.
In fact, please tell us: Which pie recipe is your favorite? Pecan, apple, pumpkin? Add your comment below. We really want to know!
Bookmark this page for some winning go-to pies, especially for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the holiday season. Plus, find more recipes for the holiday season.
Photo Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Photo Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Photo Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Photo Credit: Jane Baumgartner
Photo Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Photo Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner
For more pie recipes, click here!
Perfect Pie Crust
A perfect pie recipe needs the perfect crust!
Watch our video on how to make an easy, delicious crust every time.Controversial Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte has branded as “bullsh*t” Western threats to indict him in the International Criminal Court (ICC) over extrajudicial killings in the country’s war on drugs. He added that European lawyers have “brains like a pea.”
In October, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the court may have jurisdiction to prosecute those responsible for killings in the Philippines, adding that her office was looking for instances of state officials “ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing” to crimes against humanity.
Read more
During a speech on Monday, Duterte shared his thoughts on his possible international prosecution, typically not mincing his words.
“You scare me that you will jail me? International Criminal Court? Bulls**t,” he said, as cited by Reuters.
According to the Philippines president, Washington is behind the attempt to put him behind bars.
“America itself is threatening to jail me in the International Criminal Court. It is not a signatory of that body. Why? Because at that time, they were afraid [former President George W.] Bush would face it," he said.
Unlike Manila, Washington never signed the Rome Statute and isn’t part of the Hague-based ICC.
The US and its allies have no idea how grave the problem with the trade and use of methamphetamines was in the Philippines, Duterte said. Dealing with the issue was so important that he was ready to “rot in jail” in order to achieve his goal, he added.
The Philippines leader also said he saw nothing wrong with threatening to kill bad elements of society, especially when it’s done to protect the country.
"I will never allow my country to be thrown to the dogs. I said when I was a mayor, 'If you destroy my city with drugs, I will kill you,’” he added.
"Simple as that... When was it a crime to say, 'I will kill you,' in protecting my country?" Duterte said.
According to Philippines police figures, 2,500 people have been killed since Duterte became president on June 30 and launched his crackdown on the drugs trade. Around 1,900 people were slain in anti-drug operations by security forces, while the rest are believed to be victims of vigilantes and fighting between criminal gangs.
READ MORE: Philippines, US ‘agree to reduce’ military drills, number of US troops taking part
Earlier in November, Duterte slammed the ICC, calling it useless and hinting that the Philippines may follow Russia’s example and withdraw from it. Duterte has made a name for himself thanks to his scathing remarks about the US, which used to be the Philippines top ally under his predecessor.
Duterte called outgoing US President Barack Obama “a son of a whore” and told him to “go to hell” for his perceived attempts to lecture the Philippines. He announced the cancelation of military exercises between the Philippines and American forces, but softened his stance shortly afterwards.
READ MORE: Philippines may pull out of ‘useless’ ICC, happy to join world order led by Russia, China – Duterte
However, the Philippines leader welcomed Donald Trump’s election win, saying there were a lot of similarities between him and the US president-elect.A paper leaked from the Open Society Foundation claims that the European migrant crisis is an opportunity for the foundation to reform migration laws and raise more money from donors.
A leaked paper entitled “Migration Governance and Enforcement Portfolio Review,” authored by Open Society employees Anna Crowley and Kate Rosin shows that the foundation sees great opportunity in the European migrant crisis to raise money and push their pro-migrant agenda.
The document is one of the most recently created of the leaks, having been written in May of this year and sheds light as to how the organization – which has been linked to promoting Somali migrants and funding anti-police organizations like Black Lives Matter – views the migrant crisis.
The paper breaks down three main topics relating to migration. The first is the fact that the Open Society Foundation (OSF) has been successful in helping to shape migration policy in Europe.
The authors brag about their funding of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) claiming that their money and funding allowed it to be more independent of the governments it advises. The MPI directly advises the European Union on matters of migration policy and the OSF gave them 2.2 million dollars in 2015.
The second topic deals with how the migration crisis is a great way for the foundation to raise even more money from donors. The money is said to be allocated toward migrant rights organizations and according to the author, ” we aimed to prevent the violation of migrants’ rights by minimizing harsh border controls and decreasing the widespread use of detention and deportation.”Deportations of migrants in Germany have become a hot issue as the government finds it increasingly more difficult to ship them back to their home countries. Some North African countries are even
Deportations of migrants in Germany have become a hot issue as the government finds it increasingly more difficult to ship them back to their home countries. Some North African countries are even refusing to take the migrants back and when they do it is costing the German tax payer tens of thousands of euros.
The final point of the paper is to note that the current migrant crisis is not a one-time event but, according to the OSF it is the “new normal” for Europe. Going forward the paper states the need to combat what it calls “radical right” parties who are against mass migration like the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) which both have major elections in the coming months.
The foundation is unclear how it will “fight back” against the populist right but documents have shown that they have already allocated millions to fighting against populist patriotic parties in Europe over the last few years.Egypt's Press Syndicate has called for the immediate sacking of the interior minister and a general assembly on Wednesday in protest of the storming of its headquarters Sunday evening, in what it said was a first since its founding 75 years ago.
The union condemned what it described as a "barbaric attack" and a "flagrant assault" on journalists and the press after security forces stormed the downtown Cairo building and arrested two journalists.
In the early hours of Monday morning, shortly after the incident, tens of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists started a sit-at at the syndicate to protest the storming and the arrest of journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud El-Sakka.
In an urgent meeting convened by the syndicate's board and attended by hundreds of journalists, the union called for the "immediate dismissal" of the interior minister.
"The syndicate's board affirms that the 'calamity' of the aggression against the syndicate's headquarters--in violation of the law, the constitution and all political, national and international norms--can't be erased without the dismissal of the interior minister."
The syndicate has called on members to continue a round-the-clock sit-in at the HQ until Wednesday's general assembly which was set for 1pm Wednesday.
The board also invited all editors-in-chief of all major public and private newspapers and all former members of the board to a meeting on 12pm that day.
On Monday afternoon, tens of journalists and supporters sat inside the lobby of the union's HQ to escape blistering sun on the building's steps.
The members of the board convened a round-the-clock session on the premises, and popped out of their meeting room every now and then to update members and answer queries.
Later in the afternoon, as the heat subsided, tens of journalists came out of the lobby carrying their cameras and pens to chant against what they described as police thuggery.
Amr Badr, editor-in-chief and founder of Yanair (January) news portal, and journalist Mahmoud El-Sakka, who works for the same website, were staging a sit-in in the syndicate to protest against their arrest warrants as well as the storming of their homes by security forces last month.
Badr and El-Sakka are veterans of both the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak and the Tamarod movement that spearheaded the movement to oust Mubarak's successor, Islamist Mohamed Morsi, in 2013.
Ministry and union differ on story
The interior ministry said in a statement Monday morning that it followed all legal procedures while carrying out the arrests and had secured the approval of the prosecution prior to entering the union.
The ministry said it had sent a force comprised of eight officers who apprehended the two journalists "without any use of force."
The two journalists are accused of "inciting violation of the protest law, disrupting security and attempting to destabilise the country," the ministry added, saying both journalists sought to use the syndicate building to avoid arrest.
Egyptian press law mandates that the police must obtain the approval of the general prosecution before entering the premises of the union, and can only do so in the presence of the head of the union.
The ministry stressed in its the statement that it "appreciates journalists and the patriotic role they play," while stressing its "respect for freedom of opinion and expression."
The ministry added that the two journalists have been referred to prosecutors for questioning.
Syndicate head Yehia Qallash and other journalists said the ministry's move was a clear violation of Egyptian press law.
"Security forces should have informed the syndicate beforehand... what happened is unprecedented in the history of the syndicate [which was founded in 1941]," Qallash said in TV comments Sunday
Qallash told CBC TV that around 50 security personnel broke into the syndicate to execute the arrest warrants against Badr and El-Sakka.
Professional unions support
Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyers' Syndicate, denounced the ministry's storming of the "sister" journalists' union and declared solidarity with journalists, stressing that lawyers have a stake in defending freedom of expression and the press.
A dozen members of the lawyers syndicate are currently facing charges of breaking the protest law.
Several other professional syndicates have condemned Sunday's storming of the Press Syndicate.
The engineering syndicate denounced on Monday morning the interior ministry's actions as a "disgraceful aggression," and called for an immediate probe into the circumstances surrounding the journalists' arrests.
The syndicate added that it will provide "full support" to the press syndicate during any legal proceedings against the interior ministry.
The Doctor's Syndicate also issued a statement on declaring solidarity with the journalists, and stressed its readiness to back any legal actions the Press Syndicate plans to take against this unprecedented attack on professional unions.
A small coalition of independent MPs known as 25-30 block also condemned the police attack and the arrests, calling it an "unjustifiable escalation against opinion makers."
The MPs called on Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to issue an official apology to the union and demanded the release of all those arrested since the first anti-island protest of 15 April.
Police arrested scores of journalists during the events but later released them after syndicate intervention with the ministry of interior.
Short link:The Untold True Story of Ann Rohmer's Two Retirements from CP24
Ann Rohmer has been a fixture on Toronto television for decades. Before joining Citytv in 1986, she was a features reporter for Canada AM. At Citytv, she was the CityPulse Weekend sports anchor before joining David Onley as the first hosts of Breakfast Television on September 6, 1989.
Ann hosted BT for 12 years until she took an anchor position at CP24. CP24 and Citytv, you will recall, were both owned by CHUM Limited at the time. Ann would become an institution on CP24, hosting a wide variety of shows in addition to her anchor duties. Here's a sample of Ann Rohmer-hosted programs on CP24, either as primary host or fill-in host.
Hot Property
Animal House Calls
HomePage
Perfect Fit
More On CP24
Live at Noon
CP24 Breakfast
Needless to say, Ann became the most recognizable face on CP24, which is why I found it so puzzling when she announced her retirement in June 2010.
As you'll recall, there was a massive sendoff on CP24 as Ann was leaving the industry for a job in aviation. No specifics were given, but this Toronto Star article at the time quoted Ann.
And then, literally, the sky’s the limit. Though she can’t yet be specific, Rohmer will follow family tradition for a new career in the aviation industry. “Air travel, airlines, flight, it’s in our blood,” says Rohmer, whose father, General Richard Rohmer, is a former fighter pilot and chief of the air reserve. She herself was a Nordair flight attendant in the ’70s.
I assumed Ann was going to become head of communications at Porter Airlines or something like that, but by that fall, she was back on CP24 as if she had never left in the first place. CP24 did not address the reason for her return, or even the fact that she had returned to the anchor desk. This is when I began my quest to learn what really happened.
The closest I came to learning what really happened was when Steve Anthony visited my home for episode 123 of my podcast, Toronto Mike'd. I grilled Steve on the subject, and he did his best to answer. But, in retrospect, he was careful. Too careful.
Our story resumes in November 2015. That's when Ann once again announced she was retiring from broadcasting and CP24. Here's video footage of her big announcement.
Once again, gifts were purchased for Ann, a party was thrown and cake was sliced and devoured by many. Once again, Ann was cryptic about why she was retiring from broadcasting, only to say she was moving to Collingwood for the next chapter of her life. There was no mention of Ann's first retirement during celebrations for her second retirement. I even closed my entry about this second retirement with a snarky "Happy retirement, Ann! See you back on CP24 in a few months..."
And here we are, about eight months later, and Ann is back on CP24. Once again, it's as if the retirement and public farewell never happened. But this time, I know the untold true story of why Ann has retired twice and returned to CP24 twice. My sources are impeccable, and I share this information with nothing but admiration for Ann. The following paragraphs took me six years to write.
In 2010, Ann complained to management about having to host CP24 breakfast and anchor the 5pm newscast. It was a gruelling schedule, and she was a veteran broadcaster. She told management she'd do one or the other, but not both.
Management called her bluff, and when the smoke cleared, Ann decided to retire in an attempt to recreate the happiest moments of her professional life. Those were her years as a flight attendant in the 1970s. She was a flight attendant for Air Canada when she was in university, and was an award-winning flight attandant at Nordair. Her first retirement in 2010 was not to head communications at Porter Airlines but to recapture the joys of her youth as a flight attendant.
It was only after her retirement party and departure from CP24 that Ann received her new compensation plan. It was far less than anticipated, and Ann negotiated a return to CP24, at a much reduced rate. And her return to the aviation industry was never spoken of again.
In the fall of 2015, Ann had her sights set on another role. She wanted to become Attorney General of Ontario. Ann is not a lawyer, but neither was Marion Boyd, so there is precedent. Of course, every other Attorney General of Ontario was a lawyer, but Ann was confident being the daughter of General Richard Rohmer would carry a great deal of weight in this regard, and she was no doubt inspired by former colleague David Onley who spent seven years as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
It's become apparent her campaign to be Attorney General of Ontario will bear no fruit, and Ann has negotiated another return to the airwaves. The question remains, is she merely back for the summer or longer term?
Dreams do come true @CP24. Ann Rohmer is back! Just when my acceptance was setting in... BAM! What a great day. pic.twitter.com/SW6Z4cWyd7 — Conrad Page (@Roscoe416) June 10, 2016
And when she retires a third time, will there be gifts and cake? And will it finally stick?
I'll stay on this story, as long as it takes.
Update: June 13, 2018
Ann was just over to answer my many questions, and she confirms the reason for the first retirement, but disputes the reason for the second retirement. Hear this 100 minute conversation with Ann Rohmer here.
Share this entry
Only 58 comments? C'mon, we can do better... Leave a comment above and let's keep this conversation going!If you have the stomach for it, I want you to watch one of the most outrageous and infuriating videos I’ve ever seen. It shows the police shooting of Daniel Shaver in Mesa, Arizona. He was crawling on his hands and knees, crying, and begging police not to shoot him. An officer shot him anyway:
Advertisement
Advertisement
The background is simple. Shaver was a traveling pest control worker. He was in his hotel room (a La Quinta Inn) showing off to guests a pellet gun he used for work. Police responded to a 911 call claiming that a man was pointing a rifle out a window.
When police arrived, Shaver was alone with a woman. They had been drinking. The police ordered them out of the room, and they came out, raised their hands, and got on their knees. So far, things seem routine. Police responded to a call from a concerned bystander, they were concerned that the suspect may have a gun, so they demanded to clearly see Shaver’s hands. That’s entirely fair and appropriate.
Then, however, things got strange — very strange — rather than asking Shaver and his friend to keep their hands visible while police (who, at this point, had guns pointing straight at both of them) approached and applied handcuffs, they ask them to crawl towards police in a highly-specific way. The Washington Post’s account is decent, but you have to watch the video truly grasp the strangeness of the requests:
Langley tells Shaver to keep his legs crossed and push himself up into a kneeling position. As Shaver pushes himself up, his legs come uncrossed, prompting the officer to scream at him. “I’m sorry,” Shaver says, placing his hands near his waist, prompting another round of screaming. “You do that again, we’re shooting you, do you understand?” Langley yells. “Please do not shoot me,” Shaver begs, his hands up straight in the air. At the officer’s command, Shaver then crawls down the hallway, sobbing. At one point, he reaches back — possibly to pull up his shorts — and Brailsford opens fire, striking Shaver five times.
Advertisement
In fact, the Post actually sugarcoats the encounter. At one point an officer tells him “do not put your hands down for any reason,” even saying, “If you think you’re going to fall, you better fall on your face.” Then he says, “Crawl towards me.” How he can crawl without putting his hands down, I don’t know.
As the sobbing man crawls, he reaches back towards his pants (perhaps to pull them up) and is immediately shot dead. He had no weapon. He had done nothing wrong. And now he’s dead.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Essentially, what the police told an innocent, law-abiding, intoxicated American was this: Follow my highly-specific, very strange instructions or die. There was no need to make him crawl. The police were in command of the situation. At no point is there a visible weapon. I have seen soldiers deal with al Qaeda terrorists with more professionalism and poise. When a man is prone, his hands are visible, and your gun is trained upon him, he is in your power.
At trial, the officer testified that he though the suspect was reaching for his gun, and that if he had a chance to do things over, he’d make the same decision again. In other words, he presented the classic defense. He was afraid, so he fired.
I’ve written about this before. Juries time and again acquit frightened cops, regardless of whether the cop botched the situation or whether his fear was objectively reasonable. I wrote this after the Philando Castile verdict:
Legally, it’s not enough for an officer to show that he was actually afraid for his life. He has to show that “a reasonably prudent person” would also have the same fear. Clever defense lawyers twist this standard into a line of argument that goes something like this: The officer was afraid, and he can explain to you the reasons why he was afraid. Therefore, it was reasonable that he was afraid. But real fear isn’t always reasonable fear.
Advertisement
That’s especially true when the police — through their own incompetence — create their own fear. Philando Castile was shot even as he followed his killer’s instructions. Shaver died trying his best to comply with a highly unusual, complicated set of commands while under extreme duress. Scared cops still need to be competent cops, and members of the public shouldn’t face death because a police officer can’t keep his emotions in check.
Finally, I know that police have a dangerous job, but they’re not at war. As I noted above, it’s infuriating to see civilian police exercise less discipline than I’ve seen from soldiers in infinitely more dangerous situations. Not one of the men I deployed with would have handled a terrorist detention the way these officers treated American citizens.
Arizona law defines second-degree murder as killing a person without premeditation “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, the person recklessly engages in conduct that creates a grave risk of death and thereby causes the death of another person.” In this instance, the charge fit the crime. The jury’s verdict was a gross miscarriage of justice. My heart breaks for Daniel Shaver’s family. May God have mercy on his soul.NEW YORK - America is a great country. Far from perfect, but great nonetheless, Other than Donald Trump and millions of Americans who have been bamboozled by the GOP into thinking otherwise, everyone knows America is great. The Chinese know it. The Russians know it. The Europeans know it. The Muslims know it. Even Israelis know it. ISIS certainly knows that America is great, which is why it’s hell bent on taking it down.
Some people think America used to be greater, but that’s debatable. It’s true that life may have become tougher economically, that America used to be able to dictate terms to the world and that all sorts of foreign countries have become uppity in recent years. But the past that so many Trump supporters seem to be pining for also included African Americans who knew their place, Hispanics who smiled when waiting on tables, women who stayed in the kitchen and gay people who lived in fear and darkness. A lot of people who want to make America great again only want to make white America great again.
America used to think like Muhammad Ali: it wasn’t enough to be great, it had to be the greatest. But many countries believe they are the greatest. And some countries, after centuries of tyranny and corruption, are starting to catch up. That’s not a bad thing, unless you think that making America great means that everyone else needs to be not so great.
Download the new Haaretz app on your iPhone/Android for the best news and analysis from Israel, the Middle East and beyond.
America is certainly not the greatest in a wide range of categories: It doesn’t have the best education system, or health care system, or social welfare system, or justice system, or gun control system. Its industrial base is contracting and its infrastructure is in decline. It isn’t the safest country in the world and in some cities it’s probably one of the most dangerous. And, as everyone has seen in recent months, it has an astonishing amount of nuts, kooks, neo-Nazis and plain old idiots.
Supporters stand in line to attend a Trump rally at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. November 6, 2016. Jonathan Ernst, Reuters
Nonetheless, America still has the largest economy in the world, the strongest army in the world, the most advanced technology in the world and the most Nobel Prize winners in the world. It still wins the most medals in the Olympics. It still has millions of foreigners who want to come into the country, and not millions of Americans who want to leave.
America dominates, some would say domineers, popular culture around the world, perhaps more than ever before. Its movies rule, its rock stars rock, its television series hypnotize, and it is the end all and be all of the internet, social media, and online commerce. In fact, an America that hosts Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Snapchat and every other digital juggernaut is, in many ways, more powerful than in its entire history. Not great? Give me a break.
Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email * Please enter a valid email address Sign up Please wait… Thank you for signing up. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Click here Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later. Try again Thank you, The email address you have provided is already registered. Close
More importantly, America is still the main protector of the planet. It’s deeply flawed, but it is nonetheless a beacon of freedom, an advocate for human rights, a defender of Israel. American democracy is – or at least was – revered throughout the world. The U.S. Constitution is one of history’s most venerated documents. America is still a trailblazer, warts and all, in its willingness to change, to correct historical wrongs, to allow minorities an equal shot at reaching the top. The election of Barack Obama as president was a shining moment in which America was indeed the greatest; the election of Hillary Clinton as the first woman to lead the free world could be another.
Trump says the world doesn’t take the U.S. seriously, but he’s full of hokum. Trump also says nobody respects Obama: A June 2015 Pew Survey found that Obama is admired throughout the world, with the notable exceptions of Russia, China and, possibly and unfortunately, Israel. But one thing is certain: The world takes a very dim view of Donald Trump. He arouses disbelief, ridicule and deep apprehension. If and when Trump was to become president, his election would cause many people around the world to reconsider whether America is still great or has simply gone off the rails forever.
Trump has already inflicted untold damage on America’s image abroad. Politicians, pundits and the public at large cannot comprehend how the party of Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower and even Ronald Reagan could anoint such an unsympathetic, loudmouthed, ignorant, race-baiting rabble rouser as its candidate. They will be shocked ten times over if it turns out that the American people have elected him as president. The comparisons between Trump and the most reviled leaders in modern history will be inevitable.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton joins Jay-Z and Beyonce onstage at a campaign concert in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. November 4, 2016. Brian Snyder, Reuters
Based on his wild statements about NATO, Russia, nuclear weapons and what have you, Trump will also inspire fear. But it’s not the kind of fear that many Republicans yearn for. It’s not the kind of fear that a hawkish but responsible American president might arouse: with Trump, it will be a Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" anxiety that will come to many people’s minds.
But Trump’s election as president wouldn’t only sully America’s image in foreign eyes, it would crush it in the eyes of many Americans, including the overwhelming majority of its elites. The leaders of America’s cultural, intellectual, academic and financial sectors would immediately be plunged into shock and depression. They would look in the mirror and be hard put to convince themselves that America, with Trump as president, can still be considered great. They won’t leave the country in droves, as some have threatened, but their country would certainly be diminished forever in their eyes.
It will be hard to reconcile the election of a Trump and the concept of America as great. A Trump victory would mean that racism, bigotry and hatred have triumphed. It would mean that minorities can no longer feel absolutely safe and equal. It would bring to the fore dark forces, hitherto contained, including full throttle, genocidal, Holocaust-denying anti-Semites.
A Trump triumph would mean that American democracy is teetering on the brink of something completely different. It would mean that facts don’t matter, that reality can be twisted, that a presidential candidate can say the most offensive and outrageous and hateful things and still be elected. It would mean that Americans are gullible enough to be taken in by a political stunt guy and consummate con man. It would mean that given an option to vote for a flawed but nonetheless highly competent Democratic candidate, Americans preferred to be led by the most unqualified presidential contender in modern history, a man who wouldn’t be elected dogcatcher in some countries that never were and never will be as great as America.
America was great, is great and will stay great, and might perhaps get even greater, but not if it elects a great pretender like Donald Trump. Not by a long shot. And that’s before we even consider what kind of president Trump might be, mainly because that’s such a preposterous proposition that even his most ardent supporters have yet to give it any thought.The Cincinnati Bengals have a primary receiver and a bunch of slot receivers heading into the 2012 season. What they don't have is a wide receiver opposite of A.J. Green, helping tame coverages and allowing Andy Dalton a decent outlet in case Green, Jordan Shipley and Jermaine Gresham are covered. One wide receiver that fans have identified is New York Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham.
Unfortuately it doesn't appear that that is an option anymore.
Clark Judge with CBSSports.com writes that there is "virtually no chance that" Mario Manningham will return to the Giants this offseason. Instead he's expected to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, following former New York assistant Mike Sullivan.
But there are other reasons Manningham won't be back, sources said. First, they said, he would know Sullivan's offense, so there is no learning curve. Second, people close to Manningham indicate that he wants to go to a warm-weather club, and last time I checked Tampa Bay qualified on that score. Third, sources said the Giants probably wouldn't make him a contract offer, not only because they believe his price may be too high but because they're more interested in a wide receiver who can line up at more than one or two spots at the position, which, they said, Manningham cannot.
Bengals don't have Sullivan, are a cooler-city NFL club (would have said cold, but have you been in this city this winter?) and if the cost is high, then the Bengals would likely pass on him anyway with Green already on the team's roster.SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bruce Bochy would have done the exact same thing in Dave Roberts' position.
Roberts, a first-year manager who played extensively for Bochy, made the debatable decision of pulling Ross Stripling with a no-hitter in progress for the Los Angeles Dodgers after 7 1/3 innings during his major league debut. Yet Roberts called it a "no-br |
support by fans of the game were evident when we hosted our first lacrosse championship game and set an attendance record in 2008. We look forward to hosting record-breaking crowds once again in the years ahead.”
The 2017 Division I men’s lacrosse quarterfinals will be split between James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York, on the campus of Hofstra University and the University of Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware. In 2018, two quarterfinals games will be held again at Hofstra, while the other quarterfinals matchups will be at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Hofstra has previously hosted the quarterfinal round eight times, most recently in 2014, while Delaware also held the event in 2014. Navy has hosted five times previously, including in 2015.
For more information on the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships, log on to NCAA.com/lacrosse.
Gillette Stadium Release
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The NCAA, Gillette Stadium and Harvard University today announced the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be played at Gillette Stadium, the home of the National Football League’s New England Patriots and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution. The Division I, II and III Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be played over Memorial Day Weekend, on May 27-29 in 2017 and on May 26-28 in 2018.
“We are honored to have earned the bid to host the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium in 2017 and 2018,” said Robert Kraft, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group. “We love to celebrate championships at Gillette Stadium and are eager to host the lacrosse national championship games for the fourth and fifth times. I have a son who played lacrosse collegiately and three grandsons who I have enjoyed watching play and can speak to the tremendous growth of the game here in New England. The passion and support by fans of the game were evident when we hosted our first lacrosse championship game and set an attendance record in 2008. We look forward to hosting record-breaking crowds once again in the years ahead.”
The agreement marks the fourth and fifth times the championships will be held at Gillette Stadium, where the event has enjoyed a history of tremendous success. In 2008, Gillette Stadium set attendance records for the Division I final (48,970) and the Division II and III finals (24,317). The championships were also played in Foxborough in 2009 and 2012, attracting fans from 47 states and six international countries to the events.
The New England lacrosse community is comprised of 77 NCAA teams, 34,272 players, 809 high school teams and 86,034 registered US Lacrosse members. New England is home to the largest youth lacrosse organization (Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse League) in the United States and the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of US Lacrosse is the largest in the country with 43,000 members.
“My family and I are thrilled to bring the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships back to Gillette Stadium,” said Dan Kraft, president international of The Kraft Group and a former lacrosse player at Tufts University. “We look forward to working with the NCAA and all of our partners to create a great experience for the players, fans and lacrosse community.”
“Harvard is thrilled to once again partner with Gillette Stadium to serve as hosts of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships in 2017 and 2018," said Bob Scalise, Harvard’s John D. Nichols ‘53 Family Director of Athletics. “We look forward to working with the NCAA and the lacrosse community to prepare for some exciting weekends of lacrosse at the upcoming NCAA Division I, II and III Championships.”
"We look forward to once again welcoming lacrosse fans from across the U.S. and across the globe to Boston and Foxborough,” said Patrick Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Lacrosse fans will enjoy exploring and discovering our extraordinary cultural attractions and historical sites, in addition to watching great lacrosse at Gillette Stadium."
Ticket, hospitality, reunion opportunities and fan activity information will be announced at a later date.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
The following quotes on the return of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships were compiled by Gillette Stadium and are for use as desired:
Chris Wojcik, Harvard University men’s lacrosse head coach – “New England will once again host the NCAA Championships and a great weekend of lacrosse. Our region’s high school and youth lacrosse communities will have the opportunity to attend the games and enjoy the festivities around Championship weekend. Hosting the three-day event will boost the continued growth of the game in New England and expose our region to the best of college lacrosse.”
Lars Tiffany, Brown University men’s lacrosse head coach – “It is exciting for New England to once again host this great event. I know the Brown University and Rhode Island lacrosse communities will be active supporters of the championships. ”
Mike Daly, Tufts University men’s lacrosse head coach – “It is an honor for New England and all of the college programs in the region to be a part of this special event. This is the biggest event in our game and to host it in our backyard is very special. Thank you to the Kraft family for hosting these lacrosse games at Gillette Stadium and continuing their commitment to sports in New England."
Jim Murphy, Bentley University men’s lacrosse head coach – “Having seen the annual growth of the game in New England I am excited for all the youth, high school and college players to have an opportunity to watch the best of the best play in the NCAA Championships at Gillette Stadium.”
Tom Spangenberg, president of Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse League – “The Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse family, comprised of 20,000 players, 2,500 coaches and over 900 teams from 160 towns in Massachusetts truly looks forward to having this great event in our backyard again. Our families really enjoyed themselves in 2008, 2009 and 2012 and we will actively promote the games to them again in 2017 and 2018.”
Kevin McDonald, chair of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of US Lacrosse – “Hosting the NCAA championships in Massachusetts is a feather in the cap for so many people who have helped grow the game. The opportunity for boys and girls of all ages, along with their family members, to watch the NCAA championships will be a wonderful experience for all.”
(Photo Courtesy of Gillette Stadium)
The NCAA Tournament Championship Weekend is returning to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, the NCAA announced Tuesday a.m. Additionally, the NCAA announced that the 2017 DI Quarterfinals will be hosted by Hofstra and Delaware, and by Hofstra and Navy in 2018.
Gillette Stadium is home to the highest single-day crowd in Championship Weekend history, as 48,970 fans watched the 2008 championship game between Hopkins and Syracuse. Gillette last hosted Championship Weekend in 2012 when Loyola beat Maryland in the national championship game.
NCAA Championship Weekend overall attendance has dropped every year since its peak in 2007 at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, which hosted 123,225 fans over the weekend. Between then and last year’s final in Philadelphia, that number has dropped to 72,897.
The 2016 championship will again be hosted at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was awarded the NCAA bid during a bid cycled that ended in late 2013. Prior to that announcement, the NCAA said it would announce the next four championships, but it opted to only select two at the time and re-opened this current bid cycle. Through reporting since then, Inside Lacrosse learned that Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium did not bid on hosting Championship Weekend any time in that four-year window. Ohio Stadium in Columbus was among site to put in for a bid for the 2017 and ’18 games.
Much speculation has been made about the future of Championship Weekend. During the IMCLA Convention, coaches at the DI level were more open than in the past to moving the game later into the summer or returning back to college campuses. That was not an option for 2017 and ’18, as the bid process had already been opened.
The last notes from the Division I committee meeting said the committee would seek feedback from the membership about the future of the lacrosse championships.
The NCAA has lowered ticket prices and offered different options around Championship Weekend. It also scheduled a youth tournament to run alongside the weekend festivities.
The men’s 2016 NCAA Quarterfinals will be at Ohio Stadium and Brown University.
The women’s NCAA Championship Weekend will be held at WakeMed Stadium in Cary, N.C., in 2017 and at Stony Brook’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in 2018, the NCAA announced in February. The 2016 women’s final will be at Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park) near Philadelphia.
NCAA Release
The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Committees for Divisions I, II and III have announced the sites for the 2017 and 2018 men’s lacrosse finals and the 2017 and 2018 Division I men’s lacrosse quarterfinals.
Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, will be the site of the 2017 and 2018 Division I semifinals and final, in addition to the Divisions II and III national championship games. These championships will represent the fourth and fifth time that the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots has hosted the event. The championships also took place there in 2008, 2009 and 2012. Harvard University will serve as the host school.
The 2008 Division I men’s lacrosse title game at Gillette Stadium set a record for highest championship game attendance when 48,970 fans attended.
“We are excited about heading back to Gillette Stadium,” said Eugene Doris, chair of the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee and athletics director at Fairfield University. “The venue is one of the best in the nation and will provide our student-athletes with a memorable experience. Lacrosse in the New England area continues to explode, and we are excited to bring our event to the area to showcase what NCAA lacrosse is all about.
“It was a very difficult decision for the committee; there were a number of quality facilities and great communities under consideration,” Doris continued. “The committee is grateful to the communities that continue to support and show an interest in the men’s lacrosse championship.”
Robert Kraft, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group and also owner of the Patriots, looks forward to the lacrosse events.
“We are honored to have earned the bid to host the NCAA men’s lacrosse championships at Gillette Stadium in 2017 and 2018,” he said. “We love to celebrate championships at Gillette Stadium and are eager to host the lacrosse national championship games for the fourth and fifth times. Lacrosse has seen tremendous growth at all levels throughout New England, and the passion and support by fans of the game were evident when we hosted our first lacrosse championship game and set an attendance record in 2008. We look forward to hosting record-breaking crowds once again in the years ahead.”
The 2017 Division I men’s lacrosse quarterfinals will be split between James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York, on the campus of Hofstra University and the University of Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware. In 2018, two quarterfinals games will be held again at Hofstra, while the other quarterfinals matchups will be at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Hofstra has previously hosted the quarterfinal round eight times, most recently in 2014, while Delaware also held the event in 2014. Navy has hosted five times previously, including in 2015.
For more information on the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships, log on to NCAA.com/lacrosse.
Gillette Stadium Release
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The NCAA, Gillette Stadium and Harvard University today announced the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be played at Gillette Stadium, the home of the National Football League’s New England Patriots and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution. The Division I, II and III Men’s Lacrosse Championships will be played over Memorial Day Weekend, on May 27-29 in 2017 and on May 26-28 in 2018.
“We are honored to have earned the bid to host the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium in 2017 and 2018,” said Robert Kraft, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group. “We love to celebrate championships at Gillette Stadium and are eager to host the lacrosse national championship games for the fourth and fifth times. I have a son who played lacrosse collegiately and three grandsons who I have enjoyed watching play and can speak to the tremendous growth of the game here in New England. The passion and support by fans of the game were evident when we hosted our first lacrosse championship game and set an attendance record in 2008. We look forward to hosting record-breaking crowds once again in the years ahead.”
The agreement marks the fourth and fifth times the championships will be held at Gillette Stadium, where the event has enjoyed a history of tremendous success. In 2008, Gillette Stadium set attendance records for the Division I final (48,970) and the Division II and III finals (24,317). The championships were also played in Foxborough in 2009 and 2012, attracting fans from 47 states and six international countries to the events.
The New England lacrosse community is comprised of 77 NCAA teams, 34,272 players, 809 high school teams and 86,034 registered US Lacrosse members. New England is home to the largest youth lacrosse organization (Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse League) in the United States and the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of US Lacrosse is the largest in the country with 43,000 members.
“My family and I are thrilled to bring the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships back to Gillette Stadium,” said Dan Kraft, president international of The Kraft Group and a former lacrosse player at Tufts University. “We look forward to working with the NCAA and all of our partners to create a great experience for the players, fans and lacrosse community.”
“Harvard is thrilled to once again partner with Gillette Stadium to serve as hosts of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships in 2017 and 2018," said Bob Scalise, Harvard’s John D. Nichols ‘53 Family Director of Athletics. “We look forward to working with the NCAA and the lacrosse community to prepare for some exciting weekends of lacrosse at the upcoming NCAA Division I, II and III Championships.”
"We look forward to once again welcoming lacrosse fans from across the U.S. and across the globe to Boston and Foxborough,” said Patrick Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Lacrosse fans will enjoy exploring and discovering our extraordinary cultural attractions and historical sites, in addition to watching great lacrosse at Gillette Stadium."
Ticket, hospitality, reunion opportunities and fan activity information will be announced at a later date.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
The following quotes on the return of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships were compiled by Gillette Stadium and are for use as desired:
Chris Wojcik, Harvard University men’s lacrosse head coach – “New England will once again host the NCAA Championships and a great weekend of lacrosse. Our region’s high school and youth lacrosse communities will have the opportunity to attend the games and enjoy the festivities around Championship weekend. Hosting the three-day event will boost the continued growth of the game in New England and expose our region to the best of college lacrosse.”
Lars Tiffany, Brown University men’s lacrosse head coach – “It is exciting for New England to once again host this great event. I know the Brown University and Rhode Island lacrosse communities will be active supporters of the championships. ”
Mike Daly, Tufts University men’s lacrosse head coach – “It is an honor for New England and all of the college programs in the region to be a part of this special event. This is the biggest event in our game and to host it in our backyard is very special. Thank you to the Kraft family for hosting these lacrosse games at Gillette Stadium and continuing their commitment to sports in New England."
Jim Murphy, Bentley University men’s lacrosse head coach – “Having seen the annual growth of the game in New England I am excited for all the youth, high school and college players to have an opportunity to watch the best of the best play in the NCAA Championships at Gillette Stadium.”
Tom Spangenberg, president of Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse League – “The Mass Bay Youth Lacrosse family, comprised of 20,000 players, 2,500 coaches and over 900 teams from 160 towns in Massachusetts truly looks forward to having this great event in our backyard again. Our families really enjoyed themselves in 2008, 2009 and 2012 and we will actively promote the games to them again in 2017 and 2018.”
Kevin McDonald, chair of the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of US Lacrosse – “Hosting the NCAA championships in Massachusetts is a feather in the cap for so many people who have helped grow the game. The opportunity for boys and girls of all ages, along with their family members, to watch the NCAA championships will be a wonderful experience for all.”Response to NIMH Director Dr. Joshua Gordon’s: “Autism Awareness Message”
by Katie Wright
I have been enjoying “Cortical Chauvinism” for some time and was honored when Dr. Casanova invited me to submit a guest post about severe autism.
Like Dr. Casanova’s autistic grandson, my son Christian suffers from severe autism. Additionally, both boys suffer from intractable epilepsy. No prescribed medications effectively stopped their seizures, essentially destroying their quality of life. I am eternally grateful to advocates like Manny’s daughter who fought so long and hard for those with epilepsy to have access to medical marijuana. It was the only treatment to stop my son’s seizures and give him back a life. Over the past few years I have learned how common intractable epilepsy is among ASD people.
But you would never know this from NIH autism research priorities. No way! In looking at NIH autism research one would assume that eye gazing studies (which provide no prevention nor treatment) are the most urgent scientific priority in the ASD community. The NIH perpetrates the myth that all we have to do is dx autism early and Poof! Cure! There are 11,000 published studies on the signs of autism and early intervention. While the NIH continues to fund and re-fund eye gazing work, the NIH has not funded any research that has resulted in actual new treatment since ABA in the 1980s. It doesn’t matter how early you learn the signs, the lack of treatment options means few with ASD will make significant progress. This is especially true for those medically impacted with severe autism.
This group of severely affected ASD kids are not a part of the $10 million NIH Yale/McPhartland autism “phenotype” (they are ‘phenotyping’ healthy, verbal HF ASD people) study, nor a part of the multi million $ Denver EI research studies or Dr. Tom Insel’s ridiculous RDoC NIH/ ASD eye gazing project, or the NIH Autism Centers for “Excellence” tuberous sclerosis “autism” study. Just imagine if cancer research was focused only those with the Stage 1 or 2 cancer only or only on the most rare variations. Meanwhile you have Stage 3 or 4 cancer but no one cares. The NIH says sorry and good luck with Stage 1 treatment for your Stage 4 disease because there is nothing else.
The NIH, Simons and Cold Springs Harbor autism research departments seem to revel in funding the most arcane, impractical and least impactful autism research imaginable. 40% of ASD people have moderate to severe GI problems. Guess what % of the budget these organizations spend on ASD/ GI treatment research? 1%. 25% of people with autism are severely affected and engage in self-injurious behavior (SIB). Guess how many SIB treatment studies the NIH, AS, SCH and Simons fund? Zero. The NIH, especially, appears to prefer celebrating HF autism rather than deal with autism’s severely disabled.
I have frequently hear that “it’s just too hard” to study severe autism. No way. You know what IS hard?- Having severe autism. It is not as if there are no promising research opportunities to help this subgroup. Medical marijuana is being studied by Parkinson’s, MS and IBD orgs, to name a few.
The last time I drove alone with Christian was about six months ago. Christian was in the back of the car and we were 10 minutes from home when I suddenly I heard loud thumping- the dreaded sound of Christian bounced up and down in his seat. I was frantically hoping this doesn’t escalate and we could make it home safely. But no, Christian was turning bright red and started yelling/crying as he tried to tear his hair out- literally. A minute later I heard the banging. My heart was pounding out of my chest, my hands shaky and slippery with sweat as I look in the rearview mirror and see Christian hitting his head with a closed fist as he screamed. Christian’s complexion is fair so I saw the purple bruising almost right away.
I was so scared that this self-injurious behavior would trigger a full fledged Grand Mal seizure. Thanks to Charlotte’s Web, Christian rarely has seizures anymore but a powerful seizure trigger remains- an SIB incident. Last time it happened, thankfully we were at home. In the rearview mirror I saw hair coming out in Christian’s hands, but am most worried about the blows to his head. I drove through 2 red lights, made an illegal u turn, doubled parked in front of my building and yelled for help from the doorman. We half carried, half dragged Christian into the apt.
Christian’s brother, Mattias, saw us coming in the door and yelled for our live-in aide, Michael. Although only 13, Mattias asked me right away if he should get “the nose spray” a kind of tranquilizer which helps Christian calm down. I said yes and try to hold Christians’ arms behind his back until Micheal runs up the stairs. I am looking towards the stairs when Christian swings around and head butts me- hard. It hurts so much I see stars, I cannot imagine that Christian does this to his own head a half dozen times before we can stop him. Michael arrived, he knows not to speak because that only aggravates Christian more. We must be totally quiet except for a nature sound CD Mattias knows to play, which seems to have a uniquely calming effect.
After a half hour of silently feeding him some berries ( natural sugar helps) the screaming and efforts to strike himself slow down. I think it is OK for Mike to let go of Christian’s arms, but it was too soon, and he bit Mike hard on the arm. I felt terrible, wishing it was me.
It feels like a dream. How can this be real? How did an 18 month who loved to read books about cars, talked to my Mom over the phone and played tag become a 15 year old severely autistic nonverbal teenager who has engages in scary self injurious behavior? How did we get here? Like virtually all autism families we did everything we were told 1) early intervention, check, 2) educating ourselves all about ABA and generalizing at home, check, 3) finding a good OT, check, 4) finding a good speech therapist, check 5) following all our pediatrician’s recommendations, check and yet it only got worse and worse and worse….I cannot think of a disease or disorder in which professionals and researchers have over-promised and under-delivered as much as with autism. “50% of kids who get early high quality EI mainstream,” false. “Autism is totally genetic,” false. “Autism is totally behavioral,” false. “Special diets are dangerous,” false. “Early identification = cure”, false. “Genetics will lead to treatments,” false. “Autism is not a disability, just a difference,” one gigantic false.
Those living with severe autism comprise 20% of the spectrum. Many of these autistic people struggle daily self-injurious behaviors and seizures. They happen at home, in cars, on the street, on public transportation, at parties, on Christmas – anytime. Every time these families leave the house together, family members, especially siblings, live in dread of a seizure or a meltdown. The world gets very small, very fast as most families stop visiting friends, going out to dinner, traveling etc.. Self-injurious behavior often goes hand and hand with untreated GI disease. It is exceedingly difficult to find GIs willing to treat this population. Even fewer GIs are knowledgeable about diagnosing and treating the GI problems unique to ASD people. Even worse is the fact that severely affected ASD people are the subgroup to most likely be living with intractable seizures. Most traditional anti-convulsants fail to alleviate their seizures and medical marijuana is not
available in all states.
Our children are very much loved and we are grateful to have them but love doesn’t mitigate the painful struggle our children endure on a daily basis. So the next time you hear lengthy debates about how autism is a gift or how the puzzle piece is insulting think of the silent 20% of the spectrum for whom autism represents a crushing disability.After a touchdown, Kirk Cousins spreads his arms like nobody’s watching. (Mark Tenally/AP)
Not surprisingly, a search of The Washington Post’s photo library for “Kirk Cousins” and “dances” returns zero results. The same goes for YouTube. It’s entirely possible that the Redskins quarterback hasn’t danced since — or before — his wedding in June 2014.
Contrast that with Cousins’s counterpart on Sunday in Charlotte, Cam Newton. The Panthers quarterback dances at just about every opportunity he gets, and he’s created a lot of opportunities in leading Carolina to a 9-0 record during an MVP-worthy season.
[Cartwheeling Clinton Portis weighs in on Cam Newton’s dance moves]
Newton angered the Tennessee Titans by doing the “dab” after scoring a touchdown during a 27-10 win last week, and while the Redskins would like to keep Newton out of the end zone, they won’t have a problem with him busting a move should he get there.
“The guy is entertaining,” Redskins defensive end Jason Hatcher said. “He’s good for the sport. He’s a well-spoken guy, does everything right. The guy can dance.”
Cam Newton dabs after a fourth-quarter touchdown against the Titans on Sunday. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)
The Charlotte Observer’s Jonathan Jones asked Cousins what the difference was between his “You like that!” celebration after Washington’s come-from-behind win over Tampa Bay and Newton’s most recent touchdown celebration. Cousins hadn’t seen video of Newton dabbin’ on the Titans as of Wednesday, but he sounded envious of Newton’s moves in general.
“I know he has a lot more rhythm than I do, and that lends itself to having more freedom with your ability to celebrate,” Cousins said. “I kind of am restricted to only a few things, which include yelling ‘you like that.’ If I had more rhythm I would love to be a little more creative. But unfortunately I don’t.”Susan LeFevre was a Michigan teenager when she was arrested in 1974 for selling relatively small amounts of heroin to an undercover officer. At the request of her conservative family, she pleaded guilty and hoped for mercy, but was instead sentenced to 20 years in prison despite having no previous record. With the help of family members, she bolted from prison in 1976 and fled to California, where she started a new life with a new identity.
Last week, thanks to an anonymous tip to the Michigan Department of Corrections, she was tracked down and arrested in San Diego, where she had lived a quiet upper middle-class life and raised three children with her husband of 23 years. Now, Michigan wants her back to do the rest of her sentence.
The case of LeFevre, now known as Marie Walsh, is putting the issues of crime and punishment and redemption and forgiveness, not to mention harsh drug sentencing, in the national spotlight. While the nation debates her fate, LeFevre sits in a California jail cell awaiting extradition to her home state.
"It's been a secret no one knew for so long, and now everyone knows," LeFevre told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday at Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee, a San Diego suburb. "I hope there's some mercy."
There sure wasn't any mercy when she copped a plea in Michigan more than 30 years ago. She plea bargained in a bid for a lenient sentence, or even probation. Instead she was sentenced to the maximum 10 to 20 years. "I kept thinking it had to be a mistake. I was supposed to have probation," LeFevre said.
And it doesn't sound like Michigan is feeling any more forgiving now than it was back when Gerald Ford was president. "Just because she escaped and evaded capture for 30 years doesn't mean your prison sentence is negated," said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan. She would have to do at least nine years to satisfy her sentence, he said.
That his wife has turned out to be a fugitive from justice means little to Alan Walsh, who never knew about LeFevre's secret past. "I've known my wife, Marie, for 23 years," he said in a statement. "She is a person of the highest integrity and compassion. During that time she's been nothing but a caring and wonderful wife and mother. She has raised three beautiful children and worked hard to build a good life for them, and has dedicated her life to their well-being. Her family is now threatened to be destroyed."
Barring a refusal by the state of California to extradite her back to Michigan, which is highly unlikely, LeFevre's only hope would appear to be a commutation of her sentence. Otherwise, she will become just one more drug war prisoner in Michigan's prisons overflowing with drug war prisoners.The long-running saga between YouTuber Jim Sterling and video game developer Digital Homicide has come to an end.
The lawsuit between Digital Homicide's James Romine and James Stanton, aka Jim Sterling, was dismissed with prejudice following discussions between Sterling's lawyer and Romine.
Last year, Romine sued Sterling for damages in excess of $10m relating to various counts of libel, slander and even assault. The suit followed a high-profile spat between the two parties after Sterling had criticised Digital Homicide's first-person shooter Slaughtering Grounds.
In a post on his website, The Jimquisition, Sterling said his lawyer, Bradley Hartman had convinced Romine of the folly of his action.
"For those curious about this resolution, I was not a direct part of the communication between Romine and my lawyer, but as I understand it, the agreement to drop the suit with prejudice was the result of Hartman's enviable reasoning ability," Sterling said.
"The plaintiff agreed to drop his case after my lawyer explained exactly what would happen if this went to court and how we would respond.
"That it got as far as it did, went on for as long as it did, is atrocious - especially when this is a case that amounts to a game developer wanting to silence a game critic."
Romine had tried to crowdfund the lawsuit, but the plea fell on deaf ears, raising just a few hundred dollars. We've asked Romine for comment.
Both Sterling and Romine are left to pay their own legal costs, but the upshot is Sterling is now free from the shackles of Digital Homicide's pursuit. The dismissal with prejudice means Romine can not raise a case relating to the same issue against Sterling again.
A clearly emotionally exhausted Sterling said he was pleased with the resolution, but still concerned it was able to get as far as it did.
"While the accusations found within the lawsuit are farcical and definitively veer into comedy territory - as we'll find out when I go through it in detail at a later date - the existence of it is simply grotesque," he said.
"That you can be made to spend that much money and effort defending yourself from spurious claims should be a worrying prospect for anybody whose job involves saying things that some people aren't going to like."
Valve booted Digital Homicide's games off of Steam after Romine tried to sue 100 Steam users who had criticised the company in posts for a whopping $18m. Romine later ditched the idea following financial difficulties. Digital Homicide now appears to be a PC game key giveaway website.
The last word is with Sterling: "I find this lawsuit disgusting. It was and it is and it shall forever be disgusting."Show us your rig Each week on Show Us Your Rig, we feature PC gaming's best and brightest as they show us the systems they use to work and play.
This week's Show Us Your Rig is a special one as we feature our first—and hopefully not last—e-sports player. Jimmy "DeMoN" Ho is a professional Dota 2 player who's been playing DOTA and Dota 2 competitively since 2011. His rig and setup are slim but very powerful, sporting a GTX Titan Black. DeMoN was nice enough to take some time to tell us about he setup and how, predictably, he plays a lot of Dota 2. Classic Jimmy.
What's in your PC?
PC - Falcon Northwest Tiki 2014
CPU - Intel Core i7-4770K processor
MOBO - Asus Z78I Deluxe motherboard
Ram - 16GB of RAM
GFX - EVGA GeForce GTX Titan Black GPU
450W power supply
8x DVD+-RW drive, along with two 1TB Corsair M550 SSDs, striped in RAID 0.
Windows 8.1, 64 bit
Keyboard - Logitech G710+
Mouse - Logitech G302 Daedalus Prime
Headset - HyperX Cloud ll
Webcam - Logitech C920
What's the most interesting/unique part of your setup?
The fact it's not your traditional large desktop and can fit just about anywhere measuring in a measly 14" x 4" x 14" being accommodating for smaller offices/rooms.
What's always within arm's reach on your desk?
My tower fan to keep me cool from the Southern California heat outside of Winter time.
My portable Dr Dre Speaker Pill to bump some music whenever I'm not gaming.
Water bottle and Red Bull to keep me hydrated and energized in case of those long hours of practice games, matches or streaming.
Phone, always got to have the phone by your side.
[Update: Jimmy sent us some extended answers to following two questions.]
What are you playing right now?
Right now I'm only playing Dota 2. We are preparing for a couple of major events such as Red Bull Battle Grounds which has a $75,000 base prize pool and I-League which has a $200,000+ prize pool. My team and I are are practicing at least 6+ hours a day and even more individually, playing in house or pub games.
What’s your favorite game and why?
Before Dota came around, my love for gaming came from Pokemon Red and Blue on GameBoy which was almost 15+ years ago now haha. Now my favorite of all time is Dota 2, because of how the game is consistently changing whether it be buffs/nerfs to heroes or significant changes to the map alone. I've been playing this game for over 11 years now and it's still entertaining to play after all these years.The loophole involves payday lending firms affiliating with Native American tribes and taking advantage of tribal sovereignty to offer loans online that would otherwise be blocked by many US state laws.
Payday lenders—which make short-term cash loans, often to poor or financially struggling customers—target a national audience rather than members of the tribes involved and take advantage of their nominal affiliation with a tribe to charge annual percentage rates of more than 700 percent in some cases.
In some cases, the tribes receive a financial benefit from the payday lending firms — sometimes including a percentage of the overall business. The firms, in turn, lend cash to struggling borrowers at sometimes steep interest rates. (Read More: New Model Breaks From Payday Lender Pack.)
But CNBC found at least one case in which a tribal official said he had no idea a payday lending firm was using the tribe’s name, and, in an interview with CNBC, accused that lender of fraud.
Here’s how it works in one case:
An online lender called Cash Fairy is owned the Fort Belknap Indian Tribe in Montana. On its website, Cash Fairy explains that it is a “Tribal enterprise and economic arm, wholly owned and operated by the Fort Belknap Indian Community ("Tribe"), a federally-recognized sovereign American Indian Tribe, and created by the Tribal Council for the benefit of the Tribe.”
The website advertises cash loans of up to 50 days at an annual percentage rate of 782.14 percent. That means, the website notes, a customer would pay $10.71 to borrow $500 for just one day.
For most companies making loans in New York State, for example, the maximum allowable annual percentage rate is 25 percent.
But Cash Fairy can lend online to people living in New York State because tribal sovereignty means it is not subject to the New York regulations. And it’s operating in a growth area — a 2010 report by JMP Securities found that 35 percent of all payday loans made that year originated online and that share will grow to 62 percent by 2016.
The sovereignty loophole has angered some state leaders across the country, who say non-tribal businesses are simply using a Native American cover to charge exorbitant rates over the internet.
“We started to receive some complaints about outrageous rates, non-disclosure of those rates,” said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. “And when we went after the payday lenders they showed up and said you can't touch us, we're not subject to your state regulations because we are affiliated with a tribe.” (Read More: 'Shadow Bank' System Will Thrive Under New Rules - Bove.)Ads support the website by covering server and domain costs. We're just a group of gamers here, like you, doing what we love to do: playing video games and bringing y'all niche goodness. So, if you like what we do and want to help us out, make an exception by turning off AdBlock for our website. In return, we promise to keep intrusive ads, such as pop-ups, off oprainfall. Thanks, everyone!
By Joseph Puntschart / June 17th, 2016
It would appear that there maybe a chance of Limited Run Games doing a physical run of the recently announced localisation of FuRyu’s psychological RPG Caligula, if this tweet from ATLUS PR Manager John Hard |
like Jack before him, is by no means a ‘paragon’ hero since he’s an Alpha Series. Once again, we see attempts to create a utopia, but it ends with more of a murderous dystopia with a populace that acts like spliced up sheep. Where Ryan didn’t want gods or kings, only man, Lamb took a more religious attempt to control the masses.
On to BioShock Infinite and why it deserves the BioShock title. Building upon the model from the previous two games, what we know of Infinite fits the mold perfectly. A state of the art city built in an unusual location – check; a split of ideologies causing violent conflict – check; the protagonist is an outsider entering a hostile scenario – check; giant / protective automations – check; and an environment that can easily kill you – check. There are our surface similarities.
Under the surface, the split of ideologies causing violent conflict is the focus. Levine told GameInformer:
There’s definitely a component in America today that nationalism is extremely important to certain people – a sense that America is a separate case. It’s something I’ve always found fascinating. It’s an interesting element to divide over – where you’re born. It’s kind of an accident, right? And how porous those borders are – people who are in the same country with different ethnic backgrounds and religious backgrounds – there are a lot of ways to draw demarcations. It’s interesting to me how important those become to people and I wanted to explore that.
This statement puts in place the two major factions in BioShock Infinite. Saltonstall is an ultranationalist who pontificates his message of xenophobia, religiosity, antagonism, guns, and liberty, while choosing from very selective reading from the U.S. Constitution to base his governmental views. On the other half of the conflict, the Vox Populi is the more rebellious extremists who want to extend the freedoms of Columbia to all its citizens regardless of race or creed. As from the previous BioShock titles, I’d expect both factions to have the cliché ‘all that glitters isn’t gold’ motif. By this, I mean while the Vox Populi seems like the faction to support, you can guarantee that they have their own internal issues. Not to mention that Vox Populi is a Latin for “voice of the people” which sounds rather similar to Lamb’s “people’s daughter” with Eleanor.
As far as textual influences, Levine told OfficialPlayStationMagazine, “A bunch of guys in the team had read a book called The Devil In The White City and they had turned me on to it. It’s an amazing book.” This Erik Larson non-fiction novel tells the tale of a serial killer which takes place in Chicago and the World’s Fair during 1893. The World’s Fair is where the concept of exceptionalism was developed and where in Infinite the city of Columbia notion stems from. The backbone of Columbia is rich with American Exceptionalism – the ideology of not conforming to the norm; emergence from revolution based on liberty and the individual. Again, this sounds familiar.
On the topic of The Devil In The White City and Bioshock Infinite, OfficialPlayStationMagazine says:
While Devil In The White City is about the World Fair and its construction, a large part of the story focuses on Doctor H.H. Holmes. He was actually one of America’s first documented serial killers and tracked down by Pinkerton agents, BioShock Infinite hero Booker DeWitt’s former employers. Holmes actually used the huge World Fair as a base of operation to source victims from the crowds that flocked to see the show. His final count could be as high as 200 murders.
So there it is. If you are able to look past the surface of the two previous BioShock titles, you can see the underlining elements which are alike in all three games. I’ve always loved the Big Daddy and Little Sister connection, but all that love still wasn’t the core of why I’ve been enriched by the BioShock series. This tie to real life history, steampunksish interpretation, and conflicting views in ideologies are the elements which make the stories of the BioShock genre so rich. So while BioShock Infinite might not seem like a fitting game to have the successful BioShock label slapped upon it on the surface, this third game still holds the important aspects in which the previous titles did such an exceptional job with. I’m excited."FOR a long time my way of getting to sleep was to have a virtual walk through my virtual home in England."
Patrick Stewart, an actor whose successes span more than half a century, was going through a troubled time in his life in California.
He was enjoying tremendous international professional success, starring as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek TV series and feature films, the X Men films, and with an enviable reputation as a Shakespearean actor.
But he was unhappy.
"My marriage was unravelling," he said. "I had been filled for several years with a homesickness that kept me awake at night."
Hence the imaginary home in England.
But his life was to change dramatically.
He was visited in London by John Tarrant, then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. The university wanted Patrick Stewart to be its Chancellor, the highest honour a university can offer.
Patrick Stewart was a local lad. He was born in Mirfield. His mother had been a textile weaver. His working class roots in West Yorkshire were deep. He longed to come home.
"John did not know it but he was providing me with the tipping point to leave my life in California, and come home," he said. "The role at the university was absolutely central to that. So when I was asked to take on this role I knew instantly what I would do."
Patrick Stewart was telling his story to a group of academics and business people at the university this month, at a dinner staged during graduation week. He had spent many hours attending events, but displayed an undepleted enthusiasm for his role.
His love of Yorkshire poured out as he spoke.
"This part of northern England remains so solidly and emotionally in my heart," he said. "I was a keen cyclist. I cycled right up Holme Moss to the summit without stopping. I would ride into the Yorkshire Dales, and when I turned back into the industrial West Riding I could not give it words. I know that something hurt when I turned away from those Yorkshire hillsides."
He was born in 1940 into a one-up one-down house, with a partition in the one-up to make bedrooms.
He was very much a working class lad.
At the age of 10 he was due to take his 11-plus, the examination which would decide whether he went to grammar school, or to the less academic secondary modern school.
"My experience of grammar school pupils led me to a decision that, come what may, I was never going to mix with them. I set off to walk to school. Before I arrived there was a left and a right turn. I turned left to the Calder Valley, the river, the canal and the railway line. It was a beautiful May morning. I walked and leaned against a tree. I ate my lunch. When the time was about right I took a circular route home. My mum came home and asked how it had gone. I said it was all right.
"Twenty-four hours after that it came out that I hadn't been to school, that I hadn't taken the 11-plus. So I went to Mirfield secondary modern school.
"I was not to know then but what I had done then was the best move in my life. I would not have excelled at grammar school. I excelled at secondary modern school."
After school he worked briefly as a trainee journalist on the Dewsbury Reporter.
"That was a disaster," he said. "After that I worked at Hudson's furniture store in Dewsbury – the highest-class furniture store in Dewsbury, I might add."
At the age of 17 he left to become an actor.
His acting career has been well-documented, taking in theatre, TV and film, leading to a life in Hollywood, international success, and eventually the unhappiness which left him yearning to return home.
Today he is enjoying life for many reasons, including his role as Chancellor – a job he takes in earnest – and some of the perks of being a world-famous actor.
From 1993 to 2002 there were 172 episodes of Star Trek and four feature films.
"You may find it hard to believe but real astronauts watch Star Trek. Flight crews watch Star Trek," he said. "The military watch Star Trek.
"A month ago I got an astonishing e-mail saying the European space authority was inviting me to take part in a video link with a space station. I thought 'who?'
"These long-term astronauts every two months are given a chance of talking to someone of their choice. A Belgian astronaut had asked for me. So I was connected to mission control in London and there was the captain of the space station."
He watched the crew floating around the space station.
"He went round with a camera, giving me a guided tour. We had 25 minutes. I made the most of my time."
They over-ran.
"After an hour Houston interrupted and said they had other things to do."
He has now been Chancellor of the university for six years and sees the position as another perk of his acting career, one which has provided him with a new facet to his life.
"For half a year the best thing I could say about my life was that I was Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield," he said.
"It gave me a reason to be here. I think there was a bit of suspicion at first. They don't know what you are going to get up to. Then things picked up and took off. By the second year I had done some commercials for the university and applications had risen by 27 per cent. Now I am comfortable with this institution. I have great pride in my role here."
At some Universities the honorary role of Chancellor is mainly a ceremonial one. Not for Patrick Stewart. He is a hands-on Chancellor, part of the team, working in partnership with present Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan.
He not only uses his fame to promote the university. He teaches master classes for drama students on his increasingly frequent visits to Huddersfield, and has been made a Professor of the Performing Arts – not bad for a lad who dodged his 11-plus.
He speaks of the university's progress with enormous pride.
"The advances we are making here in every area, every department, are astonishing – the ambition of this institution, the quality of its faculties, its staff..." he said.
West Yorkshire was once at the heart of the textile industry. Most of the industry is gone, but some remains, through the nurturing of highly- specialised super-quality niche markets, often with the help of research from the university.
"We are not just looking at the future," he said. "We are looking at the past. The heavy woollen district – that is where I was from. My mum was a weaver. We are tapping into the industry of our communities."
A 17m business school is being developed as the University expands.
Although he sees his role at the university as being largely of a promotional and commercial nature, he said: "I am involved in the day-to- day life of the university. This was one of the glorious opportunities given to me simply because I became an actor."
Patrick Stewart has come home.“Before the public makes a martyr out of Charleena Lyles, consider the facts that were released in the interest of full transparency.”
Advertisement
Seattle is the scene of the latest controversial police shooting to sweep the social media activists. Two white police officers have fallen under severe scrutiny in the shooting death of a pregnant black woman. While bold headlines asserted that the incident was a simple case of a woman calling police for help then being viciously gunned down by racist white men because she had a knife to defend her family against intruders, further details have emerged contradicting those notions. Recordings of the encounter also tell a bit of a different story, although a little hazy.
Police officers in Seattle responded to a burglary call they received from Charleena Lyles, who was known to law enforcement. She had previously been charged with threatening a police officer after brandishing a pair of shears and had a police safety caution on her name. Transcripts of the encounter that ended with the shooting have been released, in addition to 24-hour video surveillance from her apartment hallway.
Close More from OpsLens
She claimed that someone broke into her apartment and items were missing after she returned home and found her door open. The surveillance showed that no one had entered the apartment and a burglary didn’t take place. In the released audio, police officers can be heard interacting with the woman for a few minutes in a civilized manner that sounds like standard procedure. Things went bad quickly as the officers can be heard frantically instructing the woman to back up before they opened fire.
Outrage quickly spread as the shooting was reported, and Monday morning quarterbacks began their same old spiel about oppression and violence at the hands of white male police officers.
Advertisement
Never mind that this woman had a history of threatening police officers.
Never mind she reported a fake crime as surveillance showed that no one had entered the apartment and a burglary had not taken place.
Never mind that she was greeted by officers who spoke to her respectfully despite being fully aware of her record.
Advertisement
Never mind that she brandished two kitchen knives in the faces of law enforcement in front of her children.
Never mind that she said, “Get ready, mother f*****s!”
No, none of that matters. All that matters is skin color. Look past all of the facts and rewrite the incident to fall in line with damaging rhetoric.
Advertisement
Reports also indicated that the police officers who responded to the call had non-lethal options at their disposal. Transcripts of the incident show that one officer did tell the other to use a taser, to which he replied that he didn’t have one. They continued instructing the armed woman to back up before they opened fire.
Before the public makes a martyr out of Charleena Lyles, consider the facts that were released in the interest of full transparency. Any loss of life is a tragedy in itself. To what extent do activists expect police officers to endanger themselves in the interest of avoiding negative headlines?
The family of Charleena Lyles has blasted law enforcement for their actions, citing untreated mental illness. Having that knowledge, I have to ponder why her family failed to intervene in her life—especially in the interest of her children—rather than blame the justice system for “failing” Lyles?This is my site used to track progress on my Living Shiny Dex. A Living Dex is a complete collection of every Pokemon separately. Naturally a Living Shiny Dex is doing so but getting all of them Shiny. I've been collecting since April 2016, and the Pokemon are generally named by my friends. You can use the buttons below to explore different options showing data and display options for the collction.
Methods
This is the method table. In Shiny hunting, there are many different ways to increase your odds of finding a shiny, known as methods. This table shows the list of methods. For each method, the base odds of finding a shiny is listed, as well as the number of Pokemon I have found using this method. It also lists my average rate of success using that method. They are sorted in order of usage. Method Odds Number Average
Percentage Trackers
These are some percentage meters tracking my completion. The top meter shows the percentage I have found out of all total Pokemon. Note that at this time achieving a score of 100% is impossible as there are some Pokemon that can't be obtained as shiny. The other seven bars show my progress completion for each generation of Pokemon.
Sorting Options
Here are some display options for sorting through the table below. The top black butons allow you to display either the national dex or any of the regional dexes from each region. The red buttons allow you to sort by the data. A black and a red option can be combined to further sort the table.
Shiny TableHere are some quick facts:
1. "Royals," by 16-year-old New Zealand singer Lorde, is currently number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
2. "Royals" is about rejecting the ostentatious displays of materialism that dominate much of popular music and finding happiness in everyday teenage life. "As one of the few teenage voices in music that isn't like... Justin Bieber, I didn't want to glorify that perspective," Lorde told The Huffington Post in July. "This is just what it is and if this is you, too, then cool."
3. Samsung just used "Royals" in an ad called "The Developer" featuring the $300 Galaxy Note 3 ($700 unlocked!) and $300 Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
4. The ad features street urchins singing "Royals" while spying on soccer superstar Lionel Messi, one of the most highly paid soccer players in the world. Messi is walking around their slum wearing a sharply tailored suit. At the end, he uses the Note and the Gear to demolish an abandoned building, creating a soccer field onto which the urchins excitedly run. It is not clear if the urchins are excited to play soccer, or if they are simply hoping Messi will provide them with food and shelter.
5. According to the accompanying text, this is meant to be a "dramatic retelling of actual projects completed by the Messi Foundation." None of that is made clear in the ad itself.
6. Whatever the hell is going on, it is the exact opposite of the message contained in "Royals," and speaks to Samsung's intensely weird lack of self-awareness and almost complete inability to sense irony in any form whatsoever.
7. This, presented without comment, is Samsung's actual description of the ad.
Told from a child's perspective, "The Developer" is a musical short film by Samsung featuring Lionel Messi and the hit single "Royals" by Lorde. A mysterious stranger arrives in a low income neighborhood and captures the imaginations of the children who live there. He is "The Developer" and the children view him with a deep suspicion. Together with his Samsung GALAXY Note 3 and GALAXY Gear, the Developer effortlessly masterminds a secret construction project. Using the latest in Samsung technology including Action Memo, Pen Window, Scrapbook and hands-free call capability on the Gear, the Developer orchestrates and executes his mysterious mission. The children watch in awe. They reflect on their current situation by singing Lorde's breakout hit "Royals," a song about overcoming her own humble beginnings. The spot concludes with a beautiful new pitch that has been constructed in the toughest part of town. The Developer is revealed to be the world's reigning football star, Lionel Messi, fulfilling his personal mission to help under privileged children. The events in this story are a dramatic retelling of actual projects completed by the Messi Foundation. The film was directed by Adam Hashemi.
8. There are no additional words.Russia denies postponing Syria peace conference
AFP, Reuters
MOSCOW/BEIRUT: Russia on Tuesday denied postponing a Syria peace conference while not confirming an earlier announced date of Nov. 18, after the plan gained a cool reception from Turkey and its Western allies.
“This congress is being prepared now,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday.
“No one has postponed it because the date of the congress has not been officially announced,” he added.
Russia pledged during talks in Kazakhstan last week to bring the Syrian regime and its opponents together for a “congress” to push peace efforts in the city of Sochi on Nov. 18.
Then on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the Kremlin had told Ankara it was postponing the event.
Lavrov in Russia’s first public reaction since then said Moscow was in touch with Turkey, Iran, the Gulf nations and other countries to determine the conference’s agenda and date.
He said Moscow was also in contact with the Syrian regime and a range of opposition forces as well as the UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
Lavrov said some opposition groups had refused to hold negotiations with Bashar Assad’s regime, but added that the “feedback is rather positive.”
Russia last week unveiled its initiative to bring the Syrian regime and its opponents to the negotiating table in Sochi after peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana failed to gain much traction.
The Astana talks have run in parallel to negotiations held in Geneva with the backing of the UN. The fate of Assad remains a huge stumbling block, preventing global players from reaching a peace settlement over Syria.
Lavrov said Tuesday that global players should redouble efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the six-year war as the Syrian regime edges closer to victory after a string of Daesh’s losses.
“As far as the Syrian conflict is concerned, the political process is becoming ever more important,” he said.
“The fight against terror in Syria is coming to an end. There shouldn’t be any breaks in the efforts of the international community.”
‘War does not end in Deir Ezzor’
Syrian President Bashar Assad said the victories of the Syrian army and its allies against terrorist organizations do not end in Deir Ezzor province where Daesh has its last significant stronghold, his office reported on Tuesday.
In a meeting with Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Assad said the war waged by his military and its allies also targets those seeking to “divide and weaken states.”Source: By nd3000/Shutterstock
I have recently written about the reasons we become involved in bad relationships, but once we realize that a relationship is unsatisfying, why do we stay? Psychological research can help to explain our tendency to initiate and maintain relationships with partners who don’t meet our needs. Although “bad” relationships include abusive relationships, the research below can help to elucidate why we stay in low-quality relationships which are not marred by abuse as well (see Copp et al., 2015).
Why We Maintain Bad Relationships
1. We Can Be Satisfied With Unsatisfactory Relationships
In recent research exploring women’s decisions about whether to stay in or to leave their relationships, the single most important determinant of women’s decisions to remain in their relationships was relationship satisfaction (Edwards et al., 2011). How can we be satisfied with unsatisfactory relationships? As we discussed in the post exploring why we initiate bad relationships, some individuals, especially those with low or those who perceive themselves to be less attractive, have low “comparison levels” (Thibaut and Kelley, 1986; Luciano and Orth, 2017; Montoya, 2008). Your comparison level can be thought of as your “standards,” or what you expect to receive from a relationship. Individuals with low comparison levels do not expect many benefits from their relationships, but they do expect many difficulties. If you have a low comparison level, you may maintain a bad relationship because your low expectations are being met. Individuals with low self-esteem are more likely to become involved in relationships which are of shorter duration, and they experience further declines in self-esteem when their relationships end (Luciano and Orth, 2017). Similarly, women who experienced abuse as children report more satisfaction with lower-quality relationships (Edwards et al., 2011).
2. A Shift in Priorities
Common mechanisms which help to maintain our relationships are “partner-enhancement” and “positive illusions.” Both terms refer to the fact that we tend to see our romantic partners positively, sometimes unrealistically so (Morry et al., 2010; Conley et al., 2009). In both gay and lesbian as well as heterosexual couples, those who view their partners more positively also report more relationship satisfaction (Conley et al., 2009). How can we see our partners positively when we are in undesirable relationships? Research shows that we value the positive characteristics which our partners display more so than other characteristics (Fletcher et al., 2000). For example, if your partner is generous but not thoughtful, you might come to value more than thoughtfulness over the course of your relationship. When our partners reveal negative characteristics, we may downgrade the importance of those characteristics and upgrade the importance of the positive traits our mates do possess (Fletcher et al., 2000).
3. Low-Quality Alternatives
If you are in an undesirable relationship, you might consider alternatives to that relationship, including being alone or entering a different relationship (Thibaut and Kelley, 1986). If you perceive that an alternative might be preferable to your current situation, you are more likely to leave your relationship, but if you perceive lower-quality alternatives, you are more likely to stay, even in an unsatisfying relationship. Recent research shows that perceiving poor alternatives to the relationship enhances the likelihood of staying with an undesirable partner, and that women with low self esteem perceive fewer desirable alternatives to their current relationships (Edwards et al., 2011). Furthermore, is more common in nations where women achieve more economic independence, and in which the proportion of men to women is higher, suggesting that women are more likely to divorce if they have the economic means to live independently, as well as if there are an abundance of other possible partners (Barber, 2003).
4. Manipulation
If your partner is aware that you want to leave the relationship, he or she may use different methods of manipulation to force you to stay. Emotional manipulation, such as belittling, demeaning, or even threats of violence against future alternative partners, may be used to maintain the current relationship (Buss and Shackelford, 1997; Cousins and Fugère, in press). Men with lower self-esteem, as well as men who are less physically attractive than their partners, may be more likely to use manipulation to prevent their partners from leaving their relationships (Buss and Shackelford, 1997; Holden et al., 2014). The distress associated with emotional abuse or the physical implications of intimate partner violence are strong deterrents to those seeking to leave a relationship. Edwards et al. (2011) suggest that women who are psychologically distressed may not feel like they have the ability to leave their partners.
5. Investment
Other major obstacles to leaving a bad relationship include our shared investments with our partners (Adams, 1965). As Copp et al. (2015) report, investing a lot of time in a relationship or sharing investments, such as a home or children, makes couples more likely to stay together. According to Rego et al. (2016), when we have already invested a lot of time, effort, or resources in a relationship, many of us continue that investment even when it may not be best for us; we are biased toward continuing unhappy relationships once we have invested in them. These authors also explain that when making relationship decisions, we often rely on emotions rather than rational deliberation. Which leads us to the final reason we often stay in bad relationships...
6. Love
Psychologists distinguish among three different components of attitudes: the component or thoughts, the affective component or feelings, and the behavioral component or actions (Kassin et al., 2011). Frequently these components are not aligned with one another. For example, in the case of a bad relationship, your thoughts may be negative, telling you that your partner is not good for you, but your feelings may still be positive. We may continue to love our partners, even though we consciously recognize that we are involved in bad relationships. It is also possible that strong positive and negative feelings toward a partner may co-exist (Zayas & Shoda, 2015).
What You Can Do to Help
If you are in a bad relationship, it can help to rely on your and family members for social support. If you are a friend or family member of someone involved in a bad relationship, your opinions can help to convince him or her to end his or her suffering. Expressed negative opinions by friends and family members are associated with an increased likelihood of ending a bad relationship (Copp et al., 2015), and our relationships are likely to be happier and more successful when our friends and family members support our relationships (Sinclair et al., 2014).
Portions of this post were taken from The Social Psychology of and available on Amazon. Copyright 2015 Madeleine A. Fugère.
Please see my other posts here.
Follow me on Twitter @SocPscAttrRel and never miss a post!
References
Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 267–299.
Barber, N. (2003). Divorce and reduced economic and emotional interdependence: A cross-national study. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 39(3–4), 113–124. doi:10.1300/J087v39n03_06
Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). From vigilance to violence: Mate retention tactics in married couples. Journal of and Social Psychology, 72(2), 346-361.
Conley, T. D., Roesch, S. C., Peplau, L., & Gold, M. S. (2009). A test of positive illusions versus shared reality models of relationship satisfaction among gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(6), 1417–1431. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00488.x
Copp, J. E., Giordano, P. C., Longmore, M. A., & Manning, W. D. (2015). Stay-or-leave in nonviolent and violent dating relationships. Violence and Victims, 30(4), 581-599.
Cousins, A.J. & Fugère, M.A. (in press). Manipulation. In T.K. Shackelford & V. A. Weekes-Shackelford’s (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. New York: Springer.
Edwards, K. M., Gidycz, C. A., & Murphy, M. J. (2011). College women’s stay/leave decisions in abusive dating relationships: A prospective analysis of an expanded investment model. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(7), 1446-1462.
Fletcher, G. O., Simpson, J. A., & Thomas, G. (2000). Ideals, perceptions, and evaluations in early relationship development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 933–940. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.933
Holden, C. J., Shackelford, T. K., Zeigler-Hill, V., Miner, E. J., Kaighobadi, F., Starratt, V. G., & Jeffrey, A.J., Buss, D. M. (2014). Husband's esteem predicts his mate retention tactics., 12(3), 655-672. doi:10.1177/147470491401200311
Kassin, S. M., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2011). Social Psychology (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage.
Luciano, E. C., & Orth, U. (2017). Transitions in romantic relationships and development of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112(2), 307-328. doi:10.1037/pspp0000109
Montoya, R. (2008). I’m hot, so I’d say you’re not: The influence of objective physical on mate selection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(10), 1315–1331. doi:10.1177/0146167208320387
Morry, M. M., Reich, T., & Kito, M. (2010). How do I see you relative to myself? Relationship quality as a predictor of self- and partner-enhancement within cross- friendships, dating relationships, and marriages. The Journal of Social Psychology, 150(4), 369–392. doi:10.1080/00224540903365471
Rego, S., Arantes, J., & Magalhães, P. (2016). Is there a Sunk Cost Effect in Committed Relationships?. Current Psychology, 1-12.
Sinclair, H. C., Hood, K. B., & Wright, B. L. (2014). Revisiting the Romeo and Juliet effect (Driscoll, Davis, & Lipetz, 1972): Reexamining the links between opinions and romantic relationship outcomes. Social Psychology, 45(3), 170-178. doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000181
Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1986). The social psychology of groups. Piscataway, NJ, US: Transaction Publishers.
Zayas, V., & Shoda, Y. (2015). Love you? Hate you? Maybe it’s both: Evidence that significant others trigger bivalent-. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(1), 56-64. doi:10.1177/1948550614541297In an astonishing defense of dropping “death taxes” for individual estates worth more than $5.5 million, GOP Iowa Sen.Chuck Grassleyimplied that people not currently affected by that tax are “spending every darn penny... on booze or women.”
“I think not having theestate taxrecognizes the people that are investing — as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies,” Grassley told theDes Moines Registerin an interview published Saturday. Grassley, who serves on the Finance Committee, made the remark when asked about the Senate tax reform measure which would double the exemption for estates to $11 million for an individual and $22 million for a couple. Heirs would inherit the estates tax-free.
Grassley’s comment triggered a wave of criticism on social media. Many complained that the working class is, in fact, spending “every darn penny” on raising their kids, caring for elderly parents, health care and putting food on the table. One Twitter user complained that the GOP was turning America into a version of “The Hunger Games.”
The Grassley interview was part of the Des Moines Register’s examination of how the tax reform measure radically reducing estate taxes will affect Iowans. Grassley has long argued that estate taxes, which currently must be paid on individual estates worth more than $5.5 million ($11 million for a married couple), hurt farms and small businesses in the state. Now, the Iowa senator apparently sees the tax change as a way to reward those who have accumulated millions of dollars by “investing.”
The newspaper found that the estate tax break will affect only “dozens” among 1.4 million Iowa taxpayers, according toIRS data, because almost all estates fall under the current exemption cap. The newspaper noted that the number of Iowans owing estate taxes was just32 of 1.4 million taxpayersin 2012 — or.002 percent of the total. Sixty-one people —.004 percent of all Iowa taxpayers — filed estate taxes in 2015. Only a fraction of those were farmers or small business owners, the newspaper reported.
Currently, only.2 percent of Americans pay estate taxand will benefit from the changes. The House measure wouldeliminate the taxon all estates of any size by 2024. The Senate and House measures will have to be reconciled.
Rep. David Young (R-Iowa) and Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) both applauded the changes in the estate tax and emphasized how the changes would help farms and small businesses. Young insisted in a newsletter Friday that it is a “myth” that “repealing the estate tax is a massive giveaway to the wealthiest Americans.”
Grassley said earlier this year that the federal estate tax “may force family members to liquidate to pay the death tax.”
Related coverage
Here Are 6 Of The Most Radical Aspects Of The GOP Tax Bill
Problems Of The Super Rich
House Republicans Pass Tax Bill
Senate Republicans Don't Care If Their Tax Bill Is Unpopular
The Toxic Tax Bill
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Imagine being a 13th century Norwegian parent who had to bring her baby back to the church for another baptism. Your friends ask, “Why are you having the baby baptized again?” You answer, “Well, the first time our little baby Olaf was baptized with beer. The Pope said it was no good. Apparently baptism by beer is invalid.”
Pope Gregory IX in the 13th century decreed that baptisms by beer were invalid. Apparently this had happened in a region of Norway where water had not been available. The Holy Father had to write to the Archbishop of Trondhjem in Norway to settle this matter – literally to settle the sacramental matter.Pope Gregory IX decreed: “Since according to the Gospel teaching, a man must be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, those are not to be considered validly baptized who have been baptized with beer {cervisia}.” This really did happen!Apparently this had happened in a region of Norway where water had not been available. The Holy Father had to write to the Archbishop of Trondhjem in Norway to settle this matter – literally to settle the sacramental matter. We all know that the seven sacraments have “form and matter.” This is a principle drawing on the metaphysical principles of Aristotle. Let’s take a look at three sacraments as examples:
The sacrament of baptism consists of matter (water) and form (“I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”) With the Holy Eucharist there is matter (wheat bread and grape wine) and the form (“This is my body” and “This is the chalice of my blood”). With Confirmation, the matter is chrism with the laying on hands and the form is “I seal you with the sign of the Cross and I confirm you with the Chrism of salvation in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Here we see that the sacraments have “words” and “stuff.” If you poured beer (wrong matter) on a baby and said the right words (the right form), the baptism would be invalid. Similarly, if you used a rice cake or apple wine in the Mass, it would be invalid. No transubstantiation.So next time you’re at a cocktail party with some fellow Catholics and you need something interesting to share, you may think about giving your friends a little lesson about the intersection of church history and alcohol history. Just remember, it was Pope Gregory IX and it was the 13th century. If you poured beer (wrong matter) on a baby and said the right words (the right form), the baptism would be invalid. Similarly, if |
the dishonors for Legend's upcoming "Reefer Madness" disc, due April 20. Speaking of DVDs, Rhino Home Video continues to release "MST3K" episodes. So far, 10 single-episode DVDs and four four-episode box sets are available, with a fifth box set scheduled for release on March 9. So, even if "MST3K' is gone from the airwaves, it isn't really gone — not as long as there are bad movies and people to poke fun at them. The final "Mystery Science Theater 3000" airs Saturday at 8 a.m. Central.(Reuters) - Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, were the official witnesses of a same-sex marriage between two women in Maine over the weekend, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Former President George H. W. Bush applauds during an event to honor the winner of the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award at the White House in Washington July 15, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The former first couple witnessed the private ceremony on Saturday in Kennebunk between Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, according to Jim McGrath, a Bush spokesman.
Clement posted a photograph on her Facebook page of President Bush signing a piece of paper as the couple, close friends of the Bushes, watched and held champagne glasses.
The couple owns H.B. Provisions, a general store in Kennebunk, Maine. The former president owns a compound in Kennebunkport, about four miles (six km) east of Kennebunk.
Maine is one of 13 states that allows gay marriage.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred same-sex couples from federal marriage benefits. But the high court declined to rule on whether gay men and lesbians have a fundamental right to marry, leaving it to states to decide.
The ruling has led to legal challenges in federal and state courts to laws that restrict the rights of gays and lesbians.
Several other notable Republicans have voiced support for gay marriage, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and Ohio Senator Rob Portman.
But same-sex marriage is opposed by most Republicans. A Gallup poll in July found 66 percent of Republicans were against making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus reiterated in July the party’s stand that marriage was between one man and one woman.
(The story corrects paragraph 8 removing former President George W. Bush as a Republican who has voiced support for gay marriage.)Appearing on "The Rachel Maddow Show" earlier this week, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh argued that Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman should keep his committee chairmanships, suggesting that the posts could be taken away at a later date if he misbehaves. But a Senate rules expert who spoke to the Huffington Post said this could prove more difficult than is presently assumed.
Attempting to put Democrats' fears to rest, Bayh told Maddow:
And the final thing I'd say is, if he does retain his chairmanship, we still exert oversight over him and control over him. He doesn't have the ability to just do whatever he wants. The caucus still has the right to remove him from that position at any time if he starts going off on some kind of tangent.
Bayh's rationale appeared persuasive to some Democrats, including former Clinton campaign operative Phil Singer, who wrote on his blog that the Indiana Senator's take was "not unreasonable."
But former Democratic Senate staffer Martin Paone suggested Bayh is under-educated on this matter. Paone, who became as the "secretary to the majority" in the Senate starting in 2001, notes that Republicans harbored similar desires in the past, but never executed them due to the threat of a filibuster.
"It takes a Senate resolution to change a chairmanship, and that resolution could be subject to a filibuster," Paone told the Huffington Post. Put simply, under Bayh's proposed scenario, Republicans would have every reason to filibuster a new Senate resolution taking Lieberman's chairmanship away if he was proving an effective antagonist of President Obama.
Paone noted that a similar game of political chess played out in the Senate's recent history. "We had a similar situation in the past with a Republican moderate senator, Mark Hatfield from Oregon, who voted the wrong way in the eyes of [former Sen. Rick] Santorum and others on the constitutional amendment on a balanced budget," Paone said. "There were rumblings they wanted to take his chairmanship away. But the ranking member on the committee was [Democratic] Sen. Robert Byrd, who wrote Hatfield a nice note saying, 'if they ever try to take your chairmanship away, I'll make sure we [Democrats] will filibuster such a resolution."
According to Paone, "the time to take a chairmanship away is when everybody is being appointed [at the beginning of the new Congress]. Everybody has an investment in that resolution. In order for everybody to benefit, that resolution has to pass. It's much more difficult to cherry pick in this fashion, to take one Senator's chairmanship, at a later date."PopZette Exclusive: Dean Cain Reveals Why He’s Taking on the Armenian Genocide The former Superman tells LifeZette about the documentary 'Architects of Denial' — and his numerous other projects
The Armenian Genocide is one of the least talked about yet one of the most tragic periods in history. The calculated slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians, mostly Christian, by the Ottoman Empire during World War I is an event not officially acknowledged by the Turkish government (the modern-day state of the Ottoman Empire) — or by many in our own government.
It’s an event that today is discussed more than in the past, thanks to the efforts of certain people with public platforms. One of those people is “Lois & Clark” actor Dean Cain, who stars in and helped produce the documentary “Architects of Denial,” a film examining the phenomenon of the official denials by public figures of a terrible event that should never be forgotten.
Advertisement
[lz_ndn video=32325511]
Cain talked with LifeZette about the film.
Question: ‘The Promise,’ which was also about the Armenian genocide, was met with a lot of controversy and backlash. What do you expect the short-term and long-term responses to be to this film?
Answer: I hope that “Architects of Denial” educates people about a very disturbing event that unquestionably took place, just after the turn of the 20th century. It was the first genocide in the 20th century, and millions were killed — including 1.5 million Armenians, 900,000 Greeks, and 750,000 Assyrians. It was a horrible tragedy that has been denied and covered up for over 100 years.
That denial and covering up allows genocides to continue to this very day — in places like Syria, Iraq, and Sudan. In fact, when Adolf Hitler spoke about his “Final Solution,” he said, “After all, who remembers the Armenians?”
We are also very hopeful — and both Montel [Williams, another producer of the documentary] and I spent time on Capitol Hill in October — that we can get [House Res. 220] passed by the U.S. Congress. [We want to] finally have the United States recognize the Armenian Genocide for what it was, a genocide, and recognize that Christians today are one of the most persecuted groups in the world.
[lz_third_party align=center width=630 includes=https://youtu.be/1Z1UXT_wi58]
Advertisement
Q: Are you hopeful the Turkish government will begin to acknowledge the Armenian genocide in the near future?
A: I am not very optimistic that the Turkish government will recognize [this genocide any time soon]. Many, many Turkish citizens already recognize the Armenian Genocide for what it was, but Turkish citizens are not allowed to call it a genocide — [that is] punishable by arrest and jail time or worse inside Turkey.
The current government, led by the authoritarian Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, seems to be headed in the opposite direction — and the relationship between the United States and Turkey and even NATO is suffering as a result.
Related: Dean Cain Is Taking on the Armenian Genocide
Q: How did you come to be involved with this movie?
A: I became involved in “Architects of Denial” through a number of Armenian friends who asked me if I knew anything about the Armenian Genocide. I was embarrassed I did not know much. My Armenian producer friend said, “I thought you were a history major — from Princeton!” That was the jumping-off point for me. I went to a march on April 24, about 10 years ago in Los Angeles, that commemorates the start of the Armenian Genocide [April 24, 1915] — and I learned an awful lot that day, and in the days since.
Montel Williams and I executive-produced this film after traveling the world together doing charity work. Montel and I don’t agree on everything politically, but we definitely agree on this: Genocide is wrong, and it needs to be stopped.
Related: Dean Cain: Much of Hollywood’s Rhetoric ‘Is Completely Out of Control’
Advertisement
Q: What other projects are you working on right now that fans can anticipate?
A: I’m currently involved in a large number of projects. I’m writing and producing several feature films, including “Escape to Shanghai (The Violin)” and “Little Devils,” hosting “Masters of Illusion” on the CW [four seasons], starring in “Hit the Floor” on BET, and guest-hosting “The Today Show” and “Fox & Friends Weekend.” I’m also starring in several feature films, including the soon-to-be-released “Gosnell” [the story of Kermit Gosnell], and recurring on “Supergirl” as her foster father.
Q: A recent movie of yours that’s gained a bit of a cult following is the prison-based action movie “Vendetta,” directed by the Soska twins. Any chance that you would re-team with them, or do a sequel?
A: I would love to work with the Soska twins again. They are extremely talented and amazing to work with! “Vendetta” needs a sequel!
“Architects of Denial” can be found on video on demand services now.Spring Lake is slowly getting back to normal.
But the cause for the environmental damage to the lake is yet unknown.
In late October, about 22,000 gallons of sewage flowed into the lake, located near the intersection of Clark and Palm drives in Holmes Beach. The waste came from a nearby Manatee County lift station. The county initially blamed the killing of more than 100 fish in the lake to the sewage spill. Now, officials aren’t so sure that’s the reason crabs, red fish, snook and other species of fish died in the lake.
According to Amy Pilson, public affairs liaison to Manatee County Utilities, the reason for the fish kill could be unrelated to the sewage overflow.
Pilson said dead fish were first reported in the lake Oct. 26, two days before the sewage incident on Oct. 28. She said the two events are potentially related. However, with the sewage spill coming on the heels of the first reported fish kill, it may be difficult to identify the cause.
“There are a lot of factors that come into play,” Pilson said.
One factor is hydraulic acid that was drained into the lake by American Beauty Pools workers during construction of two pools at a Clark Drive duplex.
However, water testing showed the amount of acid drained into the lake insufficient to kill the fish.
Manatee County Utilities removed the dead fish from the lake, vacuumed debris along the shores and sprinkled lime in the area. When water tests showed the contaminants at the lake were within normal range, the county removed warning signs Nov. 5 and concluded its investigation.
Holmes Beach code enforcement and police departments also have concluded their investigations. HBPD Chief Bill Tokajer said American Beauty Pools would be cited for improper drainage. The company was given a warning for the same issue at the Clark Drive site by code enforcement in August.
FWC also is concluding its investigation.
With murky water and no fish jumping in the lake, residents in the area are concerned the cleanup effort is incomplete.
Melissa Williams, who resides on the lakefront, said she hopes the county will continue cleanup efforts and restock the fish.
Another resident, Bob McCaffrey, agrees.
McCaffrey, who has lived along the lake for 25 years, said the murky water and odor from the water after the leak left him concerned about the effort put into restoration.
“I’m not sure their cleanup effort is great,” he said. “I’m not sure they’re taking the right steps. It was man who made the mess and man should clean it up.”
McCaffrey said he’d also like to see the lake restocked with fish and the water clean and clear.
“I’d just like them to put it back the way it was,” he said.FOR HAWAII
http://www.hawaii247.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/20161208-0850-hccd-tsunami-watch-cancelled.mp3
Hawaii County Civil Defense Tsunami Watch cancellation message
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 2 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 836 AM HST THU DEC 08 2016 TO - EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF HAWAII SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH CANCELLATION THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 0836 AM HST. NOTE EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE DOWN GRADED TO 7.8 FROM 8.0. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS ORIGIN TIME - 0739 AM HST 08 DEC 2016 COORDINATES - 10.7 SOUTH 161.4 EAST LOCATION - SOLOMON ISLANDS MAGNITUDE - 7.8 MOMENT EVALUATION BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO THE STATE OF HAWAII. THEREFORE... THE TSUNAMI WATCH FOR HAWAII IS NOW CANCELLED. THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.
FOR SOLOMON ISLANDS
Animation of the forecasted tsunami waves from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the Solomon Islands on Thursday, December 9, 2016 (Hawaii Time).
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 4 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 1946 UTC THU DEC 8 2016...PTWC FINAL TSUNAMI THREAT MESSAGE... THE TSUNAMI FORECAST IS UNCHANGED IN THIS MESSAGE. PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS --------------------------------- * MAGNITUDE 7.8 * ORIGIN TIME 1739 UTC DEC 8 2016 * COORDINATES 10.7 SOUTH 161.4 EAST * DEPTH 40 KM / 25 MILES * LOCATION SOLOMON ISLANDS EVALUATION ---------- * AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.8 OCCURRED IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS AT 1739 UTC ON THURSDAY DECEMBER 8 2016. * BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA... THE TSUNAMI THREAT FROM THIS EARTHQUAKE HAS NOW PASSED. TSUNAMI THREAT FORECAST...UPDATED --------------------------------- * THE TSUNAMI THREAT HAS NOW LARGELY PASSED. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS ------------------- * GOVERNMENT AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY IMPACTED COASTAL AREAS SHOULD MONITOR CONDITIONS AT THE COAST TO DETERMINE IF AND WHEN IT IS SAFE TO RESUME NORMAL ACTIVITIES. * PERSONS LOCATED NEAR IMPACTED COASTAL AREAS SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR INFORMATION AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES. * REMAIN OBSERVANT AND EXERCISE NORMAL CAUTION NEAR THE SEA. POTENTIAL IMPACTS ----------------- * MINOR SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS OF UP TO 0.3 METERS ABOVE AND BELOW THE NORMAL TIDE MAY CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. TSUNAMI OBSERVATIONS -------------------- * THE FOLLOWING ARE TSUNAMI WAVE OBSERVATIONS FROM COASTAL AND/OR DEEP-OCEAN SEA LEVEL GAUGES AT THE INDICATED LOCATIONS. THE MAXIMUM TSUNAMI HEIGHT IS MEASURED WITH RESPECT TO THE NORMAL TIDE LEVEL. GAUGE TIME OF MAXIMUM WAVE COORDINATES MEASURE TSUNAMI PERIOD GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON (UTC) HEIGHT (MIN) ------------------------------------------------------------- HONIARA SB 9.4S 160.0E 1856 0.12M/ 0.4FT 18 LUGANVILLE VU 15.5S 167.2E 1921 0.10M/ 0.3FT 22 DART 55012 15.7S 158.5E 1903 0.03M/ 0.1FT 14 LATA WHARF SB 10.7S 165.8E 1907 0.08M/ 0.3FT 36 NEXT UPDATE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -------------------------------------- * THIS WILL BE THE FINAL STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS NEW INFORMATION IS RECEIVED OR THE SITUATION CHANGES. * AUTHORITATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EARTHQUAKE FROM THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT EARTHQUAKE.USGS.GOV/EARTHQUAKES -ALL LOWER CASE-. * FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT MAY BE FOUND AT PTWC.WEATHER.GOV AND AT WWW.TSUNAMI.GOV. * COASTAL REGIONS OF HAWAII... AMERICAN SAMOA... GUAM... AND CNMI SHOULD REFER TO PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES SPECIFICALLY FOR THOSE PLACES THAT CAN BE FOUND AT PTWC.WEATHER.GOV. * COASTAL REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA... OREGON... WASHINGTON... BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA SHOULD ONLY REFER TO U.S. NATIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES THAT CAN BE FOUND AT NTWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV.
USGS: How large does an earthquake have to be to cause a tsunami?
Magnitudes below 6.5
Earthquakes of this magnitude are very unlikely to trigger a tsunami. Magnitudes between 6.5 and 7.5
Earthquakes of this size do not usually produce destructive tsunamis. However, small sea level changes may be observed in the vicinity of the epicenter. Tsunamis capable of producing damage or casualties are rare in this magnitude range but have occurred due to secondary effects such as landslides or submarine slumps. Magnitudes between 7.6 and 7.8
Earthquakes of this size may produce destructive tsunamis especially near the epicenter; at greater distances small sea level changes may be observed. Tsunamis capable of producing damage at great distances are rare in the magnitude range. Magnitude 7.9 and greater
Destructive local tsunamis are possible near the epicenter, and significant sea level changes and damage may occur in a broader region. Note that with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the probability of an aftershock with a magnitude exceeding 7.5 is not negligible. To date, the largest aftershock recorded has been magnitude 7.1 that did not produce a damaging tsunami.
Share this: Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Reddit
Google
Tumblr
More
Print
LinkedIn
Pocket
EmailEpisodes One and Two REDUX & Survival Mode Update
“Hinterland’s painterly wilderness is one of the most evocative settings on PC.”
- PC GAMER
BUY THE LONG DARK
INCLUDES WINTERMUTE EPISODES ONE & TWO, AND SURVIVAL MODE Episode Three, Episode Four and Episode Five will be unlocked for free as they are released.
Where to Buy The Long Dark?
“The Long Dark is a troubling yet beautiful gem.”
- WIRED
Welcome to the Quiet Apocalypse
THE LONG DARK is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. There are no zombies — only you, the cold, and all the threats Mother Nature can muster.
Deep survival simulation gameplay where every decision matters. Explore a large open world in search of resources.
“THE LONG DARK is the survival genre at its brutal best.”
- ROCK, PAPER, SHOTGUN
Join the CommunityWith Fencing Summer Nationals quickly approaching, we know that some of you first-time attendees (fencers and parents) have questions and concerns about how to prepare, what to expect, and what to do once you’re there. New fencers often get nervous and their parents get stressed from the uncertainty. With the number of fencers and the size of the competition, Summer Nationals and North American Cups (NACs) can be overwhelming—but are also overwhelmingly FUN!
We want you to be able to focus on enjoying the event and fencing your best. To that end, we’ve written an eBook that compiles the information that we’ve shared with first-time parents over the last couple of years. We tend to get the same questions from different parents, and we know that a little knowledge can go a long way in calming the anxiety and setting yourself up for a fun competition.
As with all of our eBooks, the book is available as a free download on our website:
Fencing Summer Nationals and NACs Guide
The book covers:
When to start planning and when to make travel plans (even how to pick your hotel!) What to pack and how best to get it there What to do when you arrive, before the event, at the event, and after the event What information you need to look for and where to find it What to expect and what you need to know going in
We strongly encourage first-time attendees of fencing Summer Nationals this June to read this short book ahead of time. You will feel more prepared and excited as the big day approaches. We’d also love to hear any questions about the book or things you think we may have missed—comment here or email us with your questions!
Like this: Like Loading...Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
The short video that Prime Minister Netanyahu released on Friday on the obstacles, as he sees them, to peace with the Palestinians contained a number of central messages. But the one that got primary attention was his reference to ethnic cleansing – specifically the Palestinian demand that in any agreement, none of the Jews living beyond the 1948 “green line” would be allowed to remain.
The condemnation and outrage that followed, from the US State Department, journalists, Knesset members and in social media was intense, and predictable. Netanyahu was accused of pandering to the Israeli Right to shore up his standing in the polls (although the video was in English with Hebrew and Arabic subtitles). US officials repeated their opposition to settlements, and referred to “that type of terminology” (ethnic cleansing) as “inappropriate and unhelpful.”
As is often the case, many of the instant pundits and Netanyahu critics missed the context and the substance. In the Israeli historical memory, beyond the Nazis and the Holocaust, the term “ethnic cleansing” brings up images of the 1929 Hebron massacre and the 1948 forced exodus of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City.Both events remain sources of trauma. In 1929, Arab rioting that began in Jerusalem extended to Hebron – the second holiest city for Jews. Sixty-seven Jewish residents were killed, and the survivors forced to flee. The British forces that controlled Palestine did not provide protection and it was only after the 1967 war that Jews returned to live in Hebron – a priority then and now, 50 years later, precisely in response to memories of 1929.The ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem is even more sensitive and prominent. In May 1948, when the combined forces of the Arab Legion (the Jordanian army) and the local Palestinian militias conquered the Jewish Quarter, they did not disarm the Jewish residents and treat them as residents of occupied territory, in accordance with the Geneva Convention and international law. Rather, all of the Jews were expelled from their homes – every single one.Furthermore, after the fighting ended and the cease-fire was signed, with the “green line” cutting through Jerusalem, the results of the expulsion were not reversed. After a detailed armistice agreement was signed between Israel and Jordan, not a single Jew was allowed to return to the Old City of Jerusalem. Under Jordanian occupation, what remained of the ancient synagogues was systematically destroyed or desecrated.The ban on Jews, which was strictly enforced at the Mandelbaum Gate crossing point between the Israeli and Arab sections of the city, extended to non-Israelis as well. And the UN as well as the world powers, including the US, which had guaranteed freedom of access to sacred sites in the armistice agreement, were nowhere to be seen. The Western Wall, where Jews had gathered for 2,000 years to mourn the destruction of the Temple, was inaccessible.Throughout that period Jews would gather at the eastern edges of Jerusalem – on Mount Zion and the balconies of the King David Hotel – to pray in the direction of the Western Wall. It was as close as anyone could get. It was only with the 1967 war that Jewish Jerusalem became accessible again, and the Jewish Quarter restored.For Israelis, the traumas of Hebron and Jerusalem epitomize the perceived Palestinian objective of ridding the land, which Jews know as the Land of Israel, of all its Jewish inhabitants, as well as of its history and holy sites. This is a real and continuing issue, reinforced by Yasser Arafat in the summit with president Bill Clinton, by Palestinian schoolbooks and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speeches, and directly linked to incitement and terrorism. For any hope for peace to be taken seriously, the recognition of Jewish rights and history is essential.In this context, by referring to Palestinian demands as “ethnic cleansing,” Netanyahu sought to preempt the expected push, led by President Barack Obama, for a UN Security Council resolution that would seek to impose terms for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The text can be expected to be based on the Palestinian victimization narrative, focusing on post-1967 Israeli settlements, which have long dominated European policies and are now part of Obama’s approach.But to be more than a punch thrown at Israel, and in order to have any impact, a UN plan, backed by the US, needs Israeli cooperation to go anywhere. And while dealing with settlements is clearly a necessary dimension of peace, when conditions are ripe, Netanyahu’s video presented the other requirements, at least as long as he is prime minister (and probably for any foreseeable successor). Rather than deriding and dismissing these Israeli concerns, Obama and any other would-be peace makers would be well-advised to pay attention.
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>A letter by a senior Supreme Court judge, who is also a member of the collegium, has left Chief Justice of India T S Thakur perplexed. Justice J Chelameswar has sought that the Supreme Court collegium — that comprises the five most senior judges — record minutes of the confidential meetings held to discuss appointments and transfers of judges.
Advertising
Justice Chelameswar, incidentally, was the lone judge who had favoured doing away with the collegium system when a five-judge Constitution Bench, in October 2015, struck down an amendment to validate the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act.
Justice Chelameswar, as first reported by The New Indian Express, has written to the CJI, apprising the latter of his decision not to attend future meetings of the collegium. He has not, however, recused from the collegium. Justice Chelameswar has clarified that the recommendations being made by the other four judges, including the CJI, should come to him “by circulation”. This effectively means that the other four judges should put their recommendations in writing and then send it to Justice Chelameswar for his views.
If the CJI and the other three judges accept it, this would result in formally recording the minutes of the collegium. The judge’s communication, it is learnt, has questioned ambiguities and lack of transparency in the decision-making process of appointment and transfer of judges.
Justice Chelameswar’s letter resulted in the collegium meeting, scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the revised Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), being called off. It is learnt that the other judges of the collegium are set to deliberate on the future course of action.
Last year, when a Constitution Bench gave a 4-1 verdict striking down the NJAC, differed with the other judges, underlining that the judiciary’s power over appointments was “not the only means for the establishment of an independent and efficient judiciary”. He had called the proceedings of the collegium “absolutely opaque and inaccessible both to public and history, barring occasional leaks”. Justice Chelameswar will retire in June 2018.
His disagreement with the over 20-year-old procedure of picking up judges has come at a time when the government is at loggerheads with the CJI and the collegium over finalising the MoP. Notably, one of the chief issues of discord between the two pertains to the government’s demand that the collegium must record minutes of its meetings and underline dissent by any judge while making recommendations. This clause has been rejected by the collegium.
Advertising
Sources close to Justice Chelameswar said the judge has decided, for now, not to make public the contents of the three-page letter written to the CJI. “In the interest of the institution and to maintain institutional correctitude, the judge is not going to make the content public at this stage. However, if the situation so demands, he may consider doing so in future,” sources said.N.H. Public Library Resumes Support Of 'Tor' Internet Anonymizer
A New Hampshire public library has voted to continue supporting the controversial Tor network.
The Kilton Public Library in West Lebanon had decided to use its spare bandwidth to serve as a relay for the network. New Hampshire Public Radio reports the library had turned off the relay node after police and Homeland Security warned the library that, among other bad things, the network could allow criminals to move child pornography anonymously.
The Tor network tries to make Internet traffic anonymous by routing traffic through different nodes before it reaches its final destination. The library set up a node that allowed it to become one of those way stations.
While Tor can be used for criminal activity, it's also often used, for example, by political activists and journalists seeking to break through an oppressive government's firewall or avoid its surveillance.
The Concord Monitor reports that yesterday the library weighed both scenarios and decided to turn its node back on.
The newspaper reports:
" 'With any freedom there is risk,' library board Chairman Francis Oscadal said. 'It came to me that I could vote in favor of the good... or I could vote against the bad. " 'I'd rather vote for the good because there is value to this.'... "Alison Macrina, the founder of the Library Freedom Project, which brought Tor to Kilton Public Library, said the risk of criminal activity taking place on Tor is not a sufficient reason to suspend its use. For comparison, she said, the city is not going to shut down its roads simply because some people choose to drive drunk."
Macrina told the Valley News that the Kilton Public Library was the first in the country to host a Tor relay node.
She told the paper that "she hopes more libraries across the country and the world will follow suit."Last month, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced that the number of public library memberships in Turkey increased by 24.1 percent in 2016, compared to the previous year. In a time of terror, political uncertainty, and a coup attempt, Turks took refuge in libraries.
Some Istanbul libraries owe their existence to taxes; others to banks; one to an English monarch. SALT is located in the previous headquarters of the Ottoman Bank, which was founded in 1856 on the orders of Queen Victoria, a friend of the westernizing Sultan Abdulmecid. The building opened at a time when Turkish-British commercial ties were at their peak. Today, its library houses 110,000 books. Last year, it served more than 47,000 readers.
On a recent weekday the library was bustling with bright-eyed readers, and every seat were occupied. A hush fell over after I entered the reading room. On a desk by the entrance, a young man pored over a book; he checked a page number, and he typed a footnote to his thesis; in the little garden outside, two young girls smoked rollies. SALT is paid for by Garanti, a private Turkish bank. This is part of a trend.
In September, Yapı Kredi, another Turkish bank, opened its culture centre. On its roof, a classic sculpture of a naked woman embracing life with open arms, looks toward the bustling Istiklal Avenue. Among those who see the sculpture, some climb the stairs to the top floor, and take a picture for their Instagram; others enter the library. Yapı Kredi Library has opened to the public this month, after years of renovation. Its collection consists of some 80,000 volumes and hundreds of ancient manuscripts.
Says Mine Haydaroğlu, who runs the library: “Outside, the streets are crowded; Istanbul became an eternal construction site. Readers find their peace here. Our visitors consist mostly of millennials and elderly people. The library has recently been renovated, and entering it lifts up the spirit of many.”
Just around the corner, Istanbul Research Institute, a library specializing on the city, houses 40,000 books. Those are spread among three floors organized to reflect three layers of Istanbul: Byzantine, Ottoman, and Republican. The 19th-century building, by Italian architect Guglielmo Semprini, has wooden-floors and a large collection of city monographs.
Such institutions connect Turks to the outside world. Turkish artist Halil Altındere remembers reading Artforum, the contemporary art magazine, in the library of Osmanlı Bankası, during the 1990s. Born in Mardin, an eastern Turkish city, Altındere came to Istanbul for college. He says he owes much to libraries which, in his small corner of the world, opened his eyes to the international art scene. In 2015, Altındere’s works were exhibited at MoMA; this October, his works are shown at apexart, a Lower Manhattan gallery. When I saw him inside the library the other day, he seemed comfortable. “I come here to be able to breathe,” he says.
Atatürk Library, named after the republic’s secularist founder, attracts the biggest crowds. Housing 350,000 volumes, Atatürk is notoriously difficult to get into. The effort pays off: it is open around the clock, and the main reading room offers a commanding view of the Bosphorus. The Turkish republic and Atatürk Library are the same age; long queues appear every morning around the library.
During a recent visit, I read Scott Sherman’s book, “Patience and Fortitude”, which, as it happens, concerns libraries. In 2012, Sherman, a contributing writer for The Nation magazine, covered the debate around a $300 million renovation plan for the New York Public Library.
That scheme included the selling of the library’s Mid-Manhattan branch and sending three million books to a storage facility. Many were irritated by how a Wall Street logic threatened the iconic library; others considered stocking physical books in the main library, in the age of Google Books, passé. The debate divided New York intellectuals. Publications, including The New York Times, criticized the design of the new building. In May of 2014, NYPL abandoned the plan; instead, it renovated its Mid-Manhattan branch. In April this year, Sherman visited the NYPL branches, and he found reasons for “both optimism and concern about the overall direction of the NYPL.” He visited neighborhood libraries in Washington Heights and on the Lower East Side; seeing new elevators, packed reading halls, comfortable seating areas, and good collections of books, cheered him. This month, Sherman’s book, chronicling that story, came out in paperback.
Nowadays, Sherman lives in Istanbul. In an e-mail exchange, he expressed his surprise at the difference between Istanbul libraries and the NYPL. That NYC has libraries funded by tax dollars, but Istanbul’s best libraries owe their existence to banks, surprised him.
Indeed, it takes time to see banks as saviors of culture, rather than its adversaries. But this is the case in Istanbul today. Their private libraries have introduced innovations in ways that avoided offending scholars of old-fashioned reading habits. Over the summer, SALT introduced a VR interface that allowed users to search its archives. The interface was designed in collaboration with Google’s Artists and Machine Intelligence program. The library, whose design won an award from the American Institute of Architects, hosts contemporary art installations. In March, SALT opened a new floor for specialists. It houses an extra 10,000 books. Not everyone was happy that it was named after the bank’s CEO, but many bookworms let that go.
Yapı Kredi, the bank, puts out Turkish translations of books by Ben Lerner, Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro; pays its translators well; it is, also, the publisher of Orhan Pamuk. Some years ago, Yapı Kredi used ATM machines to promote the Nobel Laureate’s new book.
In “Timon of Athens,” Shakespeare described gold, this yellow slave, making “black white, foul fair, / Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.” In Turkey, it enables a culture of reading; many, including my Marxist friends, appear grateful. This will seem strange to some, but such is the state of culture in Turkey today.Shash
Ok the prototype turkish chain &plate mail is done, next ones are started already. All the basic ideas are set, I just need to get my lazy self to work.
Its not the best fit admittedly its slightly too |
the Special One's 14-year-old son, that is!
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho’s son has signed for Premier League rivals Fulham.
The 14-year-old goalkeeper has joined the youth set up at Craven Cottage after a successful month long trial at the club.
Jose Mario previously played in Spain for Real Madrid's Canillas team while his dad was manager at the Bernabeu.
Going to Fulham: Jose Mourinho and his family have decided not to pick Chelsea for their son Jose Mario
But Spanish newspaper Marca claim Mourinho Jnr has opted not to follow his father to Chelsea and instead play for Fulham at Under 14 level.
The contract is for one season because that is the longest a player of his age is allowed to sign when playing abroad.
The young Mourinho will hope to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Jose Manuel Mourinho Felix who also played as a keeper and won one cap for Portugal in the 1970s.
Rivalry: Will Mourinho senior be watching from the sideline when he son plays against Chelsea?Key Changes Better configurator for nonlinear image warping and edge blending.
More robust multi-channel rendering with remote projection configuration.
Improved CIGI protocol support.
Improved generation of grass and clutters, increased performance, runtime modification.
Added distributed terrain generation for Landscape tool.
Improved UnigineEditor 2.
Overall engine improvements and bugfixes.
More C++ samples. This is mainly a maintenance release, consisting mostly of fixes and improvements, however, it introduces some new features. These improvements were showcased in the new 3-channel firefighting flight simulator demonstrated at I/ITSEC 2017 in Orlando, USA:
AppProjection
The AppProjection plugin has evolved with support for adaptive grid, complex-shaped masks, blend maps and C++ API. Configuration of nonlinear image warping and edge blending for multi-projector setups has become an easier task.
The complete list of improvements includes the following:
Support for adaptive grid, now it is possible to set an arbitrary number of control points.
Improved visual editor offers flexible tuning of warping parameters for each control point.
It is now possible to create and edit masks to cut certain regions out.
Added C++ API and a set of new methods (The complete list of API changes is available in the API Migration Guide).
You can see the updated AppProjection in action in 3-channel flight simulator demonstrated at I/ITSEC 2017 in Orlando, USA.
The interface of Projection Configurator has transformed and became more convenient, all settings are now displayed on different tabs.
Warp tab contains geometry correction settings. New adaptive grid lets you set an arbitrary number of control points along horizontal and vertical axes. Precise positioning and flexible tuning of warping parameters for each control point, provided by the improved visual editor, give you full control over the image geometry to fit the required screen configuration. You can also use the Render Debug option to temporarily set individual colors for different projections. This helps to visualize overlapping regions for different projections and facilitates the setup process.
Color tab contains color correction settings. Here you can set up color intensity, and adjust color balance for the selected projection
Blend & Mask tab allows you to configure edge blending and create complex-shaped masks to cut certain regions out. You can create and modify multiple masks using visual editor.
Current projection configuration can be saved to a *.proj file.
Syncker
After a huge revamp introduced in the previous release the Syncker plugin continues to evolve. Syncker options can now be changed via the Plugins tab of the system menu, displayed when the Esc button is pressed.
GUI View Configuration
Introducing new GUI view configuration for Syncker, making it possible to set up projections remotely on a Slave computer.
You can create any setup for your project by adding and adjusting views to be displayed by the Master and Slaves. For each view you can use a display or projector. After creating views you can set up required image warping and edge blending parameters for each of them. All changes are transferred over the network and applied automatically.
To configure projections on the Master or a Slave, open the system menu by pressing Esc, go to Plugins tab and enable Show projections configuration option.
For more information on setting up view configuration for Syncker please refer to the Configuring Projections for Syncker article.
The list of other features includes:
Improved integration with the AppProjection plugin.
Increased UDP read buffer capacity.
Removed ZLIB compression and added compression-free mode for packages.
Renamed the loadViewMesh() method to loadViewConfig(). View configuration file format has changed to *.sync.
. Added setSkipWorldMessages()/setSkipUserMessages() methods to block incoming packets on a slave.
CIGI Client
Improved CIGI protocol support with the following features:
Improved integration with the Syncker plugin.
Automatic synchronization of particles and skinned meshes inside an Entity.
Improved naming for new created Entities and Views.
Improved Generation of Grass and Clutters
Generation of ObjectGrass, ObjectMeshClutter and WorldClutter objects has improved, with the use of multithreading and other performance optimizations. Overall performance has increased significantly. Now it is possible to modify grass and clutters at runtime (cut trees and stamp the grass flat) via API.
The complete list of improvements includes the following:
Clutter generation is now performed in separate threads.
Optimized grass / clutter generation performance and improved update logic (no more jitter on parameter change).
Added new invalidate() methods for regeneration of grass / clutter cells.
Added bend parameter for ObjectGrass, that allows you to create bent grass.
parameter for ObjectGrass, that allows you to create bent grass. Added ObjectMeshClutter::getClutterTransforms() method, that makes it possible to obtain transformations for all clutter meshes. The precision flag indicates whether clutter transformations will be collected for meshes within bounds,or within clutter cells.
Added ObjectMeshClutter::setClutterExclude() method,that allows you to remove all the cells within certain area and skip their generation.
Added world_spawn_list console command to monitor generation requests for ObjectGrass and ObjectMeshClutter nodes.
Removed excessive ObjectGrass updates when a node is not visible.
Landscape Tool
The evolution of the Landscape Tool brings a number of new features and improvements.
Terrain generation is a complex task and may require a substantial amount of time depending on the area size and data resolution. Landscape Tool now enables you to use the advantages of distributed computing in the process of terrain generation. Generation time for large terrains can be significantly reduced, as the performance increases linearly for certain tasks.
For more information on distributed terrain generation please refer to the Distributed Computing article.
Roads generation has also become better. Terrain heights and masks can be adjusted for generated roads to provide better alignment and prevent vegetation from growing on the roads. This can be done in one click by simply selecting the Adjust terrain masks and heights option when setting up road generation parameters.
The complete list of improvements includes the following:
Added distributed generation (several PCs within the same network can work in parallel in order to speed up the process).
Improved roads generation. Terrain heights are now adjusted to generated roads.
Added billboards placement on the basis of vector data. This option can be used, for example, to simulate lights along the roads.
Added manual terrain LOD management mode, that allows you to edit the parameters of all terrain LODs, as well as to add new LODs or remove existing ones.
Added LZ4 compression for landcover masks to reduce disk space required for data storage.
Added multi-selection editing for landcover filters.
Improved precision of landcover masks to ensure correct vegetation positioning.
Removed landcover masks duplication, when objects use the same tag.
Fixed bugs with vector data source filters.
Fixed bug with assignment of landcover masks in cases when multiple grass/clutter objects are generated.
Fixed bug with generation of detail masks using multiple tags.
Editor 2
We continue our work on improving the new UnigineEditor 2 to make it even more convenient and powerful tool. The following improvements were made for this release:
Added support for per-node property modification.
Improved assets validation time. All *.asset files will have to be re-committed once, as hash values for all files will change.
files will have to be re-committed, as hash values for all files will change. Added progress bars for assets validation and reimporting at startup.
Improved GUI performance on operations with multiple objects.
Improved organization of UI elements in the Parameters window with a new Accordion widget. You can now collapse and expand groups of UI elements.
Improved structure and added tooltips for states, textures and parameters of the core base materials displayed in the Parameters window.
Overridden property and material parameters are now highlighted in green.
Fixed various issues with FBX support.
Added support for OBJ, 3DS and DAE (COLLADA) formats.
Added a Merge similar materials import option, that allows you to merge multiple identical materials with different names into a single one. This option is very useful for importing complex models from various CAD systems.
import option, that allows you to merge multiple identical materials with different names into a single one. This option is very useful for importing complex models from various CAD systems. Extended the set of supported image formats and added point filtering for imported textures.
Added support for rotation and scale to the Randomizer tool.
All assets in the Asset Browser are now sorted by name.
Asset names are now displayed in the fields of the Parameters window instead of the names of runtime files.
The contents of the NodeReference tab of the Parameters window are now merged into the Node tab.
NodeReference content is now automatically selected when Edit button is clicked.
Fixed applying changes to nested NodeReferences.
Improved usability of the FieldHeight attenuation slider.
Added undo/redo for grass and clutters mask editing.
Fixed incorrect object movement with snapping enabled.
Editor configuration file is now stored in the following folder: C:/Users/<USER>AppData/Local/Unigine/Editor/ (Windows) ~/.config/Unigine/Editor/ (Linux)
Other bugfixes and UI improvements.
Editor1
This is the last release with Editor1 support, it is considered obsolete and will be removed in the next release. The following fixes were made for the old Editor:
Fixed wrong behavior of height picker in terrain brushes with chunk step values higher than 1.
Added support for new materials to the Node Export plugin.
Samples and Demos
Added the following samples into Samples 2 suite: Unlit materials. Clouds coverage texture. Field weather.
suite: Oil Refinery Demo: Improved UI. Added new quality presets.
Oil Platform Demo: Added cinematic demo mode. Improved UI. Added new quality presets.
TerrainGlobal
Improved intersection detection. Added ObjectTerrainGlobal::setForceIntersection() method, that enables/disables forced loading of necessary terrain tiles to ensure correct intersection detection. When enabled, this option may significantly reduce performance. Thus, it is recommended to enable it, perform intersection check, and disable it again.
Now it is possible to add new LODs atop of the most detailed one. This feature can be used for creating high-detail insets with brushes or via API.
Improved Brushes UX.
Asset system now supports terrain detail arrays.
Fixed crashes with LODs removal in cases when vegetation objects present on the terrain.
Fixed incorrect brushes projection when viewport camera is locked.
Fixed bug when terrain mask list was not refreshed after terrain re-generation with the Landscape Tool.
Renderer
Improved the billboards_base material, now it is possible to use billboards to simulate various types of specialized lights. The list of key improvements includes the following:
Added geometry inflation allowing the user to limit minimum billboard screen size (in pixels) to a fixed value in order to provide visibility from far distances.
Added billboard size scale.
Added horizontal and vertical angle limits (negative Y axis will be selected as forward axis) for angle-dependent visibility.
Added haze support for emission pass.
Other changes:
Fixed instanced omni lights in OpenGL.
No more driver crashes on shader errors.
More robust shader cache generation.
Removed various shader warnings.
File System
Added support for all package types (ung, zip, custom) for the extern_package startup argument.
Improved paths stored in guids.db (they are now relative to data path).
(they are now relative to data path). Improved GUID error logging.
Improved path resolution for Linux.
Fixed crash caused by an empty.ulink file.
file. Fixed AsyncQueue crash on the world shutdown.
Other Improvements
Fixed camera update order and speed.
Fixed Visualizer, now it works in all App* plugins.
Improved RenderManager and WorldManager performance.
Increased the limit for the number of field objects, that can be added to the world up to 512.
Added *_base_error materials for different Node types to highlight them in red, when their material was not loaded for some reason.
materials for different Node types to highlight them in red, when their material was not loaded for some reason. Added support for float formats to Image::blend() method.
Added support for color and indexed 16-bit TGA images.
Added an 'unknown world script' warning for a missing world script file.
Added a "Screenshot" C++ sample: source/samples/Api/Render/Screenshot
API
Added missing getParameterSliderLog10() method and a set of new ones to the Property class.
Added getFocusedAxis() and isFocusAxis() methods to the WidgetManipulator class
Added setSegmentEndTangent(), setSegmentStartTangent(), setSegmentEndUpVector(), and setSegmentStartUpVector() methods to the WorldSplineGraph class to simplify spline management.
Added itos() and stoi() functions performing int to scalar and scalar to in conversion to math common functions.
The complete list of API changes is available in the API Migration Guide
SDK Browser
Running your project via the SDK Browser with the Editor loaded has changed.
Clicking Edit Content will only launch the Editor, you will have to load the world manually via the console or via the File -> Open World in the main menu of the UnigineEditor.
DocumentationAfter the Green Bay Packers' 21-14 victory over the Chicago Bears, here are three issues that merit further examination:
The Packers take a break from their preparations for the Super Bowl to step into the exam room. Kevin Seifert Last week, we wondered what two of the NFL's most creative assistant coaches would have in store for one another. Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers didn't disappoint. He engineered two successful surprises: Opening the game with three cornerbacks and one safety, and then making a rare line call that resulted in nose tackle B.J. Raji's interception return for a touchdown. The alignment in the secondary left cornerback Charles Woodson as a hybrid safety/cornerback, and defensive end Ryan Pickett said, "It gave us a chance to cover and it gave us a chance to play the run at the same time. We had big guys to match up on the run and we had the guys to match up with their receivers on the outside." If nothing else, it was the kind of back-straightening curve ball Capers is known for. Meanwhile, Capers accurately presumed the Bears would target tailback Matt Forte on a third-and-5 pass at their 15-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. As a result, he made a rarely-used call for Raji to "spy" on Forte. While rookie nickelback Sam Shields blitzed, Raji backed off the line and surprised quarterback Caleb Hanie. "We were taking away the quick routes," Raji said. "He looked for the check down, and I was there." With two weeks to prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who knows what Capers will come up with.
Raji is on the cusp of superstardom, at least that which is afforded to a nose tackle, both because of his big plays and his big personality. Nothing captures a national audience like a big football player happily galloping between unorthodox situations, and that's what Raji has done in the playoffs. He has now been on the field as an extra fullback for two short-yardage scores and now has a touchdown of his own after Sunday's interception. In fact, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Raji is the biggest player in history to score a postseason touchdown. Elias bases that ranking on listed weights, which aren't always accurate. But nevertheless, Raji is listed at 337 pounds -- 19 more than former Bears defensive tackle William "The Refrigerator" Perry was in 1985. Raji has taken to calling himself "The Freezer," but I like what @JBraun1610 suggested via Twitter for a nickname: "The Garaji." Let's see if we can get that one going.You’ve noticed the recent time change- it’s light on your way to work, but the sky quickly fades to black by the time you leave. Many people blame bad moods and symptoms of depression on the decreased amount of daylight, saying, “Oh, I have Seasonal Affective Disorder.” But do you really know what Seasonal Affective Disorder entails?
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a form of depression associated with late autumn and winter and thought to be caused by a lack of light. It’s estimated to affect 10 million Americans, with another 1-2 million Americans suffering from a mild form- making it extremely common, affecting 1 in every 30 people in the U.S
Shining Some Light on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
The term Seasonal Affective Disorder has been around since 1985, and it’s more common the farther North you live; for example, its prevalence is 9.7% in New Hampshire but only 1.4% in Florida. SAD typically starts around age 20, and it’s more common in women than in men (60-90% of SAD sufferers are women); however, men usually show the most severe symptoms.
While there is no specific diagnostic test for SAD, people can track their history of seasonal depressive episodes to determine if they have it. SAD has been noticed to run in families, meaning a genetic component is likely. Researchers believe that SAD affects the brain because of a lack of exposure to light, as well as low vitamin D levels in the blood. 55% of SAD patients report a close association with a severe depressive disorder, while 34% reported a close relative abusing alcohol.
Since there isn’t very much research around SAD, many myths about the disorder are prevalent. For example, many people who believe they’re suffering from SAD may only be experiencing the winter blues, a milder depression that’s usually treatable by being more active. Psychologists have also posited that people experience SAD symptoms because they associate colder weather seasons with a traumatic event or having to limit activity because of the weather.
While true cases of SAD are somewhat rare and the disorder is tough to diagnose, SAD is a serious depressive condition that’s recognized by professionals as a legitimate mental disorder. However, SAD doesn’t entail suffering from other depressive conditions, such as clinical depression or bipolar disorder. With SAD, you ONLY experience depression seasonally and must have had depressive episodes during the last two consecutive winters.
Another myth is that SAD only occurs in the winter and that its sufferers are sad the entire winter. In fact, a less common variety of SAD occurs in the summer and is associated with episodes of mania and extreme violence; SAD is also a possible cause for the increase in suicides that typically come with the arrival of spring. SAD isn’t limited to winter only, as it typically starts in fall or winter and improves in spring.
Standard symptoms of SAD include fatigue, irritability, trouble concentrating, depression, poor sleep, decreased activity level, overeating and weight gain, and loss of sex drive. To improve symptoms of SAD, daily phototherapy is often prescribed- but it does have temporary side effects, such as headaches, eyestrain, nausea, and insomnia. Doctors might also recommend relocation to a better climate or therapy.ADVERTISEMENT
The American people are, as a whole, reasonably sane when it comes to guns. But we have the craziest gun laws in the developed world. Why is that? The biggest reason is the pernicious influence of a group of radical activists who would rather thousands upon thousands of Americans die every year from gun violence than the country take even the most modest steps to try to rein in the carnage.
I speak not of the National Rifle Association, as important as it is. No, I'm talking about the Republican Party, particularly its politicians who populate the U.S. Congress and state legislatures around the country.
After a gunman killed 59 people (as of this writing) and injured hundreds more in Las Vegas, we knew exactly what the response from elected Republicans would be. "Thoughts and prayers," naturally — thoughts and prayers for all, we're thinking and we're praying. And the insistence that this is not the time to "politicize" the tragedy by talking about why so many Americans get mowed down each year. If you asked them when would be a good time to talk about it they might respond: How about never? Would never work for you?
Perhaps the two most critical facts about horrific mass shootings like the one that happened in Las Vegas are that they are made possible by our lax gun laws, and that they aren't the heart of our real gun problem. There's a reason that events like this one are vanishingly rare outside the United States, and it isn't that Americans are an inherently homicidal people. People murder each other all over the world, with whatever means they have at their disposal; the difference is that Americans can get their hands on as much weaponry as they want.
Yet as horrifying as the shooting in Las Vegas was, it represents around two days' worth of gun homicides in America, where about 11,000 to 12,000 people are killed with guns every year. And that doesn't include gun suicides, which account for another 20,000 or so (the presence of a gun in the home vastly increases the chance that a suicide attempt will be successful).
It goes without saying that if terrorists murdered 12,000 Americans this year we'd have torn the Constitution to shreds in order to put in place a police state that would make North Korea look like a model of free-wheeling liberalism. Consider that one knucklehead tried to blow up his sneakers on a plane, and now we all have to take off our shoes before boarding.
But the daily parade of dead bodies from gun violence produces no new laws to address the problem. The reason is simple: One of our two great parties, the one that happens to control Congress and most state legislatures at the moment, is categorically opposed to any law that might restrict gun rights in any way.
And that includes measures that have the support of most Americans — in some cases, virtually all Americans, including the overwhelming majority of Republican voters and even gun owners. Universal background checks, for instance, are supported in polls by 90 percent or more of us. No other public policy question gets that kind of near-unanimous support. You couldn't get 90 percent of Americans to agree that chocolate is tasty, but we agree on universal background checks. And yet, after 20 elementary school students were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, a bill to impose those checks failed in Congress. In the Senate, 41 of the 45 Republicans then serving mounted a successful filibuster to kill it, and it never made it to the House.
There are other measures that majorities of Americans agree might be helpful in curbing gun violence without imposing a burden on gun rights, like banning military-style rifles and large-capacity magazines. But we can barely have a debate about those questions, because elected Republicans are universally opposed to them and will go to any length to stop them. The official GOP position is essentially that of the most radical gun nuts, the tiny minority of people who fantasize about the day they'll be called upon to confront a terrorist death squad down at their local Piggly Wiggly, spitting the hot lead of freedom from the Glock they carry on their hip at all times.
So what are Republicans working on now? Bills they have introduced in Congress would ease the ban on silencers, loosen restrictions on armor-piercing bullets, and impose "concealed-carry reciprocity," meaning that if you're a gun owner from South Carolina and you want to take your gun to New York, you'll be able to carry it there too, despite what New York's laws might say. Apparently, the GOP's only concern is that there might not be enough people carrying enough guns in enough places.
There are times when each party's elites might temporarily take a position at odds with their own voters, but it's usually only until those voters realize what their party's position is and come around to join it. On guns, however, even rank-and-file Republicans are not nearly as extreme as the representatives they elect. They've managed, however, to avoid any political fallout from their base. And the bodies keep piling up.A teenage girl struck by a car at a north Belfast flashpoint has described how the vehicle drove over her legs and trapped her underneath it.
Jurors in the trial of an Orangeman who drove into a crowd of protesting nationalists over a banned loyalists parade 'gasped' when seeing the moment his car collided with the 16-year-old.
One juror clasped her hands over her mouth as the police CCTV footage was played for the first time to the Belfast Crown Court trial of 63-year-old John Alexander Aughey.
Aughey, from Brae Hill Park, Belfast, denies a total of six charges, including dangerous driving causing grievous bodily injury to a then 16-year-old Phoebe Clawson on July 13 2015 at the Ardoyne shops.
Later the jury watched a taped police interview of the teen sitting in a wheelchair. She broke down as she described the instant Aughey's car caught her from behind and drove over her legs, trapping her.
Recovering in her Ardoyne home after two weeks in hospital following a five and a half hour operation on her "shattered pelvis" and fractured collar bone and ankle, the teenager told police she thought the car might move again and she "would have been dead".
In the 24-minute intervew the teenager explained that as she lay under the red Nissan Pulsar car she could hear people shouting.
She said she tried to move as her head was beside the wheel and she believed "if it went over me one more time I would have been dead".
Ms Clawson also later explained that she had been running away from the car and as she turned her head to look back the vehicle hit her in the back and she fell to the ground, "and then I went under", and ended up face down on the road.
It was at this stage the police came and turned the car over.
One officer told her "everything was going to be ok" as she asked for a priest and her "mummy". The teenager said at the time she was "panicking", repeating again that she "thought I was going to die".
Under cross-examination from defence QC Greg Berry, Ms Clawson said she remembered a bottle being thrown at the car before the driver began turning it, with the engine revving.
However, while she said the bottle had hit the windscreen, Mr Berry pointed out that CCTV footage showed the bottle bouncing off the roof of the Nissan.
Ms Clawson, who also described Aughey as "laughing" while sitting in traffic in his car, said this was the only missile she saw being thrown, adding that she did not see anyone approach the car beforehand.
Later Mr Berry suggested that far from laughing or smiling, Aughey "was extremely worried about what was going to happen to him when in his car".
Today Judge Smyth told the jury of eight women and four men that it was not the prosecution case, nor have they alleged, that the defendant "caused any of these injuries deliberately".
The trial continues tomorrow when the jury will hear evidence via a live link-up from Australia from another teenager who was also injured.Is Kim Jong Un's Mystery Woman The 'Excellent Horse-Like Lady'?
Enlarge this image toggle caption /AP /AP
It seems that North Korea's young leader may have reconnected with an old love.
The reporting from Asia about that "mystery woman" who's been seen with Kim Jong Un in recent weeks is turning up details that sound like they're right out of good old American soap opera.
Though there's still a chance that the woman is Kim's sister, the Korea JoongAng Daily reports that:
-- The consensus seems to be that she is Hyon Song-wol, "former vocalist of the Bochonbo Electronic Music BandBochonbo Electronic Music Band." The band's biggest hit: Excellent Horse-Like Lady, from 2005.
-- Hyon and Kim first "became romantically attached" about a decade ago.
-- But Kim's father, the now-deceased Kim Jong Il, ordered his son to break off the affair. It's thought that the older man may not have thought she was a good match for the son he was grooming to be the next leader.
-- Hyon disappeared from public view in 2006, and reportedly married a North Korean Army officer, with whom she's had at least one child. As recently as this past March, she was "heavily pregnant."
-- But with Kim Jong Il's death last December, "his youngest son is thought to have rekindled the relationship."
As for the North Korean Army officer Hyon is said to have married, as New York magazine notes his fate isn't known — but may not be good.
And are Hyon and Kim married? Sorry, nobody seems to know.
Excellent Horse-Like Lady, by the way, wasn't the Bochonbo Electronic Music Band's only crowd-pleaser. According to The Telegraph, its other hits included Footsteps of Soldiers, I Love Pyongyang, She is a Discharged Soldier and We are Troops of the Party.
We don't happen to have any of those songs on our playlists. And the usually reliable NPR Music site is no help to us on this one. Has anyone ever heard Hyon's band?
Update at 1:55 p.m. ET. The Right Video?
Just as we were pushing the "publish" button on this post, a copy of what the poster says is an Excellent Horse-Like Lady video popped up on YouTube.
Can someone interpret for the group?
YouTube
Update at 5:24 p.m. ET. Translation:
The translation of the song wasn't far from what you might expect. "May Jeong" in the comments sent us this translation:
"our factory comrades say in jest, "why they tell me i am a virgin on a stallion "after a full day's work i still have energy left "my skills are truly like lightening they say "they say i am a virgin on a stallion "yet again today i was the first to leave for work "apparently my name was in the paper "in a xx time "an award given to youth who live in flight "they say i am a virgin on a stallion "the party era is teeming with creation "a new name they present to youth "mounting a stallion the dear leader gave me "all my life i will live to uphold his name "they say i am a virgin on a stallion "mounting a stallion my dear leader gave me "all my life i will live to uphold his name"
That lines up with what our colleague Ki-Min Sung dug up for us via her parents. Thank you, everyone!
Update at 11:30 a.m. ET, July 11: And As For The Song's Title:
"May Jeong" tweets to us that "i think the title of the song should be 'lady riding a fine horse' not horse-like lady."
But, of course, it may be tough for "lady riding a fine horse" to overtake "horse-like lady" in the popular imagination.San Diego Fence Provides Lessons in Border Control
Enlarge this image toggle caption Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images
toggle caption Ted Robbins, NPR
toggle caption Ted Robbins, NPR
WEB EXTRA The U.S. House has voted to create a barrier fence along 700 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico. Supporters say the fencing will bolster national security and curb illegal immigration. Opponents decry it as a new "Berlin Wall." NPR's Ted Robbins helps explain the proposal and existing border barriers. Read the Q&A
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ted Robbins, NPR Ted Robbins, NPR
As Congress looks to revamp immigration policy, some lawmakers are pushing to extend fencing along the U.S. border with Mexico. Proposals range from beefing up existing fences in Arizona to constructing new fences that would span 700 miles. Those advocating expanded fencing already have a model they can look to: a fence the federal government built more than a decade ago along a 14-mile-stretch in San Diego, Calif., that borders Tijuana, Mexico.
A Cultural Icon To those on the U.S. side, the fences in urban areas between Mexico and the United States are a symbol of security. Very few sections are painted or adorned in any way. To many Mexicans, though, the fence is either an insult to be covered up, or a business opportunity. In Nogales, Sonora, shopkeepers say they are offended that the United States built a wall between them and their twin city, Nogales, Ariz. In Tijuana, long stretches of the fence are covered in advertisements or posters. Another section has crosses and coffins nailed to it, in memory of those who died trying to immigrate. And at Imperial Beach, which is split at the border by giant steel pillars sunk into the sand, a movie crew shoots what is billed as a “Spanish-language, science-fiction love story” with the fence as a backdrop... immigration politics as entertainment.
Before the fence was built, all that separated that stretch of Mexico from California was a single strand of cable that demarcated the international border.
Back then, Border Patrol agent Jim Henry says he was overwhelmed by the stream of immigrants who crossed into the United States illegally just in that sector.
"It was an area that was out of control," Henry says. "There were over 100,000 aliens crossing through this area a year."
Today, Henry is assistant chief of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. He says apprehensions here are down 95 percent, from 100,000 a year to 5,000 a year, largely because the single strand of cable marking the border was replaced by double -- and in some places, triple -- fencing.
The first fence, 10 feet high, is made of welded metal panels. The second fence, 15 feet high, consists of steel mesh, and the top is angled inward to make it harder to climb over. Finally, in high-traffic areas, there's also a smaller chain-link fence. In between the two main fences is 150 feet of "no man's land," an area that the Border Patrol sweeps with flood lights and trucks, and soon, surveillance cameras.
"Here in San Diego, we have proven that the border infrastructure system does indeed work," Henry says. "It is highly effective."
Rancher Carol Kimsey, who lives in a valley near the Pacific Ocean on the U.S.-side of the fence, says the border barrier has improved the quality of life in the area.
"It was pretty seriously bad," she recalls of the prefence days. "They were tearing up everything. They'd just go through fences. They didn't care."
Kimsey says life is more peaceful now, despite the Border Patrol helicopters circling nearby. This is still an active smuggling route, especially for drugs. A stretch of border where there's only one fence is referred to as Smugglers' Gulch. The Border Patrol is moving forward with plans to add a second fence there as well as along the last 3.5 miles to the ocean, which had been held up by years of litigation over environmental concerns.
The extra fencing will cost at least $35 million. But Claudio Smith, an attorney and border activist, says the toll has been much higher in human lives. She says the fencing has simply forced immigrants to take more dangerous routes through the mountains and scorching-hot deserts.
"It didn't stop people from crossing," she says. "It just forced them to cross in the deadliest stretches of the border."
An estimated 3,600 people have died crossing the U.S. border since the fences went up.
It is now harder to cross the border into the United States, and also more expensive. Border crossers say they pay human smugglers, or coyotes, much more than they did a decade ago.
Smith says the fence has actually created a sort of perverse and unintended consequence: It is keeping people in the United States who used to go back to Mexico.
"The men would come for a number of months out of every year and return (to Mexico)," Smith says. "Now, not only are the men staying, but they're bringing their families."
During the last decade, millions of people have continued to cross the border illegally -- mostly in Arizona. That's the next target for those who want to build double- and triple-fencing.Story highlights Infant ejected from car during crash
Child was found alive in storm drain
(CNN) It's a story of survival that's amazed even seasoned firefighters -- an infant ejected during a car crash ends up in a storm drain, 25-feet away. She is found alive, reaching up to rescuers and with only a scratch on her forehead.
That's the scene that unfolded Friday night along Interstate 30 in Texarkana, Arkansas after a truck apparently sideswiped a car, officials told CNN affiliate KSLA
The family vehicle flipped over and the 8-month old girl was ejected. Survivors looked for her but could not find her.
Rescuers arrived and scoured the area and zeroed in on a patch of hay in the median after hearing a sound.
To their amazement, searchers found the infant inside a storm drain -- more than two dozen feet from the roadway.
Read MoreMLB Network and MLB.com will carry the game live, beginning at 8:08 p.m. ET at Salt River Fields, and it will be called by MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis along with MLB Network's Paul Severino and Joe Magrane.
Fans who tuned in to MLB.com's live coverage of Arizona Fall League action Wednesday saw Mariners left-hander James Paxton hurl four innings and a trio of Padres prospects combine for eight hits as the Peoria Javelinas edged the Salt River Rafters, 6-5. Saturday's Military Appreciation Game, featuring Surprise and Salt River, offers another opportunity to view some of the top prospects in this year's Fall League.
Fans who tuned in to MLB.com's live coverage of Arizona Fall League action Wednesday saw Mariners left-hander James Paxton hurl four innings and a trio of Padres prospects combine for eight hits as the Peoria Javelinas edged the Salt River Rafters, 6-5. Saturday's Military Appreciation Game, featuring Surprise and Salt River, offers another opportunity to view some of the top prospects in this year's Fall League.
MLB Network and MLB.com will carry the game live, beginning at 8:08 p.m. ET at Salt River Fields, and it will be called by MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis along with MLB Network's Paul Severino and Joe Magrane.
Saguaros starter Sam |
year":2014,"month":11,"day":6,"hour":20,"minute":0,
"tzName":"America/Chicago"}}} ], "manualProgramAiring" : [{"airDate":"2014-11-07T02:00Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58642,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58643} ]} }}]
Modify an existing manual recording (add manualProgram key/value with the object id of the existing recording):
Request:
[2,"0.88wn0yy96tsdobt9","api:schedules/setManualProgram",{"title":"test","kind":"once","channel":88,"duration":1800,"once":{"year":2014,"month":11,"day":12,"hour":20,"minute":0},
"manualProgram":58647}]
Schedule a reoccurring manual recording.
Request:
[2,"0.sguo281lwj1exw29","api:schedules/setManualProgram",{"title":"Repeating","kind":"recurring","channel":89,"duration":1800,
"recurring":{"repeat":["monday","wednesday","friday"],"hour":20,"minute":30}}]
Response:
[3, "0.sguo281lwj1exw29", {"manualProgram": 58655,"changes":{"sinceSequenceNumber":111137,"untilSequenceNumber":111157,
"objectCount":7,"added" : {"manualProgram" : [{"title":"Repeating","type":"manualProgram","objectID":58655,
"schedule":{"state":"scheduled"},"config":{"kind":"recurring","channel":89,"duration":1800.0,
"recurring":{"repeat":["monday","wednesday","friday"],"hour":20,"minute":30,
"tzName":"America/Chicago"}}} ], "manualProgramAiring" : [{"airDate":"2014-11-08T02:30Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58655,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58656}, {"airDate":"2014-11-11T02:30Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58655,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58659}, {"airDate":"2014-11-13T02:30Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58655,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58661}, {"airDate":"2014-11-15T02:30Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58655,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58663}, {"airDate":"2014-11-18T02:30Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58655,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58665}, {"airDate":"2014-11-20T02:30Z","duration":1800.0,"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},"relationships":{"manualProgram":58655,"channel":89},"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58667} ]} }}]
Delete reoccurring.
See deleteManualProgram....
api:schedules/deleteManualProgram
Request:
[2,"0.q21t7h1gv4h1tt9","api:schedules/deleteManualProgram",{"manualProgram":58642}]
Response:
[3, "0.q21t7h1gv4h1tt9", {"changes":{"sinceSequenceNumber":111085,"untilSequenceNumber":111091,
"objectCount":2,"deleted" : {"manualProgram" : [58642 ], "manualProgramAiring" : [58643 ]} }}]
Retrieves information on the latest available firmware. This call is executed when the api:server/status response key/value pair of "updateAvailable" equals true.
Request:
[2,"0.q21t7h1gv4h1tt9","api:server/softwareUpdateDetails"]
Response:
[3, "0.f6qzyqdwboxswcdi", {"version":"2.1.18", "build":18, "ignore":{"date":"2014-11-26 20:40:32+00:00","file":"","size":26224853,"url":"https://api.tablotv.com/sf/builds/quad/2.1.18_141126.11_quad.flash"},"releaseNotes":"Release Notes for 2.1.18:
NEW Resume recording feature
After a power interruption, Tablo will resume any recordings still in progress
Two recordings will be created for the interrupted airing one from before and one from after the interruption event
Improvements to handling multiple broadcasters in one area using the same channel numbers
Significant speed improvements to sync processes between Tablo and connected devices
Improvements to database cleanup processes for users with large channel lineups
Speed improvements to Live TV tuning
Speed improvements to Roku accessing recordings list
Overall stability improvements"}]
Starts the firmware upgrade process.
Request:
[2,"0.vzvgpzjtf586ko6r","api:server/startSoftwareUpdate"]
Response:
[3, "0.vzvgpzjtf586ko6r", {"serverStatus":{"type":"serverStatus", "name":"Tablo", "serverID":"SID_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "localAddress":"10.90.33.44","serverBuild":1426515,"serverVersion":"2.1.16", "utcOffset":"-03:00", "updateAvailable": true, "lastGuideUpdate": "2014-11-21T13:03:10Z","tzName":"America/NewYork","processing":{"downloadingGuide":false, "importingRecordings":false, "scanningChannels":false, "updating":true},"setup":{"channelsScanned":true,"channelsCommitted":true,"guideSeeded":true},"model":{"wifi":true,"tuners":4 },"reachability":{"internet":true,"remoteAccess":null,"unavailable":[]},"hardDrive":{"connected":true,"name":"Maxtor JDJDJD (500 GB)", "size":234234234234,"formatState":"authorized","usage":34865757575,
"busyState":"ready"}},"updateProgress":{"step":"downloading", "download":{"progress":0.00},"error":null}}]
Progress of update.
Request:
[2,"0.nmda8vdexp4d9529","api:server/softwareUpdateProgress"]
Response:
[3, "0.nmda8vdexp4d9529", {"step":"downloading", "download":{"progress":0.00},"error":null}]
WAMP Format:
[ TYPE_ID_SUBSCRIBE, topicURI ]
Name Topic URI Response server/status http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/server/status/notifications [8, "http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/server/status/notifications",
{"type":"serverStatus",
"name":"Tablo",
"serverID":"SID_AAAAAAAAAAAA",
"localAddress":"10.90.33.12",
"serverBuild":1426515,"serverVersion":"2.1.16",
"utcOffset":"-02:00", "updateAvailable": false,
"lastGuideUpdate": "2014-10-14T02:14:10Z",
"tzName":"America/Newyork",
"processing":{"downloadingGuide":false,
"importingRecordings":false,
"scanningChannels":false, "updating":false},
"setup":{"channelsScanned":true,"channelsCommitted":true,"guideSeeded":true},
"model":{"wifi":true,"tuners":4 },
"reachability":{"internet":true,"remoteAccess":null,
"unavailable":[]},
"hardDrive":{"connected":true,"name":"MAXTOR JJJD DKKD 500 GB)", "size":434742992,"formatState":"authorized",
"usage":45344534544,"busyState":"ready"}}] server/tuner http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/server/tuner/notifications
subscription/status http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/subscription/status/notifications
sync/sequenceNumber http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/sync/sequenceNumber/notifications [8,"http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/sync/sequenceNumber/notifications",
{"sequenceNumber":100985}] channels/scanProgress api:channels/scanProgress/notifications
channels/latestScanResult "api:channels/latestScanResult/notifications
channels/committedScanResult api:channels/committedScanResult/notifications"
channels/guideDownloadProgress api:channels/guideDownloadProgress/notifications [8, "http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/channels/guideDownloadProgress/notifications",
{"progress":0.001895}]
clients/clientList api:clients/clientList/notifications
server/hardDriveFormattingProgress api:server/hardDriveFormattingProgress/notifications
api:settings/settings api:settings/settings/notifications [8, "http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/settings/settings/notifications",
{"type":"settings","recordingQuality":"high",
"led":true,
"selectedRecordingQuality":{"name":"HD 1080p",
"value":"high", "recommended":false, "hourlyBytes":4572000000},"remoteAccess":{"enabled":false,"config":"none","hideAutoBandwidth":true},
"extendLiveRecordings":true,"autoDelete":true,"excludeDuplicates":{"enabled":true,"strategy":"scheduleOne"}}]
api:server/softwareUpdateProgress api:server/softwareUpdateProgress/notifications [8, "http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/server/softwareUpdateProgress/notifications", {"step":"installing", "download":{"progress":1.00},"error":null}]
[8, "http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/server/softwareUpdateProgress/notifications", {"step":"installing", "download":{"progress":1.00},"error":null}]
[8, "http://api.slipstream.nuvyyo.com/server/softwareUpdateProgress/notifications", {"step":"rebooting", "download":{"progress":1.00},"error":null}]
Generating the "signature" for the Registered Client Connect
In the non-guest or registered connect for the "api:session/connect" the “signature” key/value is based on generating an MD5 HMAC (128bit) digest using the “deviceKey” Key/value that the Tablo sent when registering your client.
The digest is calculated based on the following input at the client: {serverID}+”/”+{DATE}
The date is in the ISO 8601 format. Example Input: “SID_999999999999/2014-10-09T08:27Z”. The client then uses the “deviceKey” to generate the MD5 HMAC digest from the input. Note that currently the Tablo unit doesn’t verify the signature. E.g. you can put whatever you want in the “signature” key/value and the Tablo will accept your request to connect.
Pseudo code:
HMAC Signature Generation:
String Input = SID+'/'+DATE
DATE = yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm'Z', E.g. "2014-10-24T15:12Z"
String privateKey = deviceKey; "See connect as registered client "
String algorithm = HmacMD5
Returns = HEX encoded MD5 hash of Input
HTTP URL Requests
These are available via port 80 using HTTP.
Function URL Retrieve images by "imageID". The id is contained within the metadata for numerous objects. http://{Tablo IP}/stream/thumb?id={ imageID } Retrieve Playlist http://{Tablo_IP}/stream/pl.{ playlist_id }
Synchronization Operational Types
These are the types that are included in the responses to synchronization requests.
[3, "H9WL2rUNSLmTxCyB", {"changes":{"sinceSequenceNumber":0,"untilSequenceNumber":1227,"objectCount":250, "OPERATIONAL_TYPE" : {
Name Desc added Object needs to be added deleted Object needs to be removed modified Object needs to me replaced. Note you get a full copy of the entire object, and not just what changed.
Object Type Categories (MetaTypes of TV guide data)
These are the objects broken down by type that are retrieved when you sync with the Tablo.
[3, "H9WL2rUNSLmTxCyB", {"changes":{"sinceSequenceNumber":0,"untilSequenceNumber":1227,"objectCount":250,
"added" : {OBJECT_TYPE_CATEGORY}
Name JSON channel {"channel":
{"objectID":81,
"type":"channel",
"dataAvailable":true,
"callSign":"CW18",
"affiliateCallSign":"CW",
"channelNumberMajor":18,
"channelNumberMinor":1,
"audioChannels":6,
"resolution":{"title":"1080i","width":1920,"height":1080}} genre {"genre":
{"type":"genre","objectID":116,"title":"News"} guideSeason {"guideSeason:
{"seasonNumber":0,
"relationships":{"guideSeries":117},
"objectID":121,
"type":"guideSeason"} guideSeries {"guideSeries":
{"duration":1800,
"originalAirDate":"1999-08-30",
"title":"Fox 6 News at 5",
"relationships":{"genres":[116]},
"schedule":{"state":"none"},
"objectID":117,
"type":"guideSeries",
"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":118,"imageType":"series_3x4_small","imageStyle":"thumbnail"},{"type":"image","imageID":119,"imageType":"series_4x3_large","imageStyle":"cover"},{"type":"image","imageID":120,"imageType":"series_4x3_large","imageStyle":"background"}]} guideSportOrganization {"guideSportOrganization":
{"title":"College Football",
"type":"guideSportOrganization",
"objectID":803,
"schedule":{"state":"none"},
"relationships":{"genres":[524]},
"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":804,"imageType":"sport_4x3_small","imageStyle":"thumbnail"},{"type":"image","imageID":805,"imageType":"sport_4x3_large","imageStyle":"cover"},{"type":"image","imageID":806,"imageType":"sport_4x3_large","imageStyle":"background"}]} guideMovie {"guideMovie":
{"mpaaRating":"pg13",
"plot":"Mammoth hunter D'Leh (Steven Strait) has long been in love with a beautiful, blue-eyed tribeswoman named Evolet (Camilla Belle). After horseback-riding raiders kidnap most of his D'Leh's fellow tribesmen as well as Evolet, he sets out on a dangerous trek to rescue her from her captors.",
"releaseYear":2008,
"runtime":6540,
"title":"10,000 B.C.",
"cast":["Steven Strait","Camilla Belle","Cliff Curtis","Joel Virgel","Ben Badra","Mo Zainal","Nathanael Baring","Mona Hammond","Marco Khan","Reece Ritchie","Joel Fry","Omar Sharif","Kristian Beazley","Junior Oliphant","Louise Tu'u"],
"directors":["Roland Emmerich"],
"qualityRating":0.625,
"relationships":{"genres":[152,143,144]},
"type":"guideMovie",
"objectID":3634,
"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":3635,"imageType":"movie_2x3_small","imageStyle":"thumbnail"},{"type":"image","imageID":3636,"imageType":"iconic_4x3_large","imageStyle":"cover"},{"type":"image","imageID":3637,"imageType":"iconic_4x3_large","imageStyle":"background"}]} recChannel {"recChannel":
{"objectID":19241,
"type":"recChannel",
"callSign":"WISN-TV",
"affiliateCallSign":"ABC",
"channelNumberMajor":12,
"channelNumberMinor":1,
"audioChannels":6,
"resolution":{"title":"1080i","width":1920,"height":1080}} recEpisode {"recEpisode":
{"airDate":"2014-10-07T01:00Z",
"description":"Mr. Drummond hires a tutor for Willis and Arnold who does everything but teach.",
"episodeNumber":15,
"originalAirDate":"1979-02-09",
"scheduleDuration":1800,
"seasonNumber":1,
"title":"The Tutor",
"type":"recEpisode",
"relationships":{"recSeason":26345,
"recChannel":26346},"video":{"state":"finished",
"size":451203072,
"width":720,
"height":480,
"duration":2119,
"scheduleOffsetStart":-15,
"scheduleOffsetEnd":304},
"user":{"type":"recordingUserInfo","watched":false,"protected":false,"position":299},
"objectID":26343,
"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":26408,"imageType":"snapshot","imageStyle":"snapshot"}]} recSeason {"recSeason":
{"seasonNumber":1,
"relationships":{"recSeries":26344},
"objectID":26345,
"type":"recSeason"} recSeries {"recSeries":
{"description":"Two black kids from Harlem, Arnold Jackson and older brother Willis, are welcomed into the family of wealthy New York businessman Philip Drummond when their mother, his housekeeper, passes away. The two brothers become part of the Drummond family and learn various lessons about life.",
"duration":1800,
"originalAirDate":"1978-11-03",
"title":"Diff'rent Strokes",
"cast":["Conrad Bain","Gary Coleman","Todd Bridges","Dana Plato","Charlotte Rae","Mary Jo Catlett","Danny Cooksey","Mary Ann Mobley"],
"relationships":{"genres":[171]},
"objectID":26344,
"type":"recSeries",
"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":7841,"imageType":"series_3x4_small","imageStyle":"thumbnail"},{"type":"image","imageID":7842,"imageType":"series_4x3_large","imageStyle":"cover"},{"type":"image","imageID":7843,"imageType":"iconic_4x3_large","imageStyle":"background"}]} guideEpisode {"guideEpisode":
{"airDate":"2014-11-01T00:00Z",
"description":"The pioneers continue working to build their own civilization.",
"duration":3600,
"episodeNumber":13,
"originalAirDate":"2014-10-31",
"seasonNumber":1,
"title":"Weeks Seven and Eight in Utopia",
"type":"guideEpisode",
"qualifiers":["new","cc"],
"relationships":{"guideSeason":39476,"channel":90},
"schedule":{"state":"none"},
"objectID":39477} guideMovieAiring {"guideMovieAiring":
{"type":"guideMovieAiring",
"objectID":38648,
"airDate":"2014-10-31T22:00Z",
"duration":10800,
"schedule":{"state":"none"},
"relationships":{"guideMovie":3829,"channel":97}} guideSportEvent {"guideSportEvent":
{"eventTitle":"ACC Game of the Week: Teams TBA",
"airDate":"2014-11-01T16:30Z",
"duration":10800,
"qualifiers":["live"],
"schedule":{"state":"none"},
"relationships":{"guideSportOrganization":803,"channel":85},
"type":"guideSportEvent",
"objectID":39587} recMovie {recMovie:
{"plot":"Thomas spots giant footprints in some clay, and Percy thinks a monster is loose on the island.",
"releaseYear":2014,
"runtime":3780,
"title":"Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave",
"cast":["Mark Moraghan","Olivia Colman","Clive Mantle","Mike Grady","Tim Whitnall","Jonathan Broadbent"],
"directors":["Rob Silvestri"],
"relationships":{"genres":[152,305]},
"type":"recMovie","objectID":55579,"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":42194,"imageType":"movie_2x3_small","imageStyle":"thumbnail"},{"type":"image","imageID":42195,"imageType":"movie_2x3_large","imageStyle":"cover"},{"type":"image","imageID":42196,"imageType":"movie_2x3_large","imageStyle":"background"} recMovieAiring {recMovingAiring:
{"type":"recMovieAiring",
"objectID":55578,
"airDate":"2014-11-03T18:00Z",
"scheduleDuration":3600,
"relationships":{"recMovie":55579,"recChannel":21878},
"video":{"state":"finished",
"size":928292864,
"width":704,
"height":480,
"duration":3920,
"scheduleOffsetStart":-15,
"scheduleOffsetEnd":305},
"user":{"type":"recordingUserInfo",
"watched":false,"protected":false,"position":0},
"qualifiers":["premiere"],"images":[{"type":"image","imageID":55590,"imageType":"snapshot","imageStyle":"snapshot"} manualProgram { manualProgram:
{"title":"Test",
"type":"manualProgram",
"objectID":58670,
"schedule":{"state":"scheduled"},
"config":{"kind":"once",
"channel":87,
"duration":1800,
"once":{"year":2014,"month":11,"day":13,"hour":21,"minute":0,"tzName":"America/Chicago"}}} manualProgramAiring { manualProgramAiring:
{"airDate":"2014-11-14T03:00Z",
"duration":1800,
"schedule":{"scheduleType":"program","state":"scheduled"},
"relationships":{"manualProgram":58670,"channel":87},
"type":"manualProgramAiring",
"objectID":58671}
Object Relationship Category Correlations
These diagrams are depict the relationships between objects:
Firmware
The firmware is encrypted with AESCrypt. While the client initiates the software update the Tablo unit actually downloads and installs the firmware independently.
Hardware
There are currently two different Tablo units. One is a dual turner and the other is a quad model.
Model Description SOC SPVR2-01-NA Tablo Dual Tuner
SPVR4-01-NA Tablo Quad Tuner ViXS Xcode 5190
Quad Unit (SPV4-01-NA)
The heart of the the quad unit is a ViXS Xcode 5190 SOC and is supported with 512M of ram. There is also 8GB of NVS.
Key Components
Quantity Part # Desc 1 213XC5BEC12 ViXs XCODE 5190 1 K9K8G08U0D-SIB0 Samsung 4GB NAND (Datasheet) 4 NT5CB128M16FP-DI Nanya 128MB DRAM Chip 1 AR5B22 Atheros WiFi module
PCB Pictures[Editor's note: This was published in GlobalPost Passport. To read the full story, join Passport.]
The benefits are indisputable.
Since July 1, 2001, all drugs including cocaine and heroine have been decriminalized in Portugal. Eight years later, consumption has decreased significantly. About half of the nearly 400 lives lost every year to overdoses are now saved.
Drug users had represented more than half of all new HIV cases in Portugal, or nearly 1,400 individuals infected annually. That toll has fallen to 400 per year, about 25 percent of the total.
Ironically, a recent study — O Estado da Nação, sponsored by a newspaper (Diário de Notícias) radio station (TSF) and a TV station (SIC) — showed that a large number of Portuguese actually believe that narcotic-related problems have increased in recent years.
This paradox mirrors the difficulty health experts faced in the 1990’s convincing lawmakers and the public that decriminalizing narcotic possession for personal use would help address the runaway growth in substance abuse.
“We heard just about every argument,” remembers João Goulão, director of the Instituto da Droga e Toxicodependência (IDT), a government drug policy agency. “People said that Portugal would become a paradise for drug dealers, a tourist destination for drug addicts. It didn’t happen. In fact, we now have objective data that shows quite the opposite.”HE MISSED Australia’s Asian Cup squad and was reduced to a bench role for Western Sydney’s 2014 A-League finals campaign and Asian Champions League group games.
But on Sunday night, a day after the Socceroos Asian Cup triumph, and in his first game against his former club, Aaron Mooy made a huge statement.
The 24-year-old attacking midfielder was a class above as Melbourne City solidified their spot in the top six with a gritty 2-1 win over the Wanderers at AAMI Park.
RELIVE THE ACTION AND GET VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS IN THE MATCH CENTRE
The Wanderers celebrate after Yojiro Takahagi’s quick opener. Source: News Corp Australia
After falling behind to a sloppily-conceded free kick in the 5th minute, scored on debut by Yojiro Takahagi, Mooy was the provider for Jacob Melling’s 24th minute equaliser.
For the next 50 minutes City battered the Wanderers, creating enough opportunities to win three games of football.
But soon after Iain Ramsay inexplicably missed the easiest of tap ins - his third gilt-edged chance - Mooy took matters in to his own hands with a stinging shot from the top of the penalty box to win the game for his side with 17 minutes to spare.
Despite being anything but clinical, the win - its first over Western Sydney - was nothing less than City deserved.
Yojiro Takahagi comes under pressure from Connor Chapman and Jacob Melling. Source: Getty Images
By game’s end John van’t Schip’s men had enjoyed 62 per cent possession, completed 343 passes to 180, won the shot count 22-3 and corner count 15-3.
But importantly the result puts sixth-placed City seven points clear of seventh-placed Brisbane ahead of the Roar’s home game against Wellington.
Champions of Asia they may be, the Wanderers were a new look proposition.
Like Mooy, Nick Kalmar appeared against his old side for the first time and was soon welcomed back with a stinging collision with hardnut Melling.
Aaron Mooy celebrates his winning goal. Source: News Corp Australia
A foundation Melbourne Heart player, Kalmar was playing his third game for the Wanderers after being released on Boxing Day, while Takahagi, Yusuke Tanaka and Sam Gallaway all made their debuts.
For the hosts, former Perth left back Jack Clisby got his first minutes for City after replacing the injured Ben Garuccio (right ankle) in the 34th minute.
The Asian Cup lost the Samurai Blue at the quarter final stage, but the A-League felt a new wave of Japanese influence within five minutes of its resumption.
Aaron Mooy left his former side hurting. Source: Getty Images
It was a nothing free kick from Takahagi swung in from the left, but after evading everyone in the box, City goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne didn’t react quick enough to keep it out at his far post.
But that was as good as it got for the Wanderers, as City started to turn the screws after a shaky first 10 minutes.
Melling dispossessed Kalmar after 24 minutes and, after being played through by Robert Koren, Mooy found himself on the byline before cutting back to Melling to nod home.
And then, when a frustrating draw loomed, Mooy rifled home the winner in the 73rd minute after being found by a great Jason Hoffman pass.
Tony Popovic is facing increasing pressure as Wanderers struggle for results. Source: News Corp Australia
If City and A-League officials were hoping for a kickalong at the turnstiles from the Socceroos success, then they would have been left disappointed by the 7561 crowd.
The lowest Asian Cup crowd in seven AAMI Park games was 10,808 for the Jordan and Palestine clash.
A few dozen at the ground were ever-boisterous Wanderers supporters, who gave it to Mooy throughout.
But the gibes did nothing to deter him as it was his attacking guile that was the major difference.
Full-time MELBOURNE CITY 2 (Jacob Melling 24m, Aaron Mooy 73m) bt WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 1 (Yojiro Takahagi 5m) at AAMI Park. Crowd: 7,561. Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones.For some of these writers, Star Trek would be their only experience writing for television while others would have long careers in the industry. Even as they all worked brilliantly on other projects and in other careers, though, their Star Trek episodes remain as some of their most memorable work. Certainly, as we approach the show’s 50th anniversary, it’s hard not to marvel at how these episodes and the series, itself, have endured through the decades.
To Fontana, the triumph of the show is how it continues to attract people all these years later.
“That the stories we told in three seasons reached out to people, touched them, kept them coming back, and introduced new people to this show that’s 50 years old, now, and we can still speak to an audience,” she said. “We were telling stories that were about human beings. Human beings in a new environment in space, new worlds, new civilizations as we say, but the simple fact is we were trying to tell stories about humanity, about people in sometimes difficult situations. How does a human being react? What is the best thing to do for these aliens that we don’t know too much about, but we think they have good qualities? We’re going to try and help them.”
In her 1987 Starlog interview, Armen said she, “always felt that Star Trek was a very special series and that it would become a part of history.”
“I loved doing it and I especially loved doing it when I could work with Gene Roddenberry, because he was so creative,” she said. “I’m very proud that I wrote for Star Trek, because it gave you the opportunity to make comments on things that you couldn’t on a regular series. You could make a social comment without them saying, ‘Oh, you’re attacking so-and-so.’ In the future, you couldn’t be attacking anything, although you were. Overall, writing for Star Trek was one of the happiest periods of my career.”
When asked how it felt to have left a mark on such an iconic franchise with her episodes, Aroeste said she wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it, but told Blastr she has, “always been quite proud of having done that and having something to do with the series. Of having written episodes each of which had a good part for a woman.”
Fontana said the series was a great experience in which they were able to do a science fiction show unlike any others at the time.
“We just felt, you know what? If we go out into space, we’re going to try to be the best human beings we can be, and then if we’re forced to [do] something bad or something in terms of a conflict or war or that kind of thing, then we’re forced to it,” she said. “We’re not going to go looking for it. We’re trying to tell stories about human beings in new situations, meeting new kinds of people and saying, ‘hey, can we work together? Lets see what we can do.’ It was very hopeful, and I still feel that it is. Star Trek is one of the shows that look to the future and try to be the best that we humans can be.”
Without the contributions of these women writers, the legacy of Star Trek would look very different all these decades later. Their work helped shape the series, its unforgettable voyages, and no doubt the careers of other women inspired by their work to write their own entertaining and important stories, perhaps also set among the stars.Microsoft is now offering a $100 off promotion on its Windows RT -powered Surface 2 tablets, including the model with built-in 4G LTE connectivity. With the $100 discount, the 32 GB version of the Surface 2 now starts at just $349 and the most expensive configuration, the 64 GB model with AT&T 4G LTE, retails for just $579 through Microsoft's online store and at its retail locations.
All Surface 2 tablets come with 200 GB of OneDrive storage as well as unlimited minutes and WiFi calling for Skype.
If you're interested in picking up the slate, be sure to visit the source link below for more details.
Does the price drop make the Surface 2 more attractive to you, or are you saving up for a more powerful Surface Pro 2 or Surface Pro 3 tablet that will power full Windows 8.1?
Thanks, Gerard and Nawzil, for the tips!
Source: Microsoft Store
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more details.Dellen Millard, the man charged by Hamilton police in connection with the death of Tim Bosma, whose remains have now been found, made headlines in 1999, with a story fitting for a teenager from an aviation family.
On his 14th birthday, Millard became the youngest Canadian to pilot solo both a helicopter and an airplane on the same day.
Millard's grandfather, Carl, was a Canadian aviation legend. He started his own charter airline in 1954, Rob Seaman wrote in Wings Magazine in 2005. Before that, Carl had been a pilot for Trans-Canada Air Lines, which became Air Canada.
Millard also told Seaman that he was "a direct descendant of Chief Joseph Brant," the Mohawk leader who aided the British forces during the American Revolution in the mid-1700s.
Facebook photos show Dellen Millard, 27, has an interest in restoring and repairing cars, as well as offroad racing. (Facebook)
Millard Air was incorporated in 1963 and eventually had a fleet of 21 planes. The charter airline was based at Toronto's main airport, operating until it went into bankruptcy in 1990.
Later, the Millard family owned an aircraft servicing and maintenance company, also based at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Carl died in 2006 and his son Wayne, took over the business.
Before he died on Nov. 29, 2012, a suicide according to Toronto police, Wayne was starting up Millardair MRO, described as "a new provider for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul service." It was based at Waterloo International Airport in Ontario and had the largest hangar at the airport, with plans to employ 40 to 90 people, Canadian Skies magazine reported at the time.
Timeline of events in Tim Bosma's disappearance April 28 — Tim Bosma posts an ad for his truck online.
Tim Bosma posts an ad for his truck online. May 6, 9:30 p.m. — Bosma leaves his home in Ancaster with two men for a test drive.
Bosma leaves his home in Ancaster with two men for a test drive. May 7 — Homicide unit called in to investigate.
Homicide unit called in to investigate. May 8 — Hamilton police release descriptions of two suspects.
Hamilton police release descriptions of two suspects. May 9 — Bosma's wife, Sharlene, makes a plea for his safe return.
Bosma's wife, Sharlene, makes a plea for his safe return. May 10 — Police announce they have found Bosma's cellphone in Brantford.
Police announce they have found Bosma's cellphone in Brantford. May 10 — Police arrest Dellen Millard in Mississauga.
Police arrest Dellen Millard in Mississauga. May 12 — Police locate Bosma's truck in Kleinburg.
Police locate Bosma's truck in Kleinburg. May 14 — Police announce Bosma's burned remains have been found.
Police announce Bosma's burned remains have been found. May 15 — Dellen Millard charged with murder of Tim Bosma.
In his father's obituary which appeared in the Toronto Star, Dellen wrote: "For father piloting wasn't just his job, it was his freedom."
Dellen's record flights
Wayne had learned to fly when he was five, sitting in his father's lap. Wayne's son, Dellen, also learned about flying when he was young but only began formal flying lessons in the months before his record flights.
The day after setting that record, the 14-year-old told CTV News, "It was just incredible flying alone. You look over at the seat and there's nobody there."
"It felt great and free. You can do anything up there," Dellen added. At the time, he was a student at the Toronto French School.
Dellen has flying in his background on his mother's side, too. Madeleine Burns is a former Air Canada flight attendant. (On Sunday, in Kleinburg, police found a trailer containing Bosma's black pickup truck in Burns's driveway.)
When Dellen was 21, Wayne told the Toronto Star his son wanted to start a helicopter business.
Millard's million-dollar properties
Millard is listed as the owner of at least four properties. His residence at 5 Maple Gate Court in Etobicoke, a Toronto suburb, used to belong to his grandparents. The tax assessment on the property is $1,072,000.
He's also listed as owning a six-unit residential building at 307 Riverside Dr. in Toronto that's assessed at $1,443,000.
Then there's the 45-hectare farm he owns at 2548 Roseville Rd. in Ayr, south of Kitchener-Waterloo, where police have been searching. Millard purchased it in 2011 for $835,000.
On May 7, the deal closed on Millard's purchase of a condo on the 37th floor at 70 Distillery Lane in downtown Toronto. Millard paid almost $628,000.
|
tests are gonna start keeping people honest! — Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) February 4, 2015
Maybe since @nickdiaz209 will be suspended at length he would be open to coming to Asia and fighting under real MMA rules. @ONEFCMMA — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) February 4, 2015
Stricter punishments? More testing? What do you guys think the UFC needs to@do to stop all the cheating?? http://t.co/EdEYtr03ks — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) February 4, 2015
I have said that there is a major problem in our sport. It breaks my heart that the greatest of all times succumbed to the pressure. #PED — Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) February 4, 2015
What a mess.
"@MieshaTate: @josephdiano77 no offense but Ive been asking for the @bethecorreia fight for awhile, I wanna shut down her win streak" me too — Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 3, 2015
"@bethecorreia: @josephdiano77 neither Sarah nor Tate takes my invincibility. I beat up the champion @RondaRousey" great, then let's fight! — Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 4, 2015
"@TravelingTerry: you should hire @TheNotoriousMMA for your fight negotiations." I definitely should — Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 3, 2015
So much beef.
@sonnench cala a boca ou liga pro seu dentista!!! Alguém traduz pra esse ignorante q nem falar português fala kkkk — Wanderlei Silva (@wandfc) February 3, 2015
@SaintMMA Wanderlei tweeted to Sonnen: "Shut up and call your dentist. I'm retired, but I'll make an exception if I meet you" — Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) February 3, 2015
@GilbertMelendez You already know I accept, im not waiting until June to fight again tho, Lets pick an earlier date June is too far out — Edward Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) February 4, 2015
Get well soon.
Начал бить ногами и коленями. Already started kicking,I'll be ready for 100% in one month! http://t.co/XT20cEbCBh — khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) February 3, 2015
save yourself, Buchecha.
Fine.
Great pic.
These 2 legends sparred together. Looks like they won't be fighting each other. The spar should've been sold as a PPV pic.twitter.com/At3EwdmSnF — Cathal Pendred (@PendredMMA) February 3, 2015
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Feb. 3 2015)
Nik Lentz vs. Levan Makashvili vs. UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Thatch
Talita Nogueira out, Julia Budd vs. Gabrielle Holloway at Bellator 133
Mannyl Gamburyan out, Takeya Mizugaki vs. Aljamain Sterling at UFC on FOX 15
Yancy Medeiros out, Tony Ferguson vs. Gleison Tibau at UFC 184
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via Graham Douglas.
Mike Dolce isn't arrogant, it's just that he's right. He is the unsung hero of the sport of MMA.
I've watched most, if not all the Dolce interviews on the MMA hour. Something stuck me today though. This guy is not arrogant. Nor is he smug. The fact is that Dolce Knows. He needs a new shirt, "Dolce Knows" or "Dolce told you so, but you didn't listen", etc. Create your own, it's fun! He's right. It would seem that being able to cut weight effectively is a GIGANTIC part of success in the sport. Lower weight class, smaller opponents, and less damage. The question really though becomes whether you can get to a lower weight and still be effective. It's clear that Dolce makes it happen for guys. What is his expertise worth? It's worth bigger payouts, a longer career, more energy come fight time, and a healthier existence after years of fighting and cutting weight....
Check out the rest of the post here.
Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.I’ve been talking about some talented and exciting authors both here and over at This Is Horror lately, authors of the weird and the strange who are doing their own thing and doing it exceedingly well. For a long time it seemed we had something of a shortage–with a few notable exceptions–and, while it’s been easy to find great short fiction, it’s been difficult to find unique, fresh voices and ideas in short fiction. But recently that trend has been changing, with publishers like Grey Matter Press, Cemetery Dance, Word Horde, and others publishing anthologies and collections of some of the best short fiction I’ve seen since Barker’s BOOKS OF BLOOD. One such collection is the new one by Daniel Braum, THE NIGHT MARCHERS. I reviewed that brilliant book over at This Is Horror so go read that, or better yet, go buy the book. I was recently discussing that book and strange fiction in general with Daniel and was delighted to note that he had some unique and intriguing insights into the genre, so I asked him if he would write a guest essay for us.
He said he would, he did, and it’s fucking brilliant so I’m going to get the hell out of the way now and let you read it. Enjoy.
Night Time Logic by Daniel Braum
Let’s begin with a question.
What explanation could there be for a person who could survive multiple stabbings from a sword unscathed?
Think about it. And hold your answers in the back of your mind as you read this post.
Here’s a second question.
What is a strange tale?
My answers to both of the questions are I don’t know. And I’m not sure.
Hold these thoughts for a bit. It is a beautiful New York summer morning as I write this. I’m in a bit of shade from the nice sun. The bird chirps are masking my worries. The sprinkler is going. I have a novel in progress I’m anxious to work on today and a wonderful pile of dark fiction stories to review. I’ve got this post to write yet I am distracted by my yearning for pancakes. I can handle this. Yet my attempts to summon them, using only my mind have been failing. I’m told of some strange alchemy one of my author pals calls a “recipe” but these are the days of science and reason and such tales of spinning culinary gold out of grocery store staples is just too farfetched for even me to believe.
Thanks for inviting me to do this guest post, Shane. And happy blog birthday to you. It has been a great year for short fiction. I’m very excited to be a small part of it with my first collection of short stories The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales, released in eBook from Cemetery Dance and in trade edition from Grey Matter Press. I’m proud of my stories and I’ve always believed in them but as we were messaging about recently, Shane, I never quite knew just where they fit in. I’ve been writing with the intent to publish for a decade and a half. It has only been recently that I feel I have found a context for some of my work, the stories and kinds of stories that appear in the Night Marchers. You’ve asked me to talk about horror and short fiction in this guest post. My caveat is I’m far from an expert. All I have to offer is some insight into my writing journey. I’m grateful to share a glimpses into my exploration, my questions and my perceptions on genre. I’m one guy. One reader. One writer. One who is grateful to be a small part of an exciting time in fiction. With that said, let’s go!
A beginning point is to mention that as a reader and writer I’m not terribly concerned with genre labels or labels at all. Well maybe just two. Fiction and non-fiction. As a kid I went for the fiction in my local library. Why? Because in fiction anything could happen. That was the only “rule”. The only distinction. Be it rocket ships, magic, or ghosts or adventures with none of these things, fiction was stories that were not bound by truth. Or the rules, or so called rules, of this world. Why I think I’ve found my way to horror is that I’ve found that horror, or at least horror today as I know it, seems to run by this same anything can happen spirit. Yes, I know there are divisions and subdivisions and labels and genres and sub-genres all with their expectations and stereotypes, I’ll leave explorations of these categories for people much smarter and more well-read than myself. What excites me about horror today is that editors, publishers, and readers seem to be very willing to go anywhere in a story. At its widest and most expansive definition horror in my opinion can be “anything” so long as it is dark, or remotely dark. If this darkness is in space or with robots or time travel, (gross oversimplifications of science fiction as a genre or category), horror will still “take it” and accept it as horror. If this darkness appears in a story with magic, swords and sorcery, urban or historical witchcraft (again my gross oversimplifications of the fantasy genre), horror will take it too. I’ve found that horror embraces all the hard to classify, cross-genre, genre-bending, interstitial work out there. All the weird fiction and strange tales. Horror accepts these stories as its own too. This is very exciting to me. This is as close to that no rules, just a party of imagination, I experienced as a kid set loose in my library as I’ve come. Thus horror feels like home. Horror and the wide net it encompasses is the fiction I’m excited to read. As I sit here and write this I’ll try to zero in on the stuff I’m excited about and have been excited about. I’ll try to close in on why I might call these stories, or kinds of stories, strange tales.
I think this is the place in this post where I have to proclaim Spoiler Warnings. There is a good chance I’m going to spoil elements of the short stories The Swords by Robert Aickman. Some Zombie Contingency Plans by Kelly Link. And the movies The Neon Demon and It Follows.
Let’s start with Robert Aickman. There is so much to say about Robert Aickman and the term ‘strange tales’ he coined for his stories. I’d like to focus on one story in particular; The Swords. I mention the Swords because it was my gateway to Robert Aickman and to weird fiction. I was lucky enough to attend a panel at World Fantasy Convention in 2014 moderated by Simon Strantzas. He and Peter Straub, and Chleasea Quinn Yarbo and others were discussing Aickman and his work. I had never read him before and the conversation had me so intrigued. Peter Straub mentioned many reasons why he loved Aickman’s work. He also cited those same reasons as to why one his notable friends and collaborators disliked Aickman. If you have not yet read any Aickman his stories are about people’s encounters with the supernatural. But Aickman’s supernatural elements are not ghosts or goblins. In fact they rarely are anything explained.
On the panel Peter set forth a theory or formula as to how an Aickman story works. I’m going by memory here so apologies to Peter or anyone if I miss a nuance or get this wrong or mis-quote him in anyway. But as I remember it Peter said he usually find three elements in play in an Aickman story:
A story grounded in prose a sense of place and voice. Aickman’s narrators were usually disaffected, longing British Men. Then we have some sort of what Straub calls a coincidence. Some sort of action or occurrence that if handled by a lesser author, or in less grounded prose you would just throw your hands up and say, no way. Not real. Then we have a supernatural element. A supernatural encounter. And they are rarely, if ever explained.
If you can seeek out and read a copy of the Swords now. In any event let’s talk about it.
*** SDK: ‘The Swords’ can be found in Robert Aickman’s collection COLD HAND IN MINE.***
As to Straub’s point one:
The narrator in the Swords is a young British man. The point of view, the voice, the setting are all incredibly well grounded and well presented. Reading this story the reader believes the character and where he is both in place and in history. The narrator in the swords comes across something that is part side show, part sex show. In a carnival tent, a young woman (wearing green powder) is pierced by with swords by men watching in the audience. In the beginning of the story the narrator experiences this then leaves the scene of this event.
As to point two: The coincidence.
The narrator returns to the carnival place to find the woman and her carnival barker like handler, (who he calls the seaman or showman), gone. Then this happens:
“…and all the while mulling over and around what had happened to me, until the time came for dinner. I had planned to eat in the café where I had eaten the night before, but I found myself in a different part of the city, which, of course I didn’t know at all, and, feeling rather faint and queer fell instead into the first place there was.
And there, in the middle of the floor, believe it or not, sitting at a Formica-topped table, was my girl with the green powder, and, beside her, the Seaman or showman, looking like a run-down boxer.”
So the coincidence is that he runs into these two people again. This coincidence and coincidences like it are what the panel pointed out could be both hallmarks of Aickman stories and elements handled in the hands of lesser writers or any writer other than Aickman that would cause a story to fail, that would cause a reader to stop suspension of disbelief.
But then we have point three. The supernatural element. The coincidence is not the supernatural element. In The Swords the green-powder woman not only survives the swords side show, something else very unusual happens to her. Our narrator has a private date, a “session” with the woman. In the course of this session the woman loses her arm. Then she reattaches it and flees. No explanation as to what has occurred is given. Aickman only gives us this, as he follows her and runs into the Seaman. And pays the man for his session with the woman.
“…I noticed that even his trousers seemed to be seaman’s trousers, now that I could see them close to, with him standing just in front of me. ‘Everything all right then?’
“I think so,” I said again. I was taking care not to commit myself too far in any direction I could think of.
I saw that now he was looking at me, his small eyes deep-sunk.
At that exact moment, there was a wild shriek from one of the floors below. It was about the loudest human cry I had heard until then, even in one of those lodgings.
But the man took no notice.
‘All right then,” he said.
For some reason, he hesitated a moment, then he held out his hand. I took it. He was very strong, but there was nothing else remarkable about his hand.
“We’ll meet again,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
Then he turned away and pressed the black time switch for the staircase light. I did not stop to watch him go. I was sick and freezing.
And so far, despite what he said, our paths have not recrossed.
#
Their story ends there.
So let’s revisit the question I began with. How can a woman survive being stabbed by a sword? How can a woman lose and arm and reattach it. You all are very smart and creative. You could come up with dozens of creative and plausible things. So not only do I say I don’t know. I submit to you that it doesn’t matter.
It is this lack of knowing. This intentional lack of an answer that Aickman was after. And a large part of what give his stories their punch.
What he delivers this way is a sense that emotion and consequence for our narrator. And hopefully us the reader.
Had Aickman presented the woman as a robot the story could veer toward science fiction. Had he presented the woman as using magic the story could come across as fantasy. Had he presented the woman as a vampire or other creature perhaps the story reads as horror. But he does none of these things. The story comes across as supernatural. Something akin to science fiction, fantasy, and or horror. But something different.
Is this a strange tale?
It is certainly a Robert Aickman strange tale.
What did Robert Aickman do?
After reading the swords I thought a lot about the story. And how it was operating. And why it appealed to me so much.
The answer, for me, is Night Time Logic.
Night Time Logic is a term coined by author Howard Waldrop.
There is a great article out there on the Wall Street Journal where author Kelly Link speaks about this. Shane, or any reader out there, maybe you can track down this article? It appears to now be behind a pay wall.
***SDK: I did not find the article Daniel Referred to above but I did find this link to an interview on Chicago Review of Books in which Link discusses “Night Time Logic,” among other things.***
Even if we do come up with the link I’d like to talk a bit about Night Time Logic. It is never optimal to define something by explaining what it is not but I’m doing so anyway.
Daytime logic. Daytime logic is the kind of logic that operates with your conscious mind. The rules of the supernatural elements in a story are known. And clearly defined. For example day time logic is Vampires. Vampires operate in known way. Anything with clear and known rules are operating with “daytime” logic.
Night Time Logic is about what is felt. It is about the unconscious mind. I’m tempted to say Night Time Logic is about “no rules” but this is not the case. Night Time Logic is about supernatural things operating by rules that are not given. That are not known or fully known. What is happening is not explicit. You don’t “get” the rules in your brain or your conscious thoughts.
You feel things.
In your gut.
In your heart.
In Aickman’s the swords something is happening. We get the sense the Seaman knows what is going on. But we aren’t privy to it. We are privy to the emotion. To the sense that something is happening.
Author Tim Powers has spoken about something akin to this. I don’t believe he is speaking directly about Night Time Logic but he sums it up quite well. Back in 2004 he gave a Key Note or Guest of Honor speech at I think what was the ARISIA convention or perhaps it was Boskone. I once thought it could be found online but I can’t seem to find the link.
As I recall, he was talking about chickens who had been raised for generations indoors. Generation after generation of these chickens were raised without ever seeing the sun. Without ever seeing a predator. One day some researchers did an experiment. They ran some sort of a zip line along the ceiling of the giant chicken coop warehouse and attached the shape of a Chicken Hawk onto it. They moved the fake chicken hawk along the ceiling and watched as the chickens who had never seen a predator react in fear. The point was not about genetic memory. The point was that an author’s job is to operate as that “fake chicken hawk” does. To elicit real emotions and responses from readers with the so called cardboard cut outs of our words.
This is Night Time Logic to me.
If done right the emotion is delivered. The emotion is felt.
Readers will react and respond to something in their guts. Not in their brains.
Can they tell you why? Maybe. Perhaps. What is key is not knowing about the lady with the swords. It is feeling it. Being affected by it.
Here is a link to my story The Moon and The Mesa. The story appears in the Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales collection. This is a free audio version recorded by Psuedopod the horror podcast site. I hope you will take a listen to it.
http://pseudopod.org/2010/12/31/pseudopod-219-the-moon-and-the-mesa/
The supernatural element in the story, if it is a supernatural element at all, I believe works on Night Time Logic. Was it effective for you? Why? Several stories in the Night Marhers collection operate this way. I hope you will give them a read.
If you spend any time around me talking about fiction. Night Time Logic and Kelly Link are topics that are sure to come up. I recently tried explaining Kelly Link’s fiction to a pal who had not yet read Kelly’s stories. And without thinking much about it I told him that some of Kelly’s stories operate like Aickman’s stories work on Night Time Logic. This may or may not be true. This may or may not be intentional. But the story I had in mind is one of my favorite Kelly Link stories. It is called is Some Zombie Contingency Plans. Despite the name. It is not really about Zombies.
The podcast site Podcastle has recorded a wonderful free version of the story. I recommend listening to it here. It is one of my favorite stories.
http://podcastle.org/2010/09/01/podcastle-120-some-zombie-contingency-plans-fixed/
Kelly begins the story by directly addressing the reader, telling us what the story is about:
“This is a story about being lost in the woods.
This guy Soap is at a party out in the suburbs. The thing you need to know about Soap is that he keeps a small framed oil painting in the trunk of his car. The painting is about the size of a paperback novel. Wherever Soap goes, this oil painting goes with him. But he leaves the painting in the trunk of his car, because you don’t walk around a party carrying a painting. People will think you are weird.”
She then goes on to make us forget about what the story is about. How? With an incredibly convincing voice of both Soap and a young girl named Carly and her very clever and humorous narrative voice. The similarity between Kelly Link and Robert Aickman and Tim Powers to me is that they all ground us in the voice of the characters and the specificity of the setting. Their very grounded very believable voices and settings allow for a less defined speculative element, in my opinion. To me this kind of storytelling is a delight.
Here is a bit of the setting and voice from some Zombie Contingency Plans:
“A girl wanders into the kitchen. She’s black and her hair goes up and up and on top are those sturdy, springy curls like little waves. Toe to top of her architectural haircut she’s as tall as Soap. She has eyes the color of iceberg lettuce. There’s a heart-shaped rhinestone under one green eye. The rhinestone winks at Soap like it knows him. She’s gorgeous, but Soap knows better than to fool around with girls who aren’t out of high school yet, maybe. “What are you doing,” she says.
“Cooking a steak,” Soap says. “Want one?”
“No,” she says. “I already ate.”
She sits up on the counter beside the sink and swings her legs. She’s wearing a bikini top, pink shorts, and no shoes. “Who are you,” she says.
“Will,” Soap says, although Will is not his name. Soap isn’t his real name, either.
“I’m Carly,” she says. “You want a beer?”
“There’s beer in the fridge,” Will says, and Carly says, “I know there is.”
Will opens and closes drawers and cabinet doors until he’s found a plate, a fork, and a knife, and garlic salt. He takes his steak out of the oven.
“You go to State?” Carly says. She pops off the beer top against the lip of the kitchen counter and Will knows she’s showing off.
“No,” Will says. He sits down at the kitchen table and cuts off a piece of steak. He’s been lonely ever since he and his friend Mike got out of prison and Mike went out to Seattle. It’s nice to sit in a kitchen and talk to a girl.”
On the surface the story is a story, about a con just released from prison with a very young girl and her even younger brother at a house party. There is a lot of natural tension and conflict built into the scenario. Link does her job in presenting a setting and situation that feels so real you or I or any of us could have attended. But, like she said in the first line the story is ultimately about is being lost in the woods. What does that mean? What does being lost in the woods mean?
Soap was in prison for stealing a painting from a Museum heist. Only the painting was never at the Museum in the first place. So sneaking up on us this is a story about…. A man who is mad? Or maybe a magic painting? Or maybe something else entirely. As the story nears its end we realize that despite the story not seeming like it is a supernatural story at all that something magical, something supernatural might be at play here. Like in Aickman’s work, what exactly this is, is not explained. But certainly it is felt and the story delivers great emotion and perhaps even something akin to the sense of life being lost in the woods using Night Time Logic.
Aickman and Link write stories that are hard to classify. Stories that transcend the categories they sometimes find themselves in.
These stories and these kinds of stories are what excite me. There are so many wonderful examples of this. From Jeffrey Ford and his story A Night In the Tropics to a host of writers working today. You asked me about the state of horror. Well honestly I don’t know. But from my vantage it looks very exciting.
Just look at programs like the Outer Dark and this is horror to see great examples of just how exciting a time it is. Thanks to a demand by readers and a willingness by publishers to give us fresh voices and exciting perspectives it is a very exciting time. Movies like It Follows and The Neon Demon are bringing and popularizing this kind of fiction on the Silver Screen. Looks like I didn’t spoil these movies. But go spoil yourself and give them a watch. Let me know if they work for you.
With that, I’ll wrap it up Shane. I could go on all day. And I hope to do this again. Happy blog birthday. See you again next year for birthday number two. Wishing you a great year full of dark and fantastic fiction. What kind? I’m not sure. And I don’t care. So long as it is dark and delivers. Wish me luck trying to make pancakes appear.
Daniel Braum. Author of the Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales.
Buy the eBook on Amazon (Cemetery Dance Press).
Buy the Trade edition on Amazon (Grey Matter Press).Mickey Is Here to Tell You You're Fired
Republican senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio is backing a bill that would triple the number of guest workers businesses could hire every year, after hundreds of workers in his state were fired and literally replaced by foreign guest workers. Disney, Southern California Edison and most recently Fossil Group have together fired hundreds of American tech workers and forced them to train their foreign replacements, many of whom were flown in specifically to take their job... [Disney] “Cast Members” were informed last October they were being replaced by a foreign work force, and they could either stick around for 90 days and train their replacements — with a good attitude — or leave immediately and forego their severance packages... Rubio’s “I-squared” bill would triple the number of temporary guest workers businesses could bring into the country every year, and allow for a virtually unlimited number of university-based green cards. The big businesses backing this bill and clamoring for more guest workers insist they can’t find enough Americans willing or able to fill certain “high-skilled” jobs. Rubio obviously agrees, and has argued more guest workers and immigration generally will result in more jobs for Americans. [As Floridians are displaced, Rubio Demands More Foreign Workers, by Rachel Stoltzfoos, Daily Caller, May 19, 2015]
Even while running for President, Rubio is mounting a strong challenge against Jeb Bush as the GOP candidate who most despises American workers The sociopathic behavior of this quintessentially American company is an apt metaphor for the behavior of the Beltway Right as a whole. Rubio has been especially active in wrapping himself in the mantle of Ronald Reagan, the ideas of "American Exceptionalism," and the dream of a strong America once again respected (and, it is implied, feared) abroad. Yet all of this is simply cover for a short-sighted and borderline sadistic agenda of literally driving Americans out of the workforce to be replaced by cheap foreign labor.
Many Republicans seem utterly determined to live up to the Left's caricature of them. It remains to be seen if those who have given patriots some signs of hope (notably Scott Walker and Rick Santorum) will stick by their pro-worker positions.WARNING: MAJOR NARUTO MANGA SPOILERS TOWARD THE END OF THIS POST
The last chapter of the Naruto manga will officially be released on November 10, 2014 (11/10/14) in both Japan and North America. That’s just a few short weeks away! The official Japanese website for Naruto has created an epic history of Naruto timeline along with a countdown at naruto.com/j/countdown/ in Japanese and English to a huge Naruto project. We’ve posted the image stills below for the history of Naruto. Thanks to them, we were able to re-live the series, going through each panel one by one, recollecting the greatness that has been Naruto! Quite the nostalgic experience, thinking back at not only what our thoughts and impressions were the first time we experienced each scene, but also during the years which they had happened (we started Naruto years after the series began).
We’re sure many of you will agree, there has never been a series of this magnitude, that has influenced so many lives, including ours at Anime Games Online. Yes, there is One Piece, a phenomenal series that will thankfully continue to be epic for many years to come. Yes, there is Dragon Ball Z, the legendary series that started it all, a gateway to anime for us that we’ve held near and dear to our hearts. Naruto, however, just a wow factor on a completely different level. The inspiration, the themes, the well rounded style of content (humor, mystery, romance, strategy, and epic ninja action to name a few), and the overall obsession we’ve had with the series. A series focused on the story of a person who started with nothing, but a dream, and the world against him, working his way up to the admiration of his peers, his village, and now the entire ninja world! It might be the thoughts of the ending influencing us, but wow, Naruto for the win!
Er-hm, anyways, it’s unknown what the huge, new Naruto project is at this point in time, but it might be something different from The Last: Naruto the Movie, which hits theaters in Japan on December 6. This announcement will take place on November 10th and once it is announced, we’ll be sure to let you know right here on Anime Games Online!SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - China intensified its checks on people and goods arriving from Singapore on Thursday, as an outbreak of the Zika virus in the small city-state was confirmed to have spread to at least one person in neighboring Malaysia.
Authorities in Singapore, a leading regional financial center and busy transit hub for people and cargo, said they had detected 151 people with the Zika virus, including a second pregnant woman, as of midday Thursday. The first locally-transmitted Zika infection was reported on Saturday.
The government said earlier that half of the 115 cases reported previously were foreigners, mainly from China, India and Bangladesh, and most had already recovered. Many of them are believed to be among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in Singapore’s construction and marine industries.
Some new Zika cases have been found beyond the cluster area where the virus was initially detected.
“We have been tracking Zika for a while now, and knew it was only a matter of time before it reached Singapore,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted on his Facebook page. “Our best defense is to eradicate mosquitoes and destroy breeding habitats, all over Singapore.”
Singapore is the only Asian country with active transmission of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which in pregnant women can lead to serious birth defects.
Malaysia confirmed its first case of Zika infection, in a woman who had recently visited Singapore.
The United States, Australia and other countries have added Singapore to the growing list of places that pregnant women or those trying to conceive have been warned to avoid.
HURRICANE IN U.S. COMPLICATES EFFORT
Meanwhile, in south Florida, where nearly 50 cases of Zika have been reported in non-travelers, officials said they trapped the first mosquitoes that tested positive for the virus, further confirming reports of local U.S. transmission.
“This find is disappointing, but not surprising,” Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam said in a statement. “Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami Beach, and state and federal partners will continue to work aggressively to prevent the spread of Zika,” Putnam added.
That work is likely to be seriously hampered by a hurricane expected to hit Florida overnight, as high winds will make aerial insecticide spraying impossible and standing water in its aftermath will provide added mosquito breeding sites.
The Singapore outbreak and travel warnings come just two weeks before the Singapore F1 motor-racing Grand Prix, a major sporting and tourist draw. The race promoter said planning for the event is going ahead “as per normal”.
Singapore’s Tourism Board has said it is premature to consider any impact on the tourism industry, stressing the tropical city-state remains a “safe travel destination”.
More than 55 million people pass through Singapore’s Changi airport each year. Tourism arrivals topped 8 million in the first half of this year, around 1 million more than a year ago.
China is trade-dependent Singapore’s top overseas market, and the Zika outbreak coincides with a dip in overall exports and slowing economic growth in both countries.
“If this continues, certainly it will have a negative impact, but it’s hard to quantify in percentage terms or dollar value,” said Francis Tan, an economist at United Overseas Bank in Singapore.
The Zika virus, which has spread through the Americas and the Caribbean since first being detected in Brazil late last year, is generally a mild disease but can cause microcephaly, a rare birth defect that can lead to serious developmental problems, and has also been linked to other severe fetal brain abnormalities.
The World Health Organization has also linked Zika to Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.
MALAYSIA MEASURES
The WHO, which declared Zika an international public health emergency, was holding a regular meeting of its Zika emergency committee on Thursday to review the spread of the disease.
Malaysia, which has two land border crossings with Singapore, asked those going to the city-state to use mosquito repellent and to cover up to avoid bites. Tens of thousands of people travel between the two countries daily.
An Aedes aegypti mosquito is seen inside a test tube as part of a research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases at a control and prevention center in Guadalupe, neighbouring Monterrey, Mexico, March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo
Indonesia has also stepped up protective measures following the Singapore outbreak, intensifying checks on arrivals from Singapore and posting paramedics at airports and border checkpoints.
Zika is primarily spread by mosquitoes but can also be transmitted through unprotected sex with an infected person. A case of suspected transmission through a blood transfusion in Brazil has raised questions about other ways it may be spread.
Several companies and government agencies are working to develop vaccines against Zika. On Thursday, Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceuticals said it has joined the effort with help from U.S. funding, and it expects to begin human testing next year.The environmental assessment is underway for Calgary’s Springbank off-stream reservoir, the Alberta government announced Wednesday. Though Premier Rachel Notley renewed her commitment to proceed with the project in February, she previously came under fire for reneging on her election promise to scrap it.
The flood mitigation project will divert the Elbow River into the new storage reservoir in Springbank, located on top of Val Vista Ranch. It’s meant as part of an overall provincial flood mitigation strategy, following $6 billion in damage caused by widespread flooding in southern Alberta in June 2013.
A statement from the NDP government said the required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is needed for various environmental regulatory processes, including federal components. It will look at issues such as air quality, noise, vegetation and wetlands, historical resources, traditional knowledge and traditional land use.
WATCH: A conceptual animation of the Springbank project created by the Alberta government
“Designed as a dry dam unless flood conditions are present, the Springbank off-stream reservoir will work in tandem with the Glenmore reservoir in Calgary,” the NDP said in a statement. “Together, the combined storage capacity would accommodate water volumes equal to the 2013 flood."
The NDP said it has conducted “extensive stakeholder consultation” for the reservoir and will “continue to engage with stakeholders and provide public updates as milestones are achieved.”
But a group of about 18 landowners called Don’t Damn Springbank claimed government officials had refused meeting requests rather than engaging with residents. The group renewed its opposition to the project Wednesday, and suggested a dam along McLean Creek was a better option.
READ MORE: Bragg Creek versus Calgary – Residents fight for flood protection
“[The Springbank dam] SR1 is bad public policy,” said affected owner Lee Drewry in a statement. “The cost of SR1 has been vastly understated, it won’t be faster than McLean Creek, and it does not provide protection for upstream communities. …
“Transferring risk from one community |
a much more cautious approach. Before any extension of this power we recommend that the Government conduct a much more comprehensive public consultation, carry out a more detailed impact assessment in the light of that consultation and conduct a review of the operation of the power after an elapse of years. In the meantime, we recommend that the Bill be amended to confine the scope of the power to the filming and broadcasting of judges and advocates in appellate proceedings, as the Government currently intends”.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 864
I am also cautiously conservative on this issue because I do not believe that criminal trials are best conducted in televised goldfish bowl.
Lord Pannick: My Lords, I do not share the concerns expressed by the two previous speakers. The broadcasting of court proceedings will enhance public understanding of our justice system, which in general works efficiently and fairly. There is also the possibility that allowing in the cameras may illuminate those areas of the law that are much in need of reform, a result that I would have thought law reformers as distinguished as the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws, and the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, would welcome.
So what if broadcasters focus on sensational cases? That is what print journalists do and we do not exclude them from the courtroom. Amendment 113 would confine broadcasting to appellate proceedings but, if the Lord Chief Justice thinks it appropriate, why not allow the broadcasting of a judicial review application that raises issues of importance? Such applications normally involve no witness evidence and often raise issues of law of considerable constitutional importance. Of course there should be no broadcasting of the evidence of witnesses, and jurors’ faces should not be shown, but I cannot understand why there should be no possibility of the broadcasting of the judge’s sentencing remarks at the end of a criminal trial. There are many cases where, at the end of the criminal trial, the judge is speaking not only to the defendant or other persons in court but is seeking to communicate to the public at large. The judge should be assisted to do so.
The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws, made what I respectfully submit was a quite extraordinary suggestion that judges need to be protected because their words may be misrepresented. She also suggested that judges need anonymity in the community at large. I doubt very much whether there are many judges—or, indeed, many noble Lords—who think that our judges need or deserve such protection.
In any event, Amendment 113 is entirely unnecessary because your Lordships will see that Clause 23 will not come into effect without the agreement of the Lord Chief Justice, who no doubt will carefully consider the details of any scheme to allow broadcasting of court proceedings. For the same reason, Amendments 113ZA and 113ZB in this group are also unnecessary in seeking to impose conditions on the broadcasting of court proceedings. I am content to proceed on the basis set out in Clause 23, that the broadcasting provision would come into force only,
“with the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice”.
It would be far better to let him—or possibly, after next October, her—decide on the detail of the broadcasting scheme.
For the same reason, Amendment 120B, requiring a resolution from both Houses, is unnecessary. The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws, and the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill—for both of whom I have the highest regard—are the 21st century equivalents of the 18th century Scottish judge Lord Eskgrove. When a court reporter wrote down the terms of one of his judgments being delivered in court, Lord Eskgrove complained:
“The fellow takes down my very words”.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 865
Lord Lester of Herne Hill: Would the noble Lord address the points raised by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, rather than referring to me as an 18th century gentleman?
Lord Pannick: My Lords, I have made such points as I think may assist the House in answer to the arguments brought forward in this debate and the arguments presented by the Joint Committee.
Baroness Butler-Sloss: My Lords, I apologise for arriving late at this part of the debate. I did not propose to speak and hold no strong views about this amendment, but I have to rise just to deal with a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. He said that judges neither need nor deserve any protection. That is true in general, but I think he has overlooked the fact that certain judges get death threats. There are groups of judges, of which I happen to be one, who during their time as a judge received a number of death threats. In my case they came both from people who could recognise me because they had appeared before me in court and from those, such as Fathers 4 Justice, who not only made death threats against me but, I must tell your Lordships, also threatened to kidnap my dog, which I thought was much more serious than the death threat against me. More serious than the threats that either I or the family court judges receive are those made against judges in terrorist trials. They absolutely need and deserve protection, so I take issue with the noble Lord, Lord Pannick.
Lord Pannick: I entirely agree that judges deserve all the protection necessary in those circumstances. However, the press and broadcasters are perfectly entitled to publish photographs of the judge who has heard the terrorist trial or any other sensational case. This amendment would have no impact in that respect.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws: Does the noble Lord accept that there is something different about the moving camera? There is a famous book by Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, in which the first line is: “I am a camera”. The reason why he starts that way is because he is saying: “I am providing you with a subjective view from my eyes—my edited account of what was happening in the 1930s during the rise of Hitler in Berlin”. He was pointing up the fact that the camera is very subjective. Does the noble Lord agree with that?
Lord Pannick: Of course there are differences, but no difference that could possibly justify these amendments. Noble Lords will know that the proceedings of our Supreme Court are broadcast virtually every day that the court sits. None of us has any knowledge of that; it has caused no adverse effects and I cannot understand the noble Baroness’s concerns.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws: My Lords—
Earl Attlee: My Lords, we need to be a little careful about adhering to the rules of Report.
Lord Mackay of Clashfern: My Lords, the noble Baroness has referred to something that happened about 20 years ago in relation to experiments in Scotland.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 866
As she said, judges there were able to make arrangements for televising trials without any change in the statute law because there was no statute restricting that possibility. A considerable number of cases were televised under that arrangement. The television authorities put together a programme because, interested though they were in Scotland, it was nothing in comparison with the interest they had in proceedings in England, for reasons which perhaps an 18th-century Scottish judge might have speculated about. Anyway, that was the fact.
3.30 pm
It was arranged that senior members of the judiciary here and the legal profession—particularly those who had practised considerably in the criminal courts, as the noble Baroness has—should view this compilation of the results of the television trials to pave the way for similar arrangements in England. I was present on at least one of those occasions: I think there was more than one when they were shown. I regret to say that the result on the senior members of the legal profession was such that, until now, the experiment has not been taken any further. That was 20 years ago. I am not sure whether the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, was one of the viewers of that particular programme, but if he was not then it might be quite useful for him and some others who are presently concerned with the matter to see it now.
I am perfectly prepared to agree that the Lord Chief Justice should have control of this matter. I suggest that whenever this comes before the Lord Chief Justice, it might be useful were there an opportunity available to see the results of the Scottish trial of 20 years ago so that the difficulties—and there are some—might be considered in the formulation of the requirement. One thing that may be important is a question of some control of the editing. As your Lordships know, there is considerable control of the editing of the programmes in Parliament, and there may need to be something of that kind. It does not require too much imagination to suppose that the editing of sentencing remarks, the way that they are set out and their completeness, could make some difference to the balance with which an observer might view the situation. There is a great deal of detail that requires to be looked at. As I said, this information from 20 years ago—it is not as far back as the 18th century but is still of some relevance—should be available to those considering this matter further.
Baroness Hamwee: My Lords, it is very rare indeed that I do not wholly agree with the noble Baroness. As for my noble friend, Lord Lester, I do not even stop to assess whether I agree with him because I know that I should. However, as the noble and learned Lord has just mentioned, we in Parliament are used to our proceedings being recorded—we barely notice the cameras now—and edited. I am constantly taken aback by the number of people who watch the Parliament channel and our proceedings at great length—they must be terrible insomniacs, but they do. It may be that they prefer to watch and listen to a large chunk of a particular matter rather than have the proceedings edited by that very respectable and useful programme, “Today in Parliament”, or the print media. I support giving that opportunity with regard to the courts.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 867
I recently attended a sentencing. I was there accompanying somebody who was concerned with the case. Waiting for my friend afterwards, I listened to the quite considerable number of print journalists there, writing up their stories. They had been handed a copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks but barely referred to the copy. They checked one or two comments with each other instead of bothering to go back to what they had been given, and I could hear how they were editing the remarks to make a sensational story.
I am very happy to rely on the Lord Chief Justice and the judges in particular cases where, as I understand it, the ability to make particular restrictions will still continue. Of course, editing—being a camera—is subjective. I have agonised about this quite a lot and I spoke rather in the other direction at the previous stage, but I have come down to believing that this quite cautious move is the right one. Judges are less tempted than politicians to make off-the-cuff remarks about major moves forward. I am therefore very happy that the Lord Chief Justice is so much involved.
Lord Beecham: My Lords, I understand the points made by my noble friend and by the noble Lord, Lord Lester. This is an innovation in English court procedures and we should approach it with a degree of caution. The case for opening up the judicial system to more public information and understanding is well made, and to that extent I concur with the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. I was less happy with the second part of his speech, which addressed the amendments in my name. I endorse what the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, has just said about discretion on the part of the trial judge to decide whether or not to permit broadcasting. That ought to be a significant safeguard, but it is not quite good enough to rely just on the Lord Chief Justice. I say “just”; although one has every confidence in the holders of that office, this is, as I say, a new departure and there is a wider interest to be considered. The amendments in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Rosser try to establish the principles both in relation to any decision to extend court broadcasting and regarding the matters to be considered when a court gives a direction, precisely to meet some of the objections and difficulties envisaged by my noble friend Lady Kennedy and the noble Lord, Lord Lester.
Amendment 120B requires any statutory instrument to be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. I am in slight difficulty here because, when these matters were raised in Committee, the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, said that the government amendments would make the provisions under what was then Clause 22 and is now Clause 23 subject to the affirmative procedure, as recommended by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. She also referred to what was then Clause 29, which again required amendments to primary legislation to be subject to the affirmative procedure. I may have missed them but I cannot actually see those references in the Bill. They may be disguised under some form of words that does not immediately disclose their presence, but I would be grateful if the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, could confirm that the affirmative procedure would apply so that it would not simply be a matter of a decision by the
10 Dec 2012 : Column 868
Lord Chief Justice but, if there were to be significant changes, particularly to extend the range of matters that could be broadcast, then the affirmative procedure would apply. If that were the case, we would certainly be content to support the Bill in its present form. Perhaps, with the assistance of the Box, he may be able to help me and, more importantly, your Lordships, to come to a conclusion about whether the Government’s intentions are currently reflected in the Bill.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: My Lords, it is always interesting to examine such issues. I have listened to the speeches and the arguments, although I was not in your Lordships’ House when the arguments were put forward for the televising of Parliament. I listened, as I always do, to the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, who spoke about words being put into people’s mouths and perhaps being interpreted differently. I suppose that every now and again parliamentarians, and politicians in particular, suffer that consequence, which is well understood.
This has been a wide-ranging debate. As we have seen, again there is strong opinion on both sides of the argument. As the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, said, her amendment would limit court proceedings to appellate proceedings and, in effect, would require the Government to return to Parliament before broadening court broadcasting to other types of court proceedings, such as those in the Crown Court. I am also aware, as my noble friend Lord Lester of Herne Hill pointed out, that this amendment was specifically recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report of the Bill. I would, of course, like to thank the Joint Committee for its report. I am also glad to read that the committee agrees with the Government’s objective of making justice as apparent and as publicly accessible as possible.
We have heard about 18th century judges, although I am minded not to travel back in history to that extent. However, in 1924, the Lord Chief Justice, Viscount Hewart, said:
“Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done”.
I believe that sentiment underlies the Government’s view.
The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, talked about caution. The Government recognise that as regards court broadcasting. It is our view that any order made under Clause 23 will require, as has been mentioned by various noble Lords, the agreement of the Lord Chief Justice. But that is just one lock. It will also require the approval of the Lord Chancellor and will be subject to scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament under the affirmative procedure. Therefore, court broadcasting will be introduced in a safe and proportionate manner. That is akin to putting not one or two locks on the door but to putting three locks. It will take three people to open that door.
However, we can go one step further. We believe that this triple lock, combined with existing reporting restrictions and the additional provision to allow judges to stop the filming and broadcasting of court proceedings to ensure the fairness of proceedings and to prevent any undue prejudice, will ensure that the interests of victims and witnesses, who are most important, as well
10 Dec 2012 : Column 869
as jurors, defendants and other parties, are fully protected. I hope that this will address the concerns of not only the noble Baroness but also the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, in relation to the court’s requirement to consider when to allow or to prevent broadcasting.
When the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, mentioned that moving cameras changed people’s actions, they certainly changed my action. As she mentioned it, I looked towards the camera and the camera moved. There is some credence and fact behind that statement.
The Government announced plans in September of last year to allow the broadcasting of judgments and advocates’ arguments in cases before the Court of Appeal and, over a longer period, to allow broadcasting from the Crown Court but to limit this to the judge’s sentencing remarks after conclusion of the trial. We believe that this will help to increase the public’s understanding of sentencing, with low risk to the proper administration of justice. Let me assure your Lordships’ House that we have no plans to extend court broadcasting beyond these two sets of circumstances. We believe that, once Parliament has approved the principle of broadcasting selected court proceedings, the details safely can be set out in secondary legislation. I would remind the House that the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee did not take issue with this approach as long as the secondary legislation was subject to the affirmative procedure, which it now is. This means that the Lord Chancellor may make an order only under this clause which has been approved by both Houses. That being the case—I refer in particular to the comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Beecham —Amendment 120B is not needed as that ground is covered already by Clause 30(4)(f). As with all primary legislation, these provisions will be subject to post-legislative review three to five years after Royal Assent.
3.45 pm
The other amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, reflect the vital principles of protection for victims and witnesses and the proper administration of justice. I am happy to reiterate the Government’s commitment to these principles. Furthermore, I believe that the draft order which noble Lords have now seen demonstrates how these principles are intended to be upheld. This order would allow filming in the Court of Appeal of submissions of legal representatives, exchanges in open court between a legal representative and the court and the court giving judgment only. Filming of any other individuals or parts of proceedings would remain prohibited by the Criminal Justice Act 1925. The order also provides that the court may suspend or stop filming or prevent broadcast where that would be necessary in the interests of justice.
The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, talked about judges’ security and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, mentioned her concern for her dog. Parliamentarians, politicians and judges are in the public eye, and people have to face challenges and dangers in public life, but I assure the House that the Government will happily look at security in the impact assessment that will be published before the first order is brought forward.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 870
I hope that this addresses the key principles and concerns, which the Government recognise, that are outlined in the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, and the noble Lord, Lord Beecham. An extension to allow filming of sentencing remarks in the Crown Court would require a further order, subject to the triple lock procedure that I outlined earlier.
Given the concerns that have been voiced, the Government are happy to publish a detailed impact assessment alongside the first order made under this clause and will continue to engage with victim support groups, members of the judiciary and other interested parties. Any order made under this clause is subject to the triple lock. Several noble Lords mentioned the important role of the Lord Chief Justice. The Lord Chancellor also has a role, and both Houses of Parliament must approve the order under the affirmative procedure. I reiterate that, in any case, a judge may impose reporting restrictions and prevent, suspend or stop filming to prevent broadcast, where necessary. I hope these four locks and these assurances will address the concerns of the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, and the noble Lord, Lord Beecham. I hope the noble Baroness will withdraw her amendment.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws: I thank the Minister for his response. I am not sure that there could be enough locks to satisfy my concerns. Superficially, this can be very attractive, and it can be discussed in the context of transparency and accountability, but they can be veneers for something much riskier. The camera is not the same as the human eye. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, described watching as reporters for the print media took no notice of the written transcript of the judge’s sentencing remarks but filleted out the bits that they knew would be sensational. I can assure her that those who edit television programmes will follow exactly that process.
The camera cannot capture all that is happening as the human eye can. Currently, television reporters, like press reporters, go into the court and listen then come out and report. Having been in court and watched what happened, the reporter becomes the witness, just like the print journalist. The human eye is different from the camera. The camera cannot pick up tension, smell fear or catch those minute twitches of the lips or the eyelid that often tell you so much. Worst of all, the person behind the camera is editing as he goes. The editor back at the station edits further and the news programme will snip out the choice bits of footage for the headlines. I really warn everyone in this House that new technology will then mean that it will be played and replayed over and over and over again. I am afraid it will not stop with sentencing remarks. It will continue with erosions and demands being made and the judiciary feeling under pressure to comply to not be seen as old-fashioned, 18th century gentlemen.
It is easy for people who do not practise in a criminal court to underestimate the power and the effect of this on our justice system. I regret that there is not enough support in this House for my amendment and I therefore feel obliged to withdraw it, but I do so giving a warning about the serious implications of taking cameras into criminal courts and what it will do to our justice system.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 871
Amendment 113 withdrawn.
Amendments 113ZA and 113ZB not moved.
Amendment 113A Moved by Lord Pannick
113A: After Clause 23, insert the following new Clause— “Abolition of scandalising the judiciary as form of contempt of court (1) Scandalising the judiciary (also referred to as scandalising the court or scandalising judges) is abolished as a form of contempt of court under the common law of England and Wales. (2) That abolition does not prevent proceedings for contempt of court being brought against a person for conduct that immediately before that abolition would have constituted both scandalising the judiciary and some other form of contempt of court.”
Lord Pannick: My Lords, this amendment seeks to abolish the crime of scandalising the judiciary in England and Wales. I am delighted that the Minister has added his name to this amendment. The amendment is also signed by the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, who has played a leading role in arguing for reform of this area of the law. The amendment is also in the names of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Carswell—a former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland—and the noble Lord, Lord Bew.
I can explain the reasons for this amendment very briefly. It is no longer necessary to maintain as part of our law of contempt of court a criminal offence of insulting judges by statements or publications out of court. The judiciary has no need for such protection. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Carswell, explained in Committee, the wise judge—and he, if I may say so, was a very wise judge—normally ignores insults out of court. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, made a similar point in a case he decided, as he may recollect. Judges, of course, are as entitled as anyone else to bring proceedings for libel, and some have done so.
The law of scandalising the judiciary could have been left in the moribund state in which it has rested for many years. However, the Attorney-General for Northern Ireland unwisely chose earlier this year to seek to breathe life into it by bringing a prosecution, later dropped, against Peter Hain MP for some critical comments he had made in his autobiography concerning a Northern Ireland judge. That prosecution had two main consequences. First, it substantially increased the sales of Mr Hain’s book and, secondly, it led to this amendment.
When we debated this subject in Committee on 2 July, the Minister gave a cautious welcome to the amendment but said, very properly, that the Government wished to consult on the matter. As a result of the debate in this House, the Law Commission expedited the publication of a consultation paper on 10 August in which it proposed that the offence of scandalising the judiciary should indeed be abolished.
I emphasise that the amendment will not affect other aspects of the law of contempt of court and in particular the powers of the judge to deal with any disruptions during court proceedings. I also emphasise that the amendment is not designed to encourage criticism of the judiciary. Much of the criticism to
10 Dec 2012 : Column 872
which judges are subjected is ill informed and unsubstantiated. However, even where criticism is unjustified, it should not be a criminal offence.
The amendment will not affect the law in Northern Ireland or Scotland, in the latter of which the offence is known as “murmuring judges”. I understand that in Northern Ireland more consultation is required. It is ironic that the impetus for this amendment came from the Peter Hain case in Northern Ireland, and now the anachronistic law that led to that case is to be abolished in England and Wales but not in Northern Ireland. I hope that the Minister can give us an indication of when consultations with Northern Ireland will be completed and a decision reached.
Meanwhile, I am delighted by the historic decision which I hope that this House will take tonight to approve an amendment abolishing the offence of scandalising the judiciary in England and Wales. As Justice Albie Sachs said on this subject in a judgment in the Constitutional Court of South Africa in 2001, respect for the courts will be all the stronger,
“to the degree that it is earned, rather than to the extent that it is commanded”.
I beg to move.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill: My Lords—
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally): My Lords, I wonder if my noble friend will give way. I want to intervene now because what I am going to say will help the shape of the debate. I realise that my noble friend and a number of noble and learned Lords may wish to contribute. I in no way want to cut short or pre-empt that debate, but I hope that my comments will establish the context for them to comment on what the Government intend to do.
As the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, told us, we considered a similar amendment to this in Committee in July. I said that the Government were sympathetic to the concerns raised about the offence of scandalising the judiciary but we wished to consider the issue further and to consult others. In particular, before moving to reform or abolish this offence, we wished to consider whether such a step could result in a gap in the law or have an unwanted side-effect.
As the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, told us, in this we had the benefit of the work of the Law Commission, which was and is currently reviewing the law on contempt of court. As the noble Lord said, it kindly brought forward the element of its review considering scandalising the court and published a paper for public consultation in August. The commission considered three options in its consultation paper—to retain, abolish or replace the offence—and it has concluded that the offence should be abolished without replacement. Its analysis was in-depth, examining the human rights aspects and considering the arguments for and against the various options.
The consultation closed in October, and the commission published a summary of responses last month and a summary of its conclusions yesterday. I was pleased to see that several noble Lords responded with their views, and that members of the judiciary and other legal professions were also well represented. Of 46 responses, some from organisations, 32 were in
10 Dec 2012 : Column 873
favour of abolition. The remainder expressed a variety of views, most favouring a replacement offence, but I note that only two favoured retaining the offence in England and Wales, at least for now.
We have also noted other views, such as those expressed by noble Lords in Committee, and have concluded that it is right that this offence should be abolished. We therefore support the amendment. However, we also noted the Law Commission’s observation in its paper that:
“It may be necessary to clarify that the abolition of this offence does not affect liability for behaviour in court or conduct that may prejudice or impede particular proceedings”.
We support that view that abuse of a judge in the face of the court, or behaviour that otherwise interferes with particular proceedings, should remain a contempt. The new clause includes a provision that will ensure such behaviour will remain subject to proceedings for contempt of court.
In contrast to the amendment we debated in Committee, which extended to Northern Ireland, this amendment applies to England and Wales only, as the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, explained. In July, I said that we would be consulting the devolved Administrations; noble Lords must remember the criminal law is a devolved matter in both Northern Ireland and Scotland. Scandalising the judiciary is also a common law offence in Northern Ireland. As I have said, we consulted with the Minister of Justice, David Ford, who has confirmed that he does not wish the Westminster Parliament to legislate on behalf of the Northern Ireland Assembly on this offence. Similarly, the Scottish Government have also confirmed that they do not wish us to legislate on their similar common law offence of murmuring judges. Given that this is a devolved matter in both jurisdictions and under the terms of the Sewel Convention, we wish to respect the wishes of the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Assembly in this matter.
I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Lester and the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, for bringing this matter before the House. The Government are happy to support this amendment, and through it the abolition in England and Wales of the offence of scandalising the judiciary. I hope that my intervention at the start of the debate does not prevent other noble Lords and noble and learned Lords from making observations on where we are and where we are going.
4 pm
Lord Lester of Herne Hill: My Lords, I declare a former professional interest in that I acted for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in the aborted contempt proceedings in relation to Peter Hain and his publisher. I am extremely grateful to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland for his entirely misguided decision to move for committal because, but for that, I would not be standing here in support of the amendment. We owe everything to the Attorney General because it was that which caused me to contact the Law Commission and the Government, and to discuss the matter with my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, in the first place.
10 Dec 2012 : Column 874
It is important that the Government have decided to do what we have just heard from the Minister, and that is most welcome. However, I pay tribute to the previous Government, and I see the noble Lord, Lord Bach, in his place when I say this. He will remember that the other antique and archaic speech crimes of sedition, seditious libel, defamatory libel, obscene libel and blasphemous libel were all abolished by the previous Government and Parliament for similar reasons connected with free speech.
So far as blasphemy was concerned, for the reasons given by the Minister, it was decided that, although we could abolish that offence in Britain, we could not do so in Northern Ireland. We left it to Northern Ireland to do so itself, and we thought that it would be easy to do there because Northern Ireland already had a law on incitement to religious hatred that was rather stricter than what we have in this part of the kingdom. However, nothing has happened on that issue in Northern Ireland because there is institutional paralysis about doing anything of the kind. I know that this matter has concerned the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, and exactly the same problem arises now. Even though the amendment springs from a problem that arose in Northern Ireland, I am doubtful as to whether the Northern Ireland Government will agree to bring their common law into line with what we are doing in England and Wales. However, given that two other supporters of the amendment know far more about Northern Ireland than I would ever know, I shall not say more about that matter.
I should like to make one other point. Although abolishing this crime in this country will make very little difference because the law is entirely obsolete, it will make a difference in the rest of the common law world. All the textbooks, including that of the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, say the same thing, which is that, although this is an outmoded and archaic offence, there remain many parts of the common law world where it is enforced. The most notorious example occurred in Singapore last year, where Mr Alan Shadrake, who wrote a book criticising the Singapore judiciary’s attitude towards the death penalty, was committed for contempt, sentenced to prison, fined and told to pay legal costs. This gentleman, who is about my age and a distinguished senior writer, was condemned in that way, with the Singapore Court of Appeal applying its view on our case law and this offence. By abolishing the offence today we do not really change much in this part of the world because, apart from what happened in Northern Ireland, it is simply never invoked anymore. However, it will send an important message across the common law world. That is another reason why I am so delighted that the Government have decided to take this course.
Lord Carswell: My Lords, I support this amendment. I spoke briefly in Committee and I intend to be brief again today, particularly in view of the way in which the House has so far received the amendment and what the Minister has said.
Since that debate in Committee, the Law Commission has published this admirable consultation paper, which contains a full and helpful discussion of the issues, the principles and the possible solutions. My view, which
10 Dec 2012 : Column 875
was very direct and brief in Committee, remains unchanged. The special sanction for judges remains unnecessary. My reasons remain the same. Judges have to be hardy enough to shrug off criticism, even if it is intemperate or abusive, which has happened; even if it is unfair and ill-informed, which has certainly happened; and even if it is downright deliberately misleading, the same applies.
I speak from some knowledge. I have been scandalised on several occasions in the course of criminal trials at which I was the presiding judge without a jury. It was intemperate, certainly ill-informed and extremely offensive. I was deeply offended and hurt, but I certainly did not consider attempting to ask anyone to invoke the special procedure of scandalising the court. If anyone had suggested it, I would have firmly discouraged him at that time, which is a good many years ago now.
After I read the Law Commission consultation paper, I considered quite seriously whether there was room for the possibility of a new and more specific offence, penalising possibly deliberate and malicious targeting of a judge by making untrue and scandalous allegations into something of a campaign. I am persuaded, however, that it is better not to introduce any such offence into the law but simply to leave it at abolishing the offence of scandalising.
My reasons are three. First, special protection of judges immediately invites criticism from those who are all too ready to give vent to it. Secondly, if a judge had to give evidence in such proceedings, it would create a further and better opportunity for intrusive cross-examination and create a field day for publicity for critics of the judiciary. Thirdly, as I have said before, judges have to put up with these things; they have to be robust, firm and, on occasions, hard-skinned enough.
The Law Commission, in my view, was right in its provisional conclusions and I hope that when the report has been considered, the responses will confirm that. I would certainly support the amendment that the offence should simply be abolished.
Finally, as noble Lords have said, this of course does not apply in Northern Ireland. The authorities there will form their own view and take their own course. I cannot and do not in any way speak for them, nor have they consulted me about such provisions. I have to say, and I hope that they will take this into account, that I cannot see any reason why judges in Northern Ireland should have any different protection from judges in England and Wales against scandalising. I think the same considerations apply, and having been a judge there for 20 years, I would certainly not wish to see any differentiation.
Lord Beecham: My Lords, I echo the remarks made by the Minister and by other noble Lords. We are entirely supportive of the amendment, and glad that the Government have agreed to take matters forward in the way that the noble Lord indicated.
Lord McNally: My Lords, I will clarify a point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. The Justice Committee in Northern Ireland recently agreed to proceed with an amendment to its Criminal Justice Bill that would see this offence repealed. I am sure that
10 Dec 2012 : Column 876
the words uttered by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Carswell, about his own experience will carry great weight. However, this is a devolved matter for Northern Ireland.
Lord Pannick: I am grateful to all noble Lords who spoke.
Amendment 113A agreed.
Amendment 113AA Moved by Baroness Linklater of Butterstone
113AA: After Clause 23, insert the following new Clause— “Eligibility for assistance (1) An accused person in criminal proceedings is eligible for assistance by virtue of this section if the courts considers that the quality of that person’s participation in and understanding of court proceedings or of the evidence given by that person is likely to be diminished by reason of any circumstances falling within subsection (2). (2) The circumstances falling within this subsection are that the accused person— (a) suffers from mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983, or (b) otherwise has a significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning. (3) Where the court determines that the accused person is eligible for assistance by virtue of this section, the court may then give a direction under this section providing for— (a) assistance of the accused in preparing for court proceedings and in instructing the accused person’s legal representative to be provided by a person approved by the court for the purposes of this section (“an intermediary”), (b) assistance of the accused person in understanding and participating in court proceedings to be provided by the intermediary, and (c) the examination of the accused person to be conducted through the intermediary. (4) The Secretary of State may, by regulations, make provision about the recruitment, accreditation |
have to like you before they can get to know you, and they have to know you before they can trust you. Obviously, in the strength and conditioning field, our athletes/clients are our customers. This "like-know-trust" is an important message, because long-term athletic development - and certainly working with professional athletes (or those trying to become pro athletes) is all about trust. They need to trust that you're giving them the appropriate programming and cues they need for success. He goes on to discuss how many businesses put the carriage in front of the horse on this point. They don't work to build a relationship with their customers before trying to monetize them. It's like asking someone to marry you in the middle of the first date. I immediately thought about how our business model has impacted our training model. When a new athlete comes to CSP, they're individually assessed and we have a chance to spend anywhere from 20-60 minutes getting to know them. It's not only a chance to review injury history and go through a movement evaluation, but also an opportunity to build rapport by learning about goals, training history, and common interests. It also gives us a chance to subtly demonstrate our expertise and relate a plan of attack for how we can help. In short, an initial evaluation is about learning about so much more than just whether an athlete has sufficient hip internal rotation! Conversely, think about what happens when an athlete walks into a facility where every athlete does the same program on the dry erase board, and there isn't an assessment to kick things off. In these scenarios, the trainers/coaches really haven't done anything to get to know the athletes, and they certainly haven't gotten these athletes to "like" them. The road to building trust has gotten started with a pretty messy detour - and it'll take a long time to build things up. 3. We really go out of our way to create context for our athletes when we're coaching. In other words, our coaching cues need to build on what an athlete already knows. A front squat is easier to learn when you've already done a goblet squat, and a rotational medicine ball shotput can build upon what an athlete knows from baseball hitting. However, I don't think people ever recognize the importance of creating context for success - and I'm a big believer that it's been a huge part of the results we've gotten. Everyone knows that for years and years, the world dreamed of having someone run a sub-4-minute mile. Then, in 1954, Roger Bannister accomplished this great feat - and thereafter, it became very commonplace. Granted, the sports media somewhat unfairly sensationalized the "quest" for the 4-minute-mile, but the message is still very much the same: once you've seen someone accomplish something that appeared very daunting, you're more likely to be able to accomplish it yourself. The 27 CSP guys drafted this year have watched over 50 guys get drafted in the three years ahead of them - and, just as importantly, they've had a chance to rub elbows with them during training. Success leaves clues - and clues help to create context for more success. 4. On the whole, at young ages (younger than 16), I think the notion of "Sports-Specific Training" is actually pretty silly. We can all agree that good movement is good movement, regardless of whether a young athlete plays soccer, football, lacrosse, or basketball. Overhead throwing athletes, though, are - at least in my opinion - a very important exception to the rule. In all these other sports, we can adequately prepare for the most common injury mechanisms with well coached general training exercises in our strength and conditioning program. However, how many weight room exercises do you see that help an athlete build stability in this position? If you have an athlete that goes through this kind of lay back - whether it's with baseball/softball, swimming, tennis, or any other overhead sports - you need to train them to build stability in this position. 5. In all, there were 1,215 players drafted earlier this week over the 40 rounds. That's astronomically higher than any other professional sport - and in no other sport do you more quickly go from being a big fish in small pond to being the small fish in a big pond. As of right now, only two of the 41 first round (plus supplemental round) picks in last year's draft have made it to the big leagues. Conversely, if you're a first rounder in the NFL or NBA, you're in "the show" right away pretty close to 100% of the time. In other words, there is a lot of time for things to go wrong for draft picks while in minor league baseball. Injury rates are at all-time highs, players may get into trouble, and others might just discover that they don't have the talents necessary to compete at the highest level. Scouting baseball players is an imperfect "science" - and, sadly, 90% (or more) of these 1,215 players won't "make it." For this reason (and many others), I heavily emphasize to our staff and athletes that our #1 job is actually to educate our minor league guys on how to be advocates for themselves and understand what is unique about how they move. If we can give them the best training and nutrition insights possible - and teach them how to practically apply them throughout a long season - they stand much better chance of making it to the big leagues. Strength and conditioning coaches may not be able to impact talent (at least not directly), but we can impact one's ability to display it consistently. In fact, this is what the wall of our assessment room looks like: 6. I've talked in the past about how all our arm care programs work proximal to distal. In other words, we focus on core control, rib positioning, and thoracic spine mobility, then move to scapular control, then to the glenohumeral (ball and socket) joint, and then down to the elbow. It's because there is somewhat of a "downstream" effect. Improving thoracic rotation can improve shoulder internal rotation. Getting an athlete out of a heavily extended core posture can get the latissimus dorsi to calm down, which takes stress off the elbow. Taking care of scapular control might even relieve nerve impingement that's causing symptoms into the hand. The possibilities for this "downstream" effect are really endless. Conversely, though, there isn't an "upstream" effect. Nobody's thoracic spine mobility improves if you do some soft tissue work and stretching to get some elbow extension and supination back. Improving rotator cuff strength won't get rid of lower back pain. This is why I think improving anterior core control in baseball players can be such an unbelievable game changer. We know that improving function in the sagittal plane is generally easier than improving it in the frontal or transverse planes, and the anterior core is really responsible for resisting lumbar extension. Additionally, the core is the furthest "upstream" option to impacting function. So, if you're a believer in the concept of minimum effective dose (and I am), your goal should be to work on the easiest, most impactful stuff first. Anterior core is that option in a baseball population. In fact, it's so important that I did an entire 47-minute presentation on the topic. If you haven't checked out Understanding and Coaching the Anterior Core yet, I'd encourage you to do so. Congratulations again to all this year's MLB draft picks! Have a great weekend, everyone. Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift! Name EmailTurkey’s Erdogan Tells Germany’s Merkel Not to Use Term ‘Islamic Terror’ – She Complies
Guest post by Joe Hoft
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday and was rebuked by Erdogan for using the term “Islamist terrorism”. Erdogan said the phrase was not correct and saddened Muslims.
After holding a critical bilateral meeting with Erdogan, Merkel spoke of the need for Turkey and Germany to cooperate even further to fight against terror, including “Islamist terrorism” and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
“We spoke in detail about… the questions of the fight against Islamist terrorism, against every form of terrorism, also the terrorism of the PKK,” she said alongside Erdogan at his palace in Ankara. “We agree we want to cooperate, we are all affected by this. We agreed to have closer cooperation in the future,” she said. Erdogan, sitting next to Merkel, was stony-faced as she spoke. Many Muslims oppose any equating of Islam and terror, arguing those who commit crimes purportedly in the name of Islam have nothing to do with a religion that espouses peace. “This expression ‘Islamist terror’ seriously saddens us Muslims,” Erdogan replied, glancing sternly at the German chancellor. “Such an expression is not correct because Islam and terror cannot be associated. The meaning of Islam is peace.” He said it would be “saddening” if the term was used because of the crimes of the so-called Islamic State (IS) extremist group, which has been blamed for a string of attacks in Turkey over the last year. “Please let’s not use it. As long as it is used we need to stand against it. As a Muslim president personally I cannot accept that,” he said.
At the end of the discussion, Merkel did not use the term Islamic terrorism.
Chancellor Merkel tried to have eye contact at least five times with Erdogan and he would have none of it. It was clear that Muslim Erdogan looked down upon Merkel.
Erdogan’s comments about Islam meaning ‘peace’ were not true. Islam means ‘submission’ and women in Islam are to submit to men. This may be why Erdogan looked disgusted talking to Merkel. According to Islam she is not his equal.Starbound is finally playable by the unwashed masses, and it’s already so magnificent that even the washed masses became unwashed masses after sitting transfixed by its exploratory glow for days. But this is just a beta test, and even then it’s only on phase one of three. There’s much more to come. Space combat! Planet-sized dungeons! A not-quite-so-mean difficulty curve! Why, someday I imagine we’ll even be able to build Starbound inside Starbound. Actually, who’s to say we haven’t done it already, that everything you see in front of you is nothing but a hyper-elaborate Starbound simulation? You’ll never escape from voxel games. You are a voxel game.
Developer Chucklefish has put out a full list of the features it hopes to eventually add to Starbound – some of them in the near future, others so far out that the sun will have burnt out by then, dooming the world to ceaseless night, except we’ll have developed the technology to replace it with a giant lightbulb.
Are you ready for a list? I mean, that too. This isn’t just some rickety word tower, ready to topple like a house of cards in an afternoon breeze. This is the sort of list that’d appear on the Greek Pantheon’s version of Buzzfeed. It is both Large and In-Charge.
NPC Spawners & Building Logic: NPCs will scan the structures you build around them and the contents of chests; they will have improved inventories/behaviors depending on how valuable their surroundings are.
NPCs will scan the structures you build around them and the contents of chests; they will have improved inventories/behaviors depending on how valuable their surroundings are. Macro Terrain Changes: Affect an entire planet’s terrain and weather
Affect an entire planet’s terrain and weather More Planet Scanner Data: See details in the planet scanner like planet occupants/dungeons
See details in the planet scanner like planet occupants/dungeons Underground: More secrets will spawn below the surface
More secrets will spawn below the surface Space Combat: Way in the future, expect space combat and the ability to board other ships.
Way in the future, expect space combat and the ability to board other ships. Spaceship Dungeons: Very large, size of a planet.
Very large, size of a planet. Biome Hazards: Sandstorms, icestorms, meteor showers, toxic planets, airless planets.
Sandstorms, icestorms, meteor showers, toxic planets, airless planets. Ore & Difficulty: Higher difficulty planets will have improved ore distribution
Higher difficulty planets will have improved ore distribution Story Missions: Eventually each tier will end with a story mission that ends with the bosses you see now.
Eventually each tier will end with a story mission that ends with the bosses you see now. Ship Navigator Changes: Still not set in stone; but the new idea is to give a local map with fog of war. Instead of sector buttons you have to fly out of a sector and into the next one by uncovering more of the star map. The final sector would be infinite.
Still not set in stone; but the new idea is to give a local map with fog of war. Instead of sector buttons you have to fly out of a sector and into the next one by uncovering more of the star map. The final sector would be infinite. Smoother Difficulty Curve: Better indication of the difficulty of an area. Difficulty will change within tiers as well as between tiers. There will be fractional difficulty (for example, Difficulty 1.12 in tier 1 would be easier than Difficulty 1.52, while still in T1)
Better indication of the difficulty of an area. Difficulty will change within tiers as well as between tiers. There will be fractional difficulty (for example, Difficulty 1.12 in tier 1 would be easier than Difficulty 1.52, while still in T1) Monster Generation: Right now, monster parts just have stat boosts, but eventually rolled monster parts will affect their behavior and abilities. For example, monsters with spider legs can climb walls; fiery monsters inflict burning. You might get a burning spider dropping on you from the ceiling. Projectiles may be tied to specifically generated heads. Biome may influence monster part generation.
Right now, monster parts just have stat boosts, but eventually rolled monster parts will affect their behavior and abilities. For example, monsters with spider legs can climb walls; fiery monsters inflict burning. You might get a burning spider dropping on you from the ceiling. Projectiles may be tied to specifically generated heads. Biome may influence monster part generation. Mini-Map: Rotating circular map showing highlights only such as the location of friendly players, spawn points–but no major details. For the details you’d use a mapping item to create a map as you travel.
Rotating circular map showing highlights only such as the location of friendly players, spawn points–but no major details. For the details you’d use a mapping item to create a map as you travel. Teleporters: Stargates between planets and eventually between servers.
Stargates between planets and eventually between servers. Dramatic Planet Modification: Not going to be implemented any time soon. Ability for players to modify huge chunks of planets through things like orbital bombardment; removing the entire first layer of a planet and leave behind a lifeless surface.
Not going to be implemented any time soon. Ability for players to modify huge chunks of planets through things like orbital bombardment; removing the entire first layer of a planet and leave behind a lifeless surface. Tech Priority: Eventually all techs can be active at once, but a categorization system is in the works to assign priority to conflicting techs, preventing issues. A hotkey to switch the active tech will be added as a temporary workaround until the priority system is completed.
Eventually all techs can be active at once, but a categorization system is in the works to assign priority to conflicting techs, preventing issues. A hotkey to switch the active tech will be added as a temporary workaround until the priority system is completed. Server Commands: More server commands and control for chat and port listening.
More server commands and control for chat and port listening. Villager AI: Villagers will aggro when you steal from them and follow you more aggressively.
Villagers will aggro when you steal from them and follow you more aggressively. World Storage: Improve world storage and organize *.pak files to improve modding. Add launcher integration.
Improve world storage and organize *.pak files to improve modding. Add launcher integration. Spawn Points: Change spawn points on individual planets.
Change spawn points on individual planets. Controls: Reconfigure controls; keybinding.
Reconfigure controls; keybinding. Ship Size: Upgrade ship/increase size.
Upgrade ship/increase size. Racial Armor: Racial abilities will not be inherent but will be tied to racial armor. For example, Avian armor can glide downward.
Racial abilities will not be inherent but will be tied to racial armor. For example, Avian armor can glide downward. Capture Pods & Mercenaries: May be able to capture NPCs with pods. Summon NPC Mercenaries by using the pod as a beacon.
May be able to capture NPCs with pods. Summon NPC Mercenaries by using the pod as a beacon. Reduced Wipes: Working on a system to patch without requiring as many character wipes in the future. This will require one more wipe and that’s it.
Working on a system to patch without requiring as many character wipes in the future. This will require one more wipe and that’s it. Other Changes: Colorblind Mode & Engine Optimization. FTL animation being revamped to reduce memory strain.
Chucklefish actually describes this list as “non-exhaustive,” so expect even more down the line. How’s Starbound treating you right now, though? Are you still as enamored as you were on day one, or is the magic of demolishing techno-ape societies and ransacking their simian wares starting to wear off?A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy with a degree in Soviet studies, Popovich, 64, toured Eastern Europe with teams representing the Armed Forces and the Amateur Athletic Union during the cold war and later served as an intelligence officer. Known as Pop, he also toured South America playing exhibitions after the 1972 Munich Olympics. Although he can sometimes be wary of reporters’ questions, Popovich is widely popular in the N.B.A. and is known as a coach with an ecumenical interest in food, wine, politics and current events.
“It’s a mecca for international players,” Vlade Divac, a former N.B.A. center who is president of the Serbian Olympic Committee, said of San Antonio. “Pop was the guy who opened the doors. You know that if you go there, you will get a chance to show what you can do.”
San Antonio’s reliance on international players also reflects a pragmatism necessitated by seldom having an early pick in the draft. Duncan was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in 1997 out of Wake Forest; since then, the Spurs have drafted no higher than 20th place in the first round, long after the top-rated American-born collegiate players have been selected.
International basketball players, like soccer players, tend to develop in club systems rather than in school-based systems. Thus, there are few limits on practice time compared with American high schools and colleges — or in some cases none. Coaching tends to be centrally structured through national federations, with an emphasis on fundamentals and teamwork. Exposure to international play is high, beginning at the youth level.
And global players often turn professional at an age when American players are just qualifying for their driver’s license. Splitter, San Antonio’s Brazilian center, signed his first pro contract at 15.
Baynes, the Australian center, attended Washington State and then played professionally in Lithuania, Germany, Greece and Slovenia before joining the Spurs last January. He said: “In Europe we had 15-year-olds training with us every day. When I first started, no way I would have had the confidence to step out there and play with some of these guys. But in Europe, I saw guys competing with grown men every day. It makes them better.”
Popovich, who is of Serbian and Croatian heritage, was born into a diverse neighborhood in East Chicago, Ind. When he toured Eastern Europe and South America as a military player in the 1970s, “it didn’t matter whether it was Czechoslovakia or Argentina or Brazil,” he said, “here were great players everywhere.”The most hateful tweeters in the United States tend to live in the eastern half of the country, according to a new map that pinpoints hate speech from Twitter across country.
The map, created by geography students at Humboldt State University in California, looks at more than 150,000 geocoded tweets (tweets that say where the user is located) between June 2012 and April 2013, sorting for those that contained a racist, homophobic or anti-disability word. The researchers then decided whether or not the tweet was using the word in a hateful way.
Explore the map for yourself on the project's website.
According to our analysis: A majority of hateful tweets are coming from smaller towns and more rural areas. For example, some of the biggest spots for homophobic tweets are along the border of Oklahoma and Texas, and one of the biggest hubs of racist tweets is in a seemingly empty area of western Indiana. There are a lot more racist tweets coming out of an area in the middle of North Dakota than in the larger city of Fargo, for example. Homophobic tweets have a wider spread across the nation than racist ones, which are coming from the southeastern portion of the country more than anywhere else.
The project is a follow-up to a similar study that mapped racial slurs on Twitter in reaction to President Obama's reelection in 2012. The students used The DOLLY Project (Digital OnLine Life and You), a huge archive of geolocated tweets, to collect data in both cases. This data can be used to track all kinds of tweets. There is also a map of where the word "grits" is most often tweeted (spoiler alert: it's the south).MIAMI (AP) — Derek Jeter and Jeb Bush have formed a team in their attempt to buy a team.
The former New York Yankees star and former Florida governor have joined forces in their pursuit of the Miami Marlins, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The person confirmed the partnership to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Jeter and Bush have not commented. They initially had competing interests in efforts to buy the team.
The person said Quogue Capital investment fund founder Wayne Rothbaum also is interested in buying the Marlins.
Jeter has long talked about owning a franchise. Bush's brother, former President George W. Bush, was part-owner of the Texas Rangers from 1989 to 1998.
Last week, Marlins president David Samson said talks with multiple parties interested in buying the team were in the "fourth inning." He said owner Jeffrey Loria, 76, might sell before the end of the season — or not at all.
Jeb Bush, Derek Jeter Jeb Bush, Derek Jeter Photo: Split Photo Photo: Split Photo Image 1 of / 64 Caption Close Report: Jeb Bush, Derek Jeter join forces in bid to buy Marlins 1 / 64 Back to Gallery
Price and financing could be major hurdles. Joshua Kushner, whose older brother is an adviser to President Donald Trump, had a preliminary agreement to buy the Marlins for $1.6 billion before breaking off negotiations. Loria bought the team in 2002 for $158.5 million.
Spokesmen for Jeter and Bush didn't respond to requests for comment.
Jeter retired in 2014 after 20 seasons with the Yankees. His final manager, Joe Girardi, recently predicted Jeter would make a great owner — even if it's in a city other than New York.
"That will be strange. In my mind he'll always be a Yankee," Girardi said. "But there is life after baseball, and sometimes the opportunity that presents itself is not always necessarily where you played."
___
More AP baseball: apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball(CNN) Tuesday is Donald Trump's 70th birthday -- and thanks to comedian Bill Maher, we have proof.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was born on June 14, 1946, details confirmed in 2013 when Trump at the HBO host's prompting made public his own "certification of birth."
"Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan," Trump's lawyer wrote by way of introduction.
If the billionaire businessman succeeds in his bid, he would eclipse Ronald Reagan in becoming the oldest human to assume the U.S. presidency. Hillary Clinton, now 68, would be sworn in as a close second.
Maher had joked during a January appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show" that he would give $5 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if the country's most famous birther could prove he was not of Simian ancestry. (Trump in a 2012 YouTube video offered the same amount for Obama's "college record and applications.")
"The color of (Trump's) hair and the color of an orange orangutan are only two things in nature of the same color," Maher told Jay Leno as an image of Trump and an orangutan flashed on screen
By early February, the challenge was met.
The document showed that Trump was been born in Queens, a borough of New York City, to Mary MacLeod, a Scottish immigrant, and Fred Trump, whose family came to the U.S. from Germany. The baby Donald was, indeed, the son of a human man.
But when Maher failed to make good on his offer, arguing it was satire, Trump sued him
"It's never a joke when someone reneges on a commitment that benefits worthy charities," Trump surrogate and special counsel Michael Cohen told Reuters at the time.
Trump eventually withdrew the suit and last August explained to The Hollywood Reporter that he now likes Maher, "a smart guy" who had not been immediately dismissive of his primary bid.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told CNN the GOP presumptive presidential nominee will likely mark the the dawn of his eighth decade with family.
He also has a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, slated for Tuesday night.
Later Tuesday, the Republican Party wished its presumptive presidential nominee a happy birthday on Twitter.Tony Bennett’s story about meeting his third wife, 50-year-old Susan Benedetto, may be more disturbing than heartwarming.
The 90-year-old singer (real name Anthony Benedetto) recently wrote about his first “interaction” with Benedetto in his new book, Just Getting Started, and it occurred while she was... in utero. Yes. Really.
As Bennett explains in an excerpt shared with People magazine, he “met” Benedetto when he was introduced at age 40 to her parents, Marion and Dayl Crow, at one of his shows.
“As fate would have it, Marion was pregnant at the time with … Susan!” Bennett wrote in his book. “It’s a photo we all laugh about, knowing the incredible turn of events that followed.”
“Incredible turn of events” is certainly one way to phrase it. There are plenty of couples with big age gaps, but learning how these two initially “met” is something we didn’t exactly need to know.
Bennett met Benedetto post-birth many years later, when she was 19 and, as president of his San Francisco Bay Area fan club, asked to meet him backstage at one of his shows. (Love at second sight?)
“It tickled me that someone of her age was so devoted to my music,” Bennett wrote about his future wife. “I not only agreed to say hello to her backstage but asked her to be my date for the evening, and that’s how it all really began, foreshadowed by a backstage photo taken in 1966!”Donald Trump is one of the whiniest people on the face of the earth. Seriously, most toddler have better control over their urge to petulantly declare everything that goes against them to be “unfair” than Donald Trump does.
The latest unfair thing that is ruining Donald Trump’s good time is the concept of “majority rules.” Specifically, the GOP rule, set out long before Donald Trump even announced that he was going to run requiring the nominee to get 1,237 delegates (or, a majority) on the first ballot, or face a contested convention. According to Trump, this is “unfair”:
Asked by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” why he should be “guaranteed the nomination” if he failed to amass the 1,237 delegates needed to win it on the first ballot, Mr. Trump said that he might be unable to clear that threshold. But he blamed the number of contenders in the Republican field. “If I’m a little bit short – and one of the reasons was we had so many candidates,” he said. “I mean, we started off with 17 candidates.” He added: “There are so many candidates, so it’s very hard to get over that number. It’s very unfair.”
Of course, no one has taken advantage of the crowded field more than Trump has. If anyone should be complaining about the “unfairness” of the process, it should be the other candidates in the field, including those who have dropped out. Trump has been the beneficiary of a set of GOP rules that were specifically designed to ensure an easy path to the nomination for the early frontrunner (who, it was assumed, would likely be Jeb Bush).
Thus, although Trump has only received 37% of the popular vote cast thus far, he has received 47% of the delegates allocated. That, to me, seems “unfair,” but you don’t hear Ted Cruz whining into his Juicy Juice straw about it. If Donald Trump can’t get 50% of the delegates in spite of the fact that the system has been rigged to favor candidates who win a bare plurality, then he really ought to do some serious soul searching about how he could have run like a front runner instead of insulting his way into a solid 35% share of the Republican vote.
The RNC isn’t to blame for the fact that 60% of the party stubbornly refuses to vote for Donald Trump: Donald Trump is.
Ironically, whether Trump gets to 1,237 or not will likely come down to California, where he is depending on everyone’s least favorite dopey fake nice uncle John Kasich to help him win there with a bare plurality. If Kasich is still pulling his idiotic routine by late June, Trump will be thanking his stars for the “unfair” rules that will allow him to get 172 delegates by beating Ted Cruz by 3% in California. At the end of the day, Trump might well get 50% of the delegates in spite of not getting over 40% of the votes cast.
So yeah, the RNC rules are unfair, a bit, but they’re unfair in favor of Donald Trump. Trump would do himself a favor by shutting his whiny mouth and actually learning something about foreign policy, for example, if he wants to help his chances.Event Date: 5 November 2016
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck Cinema
43 Gordon Square
London WC1H 0PD
The Birkbeck Institute for Social Research and Birkbeck Gender & Sexuality (BiGS) in collaboration with the Birkbeck Institute of the Moving Image (BIMI)present:
Bowie at Birkbeck
Professor Alex Sharpe of Keele University will present a lecture titled: Scary Monsters: the Hopeful Undecidability of David Bowie (1947-2016). Monsters, because the monster is the outsider template par excellence. Hopeful, because monsters are quintessentially hopeful. Bowie, because he is the monster writ large. Of all the figures within popular culture, few embody the monster quite like David Bowie. Through Bowie, the lecture will think through, and render accessible, some key categorical distinctions which the monster brings to crisis. In particular, and through Bowie, we will journey through the territory of sex, gender and sexuality; human/animal hybridity, and the sacred and the profane.
Introduction by Dr Daniel Monk (Birkbeck):
Talk:
Questions:
————————————————————————–
The lecture will be followed by a screening of Nick Roeg’s 1976 cult sci-fi film, The Man Who Fell to Earth.
———————————————————————————-
There will then follow a discussion of Bowie and his massive cultural influence. The discussion will be led by Dr Piyel Haldar (Birkbeck), with Professof Adam Gearey (Birkbeck), Professor Alex Sharpe (Keele) and Dr Daniel Monk (Birkbeck).
So roll up for the mother of monsters. The event will be theoretically rich and an audio-visual feast. What it will not be is dull.After robot-detective Rick Deckard closed the case on the murderous escaped Nexus-6 Replicants and then presumably fled Los Angeles with his true love Racheal, a lot has happened in the noir future of Los Angeles. Bridging the gap between the first Blade Runner film and its new “present day” of 2049 was never going to be easy. But now, it seems there will be specific stories of what occurred in the time in between. Three new short films are poised to bridge the gap between the world of 2019 in the original Blade Runner and the forthcoming future of Blade Runner 2049.
Interestingly, at this point, the original Blade Runner is no longer a movie about the future, but something closer to meditation in an alternate present. This means the new sequel can be filled with as many anachronisms as it wants. But, that doesn’t mean this world won’t have some consistent internal mythology.
On August 29, Denis Villeneuve revealed that three short films will document some event that has transpired between the first Blade Runner and the new one. Here are all three of the shorts and what each means to the mythos of Blade Runner.
Nexus Dawn
The first of these short films is set in 2036 and focuses on Jared Leto’s creepy character named Niander Wallace. Apparently, he’s done something to help stave off famine on Earth, and so despite being pretty scary, he’s placated by some kind of government officials. At this point in this future history, there’s a full-on prohibition of Replicants. It stands to reason this is because of all the crazy shit that went down in the first movie. But Wallace is looking to change that and bring Replicant technology back in a big way. Part of his justification for this is to increase productivity on the “Off-World Colonies.” These never-seen planets are referenced in the first Blade Runner film. Perhaps most famously, Roy Batty mentions a few things that seemed to have happened “Off-World,” in his famous “Tears in the rain” monologue. Could subsequent short films or even scenes in Blade Runner 2049 give life to the mysterious “attack ships on fire” or the “Tannhauser gate” mentioned all those years ago? For now, only time will tell.
#BladeRunner2049's @DaveBautista is a replicant on the run in this never-before-seen in-world prequel. Watch it now. pic.twitter.com/xGn3WfjATF — iTunes Trailers (@iTunesTrailers) September 14, 2017
2048
On September 13, Villeneuve revealed the second of these films, set just a year before the new movie in 2048.
This story follows a man named Sapper played by Dave Bautista. Sapper is seemingly in the business of selling manufactured organic substances, kind of like the people who sold bespoke snakes in the original Blade Runner. Sapper seems like a pretty solid guy and has some sort of personal investment in taking care of a woman and her daughter who seem like they are living in poverty. From start to finish, this short immediately feels a lot like the marketplace scenes from the original Blade Runner, so much so, that of all the new footage from the world of Blade Runner 2049, this one looks the most like the original film.
The plot is also awesome and seems to set up what Sapper will be doing in the new movie. After a group of scary criminals try to kidnap his friends, Bautista’s character goes fucking ballistic, killing all three baddies with relative ease. This super-strength can mean only one thing: Sapper is a replicant, which, as we know from the previous short-film, have been totally outlawed. The short ends ominously with a creepy-dude getting on a pay phone and tipping- off someone about a “rogue skin job” on the loose. “Skinjob” is the pejorative for a replicant in Blade Runner. This robot-slur was so popular that it was used to describe certain Cylons on Battlestar Galactica as an homage to the original Blade Runner.
Blade Runner: Black Out 2022
Created by legendary anime director Shinichiro Watanabe, the last Blade Runner short is easily the best of three prequels to Blade Runner 2049. Above all, it tells a very clear story of what exactly happened with Replicants after the events of the original film. After 2019, this anime reveals that the Replicant-6 model was phased out and replaced by the Replicant-8 model. The big difference with these Replicants was huge: they had a “natural” lifespan as opposed to only four years for the previous models.
INVERSE LOOT DEALS Meet the Pod The first bed that learns the perfect temperature for your sleep, and dynamically warms or cools according to your needs. Buy Now
Featuring a ton of action, and the explanation for why Los Angeles experience a big EMP black-out in 2022, this short oddly feels the most like the original Blade Runner, despite not being a live action film. The skylines of the future Los Angeles feel the way they did in the original, complete with the iconic flying “spinner” cars just about everywhere. Best of all, Edward James Olmos returns as the voice of Gaff, the cop who conferred with Deckard in the first film.
Gaff returns.
Black Out 2022 is also the longest of these shorts clocking in at just over fifteen minutes. As of now, the entire anime is only available in its entirety on the streaming platform Crunchyroll.
Blade Runner 2049 hits theaters everywhere on October 6.
If you liked this article, check out this video about the practical effects in Blade Runner 2049.If your chickens stopped laying eggs, it’s probably not your fault.
Chickens not laying eggs when they’re supposed to is really, really frustrating. I know, because I’ve been there, and certainly my chickens stopped laying from time to time.
MY LATEST VIDEOS
MY LATEST VIDEOS MY LATEST VIDEOS
You think you’re doing everything right, but egg production has stopped…..and you’re left to wonder “Why are my chickens not laying eggs?”
If you’ve asked everyone “Why aren’t my chickens laying eggs?!” or “How do I get my chickens to start laying eggs again |
Atari Bigby -7.8 4.5 54 of 77 91 of 91(!) Corey Lynch 2.3 3.1 62 of 77 35 of 91 Steve Gregory('11) -8.5 2.9 49 of 54 48 of 62 Paul Oliver('10) 3.7 2.5 64 of 74 14 of 87
The Outside Linebacker Group
This might be one of the biggest concerns heading into the season, getting after the Quarterback without having to send the house. The Chargers will be counting on this year's version of Antwan Barnes or Jyles Tucker to come out of nowhere and produce. Jarret Johnson isn't the answer, but there are a handful of intriguing young guys who might be.
The Chargers brought in Thomas Keiser from the Carolina Panthers and former Alabama SAM linebacker Jerrell Harris (who is a sneaky good athlete with plenty of potential, just hasn't figured it out yet) after drafting Tourek Williams in the 6th round and signing undrafted free agent in Frank Beltre.
That's the group that will have the best shot, 3 of those guys have a chance to make it if you factor in Special Teams contributions. Like Barnes and Tucker before them, I'll be looking to see if they can win the edge. What I mean by that is if they can simply beat the Tackle off of pure speed and athleticism. Each will have plenty of opportunities during the game to show us what they can do.
Watching Keiser, it seems like he's more of a scheme guy than actual true pass rusher, which makes him similar to Jarret Johnson. In my opinion, Devan Walker had the best chance to make the team, because he was the one pure pass rusher of the group that could beat you with speed, but after being put on IR yesterday he's out of the equation.
Jerrell Harris could be the dark horse here. Coming from a dominant defense at Alabama, he obviously has the talent, he just needs to put it all together. Out of college some thought Harris would be a better player than former teammate and first round pick, Dont'a Hightower. Harris can run, cover, and is a sure tackler, which is what the Chargers need. It'll be interesting to see if he is able to develop into a pass rusher and show that he has better play recognition, but again, Special Teams can get you on the team, and he'll be given every opportunity to make the roster.
The Chargers bring back virtually nothing from last year's team in terms of creating pressure with their Outside Linebacker group, and asking a bunch of guys with little to no experience to replace Shaun Phillips and Melvin Ingram is a tall order, so we'll see which player takes advantage of his situation.
Let me just start out by saying this first: No, I don't expect that either of these 2 will take a regular season snap this year. At least, I hope they won't.
This is the battle for the backup position. Can Sorensen outplay Whitehurst? If you have seen the highlights on the team website, Sorensen has been in there quite a bit. I've heard a couple people that have argued he's been the most impressive quarterback, including Rivers. This will be an interesting battle, because it can potentially save the team $1.3 million this year.
Some will argue that Whitehurst is a veteran and has more experience. Problem is, this is an entirely new offense and, if anything, Sorensen has more experience having played in a spread system in college. So, the experience factor goes out the window because they both get a fresh start under the new system. I think Sorensen would be smarter to keep, because he hasn't reached his ceiling, and has greater physical tools. His ball placement will need to improve if he wants to win the job, and this next month should give us a good idea of each quarterback's talent.
Other Battles
There are plenty of other guys fighting for a spot. Center Nick Hardwick's contract is up in 2014, and he might be cut after this year, so the David Molk vs. Colin Baxter competition is important for the future.
There is the battle at the Nickel Cornerback that is intriguing, and arguably one of the most important positions on defense, coming down between Johnny Patrick (who's been a lot better than advertised in practice) and rookie Steve Williams.
Those are the battles/players I'll be looking forward to watching. There is plenty of competition on the 2013 Chargers so every game, every quarter of the preseason is incredibly important. Are there any other back up guys that you are looking forward to seeing this preseason?
More from Bolts From The Blue:The truth about identifying as asexual in the Midwest
Arielle Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 15, 2017
We’re just beginning to understand asexuality, but it isn’t anything new.
Kayla Fields was the school prude of Bedford North Lawrence High School. She dated a handful of boys who pursued her, but the relationships never lasted more than a week. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be in a relationship, she just cared more about watching The Powerpuff Girls than experimenting with French kissing.
After graduation, Fields tested the sexual waters. She made out with a middle-aged man who attacked her neck like a vampire, fooled around with her best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend and sexted with a girl she met online. It all felt forced. She wasn’t swimming; Fields was drowning.
At first, she thought she was a lesbian. That didn’t make sense, she reasoned, because women didn’t excite her sexually either. She had to be bisexual. At least, that’s what Fields told her disapproving mom. There was no other explanation for what Fields was feeling. Or rather, what she wasn’t feeling.
“Why do I hate sex?” she Googled shortly after coming out as bisexual. “Why am I anxious when people talk about it?”
A few clicks later, Fields found herself scanning through forums on the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN). Suddenly, it all made sense. Fields wasn’t heterosexual. She wasn’t homosexual or bisexual either. In fact, according to AVEN, she wasn’t sexually attracted to anyone — she was asexual.
The crystalizing moment was soon clouded by self-doubt. “Am I going to be alone forever?” Fields thought. “I don’t know anyone who identifies as asexual.”
Before AVEN launched in 2001, asexuality was relatively unheard of. Like Fields, many confused individuals turned to the Internet for answers and stumbled into the comforting arms of the virtual community. Since its inception, AVEN has helped tens of thousands of isolated people around the world discover their elusive sexual orientation together.
Immersed in a network of hundreds of thousands of like-minded people, Fields realized she wasn’t an anomaly. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and removed her cloak of invisibility.
In 2013, the same year that Fields joined AVEN, asexuality was no longer considered a sexual dysfunction. While stripped of medial bias, lingering myths continue to reject asexuality from joining heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality as the “fourth sex.” Today, more asexuals like Fields are emerging from the shadows to fight for their visibility.
Discovering the fourth sex
Bleeding red, Indiana is an unlikely heartland for sexual research. But it was in the small town of Bloomington where Dr. Alfred Kinsey became one of the first researchers to discover asexuality. At the time, the father of sexology didn’t know what to make of it.
The Kinsey Scale, published in the 1948 and 1953 Kinsey Reports, rated sexuality on a seven-point scale. Zero was exclusively heterosexual, six was exclusively homosexual, and a separate category “X” was used to describe those with “no socio-sexual contact or reaction.”
The report’s titillating statistics on other American sexual behaviors, like homosexuality, overshadowed group “X,” keeping the minority in the dark and away from the sexual revolution. Following research sporadically mentioned asexuality, but it would be another 65 years before the orientation was purposefully investigated.
Three years after AVEN launched, Dr. Anthony F. Bogaert, a psychology professor at Brock University, sparked national attention and media coverage on asexuality. Using preexisting data from a 1994 study, the Canadian suggested that one in 100 people identifies as asexual, and that they share a handful of traits, including height, weight, low socio-economic status and a high degree of religiousness.
“Bogaert’s [2004] study makes no sense at all,” said Dr. Nicole Prause, CEO of Liberos. According to Prause and Dr. Cynthia Graham, the groundbreaking work had several limitations. Subjects were identified as asexual if they agreed with the statement: “I have never felt sexually attracted to anyone at all.” That was the Canadian’s biggest mistake — emphasizing desire over identity and behavior.
To correct Bogaert’s flaw in his initial paper, Prause and Graham conducted a more comprehensive study where the field of research began — the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. This time, the researchers were prepared to analyze the elusive group “X.” Using self-reports, they distinguished characteristics between the sexual and non-sexual to better understand the uncharted orientation,
“Asexuality is interesting as an extreme end of the spectrum [of asexuality}],” Prause said. “We can’t understand the phenomenon until we can explain both ends.”
The results rejected Bogaert’s on almost all counts. Asexuals aren’t less educated than sexuals, nor do they differ in number of lifetime partners. The most unforeseen inconsistency is that some aces engage in sexual activity, which suggests the libido is separate from sexual attraction.
“It surprised me that people would masturbate and not have a sex drive,” Prause said. “We have such a long historic relationship between sex drive and masturbation.”
About once a month, Fields masturbates to porn. When she gets bored of watching people have sex, she finishes to whatever is on TV. It’s not mind-blowing, she explains, because rubbing one out is more like itching a scratch. “I have a libido and my body can get aroused like anyone else’s,” she said. “I just don’t have the feeling to sleep with anyone or get taken care of.”
Prause and Bogaert’s research challenged the American Psychiatric Association’s classification of sexual disorders. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-4) lumped asexuality under Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, preventing the orientation from ever being recognized as the fourth sex. But asexuality isn’t a sexual dysfunction, the sexologists argued, because aces don’t experience “marked distress” and “interpersonal difficult” because of a lack of “sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity.”
In 2008, AVEN seized the opportunity to reclassify HSDD in an updated version of the manual. The goal was to help draft a new definition for the dysfunction that didn’t pathologize asexuality. Five years later, marginalized individuals all over the world celebrated a step towards visibility. Asexuality officially embarked on the road to societal acceptance, but the destination laid miles ahead.
More than an amoeba
Fields clocks in for work at 7:53 p.m. Five days a week, she mops up oil and takes out the trash. It’s not a glamorous job, but she’s fine with it. She needs the money to support her mom, and paying for medication out of pocket is expensive.
When she graduated from Ivy Tech, Fields never imagined herself working as a janitor at Cook Polymore Technology. She’s not miserable, though. Not yet, she says. But sweeping the floor isn’t what she went to school for.
“When I tell people my dream job they give me a look like my grandma died or something,” Fields said.
She wants to be a full time artist, but that’s hard to achieve in a state where the employment isn’t great. If it weren’t for her family, she’d leave Indiana. But for now, her mom needs her in Bedford to help her cope with her mental illness. While she adjusts to new medicine, Fields takes care of the house and pays the bills.
“We’re just trying to survive everyday,” Fields said.
Like any roommates, Fields and her mom inevitably quarrel from time to time. “She’s a religious Christian and I have more of a pagan perspective,” Fields said. “I definitely don’t agree with her beliefs.”
The first time Fields came out as bisexual, it was hard for her mom to understand. The second time she came out as asexual, her mom was more accepting.
“I don’t think she understands asexuality, but to her it’s better than identifying as lesbian,” Fields said. “It’s easier to grasp because I’m not into people sexually, so she views it as less abrasive and less against her beliefs.”
Fields identifies as grey-demi romantic asexual. “Grey romantic means that someone can experience romantic attraction, but on rare occasion,” she explained. “I also identify as demi romantic, because in order to make a romantic relationship stick I have to have a strong bond with somebody.”
Looks are definitely a bonus, but that’s not what makes Fields’ heart thump. It’s the personality that does it, but that’s hard to convey on a dating website. Nevertheless, she flipped through profiles in search of a glasses wearing, dead baby joke telling, Rick and Morty watching asexual partner. Ideally, one who is also into BDSM.
“For a lot of people, BDSM is like a sexual power exchange,” Fields said. “But when asexuals are into BDSM, it’s more like we arouse our minds.”
Three years ago, Fields hit the jackpot. She found an asexual girl who was also kinky. After a year of Facebook messaging and texting, Anna Hastings surprised Fields at her college graduation. They spent the weekend celebrating their one-year anniversary traipsing around Bedford with arms locked.
“Anna is a very romantic person,” Fields said. “I don’t mind doing romantic things for her because she makes me feel comfortable.”
Although they’re both on BDSM dating sites, Fields says they won’t necessarily engage in it. Just knowing someone was into the same things as her was thrilling. “Most of my life is online because there aren’t that many asexuals to talk to,” Fields said. “It was exciting knowing I wasn’t alone and actually meeting someone face to face.”
Explaining her asexuality got difficult when her male coworkers found out she was in a relationship. If Fields didn’t want to have sex with them but was dating a girl, she must be a lesbian. “Yeah I’m into girls,” Fields said. “But not the way you’re into girls.” Still, they thought she was lying. It became exasperating to talk about.
Fields knows asexuality will eventually be accepted in society, just like homosexuality. It will quietly be normalized, she says, because asexuals don’t do anything scandalous with their bodies that would attract attention. They don’t make big waves. Not yet, anyway.
Asexuality in the media
In a society that chants “sex sells,” asexuality is seldom seen in the entertainment industry. This poor representation delegitimizes asexuality and reflects a lack of general public understanding of the orientation. And without characters or narratives to relate to in mainstream media, aces feel even more isolated and rejected from society.
When aces are represented in popular shows, they’re usually depicted as broken. In the case of BBC’s Sherlock, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays detective Sherlock Holmes, explained that the protagonist is only asexual because his sex drive was suppressed. “Cold showers, dead bodies, that’ll do it for you,” Cumberbatch told Elle UK Magazine.
Fields says she’s never been a huge fan of Sherlock, but not because it isn’t a well written show. “They make Sherlock almost seem like he’s socially unequipped, like being ace is the butt of a joke.”
In the Big Bang Theory, asexual character Sheldon Cooper is portrayed as a brilliant theoretical physicist who lacks empathy. The majority of the sitcom’s humor revolves around Sheldon’s lack of social skills and odd character traits. Like Sherlock, asexuality is represented in the TV series as a peculiar consequence of behavior, rather than a celebrated orientation.
In 2015, Archie Comics writer Chip Zdarsky confirmed what all asexuals wanted to believe — Jughead Jones is asexual. Since the crown wearing character first appeared in Pep Comics in1941, Jughead was known for his love affair with food and general disinterest in pursuing any kind of romantic relationship.
Archie’s Pal Jughead, No 66, November 1960.
Last year the CW announced it would air a TV adaptation of the Archie Comics, giving optimistic asexuals a chance of positive representation. However, in Episode 6 of Riverdale, Jughead surprised viewers by kissing Betty. With one spit swap, he betrayed his community.
Like most aces, Fields was infuriated. Her chance for a better media representation was shot. But not all hope was lost. Before coming out as ace, Fields also dabbled with her asexuality.
“It makes sense that he doesn’t automatically know he’s ace,” Fields said. “Most people don’t recognize they’re different until high school.”
Many asexuals turned to Twitter to express their disdain for Jughead’s development. To quell the uproar, show runner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained that Riverdale characters are just discovering their sexuality in season one. With nothing set in stone, Fields is hopeful the show will come to represent her orientation and catalyze future positive depictions.
“Asexual people had to pretty much scream at the industry to represent them,” she said. “But we’re starting to scratch the surface, especially more than when I first identified.”
An ace of hearts
It was hot and their pale skin was about to crisp. They forgot to wear sunblock on their outing to the Harry Potter themed amusement park, so Fields bought two black umbrellas from a gift shop. Under the shade, they laid in the grass and gazed at each other.
“You’re cute,” Hastings said.
Her cheeks blushed in response. “It wasn’t overly romantic,” Fields sad. “It was a really cool healthy dose of romance.”
Last month, Fields took off four days of work to visit her girlfriend in Gainesville. A year passed since she last saw Hastings, and it was Fields’ turn to make the trek. It was their second anniversary, after all.
Over the weekend, they sipped enough pumpkin juice and butterbeer to make them sick. They rode a dragon rollercoaster, and Hastings was terrified. Fields screamed so much that she drooled. They walked through Hogsmead and Diagon Alley holding hands so they wouldn’t get lost. And if they did, they’d find each other. They did it once before.
Hastings is getting ready to move to Bloomington this summer to be closer to Fields. They’re nervous, but in a good way. After two years, they’ll be close enough to work on their bonding. In Florida, they slept in the same bed, but they didn’t cuddle. Fields wants to take it slow. She needs more time.
As patient as Hastings has been, sometimes Fields worries that she doesn’t feel appreciated.
“Do you feel loved?” Fields asked.
“Yes,” Hastings said.
Even if Fields never experiences romantic feelings for her girlfriend, just being around each other is enough.
For more on asexuality, check out our Sexual Identity basic!Please enable Javascript to watch this video
SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego man charged with making false statements to federal agents about his recent activities and associations in Syria appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge Thursday in San Diego and was ordered held without bail.
Mohamad Saeed Kodaimati, 24, was taken into custody Wednesday in Rancho Bernardo.
Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford ordered Saeed held without bail after prosecutors alleged the defendant was a danger to the community and a flight risk. A detention hearing was set for Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley said Saeed had been in Syria and Turkey for the past two years and returned to San Diego three weeks ago.
He is charged with two counts of making false statements in an international terrorism investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, Saeed falsely claimed that he never had been involved in any fighting, that he never fired his weapon at anyone, that he did not know anyone who was a member of ISIL -- known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant -- that he had never told anyone else that he was involved with the militant group Al-Nusrah, and that he had never worked or volunteered at a Sharia court.
Evidence gathered during the investigation contradicts those and other statements Saeed made to agents from the FBI and the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, last month, Parmley said.
According to the complaint, Saeed was born in Syria and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in September 2008.
Download Fox 5 iPhone app | Download Fox 5 Android appJoin us for the first Columbus vBeers of 2015. Our last visit to Rooster’s was in March so stop by for some wings and a beverage.
This will be a non-sponsored event so bring your wallet, your sense of humor and get ready for some great IT and virtualization conversations with some of the best people in Central Ohio’s IT community (including YOU!). vBeers is a great event meant to promote growth of the IT industry. Register today so we can make sure we have enough space! Feel free to invite all of your friends and co workers who work in the IT industry!
Location: Back room at Roosters Restaurant & Bar
Address: 3370 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43202
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015
Time: 6:30pm.
Tags: Columbus vbeers, RoostersA year ago Apple introduced a new Retina 5K iMac at the high end of the lineup and left everything else alone. This year, the entire lineup is getting a refresh—not only is there a new 4K model of the 21.5-inch iMac, but all of the 27-inch non-Retina iMacs are being replaced by 5K Retina models. The 27-inch models are also getting some nice internal upgrades, including quad-core Intel Skylake CPUs, new dedicated AMD Radeon GPUs, and faster PCI Express SSDs and Fusion Drive configurations.
The new 5K iMacs start at $1,799, the same starting price as the previous-generation, non-Retina iMac—that model comes with a quad-core 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo) Core i5-6500, 8GB of 1867MHz DDR3 RAM, a 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive, and an AMD Radeon R9 M380 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory. All of the new 27-inch iMacs also include Apple's redesigned Magic Keyboard and your choice of either a Magic Mouse 2 (included) or Magic Trackpad 2 ($50 extra).
The $1,999 configuration uses the same CPU and the same 8GB of RAM, but it bumps the GPU to an AMD Radeon R9 M390 with 2GB of GDDR5 and upgrades you to a 1TB Fusion Drive. And the $2,299 model gets you 8GB of RAM with a 3.3GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Core i5-6600, a Radeon R9 M395 with 2GB of GDDR5, and a 2TB Fusion Drive.
All of the new 27-inch iMacs use a 5120×2880 screen with a 217 PPI resolution, but these panels are subtly better than the ones in past 5K iMacs. They support the wider DCI-P3 color gamut commonly used in digital movie theaters, an upgrade that gives you a wider range of reds and greens than were visible on previous-generation sRGB displays. It's not an upgrade that's going to make any current 5K iMacs obsolete, but, if you've been holding off on buying one, it's a nice reward for your patience.
Upgrade options and new storage configurations
As usual, Apple will let you upgrade most of the components in these base iMac models to suit your needs. All three 5K iMac configurations can be upgraded to an AMD Radeon R9 M395X GPU with 4GB of GDDR5, and the top two configurations can add a 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Core i7-6700K. This CPU adds Hyper-threading along with the additional clock speed.
All three iMac models can be configured with 16GB or 32GB of 1867MHz DDR3 (not DDR4) RAM from the factory. Since the 27-inch iMacs' four RAM slots are still hidden under an easily accessible hatch, it's generally going to be cheaper to buy your own memory and install it yourself—the default configuration leaves two RAM slots free for easy upgrades without throwing out the memory that's already included. Skylake CPUs should theoretically support a maximum of 64GB of RAM if you use 16GB DIMMs, but it doesn't appear to be officially supported, and such high-density RAM sticks are both rare and expensive.
All can also be configured with a variety of Fusion Drive and pure SSD storage options, something we'd definitely recommend for any and all iMac purchases (the two higher-end configurations have standard Fusion Drives, but they really should be included across the lineup at this point). The $1,799 iMac can be configured with 1TB, 2TB, or 3TB Fusion Drives, or if you prefer to go all-flash you can get a 256GB or 512GB SSD. The two higher-end models add an option for a 1TB SSD. All solid-state storage in the new iMacs uses the NVMExpress interface that first showed up in the Retina MacBook earlier this year, and like the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro they all have four PCIe 2.0 lanes' worth of bandwidth to work with, giving them data transfer speeds of up to 2GB per second.
If you're buying a model with a Fusion Drive, know that Apple has slightly tweaked the Fusion Drive configurations in all the new 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs. 1TB Fusion Drives in the new Macs pair that 1TB hard drive with 24GB of flash storage rather than the heretofore-standard 128GB; this is enough for the core OS and a few apps, so boot time and most app launches should still feel speedy but you may notice the Mac hitting the hard drive more often than it does with other Fusion Drives. The upside is that it's a cheaper upgrade than Fusion Drives usually are, and it adds just $100 to the price of the iMac. The 2TB and 3TB Fusion Drive options still use a 128GB SSD.
Finally, the new iMacs come standard with a headphone jack, an SD card slot, four USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, 1.3Gbps 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0. Non-Retina iMacs never got Thunderbolt 2 so this is the first time it's been available across the entire lineup—all of these computers can drive two external 4K displays at 60Hz. You can drive an external 5K display at 60Hz as well, but because the new iMacs don't support DisplayPort 1.3 it requires the use of both Thunderbolt ports.
All of the refreshed 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac models are available for purchase now. Our full review of the 4K 21.5-inch iMac is available here, and we hope to test drive a souped-up version of the 27-inch iMac in the coming weeks.The 16GB iPhone has been Apple's entry-level option for some time now, despite being more than a little controversial. Still, despite some rumors to the contrary, it looks like the company is sticking with it: 9to5Mac reports that the the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will have the same storage options as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, starting at 16GB and moving up to 64GB and 128GB. On-contract pricing, the site also reported, will likewise stay the same as 2014 models: $199, $299, and $399 for each storage tier of the 6S, and $299, $399, and $499 for the 6S Plus.
Update: Read the iPhone 6S review.
9to5 also dropped a couple tidbits about what we can expect from the phones: a similar design, but with the new "7000 series aluminum" Apple has used in the Apple Watch Sport. The report also says Apple will unveil new colors for Apple Watch Sport bands at the September 9th event.The nefarious legacy of Umbrella stretches back many decades, including the construction of a facility built in Antarctica in 1969. Flash forward to 1998, Umbrella’s Antarctic base suffers a full-blown t-virus outbreak and is permanently put out of commission by the actions of Claire and Chris Redfield. Though the facility was devastated by its self-destruct system, its snowy, multi-leveled carcass makes for a terrific battleground in the heated third-person shootouts of Umbrella Corps.
The newly unveiled Antarctic Base map offers players three levels of the fractured facility to explore and gain tactical advantage over the competition. Iconic locations from Resident Evil Code: Veronica can be spotted in the most recent screenshot gallery. Mercenaries can clash their Brainer melee weapons on the heliport where Claire battled the monstrous Alexander Ashford. The derelict factory floor presents ample cover for players to engage in firefights.
Take a closer look at the Antarctic Base map from Umbrella Corps in the new trailer below. This video sets the stage for the map’s place in RE history with an intro using Resident Evil Code: Veronica storyline footage (as seen in Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles). Keep an eye out for brutal Brainer battles and locations you remember from RE Code: Veronica.
In addition to environments from Resident Evil Code: Veronica, a powerful threat is featured in the new screens. Special “Mutated Zombies” appear in the Multi-Mission Mode’s SP DNA Hunter rule set, where players can only win by defeating these powerful enemy variants. Mutated Zombies can deal heavy damage, take a beating, and are resistant to the normally pacifying effects of your Zombie Jammer pack. Even worse, enemies nearby Mutated Zombies are also immune to the Zombie Jammer, so stay frosty.
A handful of new weapons have also been revealed with new screens. The new batch of artillery includes a Brainer variant called the Talonhawk, and the Wolfsbane pistol. The robust gear customization options of Umbrella Corps even allows players to paint their Wolfsbane gold to match the handgun type wielded by the late Steve Burnside in Code: Veronica.
These memorable locales and more are ready for your return when Umbrella Corps releases on PC and PS4 June 21 for $29.99. Visit our Facebook page to check out the full gallery of screenshots.Microsoft and Google may have put the kibosh on Intel’s planned “Dual OS” PCs—devices with both Windows and Android on them—but that doesn’t mean you have to give up your dream of Android and Windows on the same machine. You can run Android apps and even the Android operating system on your current PC.
This allows you to use Android’s ecosystem of touch-based apps on touch-enabled Windows laptops and tablets, so it does make some sense. Of course, the process is clunker than just using Windows apps, but if there are Android-specific apps or games you want to run on your PC, here are four ways to do it.
BlueStacks
RELATED: How to Run Android Apps and Games on Your Windows Desktop with BlueStacks
BlueStacks isthe easiest way to run Android apps on Windows. It doesn’t replace your entire operating system. Instead, it runs Android apps within a window on your Windows desktop. This allows you to use Android apps just like any other program. BlueStacks also includes support for easy installation of apps from Google Play, so the process is as seamless as possible. Even better, BlueStacks runs Android apps and games with surprisingly good performance.
This solution can’t replace Windows with Android, but that’s not a bad thing—competing solutions that allow you to dual boot Android with Windows are currently unstable. This is only a solution for running Android apps on Windows. Unlike many of the other options here, this is a fairly stable and polished experience.
Similar applications, including YouWave and Windroy, lack the speed and easy app installation BlueStacks offers.
Google’s Official Android Emulator
RELATED: How to Test Drive Google Android on Your PC Without Buying a Phone
Google provides an official Android emulator as part of the Android SDK. You can use it to run the Android operating system in a window on your existing computer. This gives you complete access to the entire Android operating system. It’s intended for developers to test their Android apps.
Unfortunately, the official Android emulator is rather slow and isn’t a good option for everyday use. It’s useful if you want to test apps or play with the latest version of Android, but you wouldn’t want to actually use apps or play games in it.
To get started with the Android Emulator, download Google’s Android SDK, open the SDK Manager program, and select Tools > Manage AVDs. Click the New button and create a an Android Virtual Device (AVD) with your desired configuration, then select it and click the Start button to launch it. You can read more about the process in our guide.
Android-x86
Android-x86 is a community project to port Android to the x86 platform so it can run natively on Intel and AMD processors. That way, you to install Android on a laptop or tablet just as you’d install Windows or Linux. This project was originally noteworthy for providing a way to run Android on low-power netbooks, giving those old netbooks some additional life.
You can check out our guide to installing Android on your computer for more details, or you can install Android-x86 inside a virtual machine to avoid having to reboot your computer.
Bear in mind that this project isn’t stable. You should exercise extreme caution when installing it on physical hardware.
Android on Intel Architecture
Intel develops their own distribution of Android for new Intel-based PCs with UEFI firmware. It’s named Android on Intel Architecture, or Android -IA. Intel even provides an installer, which you can use to install Android on your Windows device. The installer will ask if you want to preserve Windows in a dual-boot scenario, so this is a way to dual boot Android and Windows on a new laptop or tablet.
Bear in mind that this project isn’t stable and won’t work on every device yet. At the moment, the Samsung XE700T, Acer Iconia W700, and Lenovo X220T and X230T devices appear to be officially supported targets. This project is really interesting because it’s being driven by Intel itself. This is likely the same software you’ll find on those new “Dual OS” Intel PCs.
This option isn’t for casual users, but it may become more stable over time. For more information, consult Intel’s Downloads, Quick Start, and Devices pages.
If you really want to run Android apps on your Windows computer, you should install BlueStacks. It’s the easiest, slickest, most stable option.
In the long term, the Android on Intel Architecture and Android-x86 projects may make Android easier to install and use on a wider variety of hardware. They could provide an easy way to dual boot Android and Windows—or even replace Windows with Android. For now, these projects aren’t recommended unless you have supported hardware, and you should be careful even if you do.The Accrington Stanley players have received a huge boost ahead of tomorrow’s game with Luton Town thanks to the Football League’s main sponsor Sky Bet.
After the majority of the first team squad had their boots stolen following a break in at the Store First Stadium, Sky Bet have stepped in to provide the players with new footwear.
The lads received their replacement boots earlier today in time to take on the Hatters tomorrow afternoon.
“We can’t thank Sky Bet enough for helping us out,” said Stanley boss James Beattie. “The players here don’t earn lots of money and losing their boots earlier this week was a big blow to a lot of them.
“This gesture is a big lift to us and has helped us to end a difficult week on a high – now we’re out to end it with three points tomorrow.”
Stanley captain Luke Joyce was one of the players to have his boots stolen. He said the squad were delighted to have new ones sorted so quickly.
“This came out of the blue,” he said. “On behalf of all the players I’d like to say how grateful we are to Sky Bet. We can put this break in behind us now and get on with the job of winning games.”
Sky Bet have launched the Transfer Fund which gives fans who bet with Sky Bet a token for every pound they spend, putting them in with a chance of winning the £250,000 Transfer Fund for their club. For more info click HEREFrom Americans Against The Tea Party, another tragic accident by responsible gun owners:
A responsible, gun owning Kentucky mom stepped outside, leaving her 5-year-old son alone with his new birthday present — a brand new, shiny loaded.22-cal. rifle — and his 2-year-old sister.
Unfortunately, mom was outside just long enough for her son to fatally shoot his sister, Caroline Sparks, with his new present.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Billy Gregory says that the shooting has been ruled an accident. “It’s just one of those nightmares,” he said, “a quick thing that happens when you turn your back.”
He added that in the area it is not uncommon for parents to give their young children weapons. “In this part of the country, it’s not uncommon for a 5-year-old to have a gun or for a parent to pass one down to their kid,” he said.COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Kurds in Denmark marked the Kurdish New Year of Newroz with a traditional bonfire outside City Hall, which Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard attended to show solidarity in the war with ISIS.
“Today we think of all the Kurds around the world who are fighting for democracy and having a hard time," Lidegaard said in Friday’s ceremony.
"There is reason to |
.Cube bigmac = new shape.Cube();
bigmac.setWid("150");
bigmac.setHig("140");
bigmac.setDep("100");
out.print(bigmac.getVol); %gt;
The whole of the JSP is read by the Tomcat (or other) JSP engine, and all the stuff that's NOT in the Java tags is put into a great big out.print() and the whole thing is compiled up into a Servlet, which Tomcat then runs.
Where does the calculation logic come from
The constructor for the shape.Cube object, and the accessor methods, conform to a standard called a Java Bean. This specifies that there must be a zero parameter constructor, and that there must be methods to save attributes / properties with names starting with set, and to read back properties with names starting with get. The business logic is within that class, or classes which it in turn calls.
The extra class file is stored within your web application, in teh directory WEB-INF/classes... and in there in a subdirectory named to match the package name.
The extra class / business logic is loaded when the JSP is loaded.
Here's the start of the source code of the Java Bean to give you an idea of what it looks like:
package shape;
public class Cube {
float x;
float y;
float z;
public Cube () {
x = 0.0f;
y = 0.0f;
z = 0.0f;
}
public void setWid(String val) {
x = Float.parseFloat(val);
}
Full source code of the JSP - [here]
Full source code of the Java Bean - [here]
Some Notes
Although the JSP page is rechecked by Tomcat every few seconds, the classes that it calls up are not - they're cached and assumed to be unchanging. So that means you'll need to stop and restart the application if you change the classes, but not if you change the JSP itself.
Note that the attribute names start with a lower case letter, but the method names are camel case with a capital for the attribute name. For example a property called dep will call up methods setDep and getDep.
You can learn about deploying applications that include pages that use tag libraries like this (N.B. - also other tage libraries such as Struts and Spring) on our Deploying Apache / Tomcat course. And we can teach you how to write pages like this on private Java courses - please email for a few more details, telling me a little of your background.
Posted by gje at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)
1234567890... coming up on Friday 13th
Related topics: via article database Useful link: Java training
The Unix time 1234567890 (seconds from 1.1.70) comes up this Friday
[trainee@easterton feb09]$ perl px
Fri Feb 13 23:31:30 2009
[trainee@easterton feb09]$ cat px
$when = gmtime(1234567890);
print $when,"
";
[trainee@easterton feb09]$
Anyone staying up to celebrate?
Posted by gje at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2009
Through Snow and Flood to Linux and Tomcat
Related topics: via article database
I arrived in Milton Keynes on Sunday night... to find at 9 p.m. a hotel where they had closed the restaurant early for lack of customers, and after an appalling drive the advertised meal was not to be had. The final 3 staff took pity on me - one of few customers around, and the only one not in his room - and did me up a bowl of pea and ham soup, and I stood around chatting with them, and with a pint of Guinness as they finished the tidy up. In hindsight, I had only just made it over from Bicester and Buckingham, watching where other cars were spinning and taking care where I could; a 20 mile an hour creep extended a ride that would normally take around 25 minutes to between 2 and 3 times that, and I had been glad to see the lights of Milton Keynes. The conditions were so dire I hadn't even thought of taking pictures to show you!
My course is going well - I'm doing a combined deploying LAMP and Tomcat private course about 4 miles from where I am staying, but even that journey is interesting. See at the top of this item... this morning's picture of the car (I have Lisa's this week - pretty, but impractical in the snow), and the floods which Lisa is probably happy that I declined to take it through - that picture taken just a hundred yards from where I am training.
Posted by gje at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
Huawei D100 Wireless Router - Mobile Internet
Related topics: via article database Useful link: Linux training
I am writing up my experiences as I found it very hard to get this information when I asked ;-) - but "management summary" - this will be a very positive product review.
What is the Huawei D100 Wireless Router?
It connect the 3 mobile phone broadband wireless network (which according to the 3 blurb covers almost all of the population) into your own local area Wifi network. Basically, two sets of wireless in one box - one to connect to "3" and the other to connect your own local devices. It also has an RJ45 ethernet connector so you can plug in a wired ethernet device.
How does the Huawei D100 Router work?
The Router has a USB slot in it into which you plug your 3 Dongle, and that provides a wide area network connection in very much the same way that the router we use to provide our regular broadband connection at home - except that the output is to mobile broadband rather that to cable (main home connection) or ISDN (our backup connection via another device).
The router provides a regular local area wifi connection (protected with a WEP key) and includes a DHCP server through which it can issue IP addresses. Initial configuration is to provide 101 IP addresses (192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.200). It has its own IP address (default 192.168.1.1) and a browser interface there through which it can be configured. It forwards DNS requests too so that you can point your DNS at 192.168.1.1 and it will 'play' for you.
If you have a wired device you want to connect, you can plug this into the RJ45 port and use it via there. I have connected a hub, and been able to connect multiple devices. Devices which are manually configured with IP addresses on the same network (but not part of the DHCP range) ARE able to reach the wide area connection.
Some myths exploded
Some documentation talks about the router having a built in battery, but that is incorrect - it required power, and comes with a conventional external plug and adaptor. I suspect someone was overoptimistic in the product spec.
The device can be used (I'm doing it as I write this article) to connect a box running Linux; it is not limited to Vista, XP, 2000 and the most recent 2 versions of OSX. But beware - the rule is different for a dongle on its own (no D100 router) and it is just possible that something has to be initialised in the dongle that does require one of the specified operating systems at that point (I did my initial setup direct to a suitable laptop).
Words of caution
I understand that only certain specific models of dongle, which are some (but not all) of the ones that work on the 3 network, will operate correctly with the D100.
I have yet to establish whether or not the ethernet cable needs to be crossed - I can't at this stage provide easy advice as the hub I have connected is autosensing/
I have purchased a 5 Gb per month package which should do well for my needs, but I am very much aware that there is an excess charge beyond that which I believe to be quite steep, and I cannot at this stage give an easy comment on my usage.
Good Stuff
Well... here you go:
With a hub, here is the setup I had running yesterday evening in my hotel. There's a Mac OS X machine and a Linux system both connected at the same time; I'm running wired - primarily for testing - and both machines are online. I have switched the router's IP address to the same one we normally use back at base, and it's serving IP addresses in its class C address range. I also have my Linux eee PC baby connecting in wireless...
a) The Router will let me get connect in my complete wired training network should I wish to do so and this gives me the option of providing delegates with a complete internet access at our machines in their own offices without the need for me to connect my kit behind their firewall. Clearly, this facility has to be offered only on UK courses, and we must add "subject to availability of mobile broadband in the training room" - should be OK for the vast majority of sites; problems only at a few geographic locations, and where the building is in effect a Faraday cage - we get those occasionally!
b) The Router can provide a mobile backup internet service at both our HQ and Well House Manor, meaning that on any occasions that the cable connection is down (quite rare), we have an alternative service... and we'll be able to retire the ISDN router /'modem' that we currently have for the purpose
c) The router also provides an interconnection between the various wireless and wired devices connected to it... so it's working (as I probably could have guessed) as a home hub too, rather than as a hotel or public access facility where the users are kept separate.
Other Solutions / links / details
3's own technical page and a review from someone who read the "it has a battery" publicity. An alternative product - the Dovado UMR which is not tied to 3 and is available from Infoferenda.
Posted by gje at 05:11 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2009
Mobile Internet - an alternative to hotel WiFi
Related topics: via article database
I'm no longer playing "Hunt the Wifi" network, nor "Guess how long you want to connect" or "Which signal will last" when I'm away within the UK... having spent 200 pounds on access through various systems from various UK hotels last year alone, I took the plunge and got myself a 3G Dongle giving me internet access from more or less any UK hotel I'm likely to be in (fingers crossed on that!) for fifteen quid a month for up to 5 Bytes of traffic which should cover me for most month of around 5 to 10 days away.
First test - it works at home. Second test - it works at Well House Manor. Third test - it works at the Milton Keynes hotel.
First pleasant surprise - it's quite quick compared to what I had expected. Second pleasant surprise - I can now get online from wherever I'm training - Faraday Cages and company rules excepted. Third pleasant surprise - the router box that I bought with it, sight unseen, does some rather interesting things and gives some new possibilities. On line information about the Huawei D100 Wireless Router sucks, and talking via interactive chat on the 3 web site with their evening assistant revealed that either the limited online data was wrong, or that she didn't know and was making odd technical guesses - I'm glad I came to the conclusion that the latter was the case, gambled and bought one... and indeed I'll share what I have learned to help other out... link on to main story (or scroll up if you're on the blog as it will be the next article!)
Posted by gje at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2009
Choosing from an image with an image map
Related topics: via article database
We'll be replacing the images of the Hudson River that have been on some of the pages of our web site for a while with a new series of Well House Consultants / Well House Manor pictures in the near future. Here's a postage stamp preview of my draft collection and it illustrates our wide range of activities!
Click on any image and you'll see a full size copy in a new window, and the image title too.
I've used 'image map' technology, where there's a link from the image to a script on the server which selects the following action based on the pixel position. You can see the source code here and you can learn all about it on our PHP techniques workshop.
Posted by gje at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2009
The final step to being British
Related topics: via article database
It's over ten years since Lisa moved to the UK, and she's been British for over half of that time... but there have been just a few experiences which have taken a while to happen. Last night, I took her to her first panto and she had the experience of the leading boy, the pantomime dame, "He's behind you", the audience interaction, the children up on the stage, the topical and local cracks, the naughty jokes aimed over the heads of the kiddies, and the village hall that starts off cold and draughty and lacking in atmosphere, yet becomes abuzz during the show with real atmosphere.
I also had the opportunity to introduce her to some characters from my childhood - and other later characters - who hadn't quite made in to the USA when she lived there. Now let's see how they all ended up...
Andy Pandy and Goldilocks discover that - oops - they have an unexpected romantic attachment that's going to break the pairings that we have all been lead to expect.
Looby Lou has always had a thing for Bob the Builder, and the two of them end up together
Chip the woodcutter's son, who was all cut out to be paired off with Goldilocks, has been swept off his feet by Peaches (one of the St Trinian's girls) who has taken him under her wing as he searches for Goldilocks. It was after they bunked for the night in the same tent, with the magic corks, when everyone dreamed of their true love.
Baby Bear Fozzy Bear - who turned out to be one of the unexpected anchors of the show who really made the evening - has found his Cuddles who appeared (out of the chorus line!) during his dream that night in the woods!
There must have been a cast of forty!
SuperTed, Spotty Man, Skeleton, Bulk and Texas Pete... and let's not forget PC Plod, Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men, Little Weed, the narrator, Scoop... and a guest appearance from the Mayor of Melksham playing himself!
Final shows - a matinee this afternoon, and an evening performance at 7:30. See here. And you can find Melksham Comedy Club's home page here for other productions through the year... or for details of next year's panto in due course.
Posted by gje at 06:55 AM | Comments (0)
Also for the eyes of the cat
Related topics: via article database
Here's just about the shortest lag you'll see from me between taking a picture and having it up on line - five minutes. Sitting up in bed (as I sometimes do), pre dawn, the cat has joined us and is interested in what I'll be saying. She's still here and reading, so I need to be careful what I write...
Posted by gje at 05:59 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2009
Things people say on the phone
Related topics: via article database
I phoned up the local county council to report this depression in the road Well House Manor, and the young lady I spoke to told me she would send someone round in the next couple of weeks to "look into it". I am just imagining this group of engineers standing around, all looking down the hole..
Last night, I spoke with another lady on the phone about something completely different, and she put me on hold using the words "bare with me"... Hmmm... sound fun, but I don't know the lady in question well enough to do something like that.
Have you ever been on the phone with someone, and had them come up with the phrase "well - to be honest with you? Does it mean that everything they said previously has been lies?
Posted by gje at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2009
Who sticks by you in the snow?
Related topics: via article database
There are those businesses who will go out of their way to continue to provide a the best service they can in the inclement weather, and there are those who will abandon even their regular customers in the snow - "fair weather friends". It's been interesting to learn who falls into which group this morning!
One of our team lives in Chippenham, and has a car which sometimes plays up. But - no big deal - there's a train from Chippenham to Melksham at 06:30 which will 'do very nicely', thank you. Except that, this morning with 3 inches of snow, they decided to abandon their services via Melksham completely. And no suggestion of alternatives on their web site. So I drove in and took over the early shift.
Newspapers hadn't arrived at the local garage when I popped in on my way in to the hotel this morning (see - the roads are open for me!)... but they went that extra mile and phoned me when they had arrived - "I thought it would still be in time for your guests" they said and we truly appreciate their thoughtfulness.
I called our regular Baguette supplier to order a delivery of lunches for today - being the last day of the course, we want to keep the lunch break down. But, alas, they have abandoned their customer base when they're most needed and aren't doing deliveries today, even though the roads were perfectly passable by lunch time
It would be easy enough for me to jump in the car and collect, but I popped round to the Spa Road garage instead, even though I had hoped to serve something slightly more upmarket that Spar wraps.
Posted by gje at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)
Melksham Climate Friendly Group
Related topics: via article database
It's somewhat ironic that I left last night's meeting of Melksham Climate Friendly Group in a bit of a blizzard. Many familiar faces, a great deal of knowledge, and a group each of whom is taking a real interest in some aspect of the subject in their own way, with a strong and effective chair pulling together in joint efforts and coordinating with neighbouring areas and other organisations. A packed 2 hour agenda - a lot discussed from Energy monitors that the TIC will be loaning out to households, through the gardening association, renewable energy, the economies and carbon footprint of recycling, bees, what to do with leftover food, 20 future technologies, and a "vision for 2020" competition that's to be run to raise awareness. Not to forget the idea of turning the wasteland beside the "West End" into a sensory garden, their stall on 14th February and their coffee morning on 28th.
There are strong views in Melksham (as elsewhere!) on the plastic bag issue, and it was interesting to hear comments and view on this and on other matters. The safety of the new low power electric lights that we're being forced to use. Two concerns - the mercury level therein, which is said to be very low, and some medical issues that some people are said to have with them. I was well impressed by the group's background research (and following up of contacts) to check out the medical story.
I think they see me as "Mr Transport" ;-). A good chance given to me (Thank you, madam chairman) to update them on the subject and some useful thoughts in terms of publicity, some of which I'm sure you'll see much more of - especially if you live on the TransWilts corridor - over coming weeks and months. The 'train campaign' has been a little out of the public eye for the last few months, but things have been happening behind the scenes and we're pressing for an appropriate service from this coming December. Only last week there was a meeting between the County Council and First Great Western (I am now told by FGW, so I can share!), and only yesterday I was in correspondence with some of their senior managers with a view to smoothing the way.
The group makes an impression with the local press - a relatively active web site (though scope for more traffic - haven't we all?), and certainly some folks to be working *with* towards mutual goals; I brought up the potential growth of this area in the next 15 years under the regional spatial strategy and indeed there is a need to look forward for all across the community - not only in terms of transport but also in association with business, in association with the schools (oops - THAT subject was left of my list of what was on their agenda!), and with many other local groups. Here's to a flourishing Melksham, taking a sensible level of measures to doing our bit to being planet friendly.
The Melksham Climate Friendly Group meets at the Spencer Sports and Social Club on the Beanacre Road out of Melksham at 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. And I am sure, dear reader, that you would be given as friendly a welcome as I was if you go along.
Posted by gje at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2009
Injection Attack if register_globals in on - PHP
Related topics: via article database
You may have heard me talk about "injection attacks" and that having register_globals set to on in PHP makes you liable to be caught by them. Well - that's a little bit dramatic as you can write perfectly safe PHP scripts with the setting on if you're careful. Here's an example of a script which is not secured...
<?php
$fields = array("name","town","nkids");
$connection = mysql_connect("127.0.0.1","trainee","abc123");
mysql_select_db("graham",$connection);
$rs = mysql_query("select * from people");
$table.= "<table>";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($rs)) {
$table.= "<tr>";
foreach ($fields as $column) {
$table.= "<td>".$row[$column]."</td>";
}
$table.= "</tr>";
}
$table.= "</table>";
/* ------------------------------------------- */?>
<html>
<head><title>Class of '08</title></head>
<body>
<h1>Here they are</h1>
<?= $table?>
<br>
All together doing MySQL!
</body>
</html>
Now the output SHOULD look like this:
But I can make it look like this... VERY easily!
Did you spot the extra line of text?. What has happened?
I have used the $table variable to build up my table, using the "dot equals" operator. Fine - except that I have used it the very first time that the variable is references which means that in inherits any form values that are input via a box called table on the form that calls up the script. So all I have to do is to write such a form and I can add whatever I like at that point.. which could just be text... or it might be Javascript I want echoed out, font changes, code to call up an image....
The solution is to change the first "dot equals" into just "equals". That's the good programming solution. But turning register_globals off also solves the problem, as the variable would not then be populated from the form. The best solution? do both!.
Posted by gje at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
February 03, 2009
Carry on Training - in spite of the weather
Related topics: via article database Useful link: PHP training
Public Transport Chaos yesterday - the newspaper headlines tell us of the London bus system shut down, and our own status report page on First Great Western's train services show that they too had major issues (but congratulations to them for managing to run even a reduced service).
But our training courses are carrying right on without any interruption - that's the advantage of having residential facilities! In fact - at times like this thank goodness for our rooms. We can just sit back and enjoy the beauty of the snow; here are some pictures from this morning.
Our hotel and training center - Well House Manor, at 48, Spa Road, Melksham, Wiltshire.
Our HQ is a part of one of the Melksham Spa buildings - we're at 404, The Spa, Melksham, Wiltshire.
Link - public courses at oMancini up for PSG job?
By Football Italia staff
Le Parisien suggests Roberto Mancini is ready for the Paris Saint-Germain job if Unai Emery is fired.
The Coach took over this season and has struggled to make much of an impact, as they are trailing in Ligue 1 and finished second in their Champions League group.
Tonight there is a massive game against Mario Balotelli’s surprise Ligue 1 leaders OGC Nice.
Tension is sky high and there are reports PSG have barred all their club members and players from speaking to the media.
According to Le Parisien, plans are in progress if the situation deteriorates and former Sevilla boss Emery is removed from his position.
The hot favourite is Mancini, who is a free agent after terminating his contract with Inter just two weeks before the season began.The last couple of weeks have been (very) intense and filled with excitement. After an amazing alpha public release we have been busy applying the lessons learned, fixing bugs and implementing new features. Many thanks, again, to everyone for the warm welcome and kind words following the first alpha versions!
Today, as a token of appreciation, we bring to you The Tipping Point - the latest AKASHA release.
The Tipping Point (0.4.0) includes numerous bug fixes and improvements while also introducing new features such as:
Tipping
Entry editing & versioning
Latest entries across the network, regardless of tags
Comment threading & replies
New comments notification while navigating discussion
Silence notifications from a specific user
Whisper Chatrooms
Profile hover card for easy access to Follow & Send Tip
Gas abstraction for most interactions (WIP)
Those who have tried AKASHA before will notice an overall improvement compared the first release(s).
The streamlined UX and various optimizations make The Tipping Point feel like a solid step forward. Gas abstraction is something we'll have to work on a bit more, but you can already feel the difference :)
But enough said, it's even better to experience it yourself:
Instructions For Windows Pioneers:
Download the.exe installer or the.zip archive from our official alpha GitHub repo
Run the installer or extract the files contained in the.zip file
Open the AKASHA dapp and synchronize with the network
Create an AKASHA identity (profile)
Log in and enjoy AKASHA
Instructions For Mac Pioneers:
Download the.dmg installer or the.zip archive from our official alpha GitHub repo
Run the installer or extract the files contained in the.zip file
Open the AKASHA dapp and synchronize with the network
Create an AKASHA identity
Log in and enjoy AKASHA
Instructions For Linux Pioneers:
Download the.deb installer or the.zip archive from our official alpha GitHub repo
Run the installer or extract the files contained in the.zip file
Open the AKASHA dapp and synchronize with the network
Create an AKASHA identity
Log in and enjoy AKASHA
As a word of caution, since it is an alpha, this dapp comes with all the instability associated with early experiments - just as the first flight attempts were not necessarily safe or comfortable.
Failures, glitches and random errors should be expected. In case you stumble upon something that doesn't work as it should, please open an issue and we'll look into it as soon as possible.
Remember that we're just getting started - things should get better with each release.
What lies beyond The Tipping Point?
Let's find out together!
*Note that the downloading links have been updated with the latest 0.5.2 release, Continued Mendings (March 10th 2017)Hello everyone…Very saddened by the events in Paris but figured that for the sake of consistency I would try to get our Weekly Wrap Up out. More thoughts on Paris at the end of this post.
The big news from our house is that after much reflection, we decided to paint the girls’ room pink. I breastfed and nursed all my babies from this room and you might recognize it from other videos since it doubles as my studio. So stayed tuned for a pink background in future videos.
In keeping with the pink theme, I headed out to dinner with some pink drop earrings! Of course, as is my style, I confessed to the other moms that I had scored these fun pink accessories at a neighborhood store for $8.
More pink — and lavender and white – from a luscious store window that caught my eye.
The girls were invited to an early “friendsgiving” and insisted on bringing their dolls. Each donned a vest -Annaliese’s was a hand-me-down from my pal Tamela and Marielle’s a gift from Grandma.
Hedley went to a dance with GIRLS and we settle on this old, favorite shirt since it’s his most comfortable.
Beckett celebrated his final soccer game with a cupcake and donut lunch!
Our hearts are with the people of Paris as they grapple with the horrible events of last Friday. We have so much to do in this world, so much to change and so much to learn. Let us all try to practice kindness and bring peace into others’ lives.
Sending peace and love to your family,
Melissa xo
Weekly Giveaway
Prize: One (1) $50 Amazon gift card.
Rules:
Enter using the Gleam.io widget below.
Open to U.S readers.
You must be 18 or older to enter.
You have multiple ways you can enter to increase your chances of winning.
ways you can enter to increase your chances of winning. The giveaway ends on Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time).
Winner will be contacted within 48 hours after the giveaway has ended.
Weekly $50 Amazon Gift Card GiveawayIslamophobia is a term used by certain groups of Muslim apologists in order to protect Muslims from scrutiny. However, rather than protecting a group of people against bigotry, the term merely acts as a way to silence critics who raise valid points about the real and troubling aspects of Islam.
The Oxymoron of Islamophobia
The very term Islamophobia is itself misleading. A phobia is an irrational fear of something. In the case of Islam, however, it often makes practical sense to be afraid. As a former Muslim myself, I have genuine fears about a religion that advocates the murder of its apostates and victimizes its own members, especially innocent women and children.
Moreover, many people who have been labeled as "Islamophobes" do not exhibit signs of a phobia. Many are individuals who bring up relevant critiques against the institution of Islam. Having a well-reasoned and valid complaint is not the same as bigotry or fear, and labeling it as such is dismissive towards the greater discussion. By labeling its detractors as bigots and racists, Islam and its apologists are suggesting that Islam cannot stand up to scrutiny on its own.
Ideologies are Not People
Individuals have certain inherent rights. People have the right to be assessed as individuals rather than judged for their race, ethnicity or religion. The ideologies or religious beliefs that people hold, however, do not have these same rights. Put simply, ideologies are not synonymous with the people who have them. A Muslim may be innocent and well-meaning, and treating him badly because of his or her religion would be a serious case of discrimination. Criticizing the religion itself, however, is not discriminatory. No ideology is above reproach, be it Islam, fascism or democracy.
Criticizing Islam has nothing to do with supporting the United States or Israel.
One argument that many Muslim apologists make is that Western society cannot seek fault in Islam when Israelis, Americans and other Westerners have committed atrocities against Muslims. However, this creates a false dichotomy. A critic of Islam need not be a supporter of military action against Muslim communities.
Deconstructing Islam
When approaching Islam as a social construct and ideology, it's important to separate it from issues of race, culture and ethnicity. Of course, religion is a factor in all areas of some people's lives, but that does not mean that it cannot be considered independently of other cultural factors.
A person's choice of religions does not make him inherently good or bad. The religion may have troubling aspects, however, and criticizing those aspects is a step towards bringing about social change. This is not an activity that should be avoided in the name of political correctness; it should be celebrated as a basic skill of critical thinking.
At its core, Islam has Several Basic Tenets that are Reprehensible.
-- Women's inequality. The Quran teaches that men are the "maintainers" of women and that women should be obedient to men. Women are seen as objects or property that can be used by men. Islam also teaches that men may beat their wives in certain situations.
-- Criminalization of homosexuality. Under the teachings of Islam, homosexuality is not only a sin, but a crime. As a crime against God, it is permissible, according to many Muslim scholars, to punish the offender with death.
-- Murder of apostates. Leaving the Muslim faith is a frightening proposition, as it can be punished by death. Apostates, or people who choose to reject the faith, are given a short time with which to revert; afterward, they can be condemned by Sharia law.
These are some of the human rights violations perpetrated by the institution of Islam as written in the Quran and Hadith. Keen observation of the religion unveils numerous other troubling aspects as well. These are not stereotypes or rumors meant to denigrate Muslim people; they are the facts of a religion.
It's worthwhile to note that Islam is not the only religion whose holy book advocates social practices that are seen as monstrous today. The Bible, for example, is filled with conflicting messages and troubling, outdated laws. However, the laws written in the Quran are considered to be the exact words of Allah, placing them beyond all criticism. These laws are considered to be as timeless and valid today as they were when the words were first put to paper. Therefore, it is more difficult for Islam to grow and adapt the way that some other religions have attempted to.
I'm not Islamophobic. I'm IslamoConcerned and IslamoCritical.
Many atheists criticize Islam, not because they are racist, but because they have issues with the religion itself. That does not mean that there are no racist atheists, but the term Islamophobia suggests that the ideology should be immune from criticism. It also promotes the narrative that all criticism of Islam is an act of bigotry, which is not true. My concern is targeted toward the promotion of hatred and violence by the Quran and the Hadith, not toward the majority of peaceful Muslims who think they are following the teachings of Islam. Yet it is their kind nature that will compel them to either ignore these teachings or attempt to interpret them in a peaceful manner.
My criticism and concern is not a phobia; it is based on observing the results of the undeniably violent teachings of Islam. These teachings are not practiced by most Muslims, but, unfortunately, they are used by many in power in the Islamic world. Many former Muslims like myself who have chosen to publicly voice their opinions about Islam would be executed by our former governments if we went back to our home countries.
Reasoned Discourse Should Never be Silenced
The notion of free speech is an inherently secular concept. The idea that a person's religion should be separated from politics or education is not something that exists in Islamic societies. Indeed, it is actively frowned upon. Islam has no concept of relativism. Not only must the word of Allah be taken literally, but the laws of Islam also supersede the laws of men. In some cases, criticism of Islam is met with violence; Islamic law even dictates that blasphemy can be punished with death.
While the concept of Islamophobia seems socially responsible, it is, in fact, just a way to further silence people who seek to make valid points against an inherently troubling religion. Islam, like any other institution, must be able to stand on its own legs against criticism. Accusing those critics of bigotry and racism is only a way to derail the more important conversation about the real, observable flaws in Islam as an institution.When Lauren Kornacki discovered her father crushed beneath his BMW 525i, which had slipped off the carjack as he was working on it, the 22-year-old wedged herself under the mid-sized vehicle -- and pulled it off her father.
We hear tales from time to time of people exhibiting superhuman strength in life-and-death emergencies. After experiencing amazement over such a feat, we all wonder: How can a regular person lift something that weighs more than a ton?
Actually, most people "can lift six to seven times their body weight," says Michael Regnier, professor and vice chair of bioengineering at the University of Washington. But most people don’t push themselves so hard, though athletes often push themselves more than most. Fear, fatigue and pain prevent people from attempting feats of amazing strength in daily life, says Dr. Javier Provencio, director of the neurological ICU at Cleveland Clinic.
Regnier, a former world-class weightlifter, has experienced bouts of incredible strength both as an athlete and as someone who helped after an accident. About 20 years ago, Regnier was driving on a Los Angeles freeway when he spotted a wrecked car on the side of the road. The driver sat slumped over his steering wheel so Regnier pulled over to help. It was instinct; he couldn’t fathom leaving the man without doing something. The driver’s door had caved in and Regnier couldn’t get him out any other way—he ripped the door off to pull the man out.
Regnier remembers his hands hurting from cuts he sustained while tearing off the car door, but he doesn’t know what happened with the driver because he left when the EMTs arrived.
Ripping doors off cars or lifting vehicles from people could be considered hysterical strength. Little medical evidence exists about such cases; most of it remains anecdotal.
Physicians once believed that the adrenaline that flooded the system caused an extra boost to the muscles, allowing people to be stronger. But that’s not quite accurate. Adrenaline certainly primes the body for emergency action, it speeds up the heart and lungs, dilates the blood vessels and releases nutrients, both of which ready the muscles for quick responses.
And while the adrenaline fueled fight-or-flight reflex spurs |
Baltimore: Baltimore Book Co, 1904.
Myers, J. Jay. “Washington’s Dire Straights,” for American History Magazine as published on about.com, accessed August 11, 2005.
http://americanhistory.about.com/library/prm/blwashingtonsdirestraits1.htm?terms=j.jay+myers
Meyers, Minor, Jr. Liberty without Anarchy: A History of the Society of the Cincinnati. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983
Oxford English Dictionary online.
Papenfuse, Edward C. and Gregory A. Stiverson. “General Smallwood’s Recruits: The Peacetime Career of the Revolutionary War Private.” William and Mary Quarterly 3rd Series, vol. 30, no. 1, (January 1973): 117-132.
Radoff, Morris, Ph.D. The Old Line State. Annapolis: Hall of Records Commission, 1971.
William Sands to Honoured Father and Mother, August 14, 1776 [see Governor’s Commission on Maryland Military Monument box 1 MSA T-3277].
Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Maryland, vol. 2. 1879. Reprint, Hatsboro: Tradition Press, 1967.
Sutherland, Daniel E. “‘Altamont’ of the Tribune: John Williamson Palmer in the Civil War,” Maryland Historical Magazine, 78 (1983): 54-66.
Steiner, Bernard Christian, ed. Archives of Maryland vol. 18 -Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution 1775-1783. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1899.
Steuart, Rieman. The History of the Maryland Line in the Revolutionary War 1775-1783. Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland: n pl., 1969.
Tacyn, Mark Andrew. “‘To the End:’ The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution.” Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland, 1999.
de Vere, M. Schele. Americanisms; The English of the New World. New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1872.
Winder, Winder, “History of Maryland,”The Journal of the Times 1, (Sept. 12-Nov. 7, 1818);
Maryland: A Guide to the Old Line State. Compiled by workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Maryland, American Guide Series. New York: Oxford University Press, 1934.
Newspaper Articles
“Maryland Line Perpetuates State’s War Fame,” The Sun, May 11, 1913, morning edition.
“New York Hunts Bones of Famed Md. Regiment,” Washington Post-Time Herald, January, 1957.
“Remembering the Battle of Brooklyn; History: Beneath an auto repair shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., are the neglected graves of 256 Maryland soldiers killed in the biggest battle of the Revolution,” The Baltimore Sun, September 1, 1996, Local News, p. 14C, Carroll edition.
Maryland Gazette, September 5, 1776, 1-2.
Maryland Gazette, September 12, 1776, 2-3.
Argetsinger, Amy, “State House Wins Out as Image on Md. Quarter,” The Washington Post, June 2, 1999, Metro sec., p. B1.
Haberman, Clyde and Laurie Johnston, “Old Stone House Gets Flags at Last,” The New York Times, August 30, 1982, Metropolitan Desk sec. B, p. 3, col. 3.
Henry, Frank, “America’s Most Precious Hour,” The Baltimore Sun, September 16, 1951.
Koterba, Edward V. “Shrine to Gen. Smallwood Planned by Marylanders,” The Washington Post and Times Herald, January 3, 1955.
McCardell, Lee. “Proud History of Dandy Fifth,” review of History of the 175th Infantry (Fifth Maryland) by James Brewer, The Evening Sun, September 16, 1955.
Merwin, Jay. “Monument in N.Y. honors Md.,” The Evening Sun, August 21, 1991.
————, “Burial mound just a memory,” [Baltimore Sun or The Evening Sun] August 1991 (prob.).
Montgomery, Lori. “Two-Bi Identity Crisis; Imprint Befuddles the Free--Make That 'Old Line'—State,” The Washington Post, March 14, 2000, Metro sec., p. B1.
Novak, Josephine. “Continental General and Governor: Smallwood a Leader in War, Peace,” The Evening Sun, June 2, 1976, Accent section, B1.
Roylance, Frank D. “Md. soldiers' sacrifice remembered; Brooklyn: The 256 Marylanders who lost their lives in a 1776 New York battle rest in one of the most forlorn military gravesites in the nation. Members of an American Legion post fight to keep their memory alive,” The Baltimore Sun, August 27, 1996, Telegraph sec., p. 1A.
Swann, Rita. “N.Y Dedication Tells Glory of MD Soldiers,” The Baltimore American, August 29, 1937, 12.
Valentine, Paul W. “256 Maryland Soldiers Remembered in Brooklyn,” The Washington Post, August 27, 1991, Metro sec., p. B6.
Maps
Tunis, Edward. A historical and literary map of the Old Line State of Maryland showing forth divers curious and notable facts relating to scenes, incidents and persons worthy to be recalled on the State's three hundredth anniversary, 1934, MSA SC 1427-1-326, also MSA SC 2111-1-166.
Laws
Joint Resolution No. 4, Laws of Maryland 1952.
MSA Internal Research Files
Maryland State Archives Topic files (MSA SC1456):
Cincinnati, Society of SC1456-287, Maryland Line SC1456-662, Gen. William Smallwood SC1456-953, George Washington SC1456-1126, George Washington – Correspondence SC1456-1127, Old Line State SC1456-1379, Maryland 400 Monument Rededication SC1456-1762
Biographical files: William Smallwood SC1138-001-1134
Papenfuse Topic File Collection: “Nickname for Maryland: Old Line State, Terrapin State; Free State, etc. from Mencken, AED, De Vere,” SC1916-B27-F535
Military Monuments Commission (General File), 1989-1998, boxes 1 –6, T3277.
In response to msaref entry MSA SC 5458-51-784 re: the rosters and details of the Maryland 400, we produced a document packet – tentatively entitled "the Battle of Long Island." This work consists mainly of copies from the topic files and responses to earlier (c.1970-1990) reference requests, but does not examine the relationship between the Maryland Line’s stand at the Battle of Long Island and the eventual nickname “the Old Line” state.
Online Primary Resources
[ Keyword searches: old line, Maryland Line, William Smallwood, Long Island, Mordecai Gist, Gowanus, Brooklyn (and variations thereof). The only use of the term "Old Line" was in a news article about the issuance of the Maryland quarter in 2000, and a reference from the New Guide to the Old Line State.]
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
The George Washington Papers at Library of Congress, 1741-1799
Papers of George Washington (University of Virginia)
Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources1745-1799 Edited by John C. Fitzpatrick (1931-44)It seems as though Spider-Man is going to be playing a key role in the upcoming “Original Sin” event, from writer Jason Aaron and artist Mike Deodato. The series is about the investigation into the murder of Uatu, also known as the Watcher, whose all-seeing eyes held with them the secrets to the universe. It seems that the eyes have survived Uatu’s death and the inhabitants of the Marvel universe can use their powers to unearth all the dirty little secrets that the world and its followers have never seen before.
Comic Book Resources held a press conference call with Jason Aaron, Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, and Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort to discuss the series (read it here). The panelist reveled an interesting piece of information on how Spider-Man factors into the series that could have huge ramifications on Spider-Man’s life.
They revealed that “In Spider-Man’s world, we’ll learn that there was someone else that was bitten by the radioactive spider that originally bit Peter Parker. Fallout from this revelation will begin being dealt with in Dan Slott’s new Amazing Spider-Man #1. “‘It’s a character that cuts back to the very first day in the science lab,’ said Brevoort.”
Someone else was bitten by a radioactive spider? Why not? We’ve already questioned whether the spider had magic powers during J. Michael Staczynski’s run. Over at Bleeding Cool they have a few other speculative ideas (read it here).
Their theorizing basically suspects that this other character is none other than the 616 Universe’s Miles Morales that was teased at the end of Spider-Men #5. The idea is that the CBR article asserts that there will be ramifications of “Original Sin” in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1 and the solicit for Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #2 suggests that in a strong way:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2
DAN SLOTT (W) • HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
Variant cover by Mike Deodato
• Electro’s power is out of control! And only one person can fix it…
• …the Superior Spider-Man!
• Wait. This book’s the AMAZING Spider-Man now.
• So we’re probably out of luck.
• Plus: That thing that freaked you out last issue? There’s more on that. The return of you-know-who? There’s MUCH more on that. Action! Drama! Surprises! There’s MORE OF EVERYTHING!
What is “that thing that freaked you out last issue?” Slott has said that the villain that is introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #1.1, the new title that we announced from Dan Slott that is better known as “Year One: Learning to Crawl,” would:
Slott: Readers will meet an all-new villain, but unlike other stories like this where the new villain is planned as this giant, earth-shattering force like Mr. Sinister who’s the secret villain behind everything, in this case it’s not. This is actually going down a trickier path, to try to create a villain who will feel like a Spider-Man villain of old. It’ll feel like you could have read about this guy at the same time you saw the first appearances of Mysterio, Electro or Sandman. But while we’re aiming for that zone, this villain will have an interesting twist that makes him have much more in common with Peter than the others.
When you look at all of Spider-Man’s earliest villains, they’re all adults. Peter is 15 years old, dressing up as a superhero, and fighting full-grown, mature adults – some guys even as old as the Vulture. What you’ll see with this new villain is Peter fighting someone his own age for the first time. With all the high school drama he goes through during the day, this brings all those problems he has in the school yard and puts it on the super villain.
Could it be that Peter Parker and Miles Morales of the 616 universe are around the same age and were both bitten by the spider back in Amazing Fantasy #15? Is this why Peter looked so shocked when he discovered who Miles Morales was at the end of Spider-Men #5? Did he recognize the face he saw from when he was a high schooler?
It all seems plausible and also like a bit of a stretch. Perhaps the solicits assertions about a thing that “freaked you out last issue” could refer to something altogether different… Perhaps it was even referring to what may have been spoiled in this article at Marvel.com.
In a new teaser by Steve McNiven and Mike McKone, readers can see Spider-Man holding the Watcher’s all-seeing eye. The article from Marvel asserts:
“Does Otto Octavius have enough of a hold on Spider-Man that he could have committed the deadly deed?”
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that Peter’s return might not be as clean as we all suspected. Will Peter be sharing a body with Doctor Octopus or has his recent trip through Otto’s mind left a lingering fragment in his mind? Does this mean we will be getting blue-ghost Doctor Octopus? It seems that even though Superior Spider-Man is ending, the battle for the control of Peter Parker’s body is far from over.
What do you think of all of this speculation? Do you have a theory of your own?Sand people always ride single file to hide their numbers...probably.
Ben Kenobi knew that Tusken Raiders couldn't have destroyed the Jawa sandcrawler because of their cunning tactics. Unlike the Empire, which is happy to scour the desert with a battalion of troopers for stolen plans, Tusken raiders--or "sand people"--don't want anyone to know how many of them there are. They "always ride in single file to hide their numbers," the old Jedi reveals in A New Hope. It seems like a commonsense precaution, but does the Tusken adage actually confer an advantage?
The Tuskens of the Star Wars universe are a primitive, nomadic people who traverse the harsh desert sands of Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine. But unlike another nomadic people who simply pack up and move, the Tuskens apparently are concerned enough about concealment that they move a certain way through their environment. Always riding single file does have advantages, unless you don't want to be tracked.
A single file line formation has been apart of military strategy going back as far as the single lines of men that made up the ancient Greek phalanx. In modern militaries, the single file formation has many advantages, though they are specific ones. According to the FM-10--a field manual for the combat engineer platoon--the file formation is the fastest marching formation and provides very good cover of the platoon's flanks. It is also the easiest formation for a commanding officer to control, nearly impossible to ambush, and good for moving over difficult terrain. However, noted in the same manuals are warnings. The single file formation does poorly when expecting enemy contact to the front or rear, and soldiers need to keep track of how much space is between them--they are advised to stand far enough apart that one bullet doesn't kill two men.
[caption id="attachment_8195" align="aligncenter" width="643" caption="Via The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad and The Ranger Handbook, chap. 5"][/caption]
If the Tuskens were looking for privacy, always riding in single file would be a bad decision. The US Special Operations Forces Handbook advises a squad of soldiers moving over ground that would show their tracks--such as desert sand--to split up from a single file formation to confuse would-be trackers. The US Army Ranger Handbook says the same. When trying to remain hidden from the enemy, "only in extreme situations should the file [formation] be used."
If the Tuskens didn't mind being easily tracked to their camp, the single file formation would actually hide their numbers. In the Marine Corps' field manual of desert operations, vehicles are specifically advised to "follow the tracks of the preceding vehicle if it is possible to do so without breaking through the crust, as this reduces the possibility of an enemy intelligence analyst to calculate how many vehicles have passed." Besides hiding the number of vehicles, this tactic also reduces the size of the dust cloud produced by the moving trucks, tanks, and humvees. To avoid giving away the Tuskens, Banthas do the same.
Infantry are told to use Tusken tactics as well. In a Twitter conversation, former Sergeant Alan Leggitt, who served in the US Army's infantry from 2004-2009, told me that in terrain that would show their tracks--like snow--officers did in fact state that moving in a single file formation would hide the number of soldiers passing through the area.
[caption id="attachment_8193" align="aligncenter" width="642" caption=""Single File!""][/caption]
Former Sergeant Leggitt also noted that all formations are conditional. The single file formation is good for quick movement through rough terrain, but isn't very good in a firefight. The Stormtroopers that attacked the Jawa sandcrawler --leading to the reveal of the Tusken tactic in the first place--were probably in a wedge formation (like a big "V"), and is why Ben Kenobi could tell the difference in the tracks.
Like any good tactic, the Tusken single file formation only works in the right situation. The single file line is easy to track, considering it led an uber-pissed Anakin Skywalker right to a camp for a slaughter. But if Tuskens were savvy enough to keep moving, the tactic that Kenobi pointed out would really hide their numbers. And the shifting sand would probably cover their tracks anyway, like it is doing to the real-life Mos Espa.
Maybe Tusken raiders scare so easy because they are worried we will discover that they have a decent knowledge of military tactics.
-- Tusken Raider uploaded to the Star Wars Wikia by user JMAS "Single File!" by JD HancockAccording to internal NSA documents seen by SPIEGEL, the NSA has the ability to access a lot of data on smartphones.
The agency reportedly has special task forces focusing on smartphone operating systems — specifically Apple's iOS, Android, and BlackBerry — as well as departments responsible for customized surveillance operations against high-interest targets.
A purported secret presentation leaked by Edward Snowden presents screengrabs from Apple's iconic 1984 commercial followed by pictures of Steve Jobs, saying "Who knew in 1984... that [Steve Jobs] would be Big Brother... and the zombies would be paying customers?"
The implication of the presentation is that iPhone users are somehow complicit in their own surveillance by buying iPhones in the first place.
The documents mention that "location services" used by many iPhone apps are useful since most customers allow location tracking out of "convenience." The NSA has claimed that it chooses not to collect location data.
The report cites several instances in which the NSA was able to retrieve personal photos from iPhones, but states that there is no evidence of large-scale spying.
From Der Spiegel:
The material contains no indications of large-scale spying on smartphone users, and yet the documents leave no doubt that if the intelligence service defines a smartphone as a target, it will find a way to gain access to its information.
Here are the slides:
NSA/Der Spiegel NSA/Der Spiegel NSA/Der Spiegel
The slides also show a man in Afghanistan whose phone has purportedly been accessed. NSA/Der Spiegel
The below images — from a presentation called "Your target is using a BlackBerry? Now what?" — shows an email from a Mexican government agency sent using BlackBerry encryption technology which was intercepted by the NSA.The University of Virginia has begun a three-year process of shutting down all of its public computer labs as part of an effort to cut costs.
In an explanation published on the university’s Web site, information-technology officials say that students’ changing habits have rendered the public labs obsolete. A survey conducted last fall revealed that 99 percent of new students brought their own laptops to the campus. And while the labs are still heavily used (students spent 651,900 hours in the labs last year), internal data indicated that 95 percent of the time those students used the lab computers to surf the Web and read and compose text documents—tasks that officials say they could easily do on their own computers.
“In these budget times, we have to distinguish between providing essential services and providing ones that are merely convenient,” said James L. Hilton, vice president and chief information officer at the university.
While some students do rely on the lab computers to run specialized programs—such as MatLab, Eclipse, MathCAD, and SPSS—Mr. Hilton said he believed the university would be able to negotiate licensing agreements with the software companies that would allow students to run the programs on their laptops through the university’s network.
Mr. Hilton said the university now spends about $300,000 per year maintaining the labs. But it is difficult to predict how much the university will save by closing those facilities, he said, since it is not yet clear how much the new system will cost to implement.
What about the 1 percent of students without computers? Or students without printers who now rely on the labs to print out their papers? Mr. Hilton acknowledged that some issues will need to be worked out during this transition. “Printing is the bane of everyone’s existence everywhere, and we will continue working on finding better printing solutions,” said Mr. Hilton. “But there are solutions out there.”
He said that the university would be open to adjusting the plan as necessary, depending “on what impact we start to see it having.” —Steve KolowichWATCH: Brampton Fire Chief Andy McDonald provides an update on the gas explosion at a Brampton propane plant on May 8, 2014.
TORONTO – An employee was injured after several propane cylinders exploded at a Brampton facility Wednesday night.
The incident happened around 9:30 p.m. at the Air Liquide Canada plant on Steeles Ave. E. just east of Dixie Rd.
The explosions sent fireballs into the night sky.
Explosions at Air Liquide Canada at 1700 Steeles light up the #Brampton sky. Check out reader pic. @BmptGuardian pic.twitter.com/ErHhPhNWJ7 — Louie Rosella (@LouieMissiNews) May 8, 2014
Officials say the two-alarm blaze started as the worker was filling a propane tank which somehow ignited.
“The fire then spread to the filling station itself and to some of the filled propane tanks, 100 pound tanks that were surrounding the filling station,” said Brampton Fire Chief Andy McDonald.
“That was the cause of several explosions.”
A building in the area was evacuated and all trains on the CN Rail tracks nearby were halted until 4:00 a.m.
The injured employee sustained facial burns and was taken to hospital.
BRAMPTON FIRE UPDATE: Air Liquide Company. PROPANE Storage causing explosions. pic.twitter.com/dVYMSzhxxX — Brampton 411 (@Brampton411) May 8, 2014
Crews managed to contain the fire early Thursday morning and prevented further explosions.
“Our key concern was a 30,000 gallon propane tank that was filling the propane station,” said Chief McDonald.
“We worked very well with the cooperation of plant staff and management who arrive on the scene very quickly to help us determine exactly what we had.”
“They were also able to help us determine where the external shutoff for the gas.”
The fire marshal’s office has been brought in to investigate the exact cause, as well as the Technical Standards and Safety Authority.
Fire officials say they are not concerned about the air quality caused by the explosions.
“As the propane vents, it burns and it burns very cleanly,” Chief McDonald explained.
“It’s the same with the water runoff. We put several thousands litres of water a minute onto the fire. The runoff itself is virtually water.”
“There’s no residue from the leaking propane because it burns cleanly.”Police have recovered more than $20,000 worth of stolen property after busting a "bicycle chop shop" inside a north Edmonton home.
As part of an ongoing drug investigation, police executed a search warrant on Sept. 24 inside a residence near the corner of 119th Avenue and 76th Street, near the Edmonton Coliseum formerly known as Rexall Place.
Investigators searched the property and located 24 stolen bicycles, six bike forks, and about 50 bike tires and rims.
A stash of other bike parts and tools used to reassemble and alter a bike's original look was also found on the property, police said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Drugs, break-in tools, weapons and identity documents were also seized.
Investigators believe the bikes were stolen from various locations across the city, modified at the home and then sold for profit on the street.
Six people, ranging in age from 32 to 49, have been charged in the case, and face a long list of charges, including possession of property for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public and possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators believe the majority of the bikes recovered were stolen from garage break and enters.
"In northwest division alone, garage break and enters are up 15 per cent since this time last year," Staff Sgt. Jonathan Coughlan said in the statement.
"Make it extra difficult for bad guys – always lock your doors and be sure to remove portable garage door openers from your vehicles.
"Our ultimate goal is to reunite these bikes with their original owners.`
Photos of the recovered bicycles have been posted to the EPS Pinterest page.
If you think you see your bike on the Pinterest page, you are asked to contact EPS in one of these ways:
Call Nicole Draves at 780-391-4569
E-Mail EPSPinterest@edmontonpolice.ca
For more information on recovering stolen bicycles, visit this page on the EPS website.This article is about the late Def Leppard guitarist. For for other persons named Steve Clark, see Steve Clark (disambiguation)
Not to be confused with Steve Clarke
Stephen Maynard Clark (23 April 1960 – 8 January 1991) was an English musician. He was the principal songwriter and lead guitarist for the British hard rock band Def Leppard, until 1991, when he died from alcohol poisoning. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes".[1] In December 2018 it was announced that Clark would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Def Leppard [2]
Biography [ edit ]
Childhood and adolescence [ edit ]
Stephen Maynard Clark was born and raised in Hillsborough, a suburb of Sheffield, England to Barrie & Beryl (nee Beckingham) Clark. From an early age, he showed an interest in music, attending his first concert featuring Cliff Richard and the Shadows at age 6. At 11, he received his first guitar which was purchased by his father on the condition that he learn to play. Clark studied classical guitar for a year before he first heard the music of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin at a friend's house.
When Clark left school his first employer was an engineering firm called GEC Traction where he worked as a lathe operator. He was 3 years into a 4-year apprenticeship with the firm by the time his band Def Leppard was signed to a professional record deal with Phonogram Records.
Career with Def Leppard [ edit ]
Before joining Def Leppard in 1978, Clark played cover songs with his small band, Electric Chicken, in Sheffield. Around that time, he met Pete Willis (Def Leppard's original guitarist and founder) at a technical college. Willis spotted Clark reading a guitar book and asked if he played. He then invited Steve to come and audition for his band, as they were looking to add a second guitarist. Clark never showed up, but when Willis and singer Joe Elliott bumped into Clark again at a Judas Priest gig, Willis re-issued his invitation.[3] Clark finally came down to their rehearsal room and joined Def Leppard in January 1978. According to Elliott in Behind the Music, Clark auditioned for Def Leppard by playing all of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" without accompaniment.[4]
While a member of Def Leppard, Clark contributed to over 90% of the music.[5] Clark and Pete Willis shared lead-guitar duties, and Clark was nicknamed "The Riffmaster" due to his amazing talent and ability to come up with some of the coolest guitar riffs in modern rock.[6] Toward the end of the Pyromania recording sessions, Pete Willis was asked to leave, and guitarist Phil Collen was recruited into the band to replace him.
Clark and Collen quickly bonded, becoming close friends and leading to the trademark dual-guitar sound of Def Leppard. He and Clark became known as the "Terror Twins" in recognition of their close friendship and alcohol-fuelled antics off-stage.[7]
Part of their success as a duo was attributed to their ability to swap between rhythm and lead guitar, often both playing lead or both doing rhythm within the same song.[8] The fact that they came from entirely different musical backgrounds also contributed to their unique guitar partnership. Clark was a classically-trained musician who knew the rules of music and could read and write music and understood the theory and science of the art, as well as studying/being influenced by Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin, whereas Collen, like Willis, was self-taught and developed his fast, alternate-picking technique from studying Al Di Meola and listening to Jazz players.
Steve Clark: "I do read and write and I know the rules of music which is great in a two-guitar band because we're so different in our approach to playing. Phil will play something if it sounds right, whereas I look at things and say: 'it's wrong to play that note; it's not musically correct.'”[9]
Whereas Collen stopped drinking alcohol during the mid-1980s in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, Clark never managed to escape his addiction to alcohol.
Clark primarily played Gibson Guitars during his career and signed an endorsement with Gibson sometime before the commencement of the Hysteria World Tour. Gibson made some custom-specification guitars for Clark. He was occasionally seen playing other guitars, including a Fender Stratocaster for the song and video "Love Bites". Clark would also use Fenders in the studio occasionally, due to their unique sound.
Clark always stated that he was more of a traditionalist when it came to guitars.[10] This can be seen in his selection of gear. At the time of his death, it was estimated that he owned approximately 75 guitars.
Although his name appears on many songwriting credits for Def Leppard's 1992 album, Adrenalize, he did not contribute much to the recording of the album. In the liner notes of the Adrenalize deluxe edition, Joe Elliot claims that a few riffs Clark had demoed were used in a couple of places on the album. His only other contribution was a thumbs up here and there and stating something the rest of the band was working on was "cool." Collen and Clark began working on what would become the song "White Lightning" during the recording sessions for the 1992 album, Adrenalize. Completed after Clark's death, the song described the effects of Clark's alcohol and drug addictions.[11]
Personal life [ edit ]
Clark had dated an American model, Lorelei Shellist, the two having been together since 1984 but broke up. Shellist revealed in her autobiography, Runway Runaway, that Clark's addictions played a major role in their breakup. After Clark and Shellist ended their relationship, Clark began a new relationship with Janie Dean which lasted until Clark's death in 1991. Steve Clark had never been engaged to anyone despite rumours and false claims from Shellist.
Death [ edit ]
At the time of his death, Clark was on a six-month leave of absence from Def Leppard.
On Tuesday 8 January 1991, Clark was found dead on his couch by Dean.[4] He was 30 years old. The postmortem revealed that the cause of death was accidental, due to a compression of the brain stem causing respiratory failure. This respiratory failure was caused by a lethal mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs.[12] The postmortem also found that Clark had a blood alcohol level of.30 as well as the presence of morphine.[4] No evidence of suicidal intent was discovered. Daniel Van Alphen, Clark's drinking companion the night before, testified that they went to a local pub and returned to Clark's home at midnight to watch a video.
He was buried at Wisewood Cemetery located in Loxley, Sheffield, near the Clark family estate.[4]
Tesla, who opened for Def Leppard on the Hysteria tour, recorded a tribute to Clark entitled "Song & Emotion (To Our Friend, Steve 'Steamin' Clark)" for their album, Psychotic Supper.[13]
Discography [ edit ]
Studio albums [ edit ]
Compilation albums [ edit ]
Live albums [ edit ]
Viva! Hysteria Tribute (Intro to Gods of War taken from Live: In the Round, in Your Face)
Extended plays [ edit ]
Videos [ edit ]
References [ edit ]From Kancolle Wiki
Introduction
Comptiq's October 2017 Interview with Tanaka
The following interview comes from within the Comptiq Magazine's October issue which was released on September 8th, 2017.
Within the article, the Chief in Editor has an interview with Kancolle's main producer, Kensuke Tanaka regarding KanColle's upcoming content that is coming up following the completion of the Summer 2017 Event. Which includes the introduction of a new Night Battle Fighters which include the F6F-3N and F6F-5N along with other unique planes based on a named squadron that was also used in night battle combat.
In addition, they note new revision of carrier mechanics will be released in the upcoming update and a carrier that will be tied to the intrduction of night fighters within the upcoming update.
Finally Tanaka continues by mentioning some details regarding the later line of Mitsukoshi products and the upcoming 4th KanColle Naval Review, hinting of the possible return of the Naval District Saury Festival, New Ship girls for the Fall and the upcoming Fall 2017 Event.
To a New Season! With the KanColle Management Naval District This Month, Just Before Autumn
Editor-ko (From now on, E): Thank you for your hard work! You seem busy. This issue of Comptiq will have a special feature section about Kancolle! We would like all sorts of information and material!
Tanaka-ko (From now on, Ta): Thank you! Ah I see, a special feature section. Thanks you for that.
E: What’s that shown on the screen?
T: Those are the preparations for the new 2nd remodel that will be implemented during the next maintenance.
E: I see, so this is it! Her planes look strong!
T: Well, that’s the F6F, which controlled the skies in the latter half of the war. The F6F, its later mass-produced version and night fighter model, at the same time as the 2nd remodel, is being prepared to be implemented.
E: A night fighter model?
T: Basically, for night battle. The night fighter models F6F-3N and F6F-5N will be implemented, and if used upon a carrier capable of night battle, it is planned to allow it to attack at night.
E: Night battle capable carriers! So this is what the new 2nd remodel will be?
T: Of course, the shipgirl receiving the new remodel will be able to utilise this. On top of that, by deploying the newly implemented aircraft and crew, the existing standard carriers can also utilise these new night battle mechanics as night battle carriers. This upcoming update will be a carrier update.
E: Really?
T: Of course, the effectiveness of night attacks is limited, but this allows carriers to have some capabilities during night battle. It’s an “if” situation, but it’d be nice if “that squadron” based at Iwagawa base, which happens to also be the name of one of the servers, will also be able contribute to the night battle…
E: “That squadron”? What’s that?
T: Ah, please look that up yourself! It’s a land based unit led by an excellent commander that continued to fight until the end. [1] I think you’ll definitely like them. They used planes such as Suiseis refitted for night fighting.[2] It’s been said that since this unit sortied mainly at night in deteriorating condition of the war, during the day, they would let livestock upon their base to disguise it…[3]
E: That seems quite, interesting. Ah, speaking of which, didn’t Iwagawa server have cows and stuff on its banner?
T: While not Japanese aircraft, the night battle craft that were actually used upon carriers and the standard version of that aircraft will be implemented in this upcoming update. The American Navy’s Avenger torpedo bomber’s night battle version has a radar, and by equipping it upon the aforementioned night battle carrier, will allow it to show its true value.
E: The avenger! How scary!
T: Regarding carriers, the normal daytime air battle will also be affected by this upcoming update. The composition of the attack squads, and also the carriers’ “luck” parameter, etc., will have an effect on the outcome of the battle.
E: Ooh! So the utilisation of air units will evolve with this update too! By the way, what’s this? Umm, the Special Type destroyer’s… The Fubuki class’s…
T: That’s the Special Type destroyer Isonami!
E: Right, right, Isonami! That’s a nice camera she’s holding. What’s this?
T This is the limited-time artwork to be implemented alongside the publication of this year’s Kancolle Naval review. Looks great, doesn’t it? We’re also preparing her sister Uranami.
E: Oh really! For Special Type festival!
T: Nah, it’s just the for the 4th KanColle Naval Review.
E: Ah I see. This time you’re having a huge exhibition.
T: Yeah. We can’t afford to do this every time, but this year we are able to hold it at Tokyo Big Sight. There’ll be extra-large stages in the East 4 and East 5 halls, and East 6 hall will be dedicated to selling goods.
E: Will you display the 1:1 Zuiun!?
T: We wanted to, but this time it’ll be impossible. Unfortunately, we could not get the time to get it ready, so we’re not doing it. In its place, we’re displaying some new things |
of Famitsu magazine, we get a look at how she’ll show up. Here’s a look from a preview of this week’s magazine issue.
As shown above, Isabeau (CV: Miyuki Sawashiro) appears alongside other characters that can also be your “Partners” in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final. She’ll join for certain reasons.
Navarre is shown doing his “Outstanding Performance.” Unlikein Shin Megami Tensei IV, he’ll be in a bit of the spotlight for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final.
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final will release in Japan in February 2016 for Nintendo 3DS.Bryan Pagliano is not a household name, but he could become an unlikely superstar in the federal investigation of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state.
Fox News reported Friday that only a week after the Department of Justice granted Pagliano immunity from prosecution, he was described as a “devastating witness.”
“Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton’s] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized,” the intelligence source told Fox News.
Prominent legal scholar Jonathan Turley emphasized the potential damage of Pagliano’s testimony in a March 2 tweet.
Retired Special Forces Col. James Williamson, one of the cofounders of the advocacy group Special Operations OPSEC, told The Daily Caller News Foundation, “he may in fact have the keys to the kingdom.”
“He has to offer them something to get that deal. They must feel it’s damaging enough or they wouldn’t have given him immunity,” he continued.
What roles did Pagliano play during Clinton’s years at the State Department and what could he offer the FBI?
Pagliano had unfettered access to former President Bill Clinton and Hillary’s private email server. The couple personally paid him at least $5,000 in 2009 to “service” their server, which was housed in their Chappaqua, New York residence.
The IT specialist reportedly conducted routine maintenance on the server from his position in the Department of State’s Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) in Washington, D.C. He flew to New York on a number of occasions to service the Clinton’s email server, too.
Pagliano also was present when the Clintons chose an obscure IT firm, Platte River Networks, to maintain their server and a backup server. Presumably Pagliano can enlighten the FBI as to why the Clintons chose the Denver-based Platte River. The company had never been cleared to have access to sensitive or confidential classified material, according to the Defense Security Service.
As the Clintons’ top IT specialist, Pagliano can inform the FBI why the couple insisted on configuring their private server to connect openly with the Internet, which made it vulnerable to hacking by foreign governments. Pagliano might also connect the dots explaining why the Clintons insisted on using the same server for Hillary’s official government business and Bill’s transactions at the Clinton Foundation.
The Clintons used three main email addresses: clintonemail.gov, wjoffice.com and presidentclinton.com. Hillary refused to use a state.gov email account even though it was a requirement for all State Department employees.
Pagliano presumably knows who approved the former secretary of state’s rejection of the state.gov email, and who approved her use of a private server for official government business.
Pagliano is an odd IT witness to address the issue of classified material, as his first seven years in the IT field had nothing to do with classified information or national security secrets.
When he arrived in Washington, he joined Community IT Innovators, a small technology shop that operated out of Washington, D.C. The company seemed to shun contracts with the military and the intelligence agencies.
Instead, the company’s client base consisted exclusively of nonprofit groups, mainly liberal and progressive activist groups, like Earth Justice, a radical environmental organization. Community IT boasts on its website, “Nonprofits are not just a market to us, they are our mission.”
Pagliano’s engagement with the Clintons started in 2008 when he joined then-Sen. Clinton’s presidential campaign as her IT director.
After the 2008 election, the former secretary of state invited Pagliano to join her at the State Department, catapulting Pagliano into the highest levels of the State Department’s security system — though he lacked national security experience and had never held a security clearance.
The IRM bureau was responsible for maintaining a highly classified system, which managed the digital traffic of 50,000 U.S. diplomats and foreign service officers at 250 U.S. embassies and consulates around the world.
Pagliano entered the Department of State with a GS-15 position, one of the federal government’s highest ranks for a career civil service employee and was appointed senior advisor to the office of the deputy chief technology officer at IRM. He was paid $133,000 as a “provisional employee.”
Retired Col. James M. Waurishuk, who had a 30-year career as an intelligence and military officer, told TheDCNF that Pagliano’s GS-15 was the equivalent of at least a one-star general.
“In the IT defense and national security world, at the unified combatant command, or at the Joint Chiefs Staff level, an IT director would be at least a one-star general. A GS-15 would be a deputy director to the one-star general,” he told TheDCNF
Pagliano bragged he assumed top-line responsibilities at the State Department. Before he took down his Facebook page, the British Daily Mail found that Pagliano said he “delivered briefs to senior leadership on various technologies.”
The young IT specialist also said he conducted “industry analysis, internal and external communications, creating strategic roadmaps, technical roadmaps, collaborating across security, budget and operations to develop, execute and measure special projects.”
In contrast, Ashkan Soltani, the Federal Trade Commission’s chief technology officer, was turned down for a security clearance last January. He had been selected to serve as a senior advisor to President Barack Obama’s chief technology officer (CTO). Afterwards, Soltani tweeted, “Bittersweet end to my stint in government.”
Waurishuk told TheDCNF that when Clinton placed Pagliano in IRM as a senior advisor to the deputy CTO, “they probably were laughing their asses off when he came in.”
“I have to wonder, here comes in a person with no experience whatsoever, working in the classified national security IT community,” said the colonel, who has been deployed to more than 50 countries in military intelligence. “I could just see what the reaction would have when this guy walks in with a GS-15.”
“To put him in the position of that sensitivity and responsibility without having all the security qualifications, that’s criminal in itself,” Williamson said.
Pagliano enjoyed a direct line into Clinton’s inner circle. He had relationships with Cheryl Mills, Hillary’s chief of staff, and Huma Abedin, her deputy chief of staff.
In a series of emails on Dec. 22, 2010 Pagliano advised Mills, for example, how to buy a personal printer and get it in time as a Christmas present.
Pagliano, Mills and Abedin shared one other thing in common: They were allowed to hold private sector jobs while working for the State Department. Both Mills and Abedin worked for the Clinton Foundation, while Pagliano was privately hired by the Clintons for their server.
Pagliano left the government as an employee in February 2013 when Clinton departed the Department of State, but he remained with IRM as a consultant with the Virginia-based firm Gartner, Inc.
Follow Richard on Twitter
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.
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.A Grand Inquisitor’s villa, a Pope’s fort and a Venetian island will be sold off to fill Italy’s depleted state coffers, local media reports. It’s hoped the 50 historic sites will raise 500 million euros needed to obey strict EU austerity rules.
The plan to offer some of Italy’s state-owned real estate to private investors is part of an emergency decree aimed at keeping the country’s 2013 budget deficit within 3 percent threshold set by Brussels, the Corriere della Serra newspaper reports.
Apart from receiving direct revenue from the sell-offs, Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s government is hoping the castles and villas will be converted into hotels, restaurants and museums, creating much-needed jobs for the country’s struggling economy.
Greece, another European country under tough EU-imposed austerity rules, last year also enacted a similar sell-off, offering some if its islands, beaches and ski resorts to private buyers. Italy sold off several lighthouses on the island of Sardinia last year.
The properties chosen for the new sale will be marketed through a state-run fund. Among them is the Orsini Castle near Rome, which was built for Pope Nicholas III in the 1270s. It was used as a prison between the mid-19th century and 1989, and according to local superstition is believed to be haunted.
Another national treasure to be offered is Villa Mirabello near Milan, built in the 18th century by Cardinal Durini, the Grand Inquisitor of Malta.
In a Venice lagoon, investors can buy the Island of San Giacomo. A home for monks since the 11th century, it was converted into a military base in the 1800s, but was abandoned in 1961 and left to crumble into ruins.
The scheme makes business sense, Italy-based property expert Rupert Fawcett told the newspaper.
“The reality is that any government in Europe is looking to raise funds where they can,” he said. “The cost of running these properties can be huge and the sheer upkeep of them can be unmanageable.”There's been a lot of talk about power and energy usage by PCs lately, especially ones on battery. I use an irresponsibly power hungry desktop at home, an Ivy Bridge Intel Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch for work, a Surface 2 (for email, remote desktop (RDP), videos, games and airplane stuff since I don't sweat its batter) and I'm also testing this prototype Haswell that Intel sent me. Whatever machine I get next to replace the X1 Carbon Touch (likely a Yoga 2 Pro) will be a Haswell, and ideally it will support "Connected Standby." Connected Standby is a low-power state that lasts for tens (or hundreds) of hours, but allows the PC to play music, refresh email, and receive VOIP calls. Haswell is amazing, to be clear, but it's all the components working together - chipset, wifi adapter, processor - that make for a truly compelling machine.
Recently I re-discovered the powercfg.exe command line tool that's built into Windows. You have this now. It's a funny little tool that, on the one hand, lets you make minute tweaks to how power is used on your computer, but on the other hand, creates the most elaborate reports on how your PC uses power.
You may have used powercfg.exe in low disk space situations to disable the hibernation file with
powercfg /hibernate off
It'll tell you lots of things about your system that you may not know, or that may help you better use power. For example powercfg /availablesleepstates will tell you the flavors of sleep and standy your PC supports.
How deep can your PC sleep?
Here's my fat desktop:
C:\>powercfg /a
The following sleep states are available on this system:
Standby (S3)
Hibernate
Fast Startup
The following sleep states are not available on this system:
Standby (S1)
The system firmware does not support this standby state.
Standby (S2)
The system firmware does not support this standby state.
This is useful to know. My desktop supports standby. Do I use it? We'll see a little later. Here's the same query on my 5 years-newer Surface:
C:\>powercfg /a
The following sleep states are available on this system:
Standby (Connected)
These S1,S2,S3,S4 numbers indicate how "deeply" your system can sleep. S1 is dozing, and S4 is hibernation. You might find that your machine supports a mode like S3 or something but then it's a device you've added that is preventing it from sleeping that deeply. You can diagnose sleep issues (which, for me, usually end up being cheap USB things I've added) with
powercfg /devicequery s1_supported
...for each state and compare the lists of devices.
The most powerful (today) sleep state for energy management is Connected Standby also known as ACPI S0. Regular Sleep/Standby on average Win7 and Win8 machines is S3.
Connected Standby lets you effectively turn your machine off, but still get email, VOIP calls, play music, etc. There's also rules and guidelines around connected standby that limit battery drain to less than 5% of capacity over a work day.
I ran powercfg.exe /a on the prototype Haswell I've been evaluating and it too supports connected standby, which is deeply cool. This explains the fantastic standby ("in the backpack") times I see with it. As more and more machines have Haswell and support Connected Standby, developers will need to support theses "always fresh" scenarios. It's just habit for me to open a laptop before getting on a plane, launch email, load up on RSS feeds, get my flight details. It'll be very cool to have a Haswell machine in "Connected Standby" that is always fresh, even though it may have been asleep all weekend.
Power Reporting
I recently blogged about how the Windows "High Performance" power profile differed from the "Balanced" profile on Servers' performance. Since I'm not on my desktop machine 24/7, I could save a lot of energy by making sure it's falling asleep at the appropriate time and that it's sleeping as deeply as possible.
The real magic switches buried in PowerCfg.exe are /energy and /batteryreport and, if your machine supports "Connected Standby" also /sleepstudy, and I recommend you run them now. I shall wait. ;)
I ran the Energy Report on my Desktop and it generated a nice HTML report. Here's some highlights (it's super long).
First, my desktop isn't configured to ever fall asleep! A fail on my part.
Power Policy:Power Plan Personality is High Performance (Plugged In)
The current power plan personality is High Performance when the system is plugged in.
Power Policy:Sleep timeout is disabled (Plugged In)
The computer is not configured to automatically sleep after a period of inactivity.
Second, my wifi adapter isn't set to use Low-Power. Didn't know that.
Power Policy:802.11 Radio Power Policy is Maximum Performance (Plugged In)
The current power policy for 802.11-compatible wireless network adapters is not configured to use low-power modes.
Finally, my Wacom Tablet may have the wrong drivers or not be able to sleep:
USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Selective Suspend
This device did not enter the USB Selective Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented when this USB device is not in the Selective Suspend state. Note that this issue will not prevent the system from sleeping.
Device Name - Wacom Tablet
Device ID - USB\VID_056A&PID_00D1
This was extremely useful information for me, so I'll take 5 minutes and make sure this big desktop goes into standby when I'm not around.
Battery and Power Reporting on a Laptop/Tablet
If you run powercfg /batteryreport on a laptop you get a WEALTH of information in an HTML report. Here's some highlights.
Details on Installed Batteries
Lots of details on the batteries in your machine
NAME - X864048BA
MANUFACTURER - ATL
SERIAL NUMBER - 12412
CHEMISTRY - L/ION
DESIGN CAPACITY - 31,297 mWh
FULL CHARGE CAPACITY - 31,646 mWh
CYCLE COUNT - 34
What the device was doing, when, the battery mWh and times:
You get awesome charts showing how you battery discharges, charges, and percentages.
As well as detailed usage history, percentage used and hours used.
Connected Standby machines get an even MORE amazing report with /sleepstudy
You can see what apps are using what about of battery and time, what devices are the "worst offenders" and then you can use this knowledge to decide what you keep running in the background.'
Here is one Connected Standby session:
I was a little surprised at the quantity of hard data collected and stored by Windows. Also, when blogs and reviewers do detailed tests on different machines showing battery life and stressed tests, are they running powercfg.exe to ensure all the drivers are working together and haven't been flagged as either power-hungry or energy-stupid?
I would love to see even more data on what Windows is doing around energy, and I'm nearly positive the system is keeping track of power-hungry apps. Why not give me a little "heat map" in the title bar so I can know what browser uses the most power, what app is working too hard, or what website is running JavaScript in a loop? Why not give us the option to put those tools front and center?
Sponsor: Big thanks to Telerik Icenium for sponsoring the feed this week! Build and publish iOS & Android apps with Visual Studio using only HTML5 & JavaScript! Telerik Icenium now includes Visual Studio integration. Start a 30 day trial with support now!The Young Lords Michael Abramson
Just as lawyers for New York City are preparing for a hearing in federal court to close the books on lawsuits over the New York Police Department’s secret and illegal surveillance of Muslims, a lesser-known lawsuit that concluded Monday reveals that the police department’s records of its own ugly history of unconstitutional domestic surveillance, which it was required to preserve for posterity, have mysteriously gone missing.
Younger New Yorkers are probably familiar with the NYPD’s Muslim surveillance program, its infiltration of Occupy Wall Street with undercover officers, and its unconstitutional mass-arrests of protesters and bystanders during the 2004 Republican National Convention. But the history of NYPD surveillance and harassment of citizens based on their political, religious, or ethnic identities stretches back considerably farther. In the early years of the last century, special NYPD squads targeted Italians, anarchists, and communists. With the onset of the Great Depression, the NYPD’s “Radical Bureau” took up the surveillance of communist New Yorkers. By the 1960s, the Radical Bureau had been renamed Bureau of Special Services, and it was going after groups that included CORE, the ACLU, the NAACP, and the Black Panthers.
Some of the people targeted for political surveillance by the NYPD filed a class action suit in 1971, alleging that the police behavior violated constitutional rights to free speech and assembly, their right to due process, and their protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The suit dragged on for more than a decade, ultimately resulting in a consent decree named after the lead plaintiff, Barbara Handschu. The Handschu decree, which still governs NYPD behavior today, in modified form, is best known for committing the police not to investigate anyone’s political, ideological, or religious behavior unless they have reason to believe that person is engaged in a crime. But another section of the consent decree also required the NYPD to follow the New York City Charter and Freedom of Information Law with regard to its archive of surveillance files.
Judge Charles S. Haight Jr., who presided over the Handschu decree, specified that this meant that:
The upshot of the settlement is that no intelligence or political files, pre-1955 or post-1955, can be destroyed without the express approval of the City’s commissioner of records and information services, who is specifically charged by the Charter to base his determination ‘on the potential administrative, fiscal legal, research, or historical value of the record’…. I will not assume that the police commissioner would disregard the law by disposing of police records without seeking the requisite approval.
But as the lawsuit resolved Monday reveals, that seems to be exactly what happened. That suit was brought by Johanna Fernandez, a history professor at Baruch College, who first approached the NYPD a decade ago as she was researching a book about another group of political activists from the 1960s and ’70s, the Young Lords. Radical Puerto Rican nationalists, the Young Lords are a critical and fascinating piece of New York history. Inspired by the Black Panthers, the Lords combined militant tactics with a knack for getting things done in their community. Deeply embedded in Spanish Harlem, the group knew the neighborhood was profoundly underserved by the city. The Department of Sanitation was largely ignoring the area, and the streets were full of garbage. The Young Lords collected the trash, put it in the middle of the streets, and set it on fire. For weeks. Pretty soon, trash collection in the barrio improved markedly.
An illustration from the Young Lords' newspaper, Pa'lante, made by Denise Oliver, an African-American member of the Young Lords' steering committee
Working with doctors, the Lords tested East Harlem children and found lead-poisoning levels through the roof. They hammered the issue in the press, ultimately occupying the offices of the Department of Health. In 1970, the city created a new bureau to address lead poisoning. The Young Lords led the campaign to improve conditions at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx, a hospital so bad that rats were sometimes seen in the emergency room. When hospital officials ignored demands for change, the Lords conspired with doctors and nurses to seize the hospital. On July 14 of 1970, they did just that, running the hospital for 24 hours until they had negotiated a series of reforms from the city.
Throughout, the NYPD was keeping close tabs on the group. “[The police] were provocateurs,” says Fernandez. “They engaged in an enormous amount of surveillance of the group. And they had members of the NYPD who came to the office of the Young Lords on Madison Avenue and asked to join the organization for the purposes of undermining the work of the group.”
In researching her book, Fernandez recovered a small treasury of documents from the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies related to the Young Lords — some of it possibly brought to light by the 1971 robbery of a Pennsylvania FBI office that exposed the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. But rich documentation of the Young Lords is hard to come by, not least of all because the group, aware they were being spied on and infiltrated by the NYPD, destroyed many of their own records to protect themselves. Ironically, the police surveillance that helped scuttle the Young Lords probably generated the most complete record of its activities.
"Women of the Lords" Michael Abramson
So after her informal request to the NYPD went nowhere, Fernandez filed a formal request for the NYPD’s records of the Young Lords through the Freedom of Information Law, and when that request turned up nothing, she sued for the records in 2014. The records Fernandez had already found from other sources showed the NYPD had once had substantial records, and so did reviews of the intelligence files conducted during the Handschu agreement process. But though Handschu precluded the department from unlawfully destroying any of those records, the NYPD and the City Law Department told Judge Alice Schlesinger the records Fernandez wanted couldn’t be found.
Neither the Municipal Records Management Division nor the NYPD could find any record that the Handschu material had been destroyed. The last time anyone outside the NYPD had scrutinized the records, in the 1980s, they were kept in Room 1206 at NYPD headquarters in 1 Police Plaza. The NYPD claims they were later transferred to a room in the Brooklyn Army Terminal. But searches of both those rooms by the NYPD came up empty.
In the course of the search, the police did come up with an additional 590 documents relevant to Fernandez’s request — but they were mostly index cards from a cataloging system that referred to the actual documents Fernandez was looking for. “The index cards point to a very complex and thorough web of information-gathering on the part of the NYPD,” Fernandez says. “It’s tantalizing, and it’s proof that other documents exist.”
Fernandez argued that the city’s nonchalant attitude towards the missing records wasn’t good enough, and pressed for it to widen its search. The city pushed back, saying Fernandez wanted them to engage in a “fishing expedition.” In her ruling Monday, Judge Schlesinger reluctantly agreed.
No one can be identified today who has the ability to determine where, if not the Handschu room, were the Room 1206 documents transferred. That is the problem. One I cannot solve, without, I believe directing the Department to go to all sorts of extremely burdensome lengths without any real hope or expectation that these documents will be found. I cannot and will not do that.
Asked for comment, a City Law Department spokesperson offered the following: “In response to this request for NYPD documents from 1960s and 1970s, the NYPD produced 590 pages of documents. The NYPD conducted a reasonable and good-faith search, but was unable to locate additional documents. We agree with the Court’s conclusion that NYPD should not be required to search further, as additional searching would not be likely to turn up the requested material.”
Martin Stolar, one of the class lawyers in the Handschu case, says the failure to produce the records is disturbing. “What’s at stake here is an extraordinarily important record of the uses and abuses of police powers against political movements, people’s movements,” he says. Stolar and the other Handschu lawyers will be back in court before Judge Haight on June 1 to discuss the settlement of the Muslim-surveillance lawsuits. “Where the documents are is not on the front burner for us at the moment,” he says. “Once the settlement is finalized, I think we may want to take a look at this.”
Fernandez says there’s more at stake with her lawsuit than a historian’s research. In an age of resurgent popular protest movements, from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter, the policing of popular movements is more relevant than ever. “Only when we document the systematic ways in which the police and government agencies have undermined social movements will social movements that are emerging today be able to voice their grievances and articulate freely their highest aspirations for a better society,” she says. “This is about the historical record, but it’s also about the project of democracy.”
The NYPD did not respond to requests for comment.
Fernandez says she intends to appeal the decision.
Here’s Judge Schlesinger’s decision:
[pdf-1]Four British Muslims who were held for several days in an Israeli detention centre were earlier this week removed from a Monarch Airlines flight back to the UK when passengers complained they felt uncomfortable.
The four individuals, who included a British aid worker and a father with his 10-year-old son, had planned to spend the final days of Ramadan at Islam's third holiest site, the al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
The father and son and the two others, who were not travelling together, landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on different Monarch flights last week.
All four were denied entry into the country, subjected to hours of questioning by Israeli authorities and sent to the airport's detention centre without explanation, according to two of the men, who spoke to Middle East Eye.
The two men were held in solitary confinement, while the father and son were detained together. All four had their personal items confiscated, including their phones. They were not allowed to make any calls except to the British consulate in Tel-Aviv, they said.
The aid worker, who was the first to arrive and was held longest, said he was was alone in a cell for five days.
On Sunday, Israeli authorities put all four on a Monarch flight headed back to London, but before it could take off, passengers complained that the group was making them “uncomfortable,” the men said.
All four British nationals told MEE that after they were boarded last by the Israeli authorities, they were stared at by the other passengers.
“We were sat down for a good hour waiting for the flight to leave, but before we could depart, a member of the cabin crew came and asked us to leave our seats with our luggage because the captain wanted to speak to us,” said one of the two men travelling alone.
At this point, the passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, said that other passengers began filming them with their phones, which made them feel as though they could not make a scene aboard the plane even though they were frustrated by the situation.
“It was only when we were escorted back to the tarmac, which was full of armed Israeli security guards, that we realised the captain wasn’t going to speak to us,” he said.
“Me and the other passengers who were kicked off then began giving the Israelis a hard time, demanding answers from the Israelis on why we were kicked off the flight because up until now no one was giving us an answer.
“The cabin crew had said the captain wanted to speak to us personally, but the captain was nowhere to be seen.”
The four were then returned in a prison truck to the detention centre, where Israeli security officials told them they had been removed from the flight because their presence made the other passengers "uncomfortable".
In a statement, UK-based Monarch Airlines confirmed that four passengers had been taken off the flight but declined to comment any further or explain why the passengers were ejected.
Earlier this year, two Palestinian citizens of Israel were expelled from an Aegean Airlines flight bound for Tel Aviv before it took off from Athens.
Palestinian officials at the time demanded that the Greek government take action, saying the decision to expel the pair was “reminiscent of apartheid".
The man, who has travelled to Jerusalem for Ramadan for the last two years, said he felt “deceived” and “let down” by Monarch’s cabin crew.
The father travelling with his son, who also wished to remain anonymous, said the boy was emotionally traumatised by the experience.
“My son is still asking me and his mum: ‘Why did they stop us out of 27 people? Why did we not go to al-Aqsa? Why did we spend so many days in a small room with bars?'” he said.
“For him to understand this is definitely not easy and, as a parent, you want to do everything possible to shelter them from any harm.”
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth office said in a statement: “We were in touch with local authorities and provided assistance to four British nationals following their detention at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel”.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
The Friends of Al-Aqsa blog said two of the passengers returned home the next day on Monarch, and the other two travelled back on a different airline.But voters weren’t having a bit of it, denying the Conservatives their victory, crashing Mrs May’s political authority, delighting Mr Corbyn’s supporters by overwhelming their expectations, and robbing his internal enemies in the Labour party of their excuse to move against him.
If only 50 people across just four seats had voted Conservative... the Tories would have effectively won a majority
What the atmosphere in politics now obscures is that Mrs May was, technically, the winner.
The Tories had more seats, more votes, and increased their overall share.
And if only 50 people across just four seats had voted Conservative, instead of voting for the winning candidate, the Tories would have effectively won a majority.
Yes, you read that right. If 50 people in four decisive constituencies, a crowd that would fit easily on a school bus, had voted for Theresa May’s party, she would have suffered a reputational hit by falling back, but still have been able to operate in parliament without help from other parties (because the seven Sinn Fein MPs won’t take up their seats 322 is an effective majority).
At the next level, she would have reached an absolute majority of 326 if the Conservatives had achieved a grand total of 794 extra votes in the right places. Yes, our politics changed overnight, but if only a tiny number of votes had gone the other way, the outcome would have been so different.
What the political parties are now trying to understand is how we ended up here, why their expectations were wrong.This is something you don’t see everyday.
James Taylor, a 39-year-old South African, was paddleboarding off the coast of Melkbosstrand, South Africa, when tentacles reached out of the water and wrapped themselves around his board. The culprit? Oh, just a giant squid.
He posted the moment on Facebook and wrote: “Found an injured giant squid just behind the waves in Melkboss a while back and decided to catch it and take it to the beach."
After a plethora of questions and a fair share of criticism, Taylor responded to a comment by saying he had contacted the local aquarium but they were on holiday.
Instead “we dissected it and took a bunch of videos and photos that we later sent to them so that they could at least have a look at what we found. They sent these on to a professor who has been studying giant squid in South Africa for the last 15 years and he was very excited about the find. He told me the next day that he has only seen five wash up on South African shores since he started his studies. He confirmed that it was a mature male giant squid."
On average, giant squid weigh around 200 kilograms (440 pounds) and reach 10 meters (33 feet) in length – nearly the size of a bus! The largest of these elusive underwater beasts ever found weighed almost a ton and was 18 meters (59 feet) in length.An image of the alt-NWS Twitter account, which uses one of the first GOES-16 images as a background. (Twitter)
Dozens of alternative, unauthorized government accounts have sprung up on Twitter in the past week, since the Badlands National Park Service went “went rogue” and tweeted (gasp) facts about greenhouse gases and climate change. Those tweets by a former employee who still had access to the account were deleted, but the alt-Twitter movement had already left the station.
An alternative to the National Weather Service, @AlternativeNWS, was created Wednesday and has already acquired more than 71,000 followers. Its first tweet was a recommendation that people download as much of climate.gov (a NOAA-run website) as possible before it is removed by the Trump administration.
[Rogue Twitter accounts spring up to fight Donald Trump on climate change]
Since then, the account operators — which is made up of actual NWS employees, according to the bio — have used the platform to share sentiments that they are otherwise prohibited from sharing in their official capacities. Many of them have been fired off directly at President Trump.
Hi there @POTUS, hope you're enjoying your pointless deletion of science. But, keep in mind, it is pointless. We are not going anywhere. — AltNWS (@AlternativeNWS) January 26, 2017
This is from @BigBendNPS, not sure where the wall will go, but I'm sure it will be amazing! Thanks @potus for beautifying our natural spaces pic.twitter.com/t7UPf16hnP — AltNWS (@AlternativeNWS) January 27, 2017
Others have expressed the concern shared among many NWS employees over one of the names supposedly on the shortlist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director: Barry Myers, the chief executive of AccuWeather, an ostensible competitor of NWS itself.
One of top prospects for NOAA Administrator is CEO of private for profit weather company. Hope you have $ to pay for life saving warnings. — AltNWS (@AlternativeNWS) January 25, 2017
Beyond the worry over who the next administrator will be, the alt-NWS account has expressed concern about the muzzling of climate scientists. The Capital Weather Gang’s Jason Samenow summarized the concern last week:
During the George W. Bush administration, some climate scientists at NOAA said political appointees blocked their efforts to openly communicate their findings about the human role in climate change. Because Trump and several of his Cabinet picks have expressed uncertainty about these human contributions, there’s a concern that history will repeat itself.
But there’s plenty of reason to think that Wilbur Ross, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary “has no valid reason” to silence scientists:
Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Ross last week asking him what he would do “to ensure expert scientists at NOAA are protected from political interference like censorship and intimidation.” Ross responded Monday that his department would provide the public “with as much factual and accurate data as we have available,” noting such information is made possible by taxpayers. “I see no valid reason to keep peer-reviewed research from the public,” he said.
One potential problem is the use of the NWS logo. In the past, the agency has gone to Twitter to request disabling unauthorized accounts that use the copyrighted logo.
We modified our profile picture to avoid confusion with the real @NWS profiles, whom you should follow for critical weather info. — AltNWS (@AlternativeNWS) January 27, 2017
Do you run this account? Let’s talk. angela.fritz@washpost.comThank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs!
For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription:
We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article.
*Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year.
*Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year.
*Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months |
host Steve Inskeep.)
NPR's Frank Langfitt talks with Steve Inskeep on 'Morning Edition' Listen
Just what set off the riot is the key question. Frank says that officially, authorities are saying it was a "personal dispute" between workers from different parts of China. But some of those employees are saying on social media sites that the unrest is connected to ongoing tensions at the plant over such procedures as the daily security checks that workers must go through to prove they aren't trying to sneak products out of the plant.
There's "anger brewing," Frank reports, over allegations that security guards constantly push around the workers and in some cases have even beaten them.
Foxconn has, you likely will recall, been the subject of numerous reports and complaints in recent years about working conditions at its factories. In August, NPR's Steve Henn talked with Morning Edition about a report from the Fair Labor Association that found, he said, "improvements in conditions at three huge factories that make products, like the iPhone and iPad." But, Steve added, "one of the biggest challenges facing Foxconn and Apple is figuring out how to eliminate illegal overtime in all of their plants. This is a chronic problem in China."
As for today's riot and the plant's closing, Reuters says:
"It was not immediately clear how long the shutdown would last at the plant, which employs about 79,000 people in the Shanxi provincial capital, while police and company officials investigate the cause of the disturbance. " 'The plant is closed today for investigation,' Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo told Reuters, but a company employee contacted by phone said the closure could last two or three days."
Among the products the plant makes parts for is the new iPhone5, ComputerWorld says. Huge demand for the latest version of the phone, which was released just last week, already has it in short supply.
For more about Foxconn, see this report from the BBC about the "hidden dragon."History repeats itself, Marx famously warned, first as tragedy and then as farce. In the case of U.S. torture psychologists, the “tragedy” occurred half a century ago when CIA-funded psychological research on electroshock treatment, sensory deprivation, and the like found its way into the Agency’s counterintelligence interrogation manual. The 1963 KUBARK manual and its later iterations were used widely by U.S. intelligence and disseminated to other governments in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
The “farce” was played post-9/11, as psychologists became involved once again in aiding counterintelligence interrogators. Although some of the material in KUBARK remained in use, psychologists augmented already existing material with newer techniques, some of which had been developed from torture-resistance protocols used to train U.S. military personnel to survive capture and interrogation themselves. Thus, as Katherine Eban has reported, discoveries initially applied to help possible torture victims were later used to break interrogation subjects held in U.S. custody. Psychologists were complicit in designing and using techniques to break subjects rather than aid them, and in so doing they made a mockery of their ethical obligation to “do no harm.”
Twice, then, psychologists forged relationships with the state in which they cast ethics aside. And both times they acted with impunity.
The KUBARK Precedent
The KUBARK manual cites Albert Biderman and other research psychologists as sources for the “scientific findings” that support its conclusions. Biderman, who died in 2003, was known for his studies of U.S. personnel captured by the Chinese during the Cold War. He examined the ways in which the Chinese military induced false confessions — often outlandish and implausible ones — from U.S. prisoners. Whatever one thinks today of the validity and cogency of that literature, the government used it to legitimize tactics and propositions that go well beyond the claims of the literature itself. KUBARK instructs interrogators to use protocols titled “Ivan Is a Dope,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Mutt and Jeff.” Some of these tactics recall the stationhouse “third-degree” sessions documented by the 1931 Wickersham Report on police abuse; others appear even more ad hoc and arbitrary. To some extent, the bibliographical citations to social psychology literature provide window-dressing for a how-to on coercive interrogation practices. They help to create a scientific-sounding discourse of counterintelligence interrogation.
KUBARK does not describe in detail the ways in which psychological interrogation methods (“clean torture,” as Darius Rejali calls it) are done. KUBARK merely recognizes that “chemical and electrical” methods are available (though it may be more specific in the redacted portions). To see how sensory deprivation and electroshock treatment actually work on the psyche of subjects, we must look outside KUBARK itself, at the research findings of scientists and the accounts of victims themselves. Naomi Klein interviewed one such victim, who unwittingly became a research subject for Dr. Ewen Cameron of McGill University (a psychiatrist) while Cameron was treating her as a psychiatric inpatient. Cameron administered drug and electroshock therapy on his patient that left permanent, devastating injury. Many years later, she discovered the cause of her injuries when she learned of a legal settlement by the CIA paying unwitting experimental subjects for the damages they suffered. By then, she had become completely disabled as a result of her “treatment.”
The relationship goes both ways, however. While the drafters of KUBARK certainly utilized the research results to further interrogation objectives and to instruct interrogators in other countries, the researchers themselves certainly derived benefits from the relationship. Alfred McCoy notes that CIA operatives attended conferences in order to develop relationships with research psychologists, luring them with promises of research funding.
Incredibly, some of the research results from the early years of mind-control studies resurfaced post-9/11 in training protocols for Guantanamo interrogators. In 2008, The New York Times reported that Biderman’s 1957 “Chart of Coercion,” which indicates the ways that communist interrogators used such coercion to induce false confessions, was provided verbatim to trainees in 2002. In the intervening years since the chart was created, it had been used to counsel domestic-violence victims and cult members to help them cope with the “mind control” they suffered. At Guantanamo, however, the application was less therapeutic.
Professional Complicity
The psychologist-torture connection is not merely a matter of individual practitioners but also involves their professional organization, the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA has a long history of involvement with the CIA — and, through that connection, with torture. The APA has compiled its own history of this relationship, starting with its joint statement with the American Psychiatric Association supporting the United Nations Declaration and Convention Against Torture in 1985. However, only in August 2006 did the APA “reaffirm” its anti-torture position. Of course, in the intervening years the 9/11 attacks occurred and the nation engaged in heated debate over the interrogation of suspected terrorists. In August 2007, the APA provided specific guidelines prohibiting certain interrogation techniques.
In addition to the substantive question of which tactics were condemned, however, there was the matter of ethics. In February 2010, APA amended its ethics code to “address potential conflicts among professional ethics, law, and organizational demands.” In June of 2010, APA’s president sent a letter [.pdf] to the Texas licensing board condemning the alleged involvement of one psychologist in coercive interrogation and urging the revocation of his license should the allegations against him prove true. This last action was by far the strongest that the APA has taken. Until then, the APA’s history of official action reflects, at the very least, an ambivalence on the part of some of its membership about condemning torture.
Of course, the APA cannot on its own initiative punish individual practitioners. That is the province of the state licensing boards, who have been reluctant to address the alleged violations of APA ethical standards by psychologists involved in torture and other inhumane treatment of detainees. Three psychologists in particular have come to the attention of the media in recent years: Drs. Leso, Jessen, and Mitchell. All three have allegedly been involved on some level (research, training, consultation, and even participation) in coercive interrogation. All three are licensed psychologists in different states. Although licensed psychologists and human rights groups have filed complaints, to date none of their licenses have been revoked. Nor have they received any kind of reprimand for their alleged involvement in torture.
Third Degree of Separation
The interconnections between torture and psychology in this half-century saga are remarkable, creating a veritable “Where’s Waldo?” catalog of appearances of its central figures. As noted above, Albert Biderman’s name resurfaced in Guantanamo, 50 years after his “chart of coercion” was initially published in a journal article. And when the Obama administration announced recently that it would prosecute a CIA operative for leaking facts and names tied to CIA operations, one of the names that surfaced in that investigation was Deuce Martinez, a CIA interrogator. Martinez eventually left government and went to work for Mitchell and Jessen Associates, a consulting firm run by the same two psychologists discussed above who advised the CIA on the psychology of interrogation. A small world, indeed.
Cold War fantasies about beating the communists at the “mind control” game produced devastating effects on test subjects and prisoners. But these techniques failed to produce real-life gains in intelligence-gathering. The 9/11 attacks revived those fantasies and summoned research psychologists for another round of participation in coercive interrogation work. Some psychologists were ready to answer the call, and it appears, at least for now, that they will escape judgment from courts and licensing boards alike.
The APA’s stated position is clear:
Any direct or indirect participation in any act of torture or other forms of cruel, degrading, or inhuman treatment or punishment by psychologists is strictly prohibited. There are no exceptions. Clear violations of APA’s no torture/no abuse policy include acts such as: waterboarding, sexual humiliation, stress positions, and exploitation of phobias.
This standard is meaningless, however, if there are no consequences for violating it. Licensing boards must act. The Texas State Board of Examiners website lists disciplinary actions taken against licensed psychologists. Texas psychologists have lost their licenses [.pdf] for sexual misconduct, dual relationships, deficiencies in professional knowledge and skill, and health-care fraud. These cases show that ethical violations are punished. Involvement in torture is certainly no less important.
Licensing boards should be just as vigilant about punishing psychologists who aid in torture as they are about other ethical standards. Psychologists’ involvement in torture has done damage to the reputation of the profession, and the boards’ unwillingness to act undermines the integrity of ethics rules. It is both unconscionable and absurd that a psychologist can lose his or her license for Medicaid fraud but not for involvement in torture.
Originally published by Foreign Policy In Focus.
Read more by Robert Pallitto
The Return of Waterboarding? – December 29th, 2011New York (CNN) Twenty-six times, Serena Williams had played a grand slam match in 2015. And all 26 times she emerged triumphant.
But in her 27th encounter, the world No. 1 came unstuck against a stubborn Italian, Roberta Vinci, who wasn't even seeded at the U.S. Open.
Vinci, best known for formerly being the world's top-ranked doubles player, stunned Williams 2-6 6-4 6-4 in one of the greatest shocks in tennis history to end the American's chances of completing the calendar-year grand slam.
Williams had toiled in quite a few of her past grand slam tussles this year but always found a way to win. Not against the 43rd-ranked Vinci, though, who not only overturned a set deficit but came back from 2-0 down in the third against the three-time defending champion.
"I don't want to talk about how disappointing it is for me," Williams began in her press conference, which was brief. "If you have any other questions, I'm open for that."
Prior to Friday, Vinci lost all four of their head-to-heads without claiming a set.
This will be the first Grand Slam final between two Italians as well as 2 women over thirty in the open era. #usopen pic.twitter.com/KXMiIFS8QH — US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2015
So, instead of Williams trying to emulate Steffi Graf's achievement of 1988, it will be an all-Italian U.S. Open final Saturday after Flavia Pennetta upset second-ranked Simona Halep 6-3 6-1 in Friday's first women's semifinal. That was a minor upset in comparison to Vinci's scalp.
They're probably saying "Forza Italia" back in Italy.
The fans who'll show up in New York will thus be watching history, just not the type they were expecting.
"I don't think I played that bad," said Williams. "I made more unforced errors than I normally would make, but I think she just played really well. She did not want to lose today. Neither did I, incidentally. But she really didn't, either."
Williams discounted pressure being a factor in the defeat.
"I told you guys I don't feel pressure," she said. "I never felt pressure. I never felt that pressure to win here. I said that from the beginning.
Photos: Photos: Did this really happen? Yes, it did. Serena Williams, for the first time this year, left a grand slam match as the loser. Roberta Vinci pulled off the feat at the U.S. Open. Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Williams' forehands and other parts of her game deserted her, especially in the third set. She lost 2-6 6-4 6-4 and so there will be no calendar year grand slam. Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Williams, as she has done this year when in trouble, willed herself on with shouts of, "come on." But in Friday's semifinal... Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: She was matched by Vinci, who was unseeded and ranked 43rd. The Italian had lost all four of her previous matches against Williams and didn't claim a set. Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Vinci was delighted to win and charmed the crowd with her post-match interview. But she also spared a thought for Williams, who was the crowd favorite playing at home in the U.S. Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Williams made a quick exit and was also brief in her press conference. She said all the pressure of trying to win four majors in one season -- something not accomplished since 1988 -- didn't affect her. Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: For the first time, there will be an all-Italian grand slam final because Flavia Pennetta beat No. 2 Simona Halep in another upset, 6-3 6-1. Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Pennetta served well from the middle of the first set onward and at one stage in the second set claimed 15 straight points. Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: But there was disappointment for Halep, who said she succumbed to nerves. It wasn't the first time it happened at a grand slam. Hide Caption 9 of 9
"I made a couple of tight shots, to be honest, but maybe just about two.
"But that, I think... in any normal match you make two tight shots. Other than that, I don't think I was that tight."
Vinci disagreed.
Men's No. 1 Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, didn't suffer the same fate as Williams. He crushed defending champion Marin Cilic 6-0 6-1 6-2 to reach Sunday's men's finale against Roger Federer. Djokovic became the second man in the last 45 years -- after Federer -- to make all four grand slam finals in one season.
Federer thumped fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-3 6-1 in the second semifinal and at 34 is the oldest men's finalist at the U.S. Open since a 35-year-old Andre Agassi in 2005. Agassi lost to Federer.
Djokovic downed Federer in the Wimbledon final although the 17-time grand slam winner saw off the Serb in Cincinnati.
Pennetta and Vinci were born in the same region, Puglia, and Pennetta, too, is a former doubles No. 1, but they possess completely different styles.
Pennetta is a power baseliner with a forceful, dependable backhand, while Vinci authors a wicked slice on the backhand and likes to move forward. She offers foes little pace.
The slice and other parts of Vinci's game worked to begin with but after she broke for 2-1 in the first set, Williams found her intensity and the outcome of the opener became predictable.
When Williams fended off three straight break points early in the second -- one with a stunning, angled backhand passing shot -- romping to the finish line seemed like the inevitable conclusion for the American.
However, Vinci -- at nearly 33, the oldest first-time women's grand slam semifinalist in the Open Era -- was in no hurry to exit center court.
She broke for 3-2 and held for 5-3 after Williams missed a crosscourt forehand on break point with the court exposed. Vinci saved another break point at 5-4 by smashing a forehand before taking the set by forcing an error.
Vinci was jubilant. Williams, meanwhile, slammed her racket to the ground when at her chair.
Order appeared to be restored when Williams grabbed a 2-0 lead in the decider; Vinci rallied for 2-2.
Williams looked close to tears but her mood changed dramatically when she crushed a backhand on the line in the fifth game.
Despite Vinci's resistance, no-one would have thought Williams would exit. After all, she overcame health issues at the Australian Open and French Open -- in the latter, third sets were the norm -- and then at Wimbledon, Williams was two points away from losing against 59th-ranked Heather Watson in the third round.
The key game of the third set, the one that indeed proved decisive, came at 3-3.
For the 1st time in 4 years we will have a new #usopen champ. Congrats to @serenawilliams on a great season. pic.twitter.com/ARni52gmfE — US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 11, 2015
Williams struck 16 aces to go along with only four double faults overall, but two helped Vinci in that seventh game. Later capping a stunning rally by hitting a touch volley, Vinci implored the pro-Williams crowd to show her some appreciation.
They did.
But they were less enthusiastic when Vinci broke for 4-3.
JUST WATCHED Bright lights, big city: Night tennis at the U.S. Open Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Bright lights, big city: Night tennis at the U.S. Open 03:14
There was no Williams escape act Friday, Vinci serving it out without difficulty before raising her arms in the air. Jubilant, Vinci nonetheless spared a thought for Williams.
"I was a little bit sorry for (her) because for me she cannot (win) the grand slam," said Vinci, who drew laughs with one-liners in her press conference.
Williams tallied 50 winners and 40 unforced errors. Vinci had more unforced errors than winners (20 to 19) yet won most of the important points, a rarity against the 21-time grand slam champion.
Not since Wimbledon last year had Williams tasted defeat at a major, ousted back then by 25th seed Alize Cornet in round three.
Like Vinci, world No. 26 Pennetta probably won't ever want to leave New York. She has made at least the last eight in six of her last seven visits, but has one major quarterfinal appearance outside the Big Apple.
Pennetta's form, by her own admission, wasn't spectacular heading into the U.S. Open. But the result against Halep came one round after Pennetta -- who leads Vinci 5-3 in their duels -- sent two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova packing.
Halep lost her focus after failing to convert break points in the third game, with Pennetta breaking in the fourth and never loosening her grip in the first set.
The Romanian's revival in the second set -- she led 3-1 -- ended in unbelievable fashion, as Pennetta captured 15 straight points to take a stranglehold on the affair.
No wonder Halep shook her head as she exited the court and made her way to the locker room. Nerves have affected Halep at grand slams and she said it was an issue once more.
The tennis world was collectively shaking its head in disbelief about two hours later.Torte de Lini Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Germany 30667 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-13 18:55:32 #1
Main Website & Archives
Topic One: Dependent Journalism & its Constraints
Topic Two: The Thin Corridors of New Content
Topic Three: Splitting the Scene for Regional Champions
Topic Four: The Problematic Comparisons of Female Progaming
Topic Five: The Overabundance of Tournaments & Branching Problems
Topic Six: The Lack of Storytelling in E-Sports’ Events
Topic Seven: What Makes an E-Sport
Topic Eight: Balance between Professionalism & Personality
Topic Nine: E-Sports is not a Sport
Topic Ten: Website Organization - Choice of Information
Topic Eleven: Teams of E-Sports - Portals for New Fans
Topic Twelve: Minor Tournaments – A Progamer’s Résumé
@TorteDeLini
The Armchair Athleticism critical series is an opinion-base article series regarding the issues and sociocultural deficiencies of the E-Sports and StarCraft scene. All articles are perceptive-base and revolving around my own experiences and understanding of the subculture.
+ Show Spoiler [summary introduction] +
The Solo Trail – Unbeaten Posted on October 20th, 2012
Short version of credentials:
Manager of 5 progaming teams (50+ professional players)
Writer for 11 E-sports websites (5 team sites + 4 organizations: 150+ docs/articles)
Organizer or Contributor of 11 community events (74,000 viewers/attendants)
Some video-editing for one or two organizations, nothing big, just twitch.tv highlight-editing, presentational writing, etc. Why are you starting your own space? I was listening to the suggestions of several friends and I finally started this space after I hit a dead-end in my endeavours in E-Sports. I’m at a point where I am not really affiliated with anyone and now’s a better time than ever to do some opinion topics. Doing my own content meant I would be alone and would work around my own initiative, drive and interest. However, it also meant that I may do something that requires more work than I thought and I would be on my own. It meant that the community reception can be more direct and harsh towards me personally and my views as I would not be backed by some credible organization as when I was writer for some. In the end, this series that took me about a month of writing, editing, verification and re-writing will really be everything I’ve learned, observed and felt throughout my time. I started out with three pieces and ended up going to ten. All of them delve into inspecting the five perspectives of the scene: teams, tournaments, players, spectators and contributors. Ultimately, it aims to really take a strong look into the many issues that inhibit the StarCraft community and E-Sports culture. Short version of credentials:I was listening to the suggestions of several friends and I finally started this space after I hit a dead-end in my endeavours in E-Sports. I’m at a point where I am not really affiliated with anyone and now’s a better time than ever to do some opinion topics. Doing my own content meant I would be alone and would work around my own initiative, drive and interest. However, it also meant that I may do something that requires more work than I thought and I would be on my own. It meant that the community reception can be more direct and harsh towards me personally and my views as I would not be backed by some credible organization as when I was writer for some. In the end, this series that took me about a month of writing, editing, verification and re-writing will really be everything I’ve learned, observed and felt throughout my time. I started out with three pieces and ended up going to ten. All of them delve into inspecting the five perspectives of the scene: teams, tournaments, players, spectators and contributors. Ultimately, it aims to really take a strong look into the many issues that inhibit the StarCraft community and E-Sports culture.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm – An Overview & Review Posted on March 13, 2013
Swiftly lead by an impressive beta, the release of StarCraft II’s expansion: Heart of the Swarm brought out many balance changes and UI improvements to the series. High expectations were set on the direction of StarCraft II not only as an E-Sport, but as an entertaining game overall. These expectations exploded during the
As Heart of the Swarm opened its servers, there was impatience to see how Blizzard could outdo their exciting beginnings of Wings of Liberty, and renew the passion of old followers and fans of the genre (RTS) and scene. In short, they have hit their mark and the expansion delivers what was urged but not without some drawbacks in many areas of the game.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is split into singleplayer and multiplayer, both completely different in value and appeal. In the singleplayer aspect, the players are jumped into the perspective of Sarah Kerrigan, previously the Queen of Blades in Wings of Liberty and is returning once more after an ambush separates her from her two-way unrequited love with Jim Raynor. An arch of vengeance, power struggle and a yearning to be reunited with someone who said he’d never give up on her (doesn’t get more deep than that) are what’s to be expected in this sequel. While the gameplay and missions are definitely just as varied as the missions in Wings of Liberty, the story and dialogue leave much to be desired and can only be compared to that of Star Wars: Episode II. One thing to note is that you will never play any of the other races in the campaign (neither Protoss or Terran).
Though many of these "mutations" or customizations cannot be found outside of the singleplayer, truly enhance how to go about completing your missions and keeping in a "Zerg"-style way..
What the singleplayer lacks in creative story development, it makes up in missions and customization. You will soon find that the game plays more like WarCraft III with control of a “hero” or main character (with strong abilities) than purely a real-time strategy game and the missions definitely compliment this area. Also, the personal touch of your units are fitting with the Zerg-esque feel where you can modify your units with advantageous perks, exclusive evolutions and tutorial missions to let you try both evolutions out (to better your selection). To add, your hero can be leveled, allowing Kerrigan to obtain unique powerful abilities. The singleplayer side of the game however lacks miscellaneous activities ranging from minigames that we saw in Wings of Liberty (The Lost Viking) to no new challenges that let you improve your ability with each race. As always, Blizzard Entertainment delivers in ambiance, amazing cinematic cutscenes and of course their epic music (you can even pause in the cutscenes to take these kinds of snapshots!)
Pretty impressive stuff. There are many cinematic scenes like this, even more action-packed than ever before.
On the multiplayer side, since Wings of Liberty, “improving” would be the summation here. Ranging from AI difficulty levels, builds and diverse game mechanics towards various ranked/unranked matchups really lets the player make the game as serious or jokingly as they want. The welcoming of new units definitely refreshes the game and creates new scenarios and approaches towards winning for the player (though the question of if its balance is still arguable). Free-for-all mode is still lacking in terms of maps and uniqueness though the arcade feature still has some amazing games both promoted by Blizzard and the community themself. The varied custom games navigation and UI, however improved, still leaves a lot to be desired, especially in finding something beyond the top ten most popular custom games (and searching those who want to play it).
The tools brought into Heart of the Swarm are what really make those still hesitant to return, reconsider going back to the game. The options menu has expanded to having more graphical options, customization of hotkeys (hotkeys for the singleplayer do not overlap with the multiplayer) and how involved you want the client to help you in your multiplayer matches (from enabling/disabling your mouse from clicking on enemy units to auto-gathering your workers at the start of the game). In addition, your profile card is also both concise and expanded in various menus and the rewards in playing multiplayer matches is displayed through your profile picture, experience and levels as well as interesting skins for your units and animations (dancing and such). The UI for spectator mode can also be customized for tournament organizers, removing the unnecessary graphics for the spectator and delivering more essential information to better view progaming matches. Everything is slick and smooth in navigating through Battle.net and a major improvement from the previous version where a lot of empty areas were brimming with potential use.
The UI is sleek, attractive and concisely informative. Everything is available either in a drop-down menu or through sectioned menus..
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm delivers a lot to those already in love with the series. Tutorials, challenges and custom games also hold onto players who love the game more than for its competitive ladder and leagues. Its aim to create new ways to connect and cooperate with others through groups, clans, resume from replays and more really lessen the secluded and sometimes frustrating tone of the game and expand its options. However, there is still much more to be done with the game story-wise as well as within the UI, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is off to a great start and appeals to the expectations of many people who started with StarCraft II back in 2010 and perhaps regain those who have given up on the series and E-Sport. There are many minor features not elaborated in this review that you’ll come to appreciate (like end-of-match reports and statistics, map info/screenshots/patch notes/review, concise friendslist, etc.), but in short, Heart of the Swarm is definitely worth its cost. In comparison to Wings of Liberty, it does not feel short for an expansion. As a series on its own, it feels complete, but could still use additions in regards to team-games/FFA (balance & better maps), dialogue/story as well as qualities like team matches, or qualities found in WarCraft III like daily/weekly tournaments and chat features. Nonetheless, if you love Real-Time Strategy games and pine for a compelling singleplayer, advanced multiplayer to really devote your time and energy in improving yourself: StarCraft II can feel very rewarding for the competitive fan. Swiftly lead by an impressive beta, the release of StarCraft II’s expansion: Heart of the Swarm brought out many balance changes and UI improvements to the series. High expectations were set on the direction of StarCraft II not only as an E-Sport, but as an entertaining game overall. These expectations exploded during the public disapproval of Blizzard’s lack of public appeal. There was public backlash for their inability in improving the title on a multiplayer and singleplayer level (after so many years of clamoring), also in view of Battle.net 2.0’s long list of criticisms since its implementation. People wanted more and hammered the company for months (even years for some features) begging for utilities that made the game less secluded for the user and more open towards cooperative play such as: additional building blocks to improve the player and enhanced modes both in gameplay and in variety of tools (shared replays, resume from replay, unranked matches, etc).As Heart of the Swarm opened its servers, there was impatience to see how Blizzard could outdo their exciting beginnings of Wings of Liberty, and renew the passion of old followers and fans of the genre (RTS) and scene. In short, they have hit their mark and the expansion delivers what was urged but not without some drawbacks in many areas of the game.StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is split into singleplayer and multiplayer, both completely different in value and appeal. In the singleplayer aspect, the players are jumped into the perspective of Sarah Kerrigan, previously the Queen of Blades in Wings of Liberty and is returning once more after an ambush separates her from her two-way unrequited love with Jim Raynor. An arch of vengeance, power struggle and a yearning to be reunited with someone who said he’d never give up on her (doesn’t get more deep than that) are what’s to be expected in this sequel. While the gameplay and missions are definitely just as varied as the missions in Wings of Liberty, the story and dialogue leave much to be desired and can only be compared to that of Star Wars: Episode II. One thing to note is that you will never play any of the other races in the campaign (neither Protoss or Terran).What the singleplayer lacks in creative story development, it makes up in missions and customization. You will soon find that the game plays more like WarCraft III with control of a “hero” or main character (with strong abilities) than purely a real-time strategy game and the missions definitely compliment this area. Also, the personal touch of your units are fitting with the Zerg-esque feel where you can modify your units with advantageous perks, exclusive evolutions and tutorial missions to let you try both evolutions out (to better your selection). To add, your hero can be leveled, allowing Kerrigan to obtain unique powerful abilities. The singleplayer side of the game however lacks miscellaneous activities ranging from minigames that we saw in Wings of Liberty (The Lost Viking) to no new challenges that let you improve your ability with each race. As always, Blizzard Entertainment delivers in ambiance, amazing cinematic cutscenes and of course their epic music (you can even pause in the cutscenes to take these kinds of snapshots!)On the multiplayer side, since Wings of Liberty, “improving” would be the summation here. Ranging from AI difficulty levels, builds and diverse game mechanics towards various ranked/unranked matchups really lets the player make the game as serious or jokingly as they want. The welcoming of new units definitely refreshes the game and creates new scenarios and approaches towards winning for the player (though the question of if its balance is still arguable). Free-for-all mode is still lacking in terms of maps and uniqueness though the arcade feature still has some amazing games both promoted by Blizzard and the community themself. The varied custom games navigation and UI, however improved, still leaves a lot to be desired, especially in finding something beyond the top ten most popular custom games (and searching those who want to play it).The tools brought into Heart of the Swarm are what really make those still hesitant to return, reconsider going back to the game. The options menu has expanded to having more graphical options, customization of hotkeys (hotkeys for the singleplayer do not overlap with the multiplayer) and how involved you want the client to help you in your multiplayer matches (from enabling/disabling your mouse from clicking on enemy units to auto-gathering your workers at the start of the game). In addition, your profile card is also both concise and expanded in various menus and the rewards in playing multiplayer matches is displayed through your profile picture, experience and levels as well as interesting skins for your units and animations (dancing and such). The UI for spectator mode can also be customized for tournament organizers, removing the unnecessary graphics for the spectator and delivering more essential information to better view progaming matches. Everything is slick and smooth in navigating through Battle.net and a major improvement from the previous version where a lot of empty areas were brimming with potential use.StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm delivers a lot to those already in love with the series. Tutorials, challenges and custom games also hold onto players who love the game more than for its competitive ladder and leagues. Its aim to create new ways to connect and cooperate with others through groups, clans, resume from replays and more really lessen the secluded and sometimes frustrating tone of the game and expand its options. However, there is still much more to be done with the game story-wise as well as within the UI, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is off to a great start and appeals to the expectations of many people who started with StarCraft II back in 2010 and perhaps regain those who have given up on the series and E-Sport. There are many minor features not elaborated in this review that you’ll come to appreciate (like end-of-match reports and statistics, map info/screenshots/patch notes/review, concise friendslist, etc.), but in short, Heart of the Swarm is definitely worth its cost. In comparison to Wings of Liberty, it does not feel short for an expansion. As a series on its own, it feels complete, but could still use additions in regards to team-games/FFA (balance & better maps), dialogue/story as well as qualities like team matches, or qualities found in WarCraft III like daily/weekly tournaments and chat features. Nonetheless, if you love Real-Time Strategy games and pine for a compelling singleplayer, advanced multiplayer to really devote your time and energy in improving yourself: StarCraft II can feel very rewarding for the competitive fan. https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Torte de Lini Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Germany 30667 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-13 18:04:36 #2 Would love to hear everyone else's views and opinions on the expansion. Did it live up to your expectations?
What are you expecting more out of Battle.net
What are the finer, smaller points of quality that you really appreciated?
What are some jarring issues you had with the game, the campaign or multiplayer?
What are you expecting out of Legacy of the Void? https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
tili Profile Joined July 2012 United States 1314 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-13 18:13:44 #3
I haven't run across any jarring issues, yet. I agree that the dialogue especially leaves somewhat to be desired. However, I actually enjoy the zerg 'characters', however humanoid they ultimately end up being. They are well varied and the dialogue is both funny and engaging enough (...not deep).I haven't run across any jarring issues, yet.
Torte de Lini Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Germany 30667 Posts #4 On March |
Chip Cookies – Soft chocolate chip cookies packed with chocolate chips and crunchy pretzels!! Salty-and-sweet all in one!
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – 3 favorite cookies combined into 1 so you don’t have to choose!! Easy, no-mixer recipe, and always a hit!
Cowboy Cookies – Chewy oats, sweet coconut, crunchy pecans, and plenty of chocolate! Hearty with tons of texture and they stay soft and chewy!! Everyone (not just cowboys) loves these cookies!
Loaded Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Soft, chewy, and loaded with chocolate! Sinking your teeth into a thick, hearty cookie is the best!
The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Soft, chewy, loaded with chocolate, and they turn out perfectly every time! Totally irresistible!
Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks – No butter used in these fast and easy cookie sticks that can’t spread because they’re baked in a pan!
Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups – Prone to cookies that spread? It’s impossible with these! Thick, soft & chewy cookies baked in a muffin pan that are so rich from the browned butter!If you are trying to install Erlang on CentOS/7 you might be presented with the following errors:
These errors mean you don’t have the updated RHEL EPEL Repo from which to fetch Erlang builds. You update your repo as follows:
Retry installing Erlang.
For centos 5 and 6 visit this blog post.
Thanks to jake_morrison from Reddit who posted this response.
The Erlang packages in the distro are not kept up to date, and go stale pretty quickly with the pace of Erlang development.
It’s better to use the packages from ESL: https://www.erlang-solutions.com/downloads/download-erlang-otp
Relevant Ansible tasks:
- name: install esl key rpm_key: state=present key=http://packages.erlang-solutions.com/rpm/ erlang_solutions.asc become: true - name: install esl repo copy: src=etc/yum.repos.d/erlang-solutions.repo dest=/etc/yum.repos.d/ erlang-solutions.repo owner=root group=root mode=0644 become: true - name: install erlang yum: name=erlang state=latest update_cache=yes become: true
See original reply here.
If you liked this aricle share it: Reddit
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
More
WhatsApp
Email
Print
Pinterest
Skype
Tumblr
Telegram
Pocket1 /10
Warning: Spoilers
I have already reviewed the show via the first ep. But I am tired of all this crap passing under the radar that I will review each ep of this garbage show to point out just what is wrong. Not letting these chauvinist pigs get away with this crap any more. You will have to answer for your sins.
Just as in the first ep we start with a non funny joke that is offensive. The'star' (a relative unknown) of the show jokes that he puts on clothes when told by a female masseuse to 'undress to his comfort level.' Translation 'women are yucky and filled with germs.' He says he feels safe with more clothes on. OK? Why even get a massage then if you hate people touching you???? Oh right, to bash women some more. Disgusting.
So after this bad Seinfeld rip off, we go to the SNL rip off opening credits. We are finally treated to the ever annoying, "Mulaney is filmed in front of a live studio audience okay?" Okay? Why must you say it in such a passive aggressive way? And of course the token black guy has to say it so that any hate will be directed towards him. More racism.
Now we are subjected to even more racism as the token black character is depicted as loud and stupid. Really I have no idea how there is no one calling them out but me. Oh probably because it's so horrible of a show it will fail on it's own.
Now we get to the main point of the show, being sexist as hell. They make fun of the birth process. Since that is all women are good for right? Sex and babies? SEXIST! What job does the main female character even have? Do we know? Is she just there to be a female stereotype? Seems like it. The show continues with the'star' of the show not being able to act and saying that vagina's disgust him.
The Mary Jo actor can't act, actually most people this ep could not even act. Seems like they can't get enough decent female actors that agree with the FOX network's sexist ideas, shocker! lol....Also there is all this stuff about sexual harassment. This Mary says that the boss 'needs some' hmm. Why not just teach him to control himself? OH because that would be forward thinking, and that has NO place on the FOX network they are stuck in the the past.
Next birth/women are made fun of/objectified even more/said to be disgusting with the restaurant scene. Next game show scene has more sexism surprise, surprise. And surprise racism as well 'it's hard to date a doula' 'the proper term is African-American' WOW. Next scene the roommates take advantage of their friends. This scene's acting is so horrible, the scene is not even believable! Not even if the scene was done by Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, and Sidney Poitier would it have been good. It's just bad writing/directing, bad EVERYTHING really!
Now to the scene to end all bad scenes. The air conditioner 'birth' scene. Wow, so, so forced. I mean why were people laughing? Were they paid to? Is it a laugh track? Were they laughing at how bad it was? Like laughing AT them not with them? Were they on drugs? Not sure, this scene was just cringe worthy. Did people clap since it was over? I mean is this a hipster show? Like it's meant to be bad? This scene was just too self aware...just crap. The next scene is just bad as well. As well as the scene after that. I feel sorry for the more seasoned actors that are SO good. They make the younger actors look like even worse actors. Also what was with the antisemitism in this scene. "You may not know this but I am a Jewish person." Why did people laugh? Judaism is a religion. Anyone can be Jewish. Just like any other religion. Wow, this show is SO backwards....
"Sex murders" wow even more anti-women stuff the next scene. "All love and respect to women and their bodies." So yeah women are just physical objects...so sexist. The sexism continues with more ignorance and racism, can't forget the racism! Next scene circumcision is made fun of. And after that another silly scene that makes no sense. "I don't care I don't love him." Yeah sure women say that after birth. Don't most women want to hold their babies almost immediately after birth. Women are blamed for everything. Just like how Eve was scapegoated for human damnation. But wait according to religion women were made just to be men's slaves. How can they be blamed when they are said to be simply physical objects? The war on women continues...next it's said that Mary Jo slept with the boss, and she is made fun of as well.
Wow, is FOX showing these eps out of order since it sort of came out of no where that this guy is scared of this stuff. Good, since that is what FOX does normally to try and kill shows. It seems to me this show is trying to get the ever 'important' demographic of young males. They are appealing to the Elliot Rodgers of the world. "Women rejected me so they are are trash." Wow FOX this is low even for you.
How did this show even get made? Between the bad jokes, bad writing, rip offs of other shows, sexism, racism, bad acting, etc.News @ AsiaOne
Unguarded ATMs robbed of $10.5 million
This happened in the Tohuku prefectures since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. -The Yomiuri Shimbun
Sat, Jul 16, 2011
The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
Fifty-six ATM thefts have been reported in the three disaster-hit Tohoku prefectures since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, with the amount of money stolen totaling 684 million yen (S$10.5 million), according to the National Police Agency.
About 420 million yen (S$6.45 million), or 60 per cent of the money, was stolen from within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Deserted in the wake of the disaster, ATMs in convenience stores and financial institutions in the area in particular have become targets for theft.
According to the NPA, further ATM thefts are unlikely to occur as cash left at empty stores and banks has now been collected.
Arrests have been made in connection with only one of the thefts. On Wednesday, the Miyagi prefectural police arrested five male minors on suspicion of stealing 13 million yen (S$1.99 million) from an ATM.
Police are struggling to make breakthroughs in investigations into other cases.
In Iwate Prefecture, about 27 million yen (S$4.15 million) was stolen from ATMs at two convenience stores, while one financial institution was the target of an attempted theft.
In Miyagi Prefecture, ATMs at 14 convenience stores were robbed of about 165 million yen in total, and about 15 million yen (S$2.30 million) was stolen from ATMs at five financial institutions. Most of the ATMs had been knocked down by the March 11 tsunami.
In Fukushima Prefecture, 34 cases of theft from ATMs were reported, with a total of about 480 million yen (S$73.8 million) stolen.
Twenty-eight cases took place in the zone within 20 kilometers of the crippled nuclear power plant, which was largely deserted after an evacuation advisory was issued on March 12. The remaining six cases involved ATMs damaged by the tsunami.
Except for the one case in Miyagi Prefecture, police have made no arrests in relation to the many ATM thefts that have occurred in the three prefectures since the disaster.
One reason for the police's lack of progress in investigating the thefts is that alarm systems and security cameras at many stores and banks were not operating at the time of the robberies, due to power outages caused by the disaster.
Meanwhile, 169 robberies of empty houses within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima power plant were reported between March 1 and June 30, a massive increase from the nine home burglaries reported during the same period last year.
Similarly, with most offices in the area also abandoned, the number of office robberies rose to 25 from one.
In many cases, evacuees discovered their houses had been burglarized when they briefly returned home after their initial evacuation.
The number of reported home robberies is likely to increase, as 16,000 households that have requested permission to make a temporary return home have yet to do so.
'TEPCO should compensate us'
Falling victim to burglars and thieves has added to the agony of evacuees whose homes are within 20 kilometers of the crippled Fukushima power plant.
"It's a dirty act," one such person said.
A 37-year-old company employee of Tomiokamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, who returned to his home temporarily on July 6, said he was shocked to find windows on the first floor broken and all the drawers inside his house open. Credit cards and his wife's ring had been stolen, he said.
"The burglary happened because of the nuclear accidents. I want TEPCO [Tokyo Electric Power Co.] to compensate us for this damage," he said.
Keiko Saito, a 60-year-old housewife of Minami-Soma in the prefecture who has evacuated to Saitama Prefecture, said she was told by a person who visited the 20-kilometer zone in early April that someone had apparently broken windows at her house. She has not yet checked her house personally, because aftershocks have made her hesitant to return home.
Saito said, "I want to return home as soon as possible, but it's been difficult to arrange a date. I have to match my schedule to the dates picked by the municipality."There’s one simple but VERY annoying issue with Apple Logic that really bugs me.
This problem constantly occurs with stereo image.
You must sort it out in order to achieve a solid mix…
And yet Logic doesn’t have a straight up way for dealing with it!
Before all you Ableton or Cubase kids cream your twinkies… Your situation might not be much better so pay attention!
I am not sure about the other DAW:s to be honest, but I would like to hear what the deal is – feel free to drop us some comments.
However, despite the situation there are ways we can work around this problem, so let’s spill the beans.
I’m going to show you three different ways to tackle this bastard.
So What Is It??
I’m talking about stereo content in the low end of the audio spectrum.
Shouldn’t happen, but it does.
What’s the fuss?
Admittedly, stereo bass can work in some genres such as jazz or lighter rock music.
But for bass-heavy club music?
Don’t do it.
Making the low end mono will make your mix more solid.
You also prevent the bass from the sides of the stereo image from piling up into a boomy blob when the tune gets played back through a mono system (such as many club systems).
Lastly, if you are aiming for a vinyl release… You should know that the mastering engineer will make the low end mono anyway if it isn’t already.
Otherwise it just can’t be pressed properly.
And when someone else does that for you… Depending on the severity of the problem…
Your tune might end up sounding a bit different and not how you intended.
So you’re better off just dealing with it in the mix.
Always make the bass mono.
And not just that.
Also the low end of your drums, synths, effects… Anything with low frequency content.
What people used to do was to simply make all bass and drum channels mono.
That still works, but the technique is not up to today’s standards.
You want to be able to make the low frequencies mono while still having control over the rest of the stereo image.
Now, all frequencies of up to 100Hz at least should be mono. I often go higher.
So how do you do that??
It is straight up STUPID…
But Logic does not have straight up functionality for this…
So here are the workarounds for you – three of them as I promised.
Solution #1
Split the signal into two different channels – one with the bass content and the other one with the rest. Make the bass content channel mono.
Here’s how:
Through Bus sends, have it go into two AUX channels. Shut down the original channel by setting it’s output to “No Output”. Use a low pass filter on one AUX channel, and a high pass filter on the other. Both filters tuned at the same frequency (let’s say, 100Hz for example). Make the channel with the low pass filter (the bass channel) mono.
Here’s a screenshot of how this looks like in the Logic mixer:
It’s a bit of a hassle but it gets the job done.
Solution #2
There are stereo image manipulation plugins that do a great job with this kind of thing (and much more).
Such as the MStereo Processor by Melda Productions.
Extremely versatile – it actually allows you to shape the stereo image in 4 different bands.
Solution #3 (my personal choice)
I use an EQ plugin that does M/S processing.
The PSP Neon to be specific.
I simply high pass the side channel at whatever frequency I want.
Boom… done.
That’s all there is to it.
The great thing with Neon is that it’s easy for you to audition exactly the point below which you want to make the bass mono.
Plus it has an analyzer built-in which actually shows if there’s stereo content going on in the low end or not.
So they completely took out the guesswork with this plug-in.
It has many other extremely nice functions as well.
But I might tell you a bit more about that another time.
Anyway, here’s a few ways for you to deal with this issue. I am really hoping Apple will provide some up to date tools for working with the stereo image in their upcoming big Logic 10 (Logic X?) update.
In the meantime we’re stuck with these tricks!
What about those other DAW:s… Live? Cubase? Reason? Are you guys covered with this? Let us hear in the comments…During a recent visit to Acadia National Park, Shirley Beck, who has multiple sclerosis, said she was “very pleased” to find a paved path that allowed her to reach a viewing platform at the Cadillac Mountain summit with her light three-wheel electric scooter.
“It’s pretty good,” said Beck, a pediatric physical therapist from Arlington, Va., after taking in the sweeping vista of Frenchman Bay, islands and distant summits on the mainland.
Beck said she is grateful to Acadia officials for making the peak of Cadillac accessible and praised them for building the pink-granite path for physically disabled persons. Before reaching the viewing platform, the path loops around steps and directly passes by a plaque of the first National Park Service director, Stephen Mather, who was periodically disabled by manic-depression, and was a contemporary of Acadia founder George B. Dorr, who became blind in his later years.
Beck, who visited Acadia while traveling with her husband, Roy, on a cruise ship, said she was not able to get quite as full of an experience at another key Acadia landmark, Thunder Hole. An accessible ramp leads to the upper viewing area of Thunder Hole for physically disabled persons, but not down to the lower area next to the sea cavern itself.
“The path was easy to use that got me part way down,” she wrote in a follow-up email. “I’m not sure how they could provide a way to get farther than that.”
While Beck only visited Acadia briefly, her experience was similar to that of some other physically disabled persons who travel to the Maine national park.
Acadia National Park has 45 miles of even-surface carriage roads, trails, sites and facilities that are available to wheelchair users but others that are not wheelchair-accessible such as Sand Beach, which is below a high bluff and does not have a ramp for physically disabled persons. Citing the terrain, the park service has determined that it is not feasible to build ramps down next to Thunder Hole itself or to Sand Beach.
But Helen Franke, a retired college administrator from Wellington, Fla., said she believed a gradual ramp at Sand Beach might be possible to accommodate physically disabled persons. “For something like this, I think they could,” she said, after stopping at the top of the stairs with a cane she needs to use.
Across the nation, access for people with disabilities is a key issue in outdoor recreation including the 59 national parks, which are required by the federal Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) to adopt accessibility standards for the design, construction, and alteration of facilities covered by the law.
About a month after he was confirmed this year as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke said in a release that “it’s time to start thinking about accessibility and infrastructure” and that “we will remain focused on increasing access” for physically disabled persons and other people with disabilities in national parks.
Court settlement, law expanded NPS access for physically disabled
Three years ago, a dispute reached the courts and prompted the National Park Service (NPS) and Disability Rights Advocates, a nonprofit disability rights legal center, to reach a settlement that expands access to the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, including providing wheelchair access to trails, access to popular beaches, beach wheelchairs and mats.
The National Park Service, in a five-year plan on accessibility, acknowledges that it is under-serving people with varying abilities and lays out a strategy to build momentum and advance the effort.
In an interview, John T. Kelly, management assistant at Acadia National Park, said there is “quite a bit of infrastructure” at Acadia to accommodate people with disabilities. He provided a list of recent accessibility projects involving new construction or major improvements in the park.
Those included an accessible ramp from the Thunder Hole parking lot in 2004; the accessible trail on Cadillac Mountain in 2005; accessible bathrooms and ramp to the beach at Echo Lake approximately in 2011; the upgraded Sand Beach stairway in 2011; the nature trail at Jordan Pond and completion of a loop at the Ship Harbor Trail, both in 2015.
Kelly said the park always considers options for accessibility when constructing or altering facilities. “It is built and considered into every facility development plan,” he said.
An access guide to the park lists many facilities, services and opportunities for people with sight, hearing and mobility disabilities such as wheelchair lifts for all the fare-free Island Explorer shuttle buses, a special accessible parking lot and elevator for the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, picnic areas, museums, accessible sites at campgrounds, access to certain hiking trails like Ship Harbor, packed gravel paths at the Wild Gardens of Acadia, and Hemlock Path and Jesup Path, both at the Sieur de Monts Spring area.
Carriage roads, horse-drawn rides accessible to wheelchair users
Also, Acadia’s entire carriage road system, restored and maintained by Friends of Acadia’s Carriage Roads Endowment, provides a way to experience the park’s interior by wheelchair, according to the Friends web site. Motorized wheelchairs are allowed on the carriage roads, and their smooth surface is also appropriate for visitors with visual disabilities, according to the web site.
In 1998, the Friends also donated and endowed the maintenance of two wheelchair-accessible carriages to Acadia National Park for use at Wildwood Stables.
Kelly said all the 94 camp sites at the new Schoodic Woods Campground, which opened on Sept. 1 of 2015, comply with accessibility standards except for nine hike-in sites. The Blackwoods and Seawall campgrounds also have accessible sites.
In an email, Kelly said, park officials “looked very hard at how we could make Sand Beach accessible when we rehabilitated the stairs some years ago, but we determined under the ABA guidelines that complying with the technical requirements for beach access was impracticable. At the same time, we made Echo Lake Beach accessible to the water.”
Kelly said the improved Sand Beach stairway does provide some elements of accessibility that were not in the old stairway such as new railings and a switch to cement stairs from stone.
If the park had built an accessible ramp to Sand Beach, a series of switchbacks and the required grade would have extended it into the high tide line, meaning it would have been exposed to the surf and damage.
A ramp to Sand Beach also would have affected the scenic quality of the beach and involved engineering costs, Kelly said.
At Thunder Hole, the accessible ramp, completed in 2004, does not go down to the hole itself. “It swings around to an overlook with interpretive panel that describes what people can see. You cannot get down in a wheelchair to the actual spot.”
The accessible ramp starts at the parking lot at Thunder Hole and brings people to the upper portion of the stairway at the site. The ramp and overlook are all wheelchair accessible.
In an email, Kelly said the park looked at all options at Thunder Hole but extending the accessible ramp to the bottom viewing platform at the cavern was determined to be impracticable.
Accessible trail on Cadillac available, if you see it
Kelly said the Cadillac Mountain accessible trail “was quite an engineering job to wind it as best we could through the top of the mountain and use as much of the existing path as possible.”
However, there is no sign to designate the Cadillac path as accessible.
On the same day of Beck’s visit to Cadillac, Carlos Kjellander of Pittsburg, Kansas, used a walker to climb stone stairs to the viewing platform on the peak, after he did not see the accessible path, which does not have a sign at the trailhead. Kjellander said he supports more access, but is concerned about affecting the natural beauty.
“It’s so beautiful, I had to come up,” Kjellander, who had knee replacement surgery, said after navigating the stairs to the viewing platform with his walker. “I’m pretty thrilled I got up here.”
In an email, Kelly said park officials try to limit signs of all kinds throughout the park and have not received any suggestions about signing the Cadillac Summit accessible path until a reporter asked about it. He said he will raise the issue with the park’s Sign Committee.
Michael Kelley of Waldo, Maine, a “nature lover” who uses a wheelchair because of a rare chromosomal disorder and has visited Acadia for more than 20 years, said he enjoys the park, especially use of the carriage roads, but the park needs to improve access.
His mother, Carol Kelley, a poultry farmer, said the park, for example, should provide access to Sand Beach for people in wheelchairs, possibly with a ramp. She and her son have used his wheelchair on Ocean Path and the harder packed sand of the low-tide bar between Bar Island and Bar Harbor, but not Sand Beach, where she has instead taken videos for her son.
She said she disagrees with the park assessment that a ramp to Sand Beach would be impracticable. She said it would be unsafe to carry her son down the stairs to the beach and she believes the park could devise some way to get people in wheelchairs to the beach. “There are ways around it,” she said.
The mother added that the park also should be equipped with special bigger-tire wheelchairs for access to beaches. Acadia does not have a beach wheelchair, the park’s John Kelly said, though some state beaches in Maine make them available.
“I would love that,” the mother said. “That would be awesome.”
Wheelchair users can reach Echo Lake beach, but not Sand Beach
At Echo Lake, for example, an accessible boardwalk leads to the water and there were some mats at the end of the walkway, but the sandy beach appears as if it could be difficult for regular wheelchairs.
The Kelleys emphasized that they do enjoy using the carriage roads in Acadia. Carol Kelley said the carriage trails are “the best” and she would recommend them for people in wheelchairs.
Carol Kelley also said the park needs to have more parking that is restricted just for vans, not cars. She said a minimum of 10 feet clearance is needed for the wheelchair to exit the side of their van. She said people with disability placards, regardless of the type of vehicle, often park in van-accessible spaces, at hospitals, supermarkets and other locations, not just Acadia.
The park’s John Kelly said the park has many van accessible parking spaces including two at the Cadillac Summit next to the accessible path. A minimum of one van accessible space is required for each location, but the rest can be a standard space, he said.
During a recent visit to the park, Pam Butler of Rochester, N.Y., who uses a wheelchair and is blind, her daughter, Megan Butler, and a couple of friends said they enjoyed the park including paths near Jordan Pond, the separate access for people with disabilities at the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, the Wild Gardens of Acadia and a CD of audio tour of the park that they purchased at the visitor center.
The daughter did say it was difficult over a busy weekend to access parking for disabled persons. “There’s not enough space,” she said. “We found them to be full most of the time.”
Accessible vistas provide ‘glorious feeling’ for physically disabled
Shirley Beck, the pediatric physical therapist who uses a scooter, wrote that she and her husband don’t expect to have access to every mountain top or every trail, but having at least one, or a small number, of accessible experiences is a world of difference from having none.
The couple used to backpack and hike a lot during their first four years of marriage until she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which quickly ended her days of vigorous hiking and, eventually, all hiking and walking.
“So, I am fully aware of the glorious feeling of getting off the beaten path that can’t be reached by auto — or perhaps any other vehicle,” wrote Beck. “But for all of us who don’t have the physical ability to do that, we are grateful that the managers and planners of our park systems are imagining how much they would like to experience some of that glorious feeling if they could no longer walk.”
Hulls Cove Visitor Center offers elevator, accessible entrance
Even if you can’t get down to Sand Beach, other features accessible
Cadillac views available to physically disabled persons via path
Thunder Hole offers accessible viewpoint, parking, gift shop
Sieur de Monts features accessible features, from paths to gardens
Acadia’s Echo Lake is wheelchair-user friendly
Ship Harbor Trail features an accessible well-graded gravel loop
Jordan Pond House offers accessible parking, restaurant, gift shop
Ocean Path accessible from small parking lot across from Old Soaker
Miscellaneous photos of places in Acadia that are accessible, or notArnold Schwarzenegger used one of his last big moments as California's governor to rally regional and business leaders on climate change today, saying that together they had the muscle to force national governments to act.
At the opening of his third and last climate summit, Schwarzenegger said leaders could learn from California's example as an environmental pioneer.
"I know that together we can usher in a new era and build a cleaner and brighter, more prosperous future, so I say: let's do it," Schwarzengger told the summit at the University of California at Davis.
The two-day summit is one of his final opportunities to shore up his reputation as California's green governor. His successor, Democrat Jerry Brown, takes over in January. Schwarzenegger plans to drive home the message tomorrow with the launch of his R20 partnership of regional and business leaders, which aims to function like a financial matchmaking service, finding investors from the World Bank and private corporations for renewable energy projects in developing countries. The UN climate chief and the state department have endorsed the programme. The governor is also expected to announce a conservation agreement covering 20% of the world's tropical forests in 14 US states and Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria.
The two-day summit, which brings together US, Canadian and international leaders along with celebrities such as Harrison Ford and Deepak Chopra, was perfectly timed to show up the fragility of green reforms: it comes just two weeks after Republican victories in the mid-term elections shut off prospects for action on global warming in Washington.
Global leaders will gather in Cancun later this month for the UN's climate conference. But after the collapse of last year's summit at Copenhagen, they have warned that there is scope only for limited agreements on climate finance issues.
But Schwarzenegger told the summit to press on. "I'm sure that many of you of course were discouraged and wondered, 'What does it all mean for our environmental movement here? Is this a vision of a clean energy future, or is it a fairy tale?'" he said.
But he said California had offered signs of encouragement. Californians voted by more than a 20% margin last month to reject a ballot initiative that would have rolled back the state's landmark climate law. The scale of that victory demonstrated that climate change had outgrown the old categories of being seen as a Democratic issue or a Republican issue and was now a much broader concern.
He went on to say that the "green revolution" was under way from Norway to China: "The science is on our side, the economy is on our side, the people are on our side." he said.
Several of yesterday's speakers picked up on Schwarzenegger's main theme - that action by state governments and business leaders could make up for some of the failures by national governments.
A number also took digs at the failed efforts by Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress to pass a sweeping climate change law.
"Maybe we don't have to say we have got to have a big comprehensive solution," said George Schultz, secretary of state under the first George Bush and a key adviser to Schwarzenegger. "Let's say let's do a little of this and a little of that."News4's David Culver is in Manassas Park, where a man claiming to be a psychic scammed a woman out of thousands of dollars. Police believe there may be more victims.
Manassas Park police are looking for a man they say scammed a woman for thousands of dollars by gaining her trust over social media and then claiming he could predict winning lottery numbers.
The man, who goes by the fake name Angel Cruz Oliviero on Facebook, uses social media to find his victims, police say. He poses as a legitimate psychic to build trust with potential targets for the scam.
The man promised one woman that he could predict the winning numbers for the lottery. Police caught the man on surveillance video as he brought the woman to a 7-11 store Oct. 25 to buy a Powerball ticket.
The suspect later told the victim that the purchased ticket was a winner -- and said she owed him money to claim it.
The woman wired the man thousands of dollars, police say.
The suspect has a stocky build, stands about 6 feet tall and has a tattoo on the back of his neck, police say.
If you think you have seen the suspect, you can contact Manassas Park police at 703-361-1136.Ed. Note: The suspect in this story has been arrested, San Diego police.
A heavyset woman with facial hair stabbed a man when he approached a group in East Village Wednesday evening, police said.
The 39-year-old victim walked up to the group standing at 300 Park Boulevard and asked them for a cigarette at about 7:40 p.m., San Diego Police said.
According to police, as he was talking to them, a woman approached the man and told him to get away from her things.
The woman then stabbed the man in the left side of his neck, police say. She was last seen running south on Park Boulevard.
The victim was taken to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
The suspect is described as a light-skinned woman weighing around 400 pounds "with a beard." She was wearing a white shirt and jeans at the time of the attack, according to the SDPD.
If you know anything about this incident, call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.OAKLAND (CBS SF) — The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District is hiring 100 new bus operators and 25 journey-level mechanics in the next 90 days, district officials said Thursday.
AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles said riders want buses to come more frequently and the additional employees will help make that a reality.
On some lines, this means buses will come every 15 minutes instead of every 30 minutes, Lyles said.
The new employees will be supporting the district’s Service Expansion Plan, which will increase bus service by up to 14 percent, making service more reliable, efficient and convenient.
The expansion plan will be implemented during the next 12 months, AC Transit officials said.
Candidates for bus operator positions need to be at least 23 years old but do not need experience as a bus operator. AC Transit will provide all the training necessary to operate a bus and get a California Class-B commercial driver’s license, according to district officials.
Candidates must have had a valid driver’s license for at least seven years, have a safe driving record and pass a criminal background check.
New mechanics should have four to six years of experience, preferably on higher-end cars, because the district is adding 80 buses with diagnostic systems similar to what is found in more expensive cars.
The mechanics should also have experience with heavy equipment because they will be working on older buses too. Mechanics will have an opportunity to work on hydrogen buses, AC Transit officials said.
Candidates for the mechanic positions must pass a written exam and a hands-on mechanical exam.
Each person who gets placed in the training course for bus operators will earn up to $28.20 per hour and receive a benefits package, according to AC Transit.
Journey-level mechanics earn $33.31 per hour with full-time hours and a benefits package.
Anyone interested in applying can visit www.actransit.org/careers.
© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Amazon can put another notch in their ebook “library” bedpost. As of this writing, there are now 200,433 ebook titles in the list of ebooks in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
Amazon’s Lending Library launched under a year ago on November 3, 2011. It allows anyone that owns a Kindle and that subscribes to Amazon Prime for $79 per year to be able to borrow one ebook from the library for free each month. There is no such thing as a limited number of copies and there are no wait lists. If you want an ebook that’s in the list you simply click a button and boom you’ve got your borrowed ebook for free. Once the next month starts you can get another one for free.
This one ebook per month limitation has created an interesting situation where people will borrow one ebook from an author for free and then buy other ebooks from the same author. Book publishers could probably use this same model as a way to promote their ebooks through public libraries.
The lending program is incredibly popular and new titles are being added constantly. It took 96 days for Amazon to get the first 100,000 ebooks in the library. Over the next 95 days, another 50,000 titles were added. To reach 200,000 ebooks took 113 days. So it looks like the growth rate has stabilized at roughly 50,000 new ebooks per quarter.
That is an absolutely stunning number of titles. To put that number in perspective, if you combine all the ebooks at the New York Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, Boston Public Library and Seattle Public Library you will arrive at a little over 100,000 ebooks. The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has almost twice the number of ebook titles as some of the largest public libraries combined.
Of course the comparison is a little unfair since the book publishers aren’t actually selling ebooks to public libraries. Only two of the big six book publishers allow libraries to buy their ebooks because they’re afraid that someone that borrows an ebook for free will be unwilling to pay for the same ebook. Amazon continues to prove them wrong every day with their ebook “library”.
Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library will continue to grow at an astounding pace. The question is will libraries be able to get ebooks from book publishers so that they can grow too?North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Boom Being Driven By Solar, According To New Report
October 12th, 2014 by James Ayre
That number stands out a bit more when you realize that, |
can't get people to vote for you if they know you despise them on some level. At the same time, GOP politicians individually need to make sure those positions are clear to those in their base. Their base won't passionately support them otherwise. It's a delicate balancing act, which Republicans are quite accustomed to in some areas — particularly when it comes to racial politics, for example. But what happens when too many people start catching on — as seems to have happened with women and Hispanic voters in 2012, for example? And now a further complication: What happens when a whole new category of people gets added — the poor/working poor/near poor who have become increasingly indistinguishable from the middle class since the financial crisis?
In his piece, Sargent looked at items from two different polls — one from Pew, one from CBS — that were about government action to reduce the income inequality gap, extend unemployment benefits and raise the minimum wage, along with Paul Ryan’s hammock theory of poverty – that government aid is a cause of poverty. CBS polled specifically on unemployment making people less motivated to look for a job, while Pew asked if government aid to the poor does more harm than good by making people dependent on government. The “hammock theory” is a striking image, but not to be taken too seriously, given its close connection with opposing a higher minimum wage — a straightforward example of government clearly encouraging people to work. No one who seriously accepts the hammock theory of poverty ought to oppose a higher minimum wage, not unless there's something else, something deeper going on: some form of animus toward the poor. Still, it's a convenient cover story for selling the 1 percent's selfish interests to the conservative masses — epitomized by the Koch brothers' long-term funding of the Tea Party movement — and conservative politicians invoke it repeatedly as if it were simple common sense.
On all the questions Sargent looked at, Tea Party and non-Tea Party Republicans differed by 20 points or more. More strikingly, on most of them, pluralities or majorities of each group are on opposite sides. For example, Pew found that Tea Party Republicans oppose doing something to reduce the income inequality gap, 66-28, while non-Tea Party Republicans support doing something, 60-35. Those are the kinds of figures you expect to see between the two parties, not within them. Likewise, on raising the minimum wage, Pew found the Tea Partyers opposed, 65-33, while the non-Tea Partyers supported it by the exact same margin.
The roots of these intra-party divisions that Sargent highlights are not new. The 1 percent's economic agenda has long been supported in theory by strong majorities of conservatives — and solidly opposed by them in practice. (The same division exists in the broader public as well, though the contradiction is less acute.) What's new is how these attitudes have morphed in the aftermath of the catastrophic economic failure of 2008. But to understand what's new, we need to begin with what is not.
In 1964, two pioneers of public opinion research, Lloyd Free and Hadley Cantril, conducted an exhaustive survey of American public opinion, the results of which they published three years later in "The Political Beliefs of Americans." Probably their most important finding was a profound disjunction between what they called "operational" liberalism (based on support for specific spending programs) and ideological conservatism (based on agreement with a set of five questions about “government interference” versus individual initiative). A sharper edge can be drawn by noting that ideological conservatism is congruent with the “free market” economics that led to the Great Depression, while operational liberalism is congruent with the New Deal and subsequent programs that not only ended the Great Depression, but were the foundations of America's broad post-WWII prosperity, very much in evidence in 1964. They found that 50 percent of all Americans qualified as ideological conservatives by their definition — but that 65 percent qualified as operational liberals, meaning that 23 percent qualified as both — a number that doubled in the Deep South states that Goldwater carried that year.
Advertisement:
There are multiple ways one might understand this disconnect, all of which could be partially true. Most charitably, it could be seen as reflecting the power of pragmatism (spending money on what works) over abstract idealism (what a wonderful world, if only the market magically made everything work out fine). Less charitably, it could just show how confused people are. But it could also reflect a lack of readily accessible, well-articulated alternatives. In the final section of the final chapter of their book, titled "The Need for a Restatement of American Ideology," Free and Cantril wrote:
"The paradox of a large majority of Americans qualifying as operational liberals while at the same time a majority hold to a conservative ideology has been repeatedly emphasized in this study. We have described this state of affairs as mildly schizoid, with people believing in one set of principles abstractly while acting according to another set of principles in their political behavior. But the principles according to which the majority of Americans actually behave politically have not yet been adequately formulated in modern terms. "There is little doubt that the time has come for a restatement of American ideology to bring it in line with what the great majority of people want and approve. Such a statement, with the right symbols incorporated, would focus people's wants, hopes, and beliefs, and provide a guide and platform to enable the American people to implement their political desires in a more intelligent, direct, and consistent manner."
Such a restatement — conceiving of government as promoting the general welfare, and of the economy as an organic whole, not simply reducible to individual actors — lay at the heart of Johnson's War on Poverty and Great Society programs, and was explicit in Martin Luther King's economic agenda as well, as seen in his 1967 speech "Where Do We Go From Here?”:
John Kenneth Galbraith said that a guaranteed annual income could be done for about $20 billion a year. And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend $35 billion a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and $20 billion to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God's children on their own two feet right here on earth.
But even though Johnson tried to stress class rather than racial concerns, his efforts were effectively stymied by racism, as it morphed into its modern form of so-called principled conservatism under the guidance of George Wallace, as civil rights historian Taylor Branch recently summarized, on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington:
By the end of 1963, with segregation losing its stable respectability, he [Wallace] dropped the word altogether from a fresh stump speech denouncing "big government" by "pointy-headed bureaucrats," tyrannical judges, and "tax, tax, spend, spend" legislators. He spurned racial discourse, calling it favouritism, and insisted with aplomb that he had never denigrated any person or group in his fight for local control. Wallace, though still weighted by a hateful reputation, mounted the first of three strong presidential campaigns.
For most of the five decades from 1964 to today, racialized rhetoric has dominated campaigning, and stymied the emergence of a restated American ideology that Free and Cantril envisioned. Yet, it has not altered the most basic of attitudes, or economic realities: where and when the market fails badly enough, the American people expect their government to act.
Advertisement:
This can be seen in four decades of polling by the General Social Survey, the gold standard of public opinion research in the United States. For decades, its questions have included a set of spending priority questions — are we spending too much, too little or about the right amount on Social Security, national defense, protecting the environment, etc. And for decades — just as Free and Cantril could have told us — the majority of self-identified conservatives have said we're spending too little or about the right amount on almost every item they are asked about.
Even in the peak Tea Party year of 2010, for example, Republicans said we were spending too little on Social Security, rather than too much, by a lopsided 52-12 margin. The same year, self-identified conservatives said we were spending too little on "improving and protecting the nation's health," rather than too much, by a 2-to-1 margin: 48-24. Combining the two categories and the two spending questions, and we find that conservative Republicans think we're spending too little, rather than too much, on one or both of these, by 51.4 to 28.7 percent.
This pattern isn't limited to these two issues, however. If we combine six questions in 2010 -- adding education, mass transit, highways and bridges, and urban problems to Social Security and healthcare -- then only a minuscule 0.4 percent of conservative Republicans said we were spending too much on all of them, while two-thirds (66.5 percent) said we are spending too little on at least one of them. This is exactly what Free and Cantril were talking about, and it's a similar point that Blake Zeff made in two different stories in January. The American people are profoundly liberal in terms of economic policy, so much so that, as a whole, self-identified conservatives are to the left of the “bipartisan center” in Washington, D.C.
Advertisement:
The big-picture way things have generally worked for decades now has been relatively simple, with two main components. The first is the variation in terms of who is seen to benefit. The second is variation in terms of perceived legitimate need — a reflection of economic hard times, or their absence. The former category includes spending on poor people and blacks, for example. Combine them together, and liberal Democrats say we're spending too little rather than too much by a ratio of 200-to-1 (40.8 percent to 0.2 percent) in 2010, while for conservative Republicans it's more than 2-to-1 in the other direction (6.4 percent to 13.8 percent). What this shows is that the one way to get conservative Republicans to be operationally conservative is to talk about poor people and blacks, the so-called undeserving poor, to put things in 19th century terms. But the focus has to be very tight.
As for the second component, this was best illuminated by Martin Gilens in his 1999 book "Why Americans Hate Welfare." Reviewing his book for the Denver Post, I explained:
“Using a study of major news weeklies, he shows that when the issue is welfare and its many failings, white faces grow extremely rare; when times are hard and coverage grows more sympathetic - the mid-'70s and early '80s recessions - white faces grow more plentiful.”
In short, when times get hard enough, the public realizes that people are victims of a system they cannot control. The victims they are shown look just like them, so it's an easy connection to make. Along similar lines, the 2001 paper “Why Doesn’t the US Have a European-Style Welfare State?” by Alberto Alesina, Edward Glaeser and Bruce Sacerdote, cites multiple reasons, but race is arguably the most prominent of them. The authors present two charts showing that social spending levels go down as the level of racial and ethnic diversity goes up. The first is a comparison of country-level spending, the second compares state-level spending in the U.S. Thus, what Gilens showed was a consistent pattern: When times get hard, we tend to see ourselves less as two nations, and more as one, more willing to share a common burden, even a majority of self-described conservatives.
Advertisement:
But after 2008, something fundamentally changed. Instead of pulling together, and turning to government programs to counter the damage the Great Recession had done, as even Reagan and Bush had done during past recessions, the broad political consensus of more than 50 years' standing was shattered, led by a sharp right-wing refusal to pull together as one nation. That pattern seen in the GSS questions still held up — though at a low ebb — but its expression in the public realm was completely stifled. Nothing shows this more clearly than the willingness to default on the national debt — except, perhaps, the delusional notion that doing so was a supreme act of fiscal responsibility. One obvious factor was the president's race, reinforced by Republicans' persistent otherization and demonization of him. Forget the question of what people in need looked like, just look at who's asking on their behalf!
But three other interrelated factors played a role as well. First was the sheer magnitude of the financial crisis; nothing like it had been seen since the Great Depression, and seemingly no one was intellectually, morally or politically prepared for it. Second was the convergence of elite opinion and outlook, which contributed enormously to that lack of preparedness, and rebelled instinctively against the sort of bold, dramatic action that was called for by the scope of the catastrophe. Third was the total ideological failure of conservatism underscored by the crisis. The first two factors effectively stifled the sort of sweeping political response that was needed to match the scope of the crisis and its aftermath — the kind of response that mobilized tens of millions during the Great Depression, and helped the Democrats prosper politically even when business turned sharply against them. The third factor energized the right into an unbounded frenzy of self-deceptive reinvention, in which all the old balancing of pragmatism vs. zeal went out the window. It was as if a European center-right Christian Democrat party had dramatically transformed itself into a xenophobic neo-fascist National Front party in the space of just a few short months.
Let's not forget, under George W. Bush, conservatives controlled all three branches of government for the first time since the 1920s, and the result was catastrophic failure — even before the financial crisis exploded in September 2008. Bush's polling average had fallen below 40 percent in early 2006, and dropped below 30 percent two years later, well before the economic collapse. Even conservatives had begun to abandon him. By the time of Obama's election, conservatism itself was in crisis. It responded as it invariably does, by disavowing all its failures, claiming that conservatism itself had not failed, but that conservatives had not been true enough to it! All of the sudden, George W. Bush was not a conservative at all! Problem solved!
In the real world, it was a very different story. Republicans had only been allowed back in power after the Great Depression once they admitted that they had been terribly wrong. Eisenhower declared an end to their all-out war against the New Deal, and began their tradition of trying to reshape it, both to gain popular support, and to serve their own larger political goals, just as European conservatives had done, starting with Otto von Bismarck's creation of the German welfare state in the 1880s. Reflecting a similar realism, in a 1954 letter to his brother Edgar, Ike wrote:
Advertisement:
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
However much they may have differed from one another over the next 60 years, Republican leaders all shared Eisenhower's basic acceptance of the New Deal, even as they worked to reshape it here and there. Whether it was Bob Dole co-sponsoring the law that established food stamps as a universal program, and other key anti-hunger legislation, or Ronald Reagan striking a deal to preserve Social Security's solvency, or expanding the earned income tax credit, or George W. Bush adding the Medicare drug benefit, the pattern was broadly the same — making peace with history, and the inescapable shortcomings of a pure free market capitalist system, regardless of what they might say in speeches to rile up their base. That was the actual record of American conservatism in power prior to 2008. That was what the Tea Party conservatives abandoned and denounced.
What was left for conservatives to hold onto was what they once tried to abandon, or at least suppress: their deeply id-directed drive toward conspiracism. In the very same time frame when William F. Buckley had written approvingly in defense of Southern segregation, he acted forcefully to try to cleanse conservatism of anti-Semitism, and of the broader tendency toward conspiracism embodied in the John Birch Society. It was never a very successful effort on Buckley's part, as conspiracist classics like John Stormer's "None Dare Call It Treason" and Phyllis Schlafly's "A Choice, Not an Echo" sold millions of copies, spectacular sales figures that Buckley himself could only dream of. Stormer's book described "the communist-socialist conspiracy to enslave America," while Schlafly's promoted the conspiracy theory that the Republican Party was secretly controlled by members of the Bilderberger banking conference in cahoots with global communism. Her book title became a leading slogan of Goldwater's 1964 campaign, just when Buckley was making a big deal out of symbolically expelling the John Birch Society from the conservative movement, in order to make it mainstream.
So, in short: Welcome to the return of the repressed.
Of course, the return didn't just come out of the blue. What had been repressed in terms of P.R. had never really gone anywhere but ever-so-slightly underground. In fact, it had been carefully nurtured, cultivated and dispersed via decades of conservative movement building, with billlions of dollars pumped into the effort. But it was badly in need of a new articulation in the post-Bush era. Most important, it needed an updated array of conspiracist narratives holding the evildoers at bay.
Advertisement:
In terms of the Tea Party proper, the initial spark was provided in early 2009 by an on-air rant from CNBC's Rick Santelli, which then flowered in a full-time nurturing media environment provided by Fox News. As economist Dean Baker noted at the time, “Santelli apparently hit a chord among those who want to blame deadbeat homeowners for the country's economic woes,” but Santelli was “firing at the wrong target” since “The big gainers from the latest plan to help homeowners are not 'loser' homeowners, but rather banks and investors, who will earn far more on their loser loans than would otherwise have been possible.”
Of course, “firing at the wrong target” was the whole point: redirecting anger from a wealthy, powerful, criminally irresponsible elite toward the most precarious of latecomers struggling to get a toehold on the American dream. It was the perfect embodiment of the conspiracist mind-set referred to above: The problem is a morally suspect out-group, being coddled and encouraged by big bad government, which is trying to destroy America, because #evil.
Santelli wasn't the first to make that move. The McCain/Palin campaign tried a similar tactic in the closing days of the 2008 campaign, trying to lay blame for the housing crisis on the advocacy group ACORN — a group that John McCain himself had once appeared with as an ally. On Oct. 10, 2008, they released an ad claiming, "ACORN forced banks to issue risky home loans, the same types of loans that caused the financial crisis we're in today." Some version of this story would be told over and over again on the right in the months and years that followed. But ACORN refuted it almost immediately with a devastating in-depth report, which I wrote about at the time. ACORN showed that its record was the exact opposite of what McCain had claimed: It was on the forefront of fighting against the reckless spread of subprime lending, and there were local press stories covering its efforts as far back as 1999, when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, “Acorn Blasts Number of Sub-Par Loans Being Made in St. Louis Area: One Homebuyer Says She Is Stuck With a 30-Year Mortgage at a 12 Percent Rate.”
The right typically never let the facts get in the way, and within a few years it managed to destroy ACORN, with considerable help from herd-minded Democrats in Congress, based on a series of profoundly dishonest videos, for which videographer James O'Keefe was successfully sued for $100,000. ACORN was likewise falsely portrayed as perpetrating massive voter fraud — an entirely mythical phenomenon used to justify massive voter suppression efforts. The narratives quickly expanded beyond ACORN, and spilled over into other areas as well, but the Tea Party's anti-ACORN animus was clearly a key formative factor, particularly since ACORN was a multiracial, multiethnic, multi-issue low-income advocacy organization — the very embodiment of the sort of threat that Tea Partyers saw represented in President Obama. That anti-ACORN animus remains clearly visible in the figures Sargent cited, opposing any sort of government action to assist those most in need — even though a majority of those in need are white, just like the vast majority of Tea Party Republicans.
Advertisement:
The very timidity of Obama's actual response paved the way for the Tea Party's initial success. This, in turn, reflects back onto two of the four factors mentioned above, along with his race and the catastrophic failure of conservatism: First was the sheer magnitude of the financial crisis, which seemingly no one was prepared for. Second was the convergence of elite opinion and outlook, which united them in opposition to precisely the sort of bold, dramatic action that was needed, following the example of FDR in response to the Great Depression.
As Paul Krugman warned, starting even before Obama took office, Obama's embrace of a too-small stimulus package — roughly half the size of what was needed — was deeply problematic. A too-small stimulus made it impossible to get significantly more later, and it promoted the false impression that the stimulus had failed completely. Moreover, even before he took office, Obama was already talking about embracing de facto austerity economics, pledging to convene a deficit-reduction summit in February, with cutting Medicare and Medicaid explicitly on the agenda. This was not what Obama's broad base of supporters thought they were voting for -- deficit reduction appeared nowhere on a list of top 10 campaign priorities that Gallup/USA Today polled about, just before Obama took office — but it was very much in line with what his Wall Street donors might want, as can be seen in a more recent study of policy attitudes among the wealthy from Northwestern University. They alone placed deficit reduction far ahead of any other concern: 87 percent said it was “very important,” while 32 percent separately named it as the “most important” problem facing the nation, compared to just 7 percent among the general public in a similar poll taken at the same time.
Obama's too-cautious approach — made worse by trying to be nice when Republicans turned vicious toward him — depressed his base, and failed to deliver the sort of vigorous action his campaign had promised. When the Tea Party-fueled GOP swept to power in the House and state legislatures in the 2010 election as a result, Obama's continued blind fealty to the failed bipartisan elite consensus opened the door for yet another round of policy disaster, as he negotiated with House Republicans under the threat of an unprecedented debt default.
In the midst of this time frame, in April 2011, Sargent wrote another significant piece, drawing attention to what he called “the Beltway deficit feedback loop," the process by which official Washington eventually brainwashed the public on deficits:
Advertisement:
For the longest time, polls indicated that the deficit ranked low on the list of voter concerns, showing public opinion to be strikingly out of sync with official Washington's prioritising of the deficit over job creation. But this morning brings a new poll from the Washington Post and Pew Research that finds a whopping 81 per cent now think the deficit is a major problem that should be dealt with now, rather than when the economy improves. Tellingly, that number has jumped even among Democrats. When you have leading officials in both parties - starting with all Republicans and a handful of moderate Dems - acting as if reining in the deficit is so urgent that it requires more attention than creating jobs, people start to tell pollsters they agree. This helps create a climate in which Dems lose any incentive to make the case for more government spending to prime the recovery, which begins to vanish from the conversation.
That was a dynamic that took years to create, and Democratic passivity was key in creating it. But the deficit has plummeted since then, while the economy continues to struggle, unemployment remains high, and 95 percent of recent income gains go exclusively to the top 1 percent. This is the new reality reflected in Sargent's more recent analysis, the reality in which everyone except the Tea Party expects government action to revive the economy, enhance opportunity and reduce the gap between rich and poor.
The effects of gerrymandering and the continued threat of Tea Party primaries from the right make it highly unlikely that Republicans will notice, in the near term. But the country as a whole has shifted significantly, in part repulsed by Romney's embrace of this same Tea Party view in his 47 percent remarks, and this creates a real potential problem for them, especially if it develops synergy with the other major problems they've already acknowledged (immigration) or semi-acknowledged (women), which also tie into portraying major voting blocs as undesirables. At one level, Republicans do sense they have a problem. We can see that in their various attempts to seem to care about the poor. But what they don't get is just how isolated their views are from those of most Americans, just as they are isolated on women's issues and immigration.
This has been obscured by the horse-race-minded media's facile praise for feeble gestures like Marco Rubio's or Ryan's, but Obama and other Democrats have challenged the Tea Party's view more and more openly of late. Obama remains cautious and muted in manner, as seen in his backing off of any focus on inequality in his State of the Union. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 alone won't do much to impact income inequality overall. But it's a starting point — and one that's hugely popular, as has been proven by past experience every time the minimum wage has been put on the ballot, most recently winning by 60-40 in New Jersey, circumventing a Chris Christie veto. By stressing how people can take action at multiples levels — states, cities, even individual companies — Obama is wisely turning congressional GOP intransigence into a strategic advantage, while identifying with an already booming broad-based movement.
This immediately pushes the GOP back on the defense again. How can folks like Rubio and Ryan continue their charades of “caring” about poverty, if they won't support raising the minimum wage? How can they even pretend to honor the value of hard work? And yet, there stand the Tea Party Republicans, in their splendid isolation, opposed to raising the minimum wage by 65-33, while non-Tea Party Republicans support raising it by the exact same landslide margin.
Advertisement:
The Tea Party may stand in isolation, but the minimum wage issue does not. A recent poll conducted for the Center for American Progress found that 86 percent of Americans believe that government has a responsibility to use its resources to fight poverty, while seven in 10 support setting a national goal to cut poverty in the United States in half within 10 years. There is clearly a potential to build a much more comprehensive anti-poverty agenda as the minimum wage struggle intensifies and spreads. The only real question is, will the Democrats take advantage of this enormous opportunity to open up yet another front on which the GOP base is deeply at odds with the vast majority of the American people? The political advantage seems obvious -- except for the role of donors, the majority of whose money comes from the 1 percent. As with women and with undocumented immigrants, large public majorities are not enough. Activists themselves will have to make the Democrats do right. But at least there is a clear opening for them to go on offense now.Among the many former Sounders still playing, perhaps the most enigmatic is Alvaro Fernandez. I have said that Flaco was the kind of player MLS needed, but didn't want. He seems to go down in history as yet another foreign player Sigi Schmid didn't really know what to do with. We could easily write him off as just another failed DP signing; in this case because he simply wasn't good enough to justify the salary.
Flaco played a key role in the 2011 team that led the League in goals, despite going almost the entire season without a true starting caliber top forward (aka the "not-Montero" forward position). In August of that year - right about the time the Sounders were tearing through their league and continental opposition, I wrote that he was essentially mis-cast as a wide midfielder - at least the "Sigi's arrow" type of wide midfielder.
That season, Flaco essentially took the midfield spot vacated by Steve Zakuani after his horrible injury, but he was far from a drag-and-drop replacement. He was a wide attacking midfielder with a central midfielder's style. He was technical and deliberate, popping up in fortuitous positions to score goals. Despite being a gifted passer, he finished the season with no assists. It was a statistical anomaly for one of the few Sounders to have ever employed the underlying principles of "tiki-taka" style soccer.
Another factor in the 2011 season was that, faced with a somewhat dire injury and availability situation among his midfielders, Sigi ran the diamond for a time in the first half of the season. The formation was employed to some mixed reviews, but did prove to be successful in grinding out a series of important results before the team could return to its more swashbuckling ways as the summer progressed. Here is what I said about Flaco and the diamond in that aforementioned 2011 article:
"It could be said that Sigi's affair with the diamond midfield was little more than an attempt to get his most skilled player into his ideal spot. Certainly not a winger, but also not necessarily a true CM - his finesse and frame don't necessarily translate to an MLS central midfield - it made sense that Fernandez would be comfortable as the left of the two "shuttlers" in a diamond 4-4-2. As I explored previously, the two shuttlers, the nominal "outside" mids between the CDM and the CAM in the diamond, have more in common with the two CM's who operate in front of a CDM in the 4-1-2-3 version of 4-3-3, than they do with the outside mid/wingers in the common "bucket 4-4-2". "
At this point, it is important to remember that Sigi chose not to start Mauro Rosales at Portland in the playoffs, with the team already down a goal and needing an offensive spark. Rosales simply didn't fit in as a wide midfielder in that formation. You can argue with many things that Sigi did late in the season, but you can't really argue with that, because it's true.
Obviously, there is considerable speculation among the denizens of Sounderland that the team will be moving forward in 2014 running the diamond. If so, there hardly seems a better candidate than the one and only Flaco Fernandez. The idea is instantly quite intriguing, providing the Sounders with a capable wide midfielder who we know is quite capable of scoring goals in quality and meaning.
Adrian Hanauer is currently sitting on an allegedly giant stack of allocation money. The recent departures of Adam Moffat, Mauro Rosales, and Steve Zakuani have opened chunks of space in the midfield. Now, Dave tells me it would be possible to bring Flaco back on a non-DP salary. This kind of makes too much sense, does it not?
This also has interesting possibilities for Brad Evans as the right mid. Best described as a "utility midfielder" he is somewhere between a CDM and a WAM - or even a wingback - and certainly better deployed on the right. I was struck with the realization that one of the reasons for Sigi's quixotic late-season tactics change was to get one of his most trusted players into his ideal role (not unlike the 2011 diamond and Flaco). Hanauer has already commented that the team will be built around Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, and Clint Dempsey.
The diamond, in reality, represents a pretty fundamental tactical switch from the Sigi's arrow or bucket 4-4-2. The diamond 4-4-2 really has more in common with a 4-3-3, or at least one of the two versions of the 4-3-3, the 4-1-2-3. This is the version that uses a single deep CDM - who in our case is clearly Alonso, the best CDM perhaps in MLS history - and two shuttling, box-to-box type mids. By way of contrast, the 4-3-3 we saw Portland use featured two holders and a high CAM (Diego Valeri). Portland's version of the 4-3-3 is nearly indistinguishable form the 4-2-3-1; which in turn was not too far from the old "Sigi's Arrow" with Fredy Montero.
With Deandre Yedlin as the more attacking fullback - indeed almost a wingback - it will help to have the more defensively aware Evans as the right of the two box-to-box midfielders. Flaco would be able to step into a more "free" role, popping up where he needs to. The diamond is, necessarily, a narrow midfield; which can be a serious drawback. Unlike the 4-3-3 which can add midfield width from either wingers or fullbacks, the diamond's only real source of width comes from fullbacks. However, that doesn't mean that Dempsey or Obafemi Martins can't flow into wide areas as an outlet, keeping Kenny Cooper up top as a target man.
The 4-4-2 diamond may not be my favorite formation, but if done right it can work and work well. As with all formations, the defined shape is less important than the mix of roles and styles it puts on the field. Even without a full commitment to a diamond, Alvaro Fernandez's style and skillset would be a valuable addition to this team.T
oday, at New Delhi, India’s first and biggest mobile, internet and technology event, India Mobile Congress was kicked off. The opening ceremony was inaugurated by Chief Guest, Minister Manoj Sinha, Ministry of Communication.
The inauguration ceremony was also graced by industry leaders, including Mukesh Ambani, Bharti Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, and others. Speaking at the event, Minister Shri Manoj called the event a proud moment for the country.
“This platform is a much-awaited event in the country which has over a billion subscribers and has seen tremendous growth,” he added.
The event will span over a period of 3 days and feature 21 sessions. It’ll be covering themes like Digital India, Startup India, Internet Governance, 5G Future, etc.
It’s expected that the event will attract more than 500 startups, 2,000 delegates from Indian and other countries. The event’s principal partner is Google.
Aruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary, said that by 2019 India will have 1 million hotspots and bring better internet connectivity to rural India.
Stay tuned, more updates are coming.One of Colorado’s nine electors is requesting a national intelligence briefing regarding the Russian government’s ties to Donald Trump before casting his vote in the Electoral College.
Micheal Baca, a Democratic elector seeking to block Trump from winning the presidency, and nine other electors of the 538-member Electoral College signed an open letter Monday to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
“The electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations,” according to the letter, which was posted online. “We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as president of the United States.”
The letter follows the disclosure of a CIA report Friday that concluded with “high confidence” that the Russian government influenced the election to help Trump win. Trump dismissed the report Sunday, calling it “ridiculous.”
“Trump’s willingness to disregard conclusions made by the intelligence community and his continuing defense of Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin demand close scrutiny and deliberation from the Electoral College,” the letter states.
The electors who signed the letter also asked Trump to provide evidence that he and his advisers “did not accept Russian interference” and repudiate the actions.
In an interview, Baca declined to comment Monday about the letter but confirmed he signed it.
The signers represent six states and the District of Columbia. Only one is a Republican.
The electors are scheduled to meet Dec. 19 to cast formal Electoral College votes from the states. Colorado’s nine electoral votes will go to Democrat Hillary Clinton — although Baca and others are open to trading those votes for a consensus alternative candidate to Trump. At least 37 Republican electors pledged to support Trump in other states would need to defect to force the question to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Baca and other electors acknowledge their repeated efforts — under the group Hamilton Electors — have little chance of success.
The Colorado electors are required under state law to vote for the candidate that wins the state’s popular vote — in this case Clinton, who beat Trump by 4.85 percentage points, according to final results announced Friday. If they don’t, they will be replaced and could face a misdemeanor criminal charge for dereliction of duty, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Two other Colorado electors are challenging the constitutionality of the law and will appear in federal district court Monday afternoon to seek an injunction to block its enforcement.
Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams has rejected the move, calling it “an arrogant attempt by two faithless electors to elevate their personal desires over the entire will of the people of Colorado.”A Dutch court has referred key questions about the legality of streamed videos to the EU's highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in a case that could have big implications for Internet users across the EU.
The legality of streaming videos in Europe is currently unclear because of a ruling by the CJEU last year that temporary copies of online content do not require the copyright holder's permission, which some argue also applies to streaming. A post on TorrentFreak explains about the new questions |
which stated that HMRC was in a position to force Goldman Sachs to pay back the money owed.
The revelations may embarrass the chancellor who has been careful to avoid being dragged into an ongoing public debate over the Revenue's right to negotiate multimillion pound deals to end disputes with large corporations while pursuing ordinary taxpayers for small sums.
Hartnett struck a deal in a "handshake" with Goldman Sachs on 19 November 2010 to end a dispute over national insurance contribution payments dating back to the 1990s, the court was told.
But 11 days later, the deal was rejected by the Revenue's high-risk corporate programme board because it had failed to collect any interest on the disputed sum. That day, Osborne announced that the top 15 banks including Goldman Sachs, had signed up to a new code of conduct.
Hartnett sent an email on 7 December 2010 expressing concern that Goldman Sachs "went off the deep end" and threatened to withdraw from the government's bank code of practice, which was published in December 2009, when it was informed of the board's decision to reject the deal and force the bank to pay the interest. There could be a potential political embarrassment if the board's decision stood: "The risks here are major embarrassment to the ChX [chancellor of the exchequer], HMRC, the LBS [the large business service of the HMRC], you and me, not least if GS withdraw from the code."
In a witness statement for the court, Hartnett wrote that the Goldman Sachs threat to withdraw from the code of practice "would have embarrassed the chancellor".
Hartnett retired as head of tax last summer following stinging criticisms from the public accounts committee over the Goldman Sachs deal.
Murray Worthy, director of UK Uncut Legal Action, said the case exposed a "controversial cover-up at the heart of government by HMRC and former tax chief Dave Hartnett to avoid political embarrassment for George Osborne".
Rosa Curling, a solicitor from the law firm Leigh Day, which is representing UK Uncut Legal Action, said: "Our hope is that this legal action will not only declare this decision to 'let off' Goldman Sachs for tax owing unlawful, but also deter any more deals being done behind closed doors."
Ingrid Simler QC, for UK Uncut Legal Action, said HMRC reached a settlement in a dispute over national insurance due on bonuses with Goldman Sachs in 2010 without requiring the payment of interest. The potential cost to the taxpayer of the HMRC/Goldman Sachs settlement is officially put at £8m but an HMRC solicitor-turned-whistleblower, Osita Mba, claimed the sum could be as high as £20m.
The bank was allowed to skip the interest bill after Hartnett was wrongly advised there was a "legal impediment" to collecting it, said. The error was quickly noticed but, despite legal advice that the agreement with the bank was not binding, HMRC unlawfully withdrew a county court claim for what was owed without seeking to renegotiate, she said.
This went against HMRC guidelines stating that taxpayers should be treated equally and no discounts or deals should be done. Simler said: "The issues in this case are of great importance both to taxpayers and HMRC as well."
James Eadie QC, appearing for HMRC, said UK Uncut was using the courts "to pursue politics by other means". He said the Goldman Sachs deal had been examined in detail by the National Audit Office and found to be neither irrational nor improper.
The scale of the government's "sweetheart" tax deals – individual secret agreements drawn up between tax officials and corporations to settle disputes – was revealed this week by the Guardian after four settlements were shown to be worth £4.5bn between them.
If UK Uncut's challenge is successful, HMRC will come under further pressure to say how much tax was owed by each of the four unnamed companies before the deals were struck.
It also emerged on Thursday that Google and its auditor Ernst & Young will be recalled to parliament to restate their evidence on the internet search company's tax position following an investigation into its advertising sales practices.
A spokesperson for the Treasury said the chancellor could not comment on what he knew about Hartnett's decision to waive Goldman's alleged debt because of the ongoing court case. "Taxpayer confidentiality means that decisions are always made by HMRC without any ministerial knowledge or involvement," the spokesperson added.
• This article was amended on 3 May 2013. The original said that "a spokesperson for the Treasury said the chancellor would not comment".When Ronald Ritchie called 911 from the aisles of a Walmart in western Ohio last month to report that a black man was “walking around with a gun in the store”, he said that shoppers were coming under direct threat.
“He’s, like, pointing it at people,” Ritchie told the dispatcher. Later that evening, after John Crawford III had been shot dead by one of the police officers who hurried to the scene in Beavercreek, Ritchie repeated to reporters: “He was pointing at people. Children walking by.”
One month later, Ritchie puts it differently. “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody,” the 24-year-old said, in an interview with the Guardian. He maintained that Crawford was “waving it around”, which attorneys for Crawford’s family deny.
Ritchie told several reporters after the 5 August shooting that he was an “ex-marine”. When confronted with his seven-week service record, however, he confirmed that he had been quickly thrown out of the US marine corps in 2008 after being declared a “fraudulent enlistment”, over what he maintains was simply a mixup over his paperwork.
Crawford, 22, turned out to be holding an unloaded BB air rifle that he had picked up from a store shelf. After Ritchie said Crawford appeared to be “trying to load” the gun, the 911 dispatcher relayed to an officer that it was believed the gunman “just put some bullets inside”.
The Crawfords’ attorneys told the Guardian that they had learned the preliminary findings of an autopsy were that he was shot in the back of his left arm and in his left side, supporting their claim that he was turned away from the police officer who shot him.
They have pleaded with Mike DeWine, Ohio’s attorney general, to release the store’s surveillance footage of the shooting to the public. Having viewed it, they say that it disproves Ritchie’s version of what led to the deaths of both Crawford and a 37-year-old woman who collapsed and died in the ensuing panic.
“It was an execution, no doubt about it,” alleged Crawford’s father, John Crawford II. “It was flat-out murder. And when you see the footage, it will illustrate that.”
DeWine has said that releasing the footage would be “playing with dynamite” and prevent any trial from being fair. He has assigned a special prosecutor from the neighbouring Hamilton County to handle the case. A grand jury will begin hearing evidence on it later this month. A Beavercreek police spokesman said in a statement: “Preliminary indications are that the officers acted appropriately under the circumstances.”
Following the opening of a federal inquiry into the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the Crawfords’ attorneys have also urged the Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation into the Ohio incident, only the second fatal police shooting in Beavercreek’s history. A white officer has been placed on administrative leave following Crawford’s shooting.
The attorneys said that they would also be lodging a complaint with DeWine after Ritchie told the Guardian that he, too, was shown the surveillance footage by officials in the attorney general’s bureau of criminal investigation, who are investigating the shooting.
“That is very improper,” said attorney Michael Wright, who said that Ritchie’s statement on what happened should have been based only on what he remembered seeing.
Ritchie said that he had also become aware of past criminal allegations against Crawford, which were dropped. He declined to say if he had learned this from DeWine’s officials. Asked four times by the Guardian whether they had told the witness about Crawford’s court record, a spokesman for DeWine declined to comment.
‘He was stood so still’
Crawford was a high school graduate who had two young sons. On the evening of 5 August he was at the Walmart in a suburb of Dayton, with his girlfriend, Tasha Thomas. They were to buy ingredients to make S’mores for a family cookout, according to his family’s attorneys.
The couple separated inside the store. Crawford began a conversation on his mobile phone with LeeCee Johnson, the mother of his two sons. Walking in the sporting goods section, he approached a shelf and picked up a MK-177 BB/pellet air rifle, which was already unboxed.
“He never put the phone down,” said his father. “He just kind of picked the rifle up and carried it, was walking around with it.”
From this point, the Crawford team’s description of what is shown in the surveillance footage differs radically from Ritchie’s recollection, which he insisted was also backed up by the recordings from the Walmart cameras.
Crawford’s father and attorneys said that the footage showed the 22-year-old walking from one aisle to the next with the BB rifle at his side and in his left hand, pointed at the floor except for one notable movement.
“I would think that the rifle maybe got heavy to him,” said his father. “He kind of swung it like you carry it on your shoulder, then he immediately put it back down.”
“You can clearly see people walk past him, and they didn’t think anything about it. Everybody was just kind of minding their own business,” his father added. “He wasn’t acting in any type of way that he would have been considered menacing, if you will.”
Ritchie, however, says Crawford was “waving the weapon around”, causing the muzzle to move in the direction of passersby, including him and his wife, April. “And even still, it’s a gun in Walmart, in a public place, inducing panic,” said Ritchie.
The Crawford family’s attorneys contend that Ohio’s “open-carry” law means that he could have been legally holding the rifle in the store even if it had been a full-powered firearm. “We never saw him waving this rifle in front of kids or people,” said his father.
Crawford arrived at the pet products section in the next aisle, estimated at 60 yards from where he had picked up the item. Then, his family and their attorneys say, at about 8.20pm, he stopped and stood still for about six minutes. “With the rifle pointed down and the cell phone up in his right hand,” said his father, he stayed there facing a shelf, apparently preoccupied by the call.
“He didn’t move,” said his father. “He was stood so still, in fact, we thought the track had actually stopped. I asked the technician ‘what’s going on?’ and he said ‘Well, the reel is still running Mr Crawford, look at the time’.”
Ritchie, on the other hand, stated that at this stage, Crawford was “pointing [the BB rifle] at things, like moving things around the shelf with the gun.”
At about 8.26pm, armed police officers responding to Ritchie’s 911 call five minutes earlier come into view on the footage, according to those who viewed it. Within seconds, Crawford was shot twice and pounced on. He was taken to hospital but died from his wounds. The Crawfords’ attorneys say only Ritchie called 911 before the shooting.
Police and Ritchie say an officer to Crawford’s left twice shouted “put it down”. “Responding officers confronted the suspect inside the store area and the subject was shot after failing to comply with officers’ verbal commands,” a Beavercreek police spokesman said in a statement.
Ritchie says Crawford turned towards the officer after hearing the instruction, and then moved to run to his right, causing the BB rifle’s muzzle to swing in the officer’s direction moments before the officer fired.
“Then he got back up and tried to either go for the rifle or go for one of the officers,” Ritchie said of Crawford. “But the officer had him on the ground before he got to either target.”
Yet the Crawford team dismiss almost all of this. By the time the officer advanced from his left, according to Wright, Crawford was “turned 30 degrees to the right,” standing “almost in a catty-corner position, facing in an opposite direction to the direction they were coming”.
He did not seem to hear the police orders, said Wright. “Based on the video that we saw, it did not even appear that he knew they were there,” he said. “He doesn’t look at the officers, he doesn’t turn his body towards the officers. It’s as if he was just shot on sight by the officers.”
Johnson, the mother of Crawford’s children, who remained on the phone line to him throughout, has told reporters that she heard him say “It’s not real”, adding: “they said ‘get on the ground,’ but he was already on the ground because they had shot him”. Wright said they were trying to reconcile this with the footage.
Crawford’s father and Wright insist that the footage also did not show the 22-year-old trying to flee, nor trying to get back up to reach the weapon, which, they stress, he would have known was an unloaded BB rifle with no potential use. His only movement, they said, was a few steps to the right and to the ground upon being shot.
The Crawfords’ attorneys said they had been informed by Dr Robert Shott, deputy coroner of Montgomery County, that the 22-year-old was “shot in the back of the left arm, above the elbow, and on the left side of his torso, to the left of his belly button”. Shott did not respond to a message requesting comment. Ritchie, however, said the first shot entered Crawford’s arm from the front after he turned to the officer.
Within a few minutes, fellow shopper Angela Williams, a 37-year-old nursing home worker reported to have suffered from a heart condition, was in cardiac arrest after collapsing trying to flee the melee. She died later that evening in hospital.
Crawford’s attorneys said Williams and two of her young children had been in the same aisle as Crawford in the moments before the shooting. “She was completely indifferent as to him being there,” said Wright. “She wasn’t startled, she wasn’t alarmed or anything like that.”
Ritchie said that it was his own heart condition that saw him discharged from the US marines after joining in September 2008. He insisted that he had disclosed the condition when signing up. However, he claimed, “my recruiter never turned that paperwork in, so they considered me a fraudulent enlistment” when officers later discovered the condition.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Officer Sean Williams was one of two police officers placed on leave after the shooting. Photograph: Beavercreek police department
Beavercreek police and the attorney general’s office have declined to name the officer who shot Crawford. However, after Sergeant David Darkow and Officer Sean Williams were placed on leave following the incident, Darkow has returned to work but Williams has not.
Williams was the officer behind the only other fatal police shooting in Beavercreek. In 2010, he shot dead Scott Brogli, a retired master sergeant in the US air force. According to Williams and a colleague, Brogli charged at them with a large knife after they went to investigate the 45-year-old’s drunken beating of his wife. A grand jury declined to bring any charges.
Wright, the Crawfords’ attorney, cited this in reiterating a request for the Department of Justice to step in and mount its own investigation.
“This has a lot of civil rights implications,” said Wright of the Ohio shooting. “This was a young black man apparently being shot and killed by a white police officer.” The US attorney for the southern district of the state has said his office is “monitoring” the case.
“Attorney General DeWine has been keeping US attorney Carter Stewart updated as the case and investigation has been proceeding,” said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for DeWine. “We’ve also been updating the FBI.”
John Crawford II said that he would remember his son by the laughter they shared one week before the shooting, while playing pool in a restaurant-bar on the evening of his 22nd birthday. “I hugged him, and I told him ‘happy birthday’, and we finished the night out, and we came home,” he said. “And I can just remember him smiling and having a good time.”
“We’re still in the shock stage of things,” he said. “I’m still relatively numb.” A grand jury in Greene County is scheduled to begin hearing evidence on 22 September.By The Metric Maven
Bulldog Edition
In a recent episode of Modern Marvels Essentials, on The History Channel, the subject was Freight Trains. Modern train braking systems, which use a combination of air brakes and dynamic brakes, are described. On long downhill grades, the electric motors, which are used to move the train, are used in reverse as electrical generators. This provides mechanical resistance, and slows down the train. This is called dynamic braking. The operator of the train then is shown on screen and states:
“I’m in full dynamic brakes. I’m demanding 35 kilopounds from my motors.”
A modern flat panel computer screen is shown, mounted in the cab of the train engine. A small yellow rectangular indicator is then shown with this title: Effort klb, and the number -34 inside of the indicator box. Kilopounds!? WHAT ON EARTH! A metric prefix kilo with the non-metric unit of pound (force). The unit is described as effort?–not force! It seems as though the engineering designers of the train anthropomorphized their creation! Perhaps too many Thomas the Tank Engine reruns? Kilopound “Effort” is simply an American proxy, mongrel retread unit, with an attached human metaphor, created out of thin air. Its use should embarrass American engineers with its absurdity.
A Kilopound?—What will we create next?—the peter for pint-liter?
I was convinced that a unit this ridiculous had to be an aberration, and was created in a single instance of industrial foolishness.
When I next had breakfast with Sven, I related the strange unit and before I could finish my sentence Sven asked with slight surprise and levity:
“Haven’t you heard of a kip?”
My mind screeched to a halt, the walls began to close in on me, and time ceased for a microsecond.
“A what?” I blurted.
“A kip, a kilopound?”
No, in fact, I had not. Sven asserted the “unit” was not uncommon in the US.
I stated with incredulity: “Metric prefixes with non-SI units?—that’s just wrong. It’s twisted.”
Sven told me to look on Wikipedia for Kips, he suspected there would be an entry. There is, and reading it only distressed me further.
A kip is a non-SI unit of force. It equals 1,000 pounds-force, used primarily by American architects and engineers to measure engineering loads. Although uncommon, it is occasionally also considered a unit of mass, equal to 1,000 pounds, i.e. one half of a short ton. One use is as a unit of deadweight to compute shipping charges.
1 kip = 4448.2216 Newtons (N) = 4.4482216 kilonewtons (kN)
The name comes from combining the words “kilo” and “pound”; it is occasionally called a kilopound. Its symbol is kip, or less frequently, klb. When it is necessary to clearly distinguish it as a unit of force rather than mass, it is sometimes called the kip-force (symbol kipf or klbf). Note that the symbol kp usually stands for a different unit of force, the kilopond or kilogram-force.
The kip is also the name of obsolete units of measure in England and Malaysia.
When I checked the reference, I found out that the kip has alternative definitions, making it a retread unit:
In England, at least as early as the 16th – 17th centuries, a unit of count for skins, 30 for lamb and 50 for goat. Also spelled kippe, kyppe, and kipp.
and
In Malaysia,? – 19th century, a unit of mass primarily used for tin, about 9.19 kilograms. link to a chart showing relationships between units of mass in Malacca Said to be equal to 37½ Dutch troy pound, but that is difficult to understand, as it is much closer to 37½ marks trooisch.
Dutch troy pound?—marks trooisch? A kilogram-force?—called a kilopond? Who could confuse that with a kilopound?
Wikipedia made matters worse for my blood pressure by also telling me:
There are also reports of engineers using base-ten SI prefixes in combination with Imperial or US customary units, for example the kiloyard (914.4 m). The kip or kilopound is regularly used in structural engineering. Similarly, the kilofoot is quite common in US telecommunication engineering, as significant distances in cable route planning are usually given in thousands of feet. Instruments like optical time-domain reflectometers usually have an option to display results in kilofeet
Humans seem to relish creating new units, and apparently are most interested in doing so when they have no idea how to use commonly accepted ones—you know—SI.
When I operated an offset printing press years ago I went to a technical lecture on how to understand all the interrelated parameters of this printing method. One needs to mix fountain water of a printing press with a small amount of acidic chemical, generally just called fountain solution. It is then best practice to measure the PH pH of the solution and make certain it’s within an accepted range. If the PH pH varies, and the acidity becomes too large, it can damage the printing plate. As I recall, the amount of fountain solution was about 50 mL to a liter of tap water.
The technical lecturer then related that he was called into a printing company to investigate problems with plate wear and printing quality. He asked the pressman how much fountain solution he puts into a liter of tap water.
The man replied “two glugs.”
Yes, he was taking the bottle of fountain solution, turning the bottle over and counting two glug sounds. He had created a new proxy unit, where sound would be used to measure liquid volume.
I’m sure a lot of American engineers might laugh at this story, but apparently they don’t seem to realize that creating kilopounds, kiloyards, kilofeet is not far from determining the dynamic breaking in kilopounds needed for a set of railroad tanker cars with 500 kiloglugs of water in each.
Unfortunately, it has been my experience that many American engineers see nothing wrong with feral and mongrel units, and have tried to justify them, rather than “giving in to metric.” One may not judge a book by its cover, but I’ve often had a hard time not judging engineers from Engineers according to their preference for metric or not. It’s long past time that American Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Civil, Nuclear and so on, demand and embrace metric in the US. Unfortunately US engineers may be desensitized to these scientific absurdities because they grew up in the perennial Barley Corn Hillbillies zeitgeist. When one is surrounded by a world measured with imperial and a science classroom where metric is taught in isolation, it’s tough not to be inculcated. However, this is no excuse. In Engineering the simplest way to solve a problem is often the best and most robust. Engineers are taught to express formulas produced from mathematical derivations in the simplest form possible. Why should measurements be any different? Everything you need to express engineering quantities, in the simplest manner possible, is provided by the metric system. One possible way to determine the difference between Engineers and engineers is that the former use kilonewtons (kN) and the later use kilopounds or kips. The feedback I’ve received from well known engineers (and scientists) which I have approached about endorsing metric, has been tepid or non-existent. It seems very much like a “foolish consistency” to me.
If you liked this essay and wish to support the work of The Metric Maven, please visit his Patreon Page.Fact check: Do world class cities lack lockout laws?
Updated
The claim
In February 2014 the NSW Government introduced measures, usually referred to as "lockout laws", to tackle night-time violence in the Sydney CBD.
In February 2016, the Queensland Government brought in similar measures.
Advocacy group Keep Sydney Open is opposed to what it says are "simplistic, band-aid measures" and held a rally in Sydney on February 21, 2016.
The following day, its campaign manager Tyson Koh asserted that no cities similar to Sydney had lockout laws in place.
"Why does Sydney have these lockouts when no other international city worth its salt has these lockouts?" Mr Koh asked on Sydney breakfast radio on February 22.
The same day he said on Channel 7's Sunrise program: "No one has been able to answer the question why Sydney needs lockouts when no other city which has the same amount of people in terms of population, the same cultural diversity - why they don't have lockouts. A city like Melbourne, a city like New York..."
Is there a lack of laws similar to Sydney's lockout laws in comparable international cities? ABC Fact Check investigates
The verdict
Fact Check has assessed the claim on the basis that the phrase "lockout laws" refers to the full suite of measures introduced by the NSW Government.
The claim is exaggerated.
It is correct that "last entry" times are not in place in major cities outside Australia.
However, the 3:00am last drinks time is not unusual: many major cities around the world impose a mandatory last drinks or closing time, often earlier than Sydney's and close to the 1.30am last entry time.
The 10:00pm blanket closing time for NSW liquor stores is stricter than the rules in place in many other cities, but again is not unheard of in other major cities.
The 'lockout laws'
The NSW "lockout laws" are in place in an area of Sydney designated as the "CBD Entertainment Precinct".
The measures mean:
Venues cannot admit patrons after 1:30am (last entry time).
No alcohol can be served after 3:00am (last drinks time).
All NSW liquor stores need to close at 10:00pm.
The last entry and last drinks restrictions do not apply to small bars (less than 60 patrons), restaurants, tourist hotels or The Star casino.
Tyson Koh tells Fact Check that Keep Sydney Open "believes that the entire suite of liquor licensing restrictions needs a forensic review with certain areas to the policy being redesigned from the ground up".
"This includes a complete scrapping of the 1:30am lockout, 3:00am ceasing of service [to be] applied on a venue-by-venue basis, the exemptions for the casino to be investigated, the removal of the 10:00pm takeaway sale cut-off with applications only to problem rural areas [and] the lifting of the freeze on new licenses and extensions," he says.
1:30am last entry
Prohibiting entry or re-entry to venues after a certain time is used in Australian cities outside of Sydney.
Starting in March 2008, there have been mandatory last entry and closing times in the Newcastle CBD, currently 1.30am and 3.30am respectively.
Melbourne held a three-month trial of a 2:00am last entry time (but with no last drinks time) in June 2008, but it did not continue beyond that period.
In 2013, the South Australian government imposed a last entry time of 3:00am on venues in Adelaide (but with no last drinks time) which still applies.
But examples of last entry times in big cities outside Australia are hard to find.
Some areas of New Zealand impose or have considered such measures, which they call a 'One Way Door Policy'.
A 1:00am one way door (coupled with a 3:00am closing time) is currently in place in Whangarei, a city of around 50,000 people in New Zealand's north.
A last entry time is not in force in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, despite calls by local police for one to be introduced.
Cities and towns in Scotland have had various types of last entry restrictions — Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city and a major nightlife centre, introduced a 12:00am last entry time (called a "curfew") in 1993.
But Ione Campsie, a spokesman for Glasgow City Council tells Fact Check that the "12 midnight curfew for entry to Glasgow nightclubs is now very much consigned to history", having been discontinued around 12 years ago.
In its place are a 12:00am closing time for pubs and 3:00am closing for nightclubs.
Last entry times are not in place in the major US or Canadian cities.
Fact Check cannot say with certainty that last entry times are not in place somewhere in the US, given that liquor licensing laws in the US vary by state and county (some of which are "dry counties" that prohibit the sale of alcohol at any time).
However, Andrew Plunk of the Eastern Virginia Medical School, who researches alcohol policies, tells Fact Check that he is "not aware of [US] cities that lock out new patrons after a certain time".
Fact Check also spoke with Katharine Graham, Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at Western University, Ontario Canada, who indicated that last entry times are not used in Canada.
Last drinks
Fact Check has found many examples of mandated "last drinks" times in large, culturally diverse cities.
Dr Plunk tells Fact Check "having a 'last call' after which alcohol cannot be served is standard in the US."
"All of the top US cities by population have these policies, although the specific time that service stops varies," he says.
Dr Plunk suggests that "2:00am is likely the average time for last call across all of the US", although there are outliers such as New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas and New York City (where last drinks is at 4:00am).
The Alcohol Beverages Control Commission of Massachusetts tells Fact Check that the state Liquor Control Act prohibits the sale of alcohol between 2:00am and 8:00am in the city of Boston and throughout the state.
The "Last Drinks Coalition", an Australian group that supports the Sydney lockout laws, points to 2:00am closing times in force throughout the US state of California and some North American cities including Ottawa and Toronto.
Lockout backlash External Link: lockouts baird teaser
This Facebook post from NSW Premier Mike Baird on the lockout laws attracted over 17,000 comments, most of them negative, and was followed by a protest in the Sydney CBD attended by tens of thousands of people. This Facebook post from NSW Premier Mike Baird on the lockout laws attracted over 17,000 comments, most of them negative, and was followed by a protest in the Sydney CBD attended by tens of thousands of people.
"Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego are hardly ghost towns," a spokeswoman tells Fact Check.
Keep Sydney Open's Mr Koh acknowledges the 2:00am close in California, but suggests to Fact Check that "there is a significant culture of all-night parties in residential areas [and] a rampant culture of illegal parties in non-licensed premises that serve alcohol".
Mr Koh also says that the Canadian city of Vancouver has been able "to curb the identified issues with violence within their entertainment precinct, without a curfew".
However, Gerald Thomas, Director of Alcohol and Gambling Policy at the British Columbia Ministry of Health, informs Fact Check that there is 3:00am last drinks in Vancouver, which is "similar to the lockouts policies in Australia".
In Cape Town, South Africa, apart from the airport and special exceptions, standard closing time for venues in commercial areas is 2:00am, although applications can be made for extended trading hours up to 4:00am.
Bars in residential and "mixed use" areas of Cape Town have to close as early as 11:00pm.
In London, there is no specified last drinks or closing time, however "early morning alcohol restriction orders" can be made by local councils, requiring 3:00am last drinks.
A spokesman for the City Council of Manchester, the United Kingdom's second largest city, tells Fact Check that there is no city-wide last drinks or closing time.
However, there are special licensing rules for "Withington stress area" (a small part of the city with a large student population), requiring newly licensed venues to close by 11:30pm.
Of course, there are many other cities — ranging from Berlin to Hong Kong — where licensed premises can operate 24 hours a day.
However, the fact remains that Sydney is not alone in having a last drinks time.
Bottle shop trading times
One of the more controversial aspects of the NSW Government's measures is the across-the-board mandated 10:00pm closure of all liquor stores throughout the state.
Comparing this restriction to those in place in other countries is difficult, given that some countries allow certain types of alcohol to be sold in convenience stores, supermarkets and other outlets.
Scotland has a similar restriction to NSW: alcohol only be bought between the hours of 10:00am and 10:00pm, although it is on sale in both liquor stores and supermarkets.
Opening and closing times in England and Wales for liquor stores and supermarkets differ depending on the licence conditions for a particular premises, but some supermarkets do sell alcohol 24 hours a day
Like other forms of licensing, in the United States, liquor store opening times vary by state, and usually by county. For example:
New York City: beer can be sold 24 hours a day; other purchases must be made at liquor stores which close at midnight.
Philadelphia: alcohol can only be bought in government-owned 'Fine Wine & Good Spirits' stores, all of which shut by 10:00pm.
Los Angeles: liquor stores remain open until 2:00am.
The rules in Canada also differ by province:
Toronto, Ontario: wine and spirits are only sold in government-run stores, many of which close at 10:00pm (only one closes later, at 11:00pm). Beer can also be purchased from brewery-owned stores called "The Beer Store", most of which close between 9:00pm and 10:00pm, and beginning in 2015 some supermarkets.
Vancouver, British Columbia: government owned BC Liquor is the biggest retailer, but there are also private liquor sores. A spokeswoman for BC Liquor tells Fact Check that all liquor stores must close by 11:00pm.
In Cape Town, standard liquor store opening hours are between 9:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Saturday, but stores can apply for approval to trade until 8:00pm Monday to Saturday and between 11:00am and 6:00pm on Sundays.
Sources
Topics: alcohol, community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, sydney-2000, brisbane-4000, nsw, fortitude-valley-4006, kings-cross-2011, darlinghurst-2010
First postedDezeen News: The government of Honduras has given the go-ahead for three privately run cities with "their own police, laws, government and tax systems", according to ABC News.
Work will start on infrastructure for the first "Model City", near Puerto Castilla on the Caribbean coast, with US investment group MGK providing $15 million in initial funding. Subsequent cities could be built in the Sula Valley and the south of the country.
Also involved is Future Cities Development Inc, which is "seeking to build a chartered city within an uninhabited special development region in Honduras", according to its website. It adds: "We believe that by bringing the Silicon Valley spirit of innovation to Honduras, we can build a unique city that enables the Honduran people to lift themselves out of poverty and play a greater role in the global economy."
Top, above and below: images from the Future Cities Development Inc website.
The Model City concept is designed to attract foreign investment to the Central American republic, which suffers from a high crime rate and political instability. The Guardian claims the idea is a development of the "charter cities" concept proposed by American economist Paul Romer, which advocates strong, independent cities as engines of trade and growth, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai held up as models.
The Honduran authorities predict the three cities will create 5000 direct and indirect jobs within a year, rising to 45,000 in 2015. The cities will be allowed to develop their own trade and investment strategies and immigration policies.
On Tuesday, Honduran government agency COALIANZA, the Comisión para la Promoción de Alianzas Público-Privadas [Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships] signed an agreement allowing the project to go ahead, stating that the cities would be built in depopulated areas and would not involve the displacement of existing communities, but that they needed to be located close to existing airports and ports.
Left wing publication Envío described the Model City concept as "miniscule states within the State" and compared them to "tax havens where slavery is practiced," while Honduras Culture and Politics linked the development to the neoliberal policies of Milton Friedman, claiming the American economist's grandson, Patri Friedman, is linked to Future Cities Development Inc.
Envío claimed Honduras was being used as a "guinea pig" for imported ideas and quoted constitutional lawyer Carlos Augusto Hernández as saying: “Model cities are the cynical expression of an oligarchy that, feeling triumphant, persists in acting behind the back of the rule of law".TV Reviews All of our TV reviews in one convenient place.
I regret to you inform you that what you are about to read is a positive review of some very terrible things. As a critic, it is my job to put aside moral and ethical considerations and judge art on the basis of its aesthetics, a word which here means “how it looks and sounds and if it creates a coherent world.” In the case of “A Bad Beginning, Part One,” I can say that this television series has an effective and consistent look and sound. Its world is, at least for now, a coherent one, and it is populated by, so far as it is possible for me to judge, talented actors. But it is a terrible pity to see such able craftspeople (and here I include, in addition to the cast, the many lighting technicians, scriptwriters, directors, costume designers, and computer programmers who clearly |
their depot on November 22nd they began sorting their mail into their cases the old way instead of using the machine sorted method. Management retaliated by suspending the lowest seniority, newest worker on the job. After that everyone else on that shift walked off the job. When the second wave of Letter Carriers arrived later that morning they promptly left in solidarity. Across the city in another letter carrier depot workers used their right to refuse unsafe work. The Corporation responded by locking the union executive out of the Depots and Winnipeg Plant, perceiving these actions as instigated by the union when that was obviously not the case.
Waves of Militancy
When the workers in Winnipeg walked off the job in protest, workers on the floor in Edmonton acted in solidarity almost immediately. Within two hours of the Winnipeg walkout, people in Edmonton were spreading the word. Depot 9 in Edmonton began a black armband campaign in solidarity with Winnipeg. Soon there was a regular black t-shirt day protest in the mail plant in solidarity with Winnipeg and coordinated with the people in depot 9 and their armband campaign. Then the black arm-bands spread to several other depots. One steward, addressing a crowd of 100 letter carriers said “until we know the decision on the discipline in Winnipeg I want you to consider these arm-bands a part of your uniform”. We were for that, but wanted to see things go further than symbolic actions. We decided to use the symbolic action to create conversation and push forward more effective tactics that would make the employer actually have to change. The first step toward more effective actions was spreading the word in order to make sure as many co-workers as possible knew what was happening.
Then some folks in Depot 9 wanted to escalate so they started holding coffee break meetings on the loading dock. These meetings were the same actions that began the wave of militancy that culminated in the Delton walkout. The workers read statements that were drafted by other militants in Winnipeg, many of these statements were play-by-play accounts of the actions taken by workers in Winnipeg.
The organising committee played very little role initiating actions – both symbolic actions like the arm-bands and more effective actions that began to take place – but it did play an important role. The organising committee helped coordinate actions that were breaking out in different work installations. Coordination happened mostly through quick phone calls while on our coffee breaks and a very active and lively text message list. We also spread the word management’s reactions to the workers’ actions in Winnipeg and in Edmonton.
The workfloor meetings like the ones that were happening in Depot 9 were publicized by text message and phone calls. Our hard work in creating worker-to-worker relationships and spreading contact information meant that CUPW members could communicate quickly and effectively with each other. This allowed news and inspiration to circulate from workplace to workplace, so that actions in one place would help bring on actions in another.
By this point we had a good idea where we could mobilise people. That list and our capacity was growing by the minute. After the coffee break meeting at Depot 9 several other depots started wearing armbands. People started wearing the black t-shirts on the shifts in the plant where we were not as strong. We then started pushing these shifts to hold meetings. Many of them had meetings that were very well attended. Most of these meetings created a space where people who were not on the union executive or had never given a speech before had a chance to read a statement from the blog, or get up on a mail tub and vent their anger. This gave people more confidence their own ability to act. By this point we all knew that we were building momentum.
As things escalated in Winnipeg the workers’ rage escalated in Edmonton. Soon accounts were coming back to the floor of union officers not being allowed to visit the workfloor in Winnipeg for management’s fear that they might incite the workers. The better informed the workers were the more they wanted to act. The next step was a big one but the depot that had been leading the way through this whole process, Depot 9, took the next step and led 50 workers into the bosses’ office demanding that there be no retaliation against the workers in Winnipeg for refusing to do unsafe work and walking off the job. It was a textbook march on the boss action. It couldn’t have been a better example of the sort of thing the training tried to model in march on the boss role-play. And this real march on the boss gave participants a better training in workplace action than anything any educational course could ever offer.
A Little Bit of Dignity
Over the next two days, three other depots and one section of inside workers took similar actions. Each in turn led mass delegations into the employer’s office and demanded that Winnipeg not be disciplined. These ‘March on the Boss’ actions ranged from 40 people up to as big as 75 people. The management team went white as a sheet every time. They stammered and stared blankly at the people whom they had bullied and degraded for years as they showed strength, dignity, and poise. They listened while the workers spoke in terms of dignity, fairness, justice, and the indignity, unfairness, and injustice that Canada Post was inflicting on our fellow workers in Winnipeg. There was very little talk about this being a ‘union’ thing. Instead this was a chance for hundreds of people to settle accounts with those whom they resented. In some of the depots management didn’t go back on to the floor for over a month after these actions. In one fell swoop the workers pushed the bosses into their office in several job sites and kept them there.
Workers held their heads much higher and the stewards universally became more assertive with management. While some things such as pay and benefits are determined by people in Ottawa- whether or not a supervisor yells at you or makes sexist jokes can be addressed quickly and cleanly on the floor and many workers resolved to take less abuse.
Every workplace struggle is partly a struggle for material needs, but it is always also a struggle for dignity and it is often this side of the struggle that will motivate people to take real meaningful action. With these actions, over the course of one week in late November 2010, the wave crested. Soon the Christmas rush really set in and everyone prepared themselves for the chaos that ensues at the post office every holiday season. There were certainly flare-ups and confrontations but they did not take on the mass scale they had in November until the Christmas rush had finished for another year. In the end there were about a dozen workfloor meetings, five “Marches on the Boss” and over five hundred workers participating in the black armband/t-shirt campaign. During the last wave of walkouts, three years earlier, the corporation gave everyone five day suspensions without pay and their disciplinary letters were to remain on file for one year. For the workers in Winnipeg, they received letters on their file and no loss of pay with the letters being removed after six months providing there was not another unlawful work stoppage. Technically there was still a five day suspension but the pay would not be deducted if the letters were removed after six months.
Often a union will publicize a grievance victory by telling everyone the total sum of money paid out in a grievance settlement. So if a thousand workers get fifty dollars each the union will say the workers got fifty thousand dollars from the corporation. This can make a modest victory sound like a spectacular gain. It also reduces something priceless — like a workers feeling of stability in their lives or the confidence that comes from telling a boss you won’t take their abuse anymore into a dollar amount. It’s simply good organising to publicise your victories and any working class organisation should do this but we also run a real risk of tying ourselves up in our own rhetoric. A fifty dollar settlement will never lead a worker to risk their comfort to stand up to abuse. It will not inspire anyone to fight for a better world and it will not give them the conviction required to do the right thing when faced with an injustice. We don’t fight for dollars and cents. We fight for values and relationships.
While there were important material gains in this struggle, above all, the workers came away with greater confidence and independence developed through struggle. They did not do these things because they thought a grievance payout was coming and the issue itself, solidarity with workers in another city who had been wronged did not leave much room for self interest. But a whole new layer learned not only how to organise on the floor, but also that they could do these things without first getting permission from the union hierarchy. This gave them confidence and from this confidence came militancy. These things had nothing to do with the collective bargaining agreement in any real sense, they had to do with something much more intangible- it had to do with the desire to be human in a dehumanising system.
The Myth of Spontaneity
One of the most seductive beliefs for working class radicals is the belief in spontaneous action. From the outside these events could appear to have come from nowhere except the raw alienation of disaffected workers. There can be no doubt that waves of militancy quickly take on a life of their own and that in our case there was never any single group of people who was in control of what happened or a single channel that everything passed through. No one can deny that the feeling of degradation that comes with our jobs, like almost all jobs, also fuels these activities. But there are plenty of places where workers feel disrespected and workers don’t respond collectively. And there are plenty of places where workers lash out in ways that don’t lead to this kind of action. Workplace theft, absenteeism and high turnover are all ways that demoralised workers deal with and resist work. But just because workers resist doesn’t mean that their resistance will ever progress into something bigger.
Most workplaces never get beyond the stage of grumbling and resentment and individual actions. At this stage workers are just as likely to turn on each other at they are to stand together. But at some jobs the workers begin to take the same acts of resistance and start doing them together. Grocery clerks decide to cover for each other while they play on their cell phones in the bathroom. If a manager is rude to them they try and get them fired and finally a few may try to all call in sick together to protest bad working conditions. As soon as these actions become social instead of anti-social, collective instead of individual, they begin to take on a life of their own. The actions then have the potential to create waves, workers push and the boss pushes back, the workers move forward and then things calm down. This can happen in a single workplace, across an industry, across a city, a country… the entire planet. When workers stand up it creates a situation where new possibilities open up and a memory of struggle those workers will draw on in the future. When word of a victory spreads workers in other places gain confidence.
Aside from spontaneity, there’s a seductive idea at the other extreme, that of thinking that working class struggle can be entirely conscious and planned out in advance from a single center of command and control. The revolution will not occur at an appointed time to be decided by referendum and executed by a perfectly democratic revolutionary union. But it will not spontaneously leap from the struggles of thousands of workplace militants either. The same is true for smaller scale actions, short of revolution. The successes we saw at the post office in Edmonton were not because of revolutionaries directing everything or spontaneous struggles that happened entirely on their own. Our success happened because we built from what we had. We built relationships with our co-workers, got our co-workers connected more with each other, and we gave people the confidence in their own power as workers. That gave workers the ability to act independent of any force that tried to undermine that activity, which in turn reinforced everything we built.
The direct action course, the text message list, the member-to-member contact, the blog, the articles in the union newsletter and the interventions in union meetings were all chosen to build that power and to let things take on a life of their own where no one could intervene and slow things down. The key to the success of these actions was that no one was encouraging anyone to depend on someone more knowledgeable or who was in a position of authority. Those of us with more experience and know-how did our best to share that knowledge and experience so that anything important we knew how to do for others we were also teaching others how to do for themselves. Above all, we took the attitude that all of us are experts when it comes to our own struggles.
Denouement
Certain friends and fellow travelers have said “nothing is more alien to a strike than it’s end”. It’s true that there is always frustration and anger from the militants when a struggle begins to wind up. There’s an incredible rush that comes from people taking action for themselves, and an inevitable crash that comes after. Struggles create feelings of possibility and offer glimpses of possible futures. That makes it hard to go back to the monotony of business as usual and the “this day is never going to end!” feeling of life on the job. To cope with these emotional dynamics that all struggles have, it’s important to understand that these things come in waves. The best thing you can do as one wave of struggle in winding up is to lay the groundwork for the next struggle (and prepare people for the inevitable back-lash from workers sympathetic to the boss and the boss himself). Part of our success in mobilising workers, building independent initiative and dealing with efforts to channel the struggle into more conventional tactics such as arbitrations, contract negotiations and consultation with the employer, was we took the time to analyse what happened in the previous wave of struggles. From that analysis we made a plan on how to build infrastructure that built self reliance on the part of the workers on the job. This infrastructure, the direct action courses, the text message system, the use of blogs and an independent meeting schedule allowed us to build a movement that was centered on the work floor.
As this wave of struggle wound up other waves were already clearly on the horizon, first the contract negotiations for the CUPW Urban Operations contract and then the Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers contract runs out at the end of next year. There were also unanticipated struggles. The task is always look at our strengths and our weaknesses and see what we need to build to develop these struggles and take them as far as we can – toward the next wave after them, and as close to a world without bosses as possible!( If you believe these structures are natural, you must be visually impaired because your head is up your rear!)
'The sunken buildings are known to cover the ocean bottom (although not continuously) from the small island of Yonaguni in the southwest to Okinawa and its neighbouring islands, Kerama and Aguni, some 311 miles. If, after all, ongoing exploration here does indeed reveal more structures linking Yonaguni with Okinawa, the individual sites may be separate components of a huge city lying at the bottom of the Pacific. The single largest structure so far discovered lies near the eastern shore of Yonaguni at 100 feet down. It is approximately 240 feet long, 90 feet across and 45 feet high'. (2)
'The 'Yonaguni monument is over 50m long in an east-west direction and over 30m wide in a north-south direction. The top of the structure lies about 5m below sea level, whereas the base is approximately 25m below the surface' (3)
Genetic studies have revealed that native Taiwanese populations carry the purest form of Asian specific Human Lymphocyte Antigens (A24-Cw8-B48, A24-Cw9-B61 and A24-Cw10-B60). Studies have shown that the Taiwan area was the centre of dispersal for the; Tibetans, Thais, Tlingit, Kwakuitl, Haida, Hawaiian, Maori, Pima, Maya, Yakut, Inuit, Buryat,Man, Japanese from Shizuoka and Orochon from North East China (6). This major dispersal event, which happened about 6,000 years ago, suggests a major catastrophic event, such as flooding of the coastline, which caused an exodus of people, from which many new civilizations were born. Mysterious megalithic monuments on Taiwan and numerous underwater ruins north of Taiwan such as near Yonaguni confirm that a significantly organized society once existed in this area as much as 10,000 years ago and was destroyed by rapidly rising sea levels.
On Yonaguni Island and elsewhere in the Okinawa area there appears to be an ancient tradition of modifying, enhancing, and improving on nature (Shinto). On Yonaguni there are very old tombs (age unknown, but possibly on the order of thousands of years old) that stylistically appear to be comparable to the "architecture" of the Yonaguni
Monument.
The formations have been compared to the Okinawa Tomb, a rock-hewn structure of uncertain age.
How old is Yonaguni.?
'The rock-faces appear to be dressed stone. If this is an artificial, man-made structure then it is reasonable to assume that it was carved not underwater but at a time when this area was above sea level. Indeed, this area has experienced major rises in sea levels during and since the Pleistocene ("Ice Age") and based on well-established standard curves of sea level rises in the region, as recently as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago the Yonagumi Monument may have been above local sea level. Thus we can suggest with some confidence that if the Yonaguni Monument is a man-made construction then it must be at least 8,000 years old. (3),(7)
Astronomy:
10,000 years ago Yonaguni was located very close to the Tropic of Cancer. Today the Tropic of Cancer is located at approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes north latitude while Yonaguni Island is located a full degree further north. However, the position of the Tropic of Cancer varies over the millennia, from under 22 degrees to over 24 degrees, according to a 41,000 year cycle. At around 8,000 B.C. the Yonaguni Monument was located much closer to the Tropic of Cancer.
What proof is there that the site was altered by mankind?
The archway (left), has been found composed of blocks 'beautifully fitted together' and reminiscent of the masonry of the Inca cities. (2)
The structures are said to resemble ancient buildings on Okinawa itself where sacred buildings are found near Noro, where burial vaults designed in the same rectilinear style are still venerated as repositories for the islanders' ancestral dead. (2)
Several pieces of 'Stone-tools' were recovered at the site. 'Typical ones are adzes' says Prof. Masaaki Kimura, 'They are not polished. Their age is estimated as up to 10,000 years old'. (3)
Other evidence presented by those who favour an artificial origin include the two round holes (about 2 feet wide) on the edge of the Triangle Pool feature, and a straight row of smaller holes which have been interpreted as an abandoned attempt to split off a section of the rock by means of wedges (see right), a feature common in prehistory.
Supporters of an artificial origin also argue that, while many of the features seen at Yonaguni are also seen in natural sandstone formations throughout the world, the concentration of so many peculiar formations in such a small area is highly unlikely. They also point out the relative absence of loose blocks on the flat areas of the formation, which would be expected if they were formed solely by natural erosion and fracturing.
If any part of the Monument was deliberately constructed or modified, it must have happened during or following the last Ice Age, when the sea level was much lower than it is today (e.g. 25m lower around 10,000 years BCE). During the Ice Age, the East China Sea was a narrow bay opening to the ocean at today's Tokara Gap. The Sea of Japan was an inland sea and there was no Yellow Sea; people and animals could walk into the Ryukyu peninsula from the continent. Therefore, Yonaguni was the southern end of a land bridge that connected it to Taiwan, Ryūkyū, Japan and Asia. This fact is underscored by a rock pillar in a now-submerged cave that has been interpreted as a fused stalactite-stalagmite pair, which could only form above water. Quote: Robert Schoch 1999 'We should also consider the possibility that the Yonaguni Monument is fundamentally a natural structure that was utilized, enhanced, and modified by humans in ancient times. The Yonaguni Monument may even have been a quarry from which blocks were cut, utilizing natural bedding, joint, and fracture planes of the rock, and thence removed for the purpose of constructing other structures which are long since gone'. (7)
Extraterrestrial Influences?
Ancient Japanese Extraterrestrial legend
Sunken pyramid off the island of Yonaguni near Okinawa in the Devil’s Sea / Dragons Triangle!The structure was found by dive tour operator Kihachiro Aratake in 1985 and has been a source of controversy ever since. It appears to be a construction made of wide terraces, ramps and large steps. However, American geologists have contented that the structure is not manmade, but a natural formation. According to the report, Japanese scientists have documented marks on the stones that indicate that they were hewn. Not only that, the tools used in this process have been found in the area, and carvings have been discovered. A small stairway carved into the rocks appears to render the theory that this is a natural formation implausible.The problem with all of this for western scientists is that it implies that an unknown eastern culture had developed a high degree of organization thousands of years before the earliest western civilizations. Geologically, the Yonaguni pyramid sank into the ocean at the end of the last ice age, around ten thousand years ago. Some western geologists have theorized that, if it is manmade, it must have risen from the sea in more recent times, and been carved then.However, the discovery of other, similar structures beneath the sea of Japan was also announced at a conference. If these prove to be similar to the Yonaguni pyramid they may rewrite the history of early man.What would have caused these rocks to have such angular shapes? People (such as ancient astronaut theorists) argue that the formations at Yonaguni have too many right angles (an angle that never appears in nature) to have been naturally made. If these rocks at the Yonaguni monument weren’t formed by nature, then who made them?These rock formations at the Yonaguni monument are too old to have been made by humans; early man just didn’t have the technology available.It might sound a little outlandish to some people, but the alien theory has a lot of weight behind it. Experts like sports communication and information major Giorgio Tsoukalos have lent this theory their credibility.First of all it’s located in the Devil’s Sea / Dragons Triangle, an area south of Japan that’s hailed as the Bermuda Triangle of the East. An area of great danger and supernatural activity. Beware! Countless ships have vanished without a trace within the area. This region has received enormous amounts of U.S.O and U.F.O. reports as well.Structures in stone that existed at the end of the last ice age, when the sea levels were over a hundred feet lower than today. Since the biggest cities are always built on the coast, the place to look for ancient cities would be the levels at which the ocean used to be at before all the ice melted(approx 9500 BC). There are definitely underwater ruins strewn all over the planet. Since the ocean levels are thought to have gone up and done with mini ice ages, it may be that we had civilization earlier than we thought.Submarine research surveys using SCUBA and sonic surveys reveal detailed topography similar to submarine, pyramidal features looking like a stepped pyramid off Yonaguni in Okinawa, Japan. The site is called Iseki Point(ruins site) as a leisure diving spot. Yonaguni Submarine Pyramid(YSP) is the major structure that stands under approximately 25 meters of ocean. Essentially, it has a cliff face like the side of a stepped pyramid, and dimensions of about 290m(length) by 120m(width) by 26m(height). Flat terraces, straight walls and its surface structure of walls with scars of tool marks driven in by a wedge on the structure are identified to be artificially fabricated. Appearance and size of YSP are similar to the biggest, ancient castles such as Shuri and Nakagusuku Castles in Okinawa Island, where they are called 'gusuku'. Roads associated with drainage canals were recognized, surrounding YSP, and that a retaining wall was found along a road. The southern point of the wall is composed of huge rock fragments. Stone tools and other artifacts were discovered from the sea bottom. Those evidence strongly shows that the YSP has not been manufactured by nature. It is identifie to be man-made. The formation age is estimated to be about 10,000 years ago based on 14C and 10Be age determinations.Ancient Japanese clay figures, orfrom the lateperiod of Japanese history (14,000-400 BC). Nobodyknows what they were for or who made them, but they look like they might be wearing diving suits or space suits or something. The evidence is all around you!According to the legend, local fishers of the 'Harato-no-hama' or 'Harayadōri'shore in the Hitachi province, today Ibaraki prefecture saw an ominous ‘ship’ drifting in the waters. Becoming curious, the fishermen surrounded the object with their small boats, then they towed it to the land. The vessel was 3.30 metres high and 5.45 metres wide and reminded the witnesses of a(Japanese incense burner), some authors write it reminded the witnesses of a rice cooking pot. Its upper part seemed to be made of red coated rosewood, others say it was black coated. The lower part was covered with brazen plates, obviously to protect it against the sharp edged rocks. The upper part had several windows made of glass or crystal, covered with bars and clogged with some kind of tree resin. The windows were completely transparent and the baffled fishermen looked inside. The inner side of the Utsuro-bune was decorated with texts written in a unknown language. The fishermen found stuffs inside such as two bed sheets, a bottle filled with 3.6 litres of water, some cake and kneated meat. A beautiful decorated cup with ornaments no one could identify was also found. Then the fishermen saw a beautiful young woman possibly 18 or 20 years old. Her body size was said to be 1.5m. The woman had red hair and eyebrows, the hair elongated by artificially added white extensions. According to the authors, the extensions could have been made of white fur or thin, white-powdered textile streaks. The skin of the lady was a very pale pink colour. She wore precious, long and smooth clothes of unknown fabrics. Although the mysterious woman appeared friendly and courteous, she acted oddly, for she clutched an elongated box made of pale material all the time. The woman did not allow anyone to touch the box, no matter how kindly or pressingly the witnesses asked. The fishermen began to suspect that the box may contain the head of the woman´s deceased lover, since she was a princess of a foreign realm. But when she had an affair with a townsman, it caused a scandal and she was banned from home and she might have been exposed in thatto leave her to destiny. The woman began speaking, but no one understood her. And she seemingly didn´t understand the fishermen. When attempted conversation fails, the fishermen decided with severe hearts to put the Utsuro-bune together with the young lady back into the ocean, where it drifted away.Guardian Essential poll says 38% of people disapprove of deal between Liberals and One Nation in WA, while 29% approve
Malcolm Turnbull says entering a preference deal with One Nation doesn’t mean the Liberal party supports One Nation, as a new poll shows a majority of voters disapprove of a deal between the Liberals and Pauline Hanson’s party in Western Australia.
Turnbull told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday that preference allocations were political calculations designed to maximise the performance of the Liberal party, not value judgments.
Asked about the Liberal party’s decision in WA to preference One Nation ahead of its alliance partner, the Nationals, in some areas, the prime minister said: “Well it’s important to understand... that in most parts of Australia we have a compulsory preferential voting system, where you have to number a square next to each candidate on the ballot paper so there will always be the allocation of preferences.
More than 70% believe Coalition not doing enough on energy – poll Read more
“But just because preferences are directed to a party doesn’t mean that you support them – quite the contrary.”
His comments come as the latest Guardian Essential poll says 38% of people disapprove of the deal between the Liberal party and One Nation in WA, while 29% approve. But, among Liberal voters, 43% approved of the arrangement and 25% disapproved.
The deal in the west has also been criticised by the federal Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce. In an interview with Guardian Australia last week, Joyce warned that anti-Islamic statements, such as the ones espoused by One Nation, could harm Australian trade deals.
He said he would give instructions not to preference Hanson’s party before the Liberal party in federal seats.
The deal in WA parts ways with John Howard’s dictum in 2001 that One Nation should be put last on Liberal how-to-vote cards and some Liberal moderates are concerned preferencing One Nation will help entrench Hanson in the Australian political mainstream, creating a long-term problem for the Coalition parties.
The Australian on Tuesday reported that One Nation’s Queensland leader, Steve Dickson, wanted positions in the ministry in return for supporting the LNP in the state election, which is expected later this year.
Dickson, who recently defected from the LNP to lead One Nation in Queensland, said “policy and positions’’ would be a condition of support for an LNP minority government in the state.
John Howard backs Liberal preference deal with One Nation in WA Read more
One Nation’s strong performance in recent polls suggests the party will do well in Queensland. A recent poll had the party on track to better its result of 11 seats in the 1998 state election.
Howard last week abandoned his own 2001 instruction to put Hanson last, saying he fully understood the decision in Western Australia for the state election.
“Everyone changes in 16 years,” he said. “Trying to understand that decision and decisions that were taken by various iterations of the Liberal party 15 or 16 years ago is ridiculous.
“This is a different set of circumstances. I think it’s entirely sensible that the party has done what’s it’s done.”
Since the deal was struck in WA, a number of federal ministers have lined up in support, with some advancing arguments that One Nation is more sophisticated than it was 20 years ago.After weathering the fear of federal prosecution and competition from drug cartels, California’s medical marijuana growers see a new threat to their tenuous existence: the “Wal-Marting” of weed.
The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will look at licensing four production plants where pot would be grown, packaged and processed into items ranging from baked goods to body oil. Winning applicants would have to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million worth of liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes.
The move, and fledgling efforts in other California cities to sanction cannabis cultivation for the first time, has some marijuana advocates worried that regulations intended to bring order to the outlaw industry and new revenues to cash-strapped local governments could drive small “mom and pop” growers out of business. They complain that industrial-scale gardens would harm the environment, reduce quality and leave consumers with fewer strains from which to choose.
“Nobody wants to see the McDonald’s-ization of cannabis,” Dan Scully, one of the 400 “patient-growers” who supply Oakland’s largest retail medical marijuana dispensary, Harborside Health Center, grumbled after a City Council committee gave the blueprint preliminary approval last week. “I would compare it to how a small business feels about shutting down its business and going to work at Wal-Mart. Who would be attracted to that?”
FULL STORY FOLLOWS BELOWDiscussions of "gentrification" are commonplace in contemporary urban America, with complaints usually focusing on two main themes. One is change in the built environment — people often liked neighborhoods the way they were when they moved there, and resent the construction of new structures that differ in scale and style from what was there previously. The other is economic impact — people often worry that an influx of affluent newcomers will raise housing costs in a way that disadvantages less privileged people.
The good news is that this latter problem can be fixed. The bad news is that the best way to do it is to increase the pace at which a city's built environment changes.
The economics of gentrification
The experience of expensive, politically liberal coastal cities tends to dominate media discussions of urbanism, so it's important to note that these cities are the exception rather than the rule. Most American central cities are relatively affordable, and many of them — especially in the Midwest — are still suffering from the population loss and disinvestment associated with white flight. A Detroit, Cleveland, or St. Louis could greatly benefit from an influx of affluent newcomers whose presence would create new job opportunities and bolster local tax bases.
At the same time, in any city it does seem to be true that an influx of newcomers will tend to raise prices. Research by Veronica Guerrieri, Daniel Hartley, and Erik Hurst shows empirically how this works. Price increases tend to concentrate in specific neighborhoods rather than spreading across a city as a whole. They model this as a question of spillovers. More and less affluent people place systematically different values on different kinds of retail opportunities. So affluent young people might be drawn to proximity to a Whole Foods and an array of independent coffee shops and yoga studios, while working-class families might prefer a cheaper supermarket and proximity to some home-based day care providers. When affluent people start moving to a neighborhood, the retail mix shifts in favor of things affluent people like, which draws more affluent people to that specific neighborhood but not necessarily to other places in the city.
But whether this is good or bad for older residents of the city depends on other factors. Janna Matlack and Jacob L. Vigdor examined market data from 1970 to 2000 and found that the net economic impact of gentrification varies according to local housing conditions.
"In tight housing markets," they write, "the poor do worse when the rich get richer," whereas in slack markets, "some evidence suggests that increases in others' income, holding own income constant, may be beneficial."
When houses are plentiful, in other words, gentrification can be a win-win — increases in other people's incomes create new opportunities for the poor. But when houses are scarce, increases in other people's incomes merely exacerbate scarcity and leave the poor worse off than ever.
Neighborhoods need to change faster
So what creates a "slack" housing market where gentrification can be a win-win? Data from the real estate website Trulia shows it can basically happen one of two ways.
Markets like Detroit, Cleveland, or Rochester are cheap essentially because they are economically depressed. There are plenty of empty houses, so if affluent newcomers show up and fix some of them up it doesn't generate any real scarcity.
Tight markets like New York and the Bay Area can't replicate that approach to affordability. But they could learn a lesson from the other kind of slack housing market — Sunbelt markets like Raleigh and Atlanta where new houses are being built at a very rapid clip.
Those fast-growing metros are mostly adding houses by spreading their geographical footprint deeper into the suburbs. That's not necessarily an appealing option for cities whose sprawl is limited by oceans or already-gargantuan commuting times. But fortunately, technology exists that allows house builders to pack large quantities of dwellings into limited land. Rather than detached houses each perched in their own yard, rowhouses or townhouses can be built. Where land is even scarcer, American builders have the capacity to erect apartment buildings — some of them two dozen stories high or more — whose floors are connected by elevators. The big problem is that in the most expensive metropolitan areas it is illegal to deploy these technologies on large swaths of land. Zoning codes and historic preservation rules generally prevent even the priciest neighborhoods from becoming denser.
Relaxing these zoning rules would transform gentrification of neighborhoods in generally affluent cities into a win-win that benefits the poor. But it would mean accelerating the pace at which gentrification reshapes the built environment of those neighborhoods. Those worried about gentrification, in other words, likely need to choose what it is they are primarily worried about — the aesthetic or economic dimensions of the issue — and recognize that addressing one will likely exacerbate the other.Stephen A. Smith, ESPN
87 days in a county jail just last year. What did that do?
Floyd Mayweather
It hurt me. It hurt me.
Stephen A. Smith
How did it hurt you?
Floyd Mayweather
Because, of course, I wanted to give my children a great summer. I wanted to take my children around the world. I wasn't there for my youngest daughter's birthday, and it hurt me because I done my whole time in the hole. And of course, sittin' in a box, a small box, 23 hours a day, mentally, that can mess with anybody.
Stephen A. Smith
Being stuck in that situation, in that hole, 23 hours a day, did you lose yourself? Did you get to a point where Floyd Mayweather was just gone?
Floyd Mayweather
I got through the rough situation, because it was a story, it's crazy, it was a story, what my counselor had told me, about these hostages. It was, like, eight hostages, in boxes, like, the size of a coffin. There was this one individual guy, he made friends with roaches inside the box. He was inside that box for over a year, and I said to myself, if he can survive and not go crazy, and make friends with roaches, I can survive in this hole. That's how I got through it.
Stephen A. Smith
Right now, do you believe you're the best in the world?
Floyd Mayweather
I feel I'm the best ever. I broke everybody's record. Tell me whose record I haven't broke? It's not braggin' or boastin', the proof is in the pudding. Men lie, women lie, numbers don't lie.
Stephen A. Smith
Doesn't matter who it is, doesn't |
at a congressional hearing on AIG on March 18th, at which the firm's chief executive, Edward Liddy, faced a rough ride despite being in the job only a few months and working for a salary of $1.
As the uproar grew, lawmakers began crafting bills that would impose taxes of up to 100% on the bonuses. Andrew Cuomo, New York's hyperactive attorney-general, entered the fray, slapping subpoenas on the firm and muttering about possible fraud. His office stoked public ire by revealing that 73 employees had received over $1m, and that $57m of its “retention” payments were earmarked for staff it planned to lay off. At the hearing, Mr Liddy said he had asked all those who received more than $100,000 to give back at least half, and that some—no doubt motivated by death threats and the unwelcome attention of paparazzi—had offered to return the full amount. But he also worried that they would leave AIG, making it harder to manage the toxic financial-products business.
Shocking though the bonuses have been, they pale in comparison with the $49.5 billion of payments that AIG has made to counterparties in its disastrous foray into credit-default swaps—many of them foreign banks (see chart). This was no accident: it was precisely bailing out these trading partners that the government viewed as necessary to avoid a systemic meltdown. Still, the transfers—including almost $13 billion to Goldman Sachs, making it, as one newspaper put it, a “charity case”—are likely to receive more scrutiny as the bonus storm subsides.
The furore over AIG is awkward for the new administration in several ways. First, it makes it harder to pin responsibility for botched financial rescues on the Bush team. The new lot could have nipped the bonus fiasco in the bud. It also leaves Mr Obama walking a fine line between convincing the public that he shares their sense of outrage while also possibly pressing for more rescue funds. The government's best guess is that another $750 billion could be needed. Insurers are clamouring for funds too. But bail-out fatigue is growing. The hearing's chairman, Paul Kanjorski, suggested that the AIG mess could force Congress to reconsider any future largesse.
It does not help that Mr Geithner's star is falling. His failure to get ahead of the problems at AIG follows his botched unveiling of a bank-rescue plan. Regaining his credibility will depend on the success of two new schemes: one to boost consumer lending by reviving securitisation, and another to remove toxic assets from banks (details of which are expected any day). Here, too, the government faces a balancing act: it needs to make the terms attractive enough to bring in private buyers, but not so attractive that they invite more political fireworks.
Another risk is that restrictions placed on firms that receive public money backfire. Banks are responding to new executive-bonus limits by increasing salaries. This “flies in the face of making pay more performance-related,” says Pearl Meyer of Steven Hall & Partners, a consultancy. Chafing under restrictions on their activities, recipients of funds from the previous government's Troubled Asset Relief Programme are scrambling to repay them early. This may cheer taxpayers, but the withdrawal of capital may also hurt lending.
No wonder Mr Obama is keen to move the debate on. The focus now, he said on March 18th, should be on giving the government the tools to prevent a repeat: resolution authority over non-banks, similar to the power the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has to shake up sick banks. Mr Liddy, meanwhile, will be urged to earn his dollar by disposing of AIG's assets and cutting the group's vast debt to the taxpayer. Such deals have so far proved elusive. This week's brouhaha is unlikely to make the task easier.By Isabel Ostrer, Lily Ostrer and Maria Smith
Delivering yet another blow to this country's Democratic process, President Obama is expected to buck Congressional authority in order to push through a trade agreement with devastating consequences for millions of people. Consistent with its proclivity for secrecy, the Obama administration has revealed little information about its negotiations of a massive "free trade agreement" with eleven nations. These countries, which have been in negotiations since 2008, encompass nearly 40 percent of the global economy.
The clandestine agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), would sidestep domestic laws and protections for national economies in favor of prioritizing the interests of multinational corporations. Slated to become the largest free trade agreement in the world, the TPP is on track to curtail Internet freedom, rollback corporate regulations, end Buy American and Local preferences for government contracts, undermine food safety, diminish fair labor standards, and threaten the health of millions of people. A complete lack of transparency in these secret negotiations is not only in stark contrast with American democratic values but also represents a clear departure from democratic government.
The detrimental effects of the TPP are far reaching. Among the most egregious is the assault on access to affordable medicines. Generic competition is vital in reducing the price of drugs: a robust generic market for the first antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat HIV/AIDS reduced the price of the medicine by 99 percent over ten years. This price reduction was instrumental in scaling up HIV/AIDS treatment to over eight million individuals in the developing world. Currently, 80 percent of ARTs used in developing countries are generic medicines produced in India. The TPP strengthens and expands pharmaceutical monopoly protections.
Leaked documents, the only source from which to garner information about the proposed content of the TPP, indicate that the agreement seeks to impose aggressive intellectual property standards. Much more restrictive than existing policies, these new IP measures would make approval of generic drugs more difficult to secure. They would lower patentability standards, limit the ability to challenge unjustified patents, extend patent terms, and set ownership controls over safety data regarding drug usage. The agreement would create extensive new drug monopolies and limit the economies of scale that generics industries rely on to ensure drug affordability. In courting corporate interests, these regulations will curtail public measures that ensure access to safe and affordable medicines, denying people across the world access to life-saving drugs.
In addition to prioritizing corporate profit over public health, the agreement represents a larger attempt to promote the dominance of U.S. interests to the detriment of other nations. The secretive nature of negotiations, which sidesteps input from multilateral groups such as the World Trade Organization or the World Intellectual Property Organization, will likely result in an unbalanced intellectual property system. By raising intellectual property norms in developing countries and promoting patent law in this way, the US is perpetuating the linkage of the costs of drug development to high drug prices. This is not a model that addresses the research and innovation needs of developing countries. Essentially, drug development will only occur if the resulting discovery will be a massive money-maker, neglecting public need in a way that disproportionately impacts developing countries.
Among the many detrimental provisions of the TPP, another one certainly stands out for its sweeping and permeating effects -- deregulation of the financial sector, including banking, securities, pension funds, and asset management. Today's pervasive sentiment around the world that favors robust regulations of financial institutions to avoid an encore of the 2008 global financial crisis goes completely ignored by TPP negotiators. In a demonstration of undemocratic secrecy the Obama Administration has partnered with eleven governments to deregulate the world financial sector, and, in doing so, thwart efforts to reduce risks financial services pose to taxpayers.
The Obama Administration wants to sign onto the TPP and is pointed to do so without any public evaluation or discussion of the agreement's measures. The "fast track" process Obama is pushing for prohibits Congressional amendments to and filibusters of the bill. It diminishes the ability of Congress to express its authority to check executive power, resulting in the passage of potentially detrimental legislation without complete review. Senators and Representatives would be required to vote on the measure without any chance to propose amendments or request extended evaluation. The action by the Administration sets the precedence for circumventing domestic law in securing global agreements.ANAHEIM — To get to his locker stall after Wednesday’s practice, Jason LaBarbera took a wide route toward the far side of the room, in order to politely avoid assembled reporters. He is accustomed to circuitous paths.
As the Ducks’ backup goalie — at least for another few days — LaBarbera is only one sprain, strain or bruise from being the man in net and making the first NHL playoff appearance of a long, winding career.
”You have to have that in the back of your mind a little,’’ LaBarbera said after practice. ”You don’t want that situation to occur, obviously, but you try to be as ready as possible. Just be ready and work hard and try to be a positive guy around the room. It’s typical stuff that I’m pretty used to.’’
LaBarbera, 35, has appeared in 187 regular-season games in parts of 11 NHL seasons with the Ducks, Kings, New York Rangers, Vancouver, Phoenix and Edmonton. Primarily a backup at every stop, LaBarbera has been on the bench for eight playoff series — most recently with Phoenix in 2012 — but has yet to get in a game.
The Ducks are expected to start goalie Frederik Anderson on Thursday in Game 1 of their first-round series against Winnipeg, as John Gibson is still recovery from an upper-body injury.
The expectation is that Gibson will return fairly soon, but for now LaBarbera is the Ducks’ backup. What could happen? Well, remember that Andersen is the same goalie who missed time this season because he got hit on the head by a falling net.
It’s not as though LaBarbera would be overwhelmed. He’s a 14-year NHL veteran with 124 career starts.
LaBarbera appeared in five games for the Ducks in November and had a 2.60 goals-against average and a.909 save percentage. He split time in Norfolk (AHL) with Gibson and four other goalies this season and has been a valuable veteran emergency goalie for the Ducks.
”I think I’m the oldest guy in here,’’ LaBarbera said as he glanced around the locker room. ”In the minors, I’m the oldest by a lot. Sometimes you’ve just got to dumb yourself down a little, and come down to their level and remember what it’s like being 21 or 22. Obviously we don’t have a lot in common.’’
LaBarbera is also a fan of Andersen, who is 25 and got seven games of playoff experience last season.
”He’s a pretty mature guy, very focused,’’ LaBarbera. ”I’m happy for him. When I saw him in (training) camp, I was like, `This guy is good.’ You could tell he was legit, and he had a great year.’’This year's iconic NFL video game has Antonio Brown, Dez Bryant rated as better wide receivers than Calvin Johnson
Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, DFP)
EA Sports doesn't think Calvin Johnson is the NFL's best wide receiver anymore.
The video game brand unveiled its top 5 overall rated wide receivers for "Madden NFL 16," which releases Aug. 25. And this year's game gives the Detroit Lions wide receiver a 95.
That ranks below the Pittsburgh Steelers' Antonio Brown (97) and the Dallas Cowboys' Dez Bryant (96), and just above the New York Giants' Odell Beckham Jr. (94) and the Atlanta Falcons' Julio Jones (94).
EA Sports' comments on Johnson: "Megatron still beats press coverage with 98 Release, and his catching skills really shine with 97 CTH/91 CIT/98 SPC. Other standouts are 93 AGI/90 JKM/92 RTE."
Johnson was hampered a bit by injuries last year, finishing with statistically his worst season since 2009. He caught 71 passes for 1,077 yards and 8 touchdowns in 13 games as the Lions went 11-5 and clinched an NFC Wild Card berth.
But still, does that push Megatron down the list in the NFL's wide receiver pecking order? If he can stay healthy this fall, we'll see about that.
Earlier this month, Johnson was revealed as NFL.com's No. 6 overall player in its Top 100 list, voted upon by his peers. He was the top wide receiver on the list.
"Madden NFL 16" will be released on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.
Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo. Check out our new Lions Xtra app on Apple and Android!The John Batchelor Show, July 12.
Nation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussion of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments are at TheNation.com.) Cohen characterizes last week’s NATO Summit in Warsaw as another step in the militarization of the new Cold War and indeed just short of a declaration of war against Russia. Indicatively, the meeting issued a special communiqué on Ukraine falsely blaming President Putin for that continuing civil and proxy war, which remains the political epicenter of the US/NATO-Russian expanding conflict. (Much less was said about the Islamic State in Syria or international terrorism generally.) Cohen thinks Moscow commentators are right in worrying that the Warsaw Summit confirmed that the current NATO military buildup on Russia’s borders may be only the beginning of a long-term process and, not unrelated, Kiev may be preparing another military assault on rebel territories in the Donbass. Either possibility could result in war with Russia. Ad Policy
Extreme anti-Russian resolutions at the Warsaw Summit also revealed, according to Cohen, another recurring feature of the preceding 40-year Cold War: an increasingly public struggle between pro-détente “doves” and militaristic “hawks.” Remarkably, prior to and even at the summit, leaders of major NATO countries—Germany, France, and Italy—made clear that they do not regard Russia as an “enemy” or a threat, casting doubt on NATO’s military buildup on its new Eastern Front and the renewal of economic sanctions against Russia. This vital political struggle to end or at least curtail the new Cold War now is under way in Europe. LIKE THIS? GET MORE OF OUR BEST REPORTING AND ANALYSIS
But even though Washington controls (and largely finances) NATO, no such high-level struggle has broken out in the United States, where the political-media establishment appears to be almost monolithically pro–Cold War. Indeed, Cohen thinks that only two leading American politicians have indicated interest in any kind of détente with Russia: Donald Trump, by a number of elliptical but still undeveloped public statements; and possibly President Obama.
In last week’s broadcast, Cohen and Batchelor discussed reports that Obama wants to achieve some kind of rapprochement with “Putin’s Russia” as part of his foreign-policy legacy instead of the new Cold War. Last week’s evidence was confirmed by reports that Obama had proposed to Putin real US-Russian military cooperation against the Islamic State in Syria. This week there was an additional report that Obama is preparing to propose to Putin new mutual steps in the area of nuclear-arms control, including taking warheads off “high alert” status and adoption of a “no-first-use” doctrine by Washington and Moscow. Both measures would considerably reduce the growing risk of nuclear war.
Unlike Europe’s pro-détente “dove” leaders, Obama has been extremely inconsistent in words and deeds, both on Syria and in regard to the NATO buildup and Ukraine. His speech at the Warsaw Summit, for example, was extremely hawkish, though overshadowed by his need to respond on television to the events in Dallas. (Cohen wonders how many American viewers asked themselves, “What is he doing there, anyway?”) Whether Obama’s irresolute conduct on these vital issues of war or peace is due to his own irresolute nature in foreign policy or to the high-level struggle we know to be under way inside his own administration is not yet clear.
In either case, Cohen concludes, for now Americans must look to Europe to save us from Washington’s escalating Cold War against Russia.UPDATED CAPITOL HILL: House and Senate conferees have agreed to an almost $619 billion defense budget that stops steep cuts in the US Army, eliminates 110 generals and admirals, makes US Cyber Command independent, and cuts the Pentagon’s most powerful position in two. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017 — which began last month — is tentatively scheduled for a House vote Friday and a Senate vote the following week, senior staffers told the press this afternoon.
[Click here to read Colin Clark’s exclusive on breaking up the powerful Acquisition, Technology, & Logistics bureaucracy]
Notably absent from the bill? The conference provisions do not buy any additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, AH-64 Apache helicopters, or other major weapons systems over what President Obama’s budget request originally proposed in February. Nor did the conferees decide to disestablish the much-criticized F-35 Joint Program Office, restrict the Navy’s much-delayed Ford-class carrier program, or rewrite the contract for the Air Force’s secretive B-21 bomber, although they did require additional reporting on all three.
The 2017 NDAA is $3.2 billion over the president’s request, with no equal increase in domestic spending, as Democrats had demanded. For their part, House Republicans and Senate Armed Services chairman John McCain had voted to add almost six times as much, $18 billion, to the president’s request. I’d predicted (wrongly, it turns out) that they’d get it, or something close. The $18 billion, however, would have come from shortchanging war funds for Iraq and Afghanistan, then counting on a supplemental bill next year to make up the difference — a gimmick President Obama had promised to veto. By contrast, the conference’s $3.2 billion plus-up is smaller but has fewer fiscal side effects.
So what remains of the House’s $18 billion wishlist — more troops, more fighters, more helicopters, and so on? “Except for endstrength, none of that is in here,” one senior aide said bluntly. But personal had to be the priority: If you don’t buy a weapon, you can always try to get it funded again next year, he went on, whereas if you cut professional soldiers, it takes “a minimum of three years” to recruit, train, and equip their replacements.
The impact on endstrength is a big one, especially for the Army. Compared to the president’s request for 2017, the conference bill would
[Corrected] add 1,000 sailors, bringing Navy endstrength to just under 324,000 active-duty personnel;
just under 324,000 active-duty personnel; add 3,000 Marines, mostly maintainers to restore startling declines in aircraft readiness, bringing Marine Corps endstrength to 185,000;
add 4,000 airmen, again mostly maintainers to fix readiness, bringing the Air Force to 321,000;
add 1,000 active-duty Army soldiers and retain another 15,000 who were set to be cut, bringing the service back to last year’s force level of 476,000. In addition, the Army National Guard gains 8,000 soldiers and the Army Reserve 4,000.
[Note: We’ve updated and corrected these figures based on the official conference report language].
This provision plus President-Elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises would kill the current plan to cut the active Army to 450,000, a level which many soldiers feared would prove just a speed bump on the road to even deeper reductions. The funding includes not just the money to pay the additional military personnel (MILPERS accounts) but also the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) money to keep them trained and equipped.
On the flipside, the bill makes relatively miniscule but bureaucratically significant reductions in general officers and admirals, eliminating 110 positions, not quite 12 percent of the star-on-shoulder corps. (McCain had wanted to cut 25 percent). The majority of the eliminated billets are on the inter-service joint staff, the committee aide said, with a lesser impact on the four armed services themselves.
The bill also elevates US Cyber Command to the status of a full Combatant Command (COCOM). Currently, CYBERCOM reports to US Strategic Command, whose overflowing portfolio includes everything from nuclear deterrence to space operations to electronic warfare. CYBERCOM already has a four-star officer in charge, so its elevation doesn’t buck the trend of cutting general officer billets. Cyber Command’s chief will remain, for now, dual-hatted as the director of the National Security Agency, a controversial arrangement most observers expect will eventually end — but not today.
One final mercy in the bill: There are no provisions on the sage grouse, the accursed bird whose endangered status, and habit of nesting near military training ranges, has bedeviled defense bill negotiations year after year.Twice recently, President Barack Obama has slammed congressional Republicans for voting against his economic stimulus bill in February 2009 but later touting provisions of the bill that benefited their own constituents.
During his Jan. 29, 2010, question-and-answer session with House Republican lawmakers in Baltimore, Obama brought up the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as the stimulus is officially known:
"There was an interesting headline in CNN today: 'Americans disapprove of stimulus, but like every policy in it.' And there was a poll that showed that if you broke it down into its component parts, 80 percent approved of the tax cuts, 80 percent approved of the infrastructure, 80 percent approved of the assistance to the unemployed. Well, that's what the Recovery Act was. And let's face it, some of you have been at the ribbon-cuttings for some of these important projects in your communities."
Then, on Feb. 2, 2010, Obama riffed on the same theme during a town hall event in New Hampshire:
"I have to point out, though, that some of the very same folks in Congress who opposed the Recovery Act -- and claim that it hasn’t worked -- have been all too happy to claim credit for Recovery Act projects and the jobs those projects have produced. (Applause.) They come to the ribbon-cuttings and... (laughter). They found a way to have their cake and vote against it, too. (Laughter.)"
We decided that a claim that bold, repeated in two high-profile events within a week's time, was worth a fact-check.
As it turns out, we found several cases in which lawmakers voted against the measure but later claimed credit for provisions or projects stemming from the stimulus bill.
-- Rep. Don Young of Alaska. Young, who has served in Congress since 1973, sent out two press releases on Feb. 13, 2009, the day the House passed the final version of the stimulus bill.
One was headlined, "Rep. Young Votes NO On Democrats’ Massive Spending Bill." It quotes Young saying, "This bill was not a stimulus bill, it was a vehicle for pet projects, and that’s wrong."
Young's second release of the day was headlined, "Rep. Young Wins Victory For Alaska Small Business." It explains how Young, after lobbying by the Alaska Federation of Natives, targeted a provision from the stimulus bill that would have required competitive bidding for stimulus grants and contracts. The Alaska Natives group said the provision could have hurt its members' ability to benefit from Small Business Administration programs. Young, the release said, "worked with Members on the other side of the aisle to make the case for these programs, and was able to get the provision pulled from the bill."
In the release, Young said that “no matter if I supported this bill or not, I would make sure [Alaska Natives] were not hurt by it."
-- Rep. Geoff Davis of Kentucky. Davis, a three-term congressman, issued a news release on Jan. 28, 2009, the day of the first House vote on the stimulus, in which he was quoted saying that "this so-called ‘stimulus’ legislation is full of pet spending projects that will do very little to restore confidence in our economy or create jobs."
But 11 months later, on Dec. 16, 2009, Davis sent out a release announcing the awarding of a $1 million-plus grant for the Carroll County School District. "Congressman Geoff Davis is pleased to announce that the Carroll County School District has been awarded $1,044,140 in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Early Head Start Expansion Program," the release stated. It goes on to say, "In these difficult economic times, it is critical to ensure that vulnerable populations in Kentucky have access to important support services like those provided by the Early Head Start program. This important grant will allow Carroll County School District to expand their ability to provide needed assistance to local low-income families and children. I am very proud of the work that the Carroll County School District is doing to strengthen their community, and I am pleased that our office was able to assist them in obtaining these funds.”
As it happened, on the very same day, Davis sent out a separate release in which he referred to the "failed trillion-dollar'stimulus' bill."
-- Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania. Shuster, elected in 2001, is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. During the stimulus debate, he advocated for targeting the measure more directly toward infrastructure spending. A Jan. 28, 2009, news release from his office said that "President Obama told the American people that he would stimulate our economy by rejuvenating our infrastructure. As a longtime advocate of improving our nation’s infrastructure, Shuster was encouraged by this announcement. Unfortunately, the Democrats in Congress, led by Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi, squandered this historic opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the backbone of our economy in order to fund 40 years of pent-up liberal pet projects."
In November, the Blairsville (Pa.) Dispatch reported that Shuster attended a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new facility at a sewage treatment plant in Blairsville. According to the newspaper, the $12.1 million project was funded in part by federal stimulus money.
-- Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia. In a Feb. 13, 2009, news release, Gingrey, a four-term congressman, explained his vote by saying that "this ‘stimulus’ bill only perpetuates the dangerous myth that government spending will fix this economy.... The truth is government spending will only bury future generations in more debt."
In October, a photograph in the Cedartown (Ga.) Standard showed Gingrey handing over a giant, ceremonial check for $625,000 in stimulus money to municipal leaders. The money was to pay for "new sidewalks, landscaping and other improvements to the downtown area," according to the newspaper. A Gingrey spokeswoman told the Standard that because the project qualified for federal stimulus funds as "shovel-ready," Gingrey "presented the proposal at the federal level."
City commissioner Scott Tillery described Gingrey to the newspaper as "our point man when we need action from the federal government. His staff is always interested and involved in local concerns, and the congressman will use his influence to make a case for his constituents."
-- Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina. Burr voted against the stimulus yet appeared in person to present a $2 million-plus stimulus grant to help build a fire station to house the Bethlehem Community Volunteer Fire Department.
"This is a great thing for this county," Burr said, according to the Hickory (N.C.) Daily Record. "We're not accustomed to federal dollars in that magnitude finding their way to North Carolina."
A spokesman for Burr told the Associated Press in October that he wasn't taking credit for the money. "Sen. Burr was invited to the grant presentation by the Alexander County commissioners and was happy to be there to recognize the community and the fire department for their work in securing this highly competitive grant,'' the spokesman said.
In an interview with Politico, Burr added, “Just because I voted against the stimulus doesn’t mean I shouldn’t recognize the merit achievement of an entity.”
None of the four House members cited above responded to a query from PolitiFact. But the spokesman for one senior Republican lawmaker -- House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia -- did return our call. He argued that the Democratic criticism is overblown.
Cantor, a leading stimulus opponent, has taken heat from Democrats for organizing a job fair whose participating employers benefited from stimulus funding, as well as for helping local officials lobby for stimulus money to support a high-speed rail link between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Va.
Brad Dayspring, Cantor's spokesman, defended both efforts, saying that, in the first case, the congressman was simply trying to help his unemployed constituents get back to work, and, in the second case, he was continuing his longstanding efforts to boost high-speed rail. Cantor's advocacy on the rail issue dates back a decade, to his tenure in the Virginia legislature.
On the broader question of why Cantor opted not to support the bill, Dayspring said that the congressman made his decision based on his opposition to the vast majority of the bill's provisions. "The bill was so flawed, he voted against it despite his overwhelming support" for the rail provision, Dayspring said. "If you support 1 percent of a bill and oppose 99 percent, are you expected to vote for it?"
Let's return to Obama's claim. The president said that Republicans who voted against the stimulus "have been all too happy to claim credit for Recovery Act projects and the jobs those projects have produced." We found at least two lawmakers -- Young and Davis -- who aggressively criticized the stimulus bill yet sent out a news release touting their own role in helping constituents benefit from the bill. In the meantime, Obama also said that some opponents of the stimulus have "come to the ribbon cuttings" for projects funded by the bill. Shuster, Gingrey and Burr clearly attended such ceremonies. To us, five clear cases are enough to validate the president's assertion that some stimulus opponents have "found a way to have their cake and vote against it, too." We rate Obama's statement True.Tekken 7 revealed its newest character over the weekend, and when Western gamers reacted harshly to her, the game's lead designer responded in kind, even implying she and other characters would not be in the game's North American version.
First, the character: Lucky Chloe, a teenager with headphones, cat ears, cat paws, knee socks and a miniskirt. Here's a YouTube video introducing her. The comments are what you'd expect, too.
The look is straight from the Japan pop-idol playbook, and was harshly and profanely criticized in this NeoGAF thread, either for being too typical, too weird or both.
Katsuhiro Harada, alerted to the negative reaction, had one of his own regarding Western gamers' tastes: "Hello small world. I'll make muscular & skinhead character for you."
When someone on Twitter asked for the option to delete characters from the Tekken 7 lineup, Harada told them to "calm down and Don't worry. That character are East Asia and Europe ‘Exclusive.'"
Asked if he was really serious, Harada said he really was:
I'm always serious. If you don't need = I don't release them. If you need = I'll release. That's all. RT @jdevilb I hope you are not serious — Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) December 8, 2014
We're checking with a Namco representative just in case, and will update this story with any reply we receive.
Update: Harada has commented again, framing this as a matter of community preference regarding the entire roster, not just a single character. "It's YOUR community's choice. I'm just hearing the demand & request," he said. "Anyway, We are so busy because Tekken 7 development is not finish, we are working on arcade version first. I think we have planning time for this issue after development."
Update 2: Tekken Project game designer Michael Murray says Harada's assertion that he'll restrict Lucky Chloe to particular regions is simply the producer trolling.Give Theresa May her due, the final week of March 2017 never seemed like it was going to be a quiet one.
The two-year countdown on withdrawal from the EU is being triggered. The elected Scottish Parliament is mandating Nicola Sturgeon to hold a referendum on Scotland becoming an independent state for the first time in three centuries. And the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland are collapsing before our very eyes.
So it takes a special kind of talent for any British prime minister to kick the week off by heading into the eye of the storm with a jaunt to Scotland to deliver a speech that said absolutely nothing and sent the press pack into a doze.
To the extent that the visit helped clear the mists just a little, it was only thanks to a combination of Sturgeon's quick-witted nature and the shadowy Downing Street "sources" who occasionally fill a May-shaped void by saying something mildly interesting when the PM declines to. (Indeed, it's beginning to seem that the most natural head-to-head battle in the TV referendum debates will be between Ms Sturgeon and "sources".)
Because much of the London media seems unable or unwilling to pose the right questions, May had hitherto been getting away with the fiction that she is only saying no to an independence referendum "now", and is only doing it because the terms of the Brexit deal are not yet known.
That dodge did not survive the face-to-face encounter with Sturgeon, who successfully established that the Brexit deal would be concluded within two years, in plenty of time to suit the planned timetable for a referendum by spring 2019. Sturgeon left the meeting triumphantly and announced that there was no remaining legitimate excuse for blocking her proposal.
It proved enough to spark some life into Mr or Mrs Downing Street Source, who by all accounts spluttered indignantly that it wouldn't be sufficient for the people of Scotland to merely know the terms of Brexit, they actually needed a taste of what those terms would feel like in the "real world" before they could decide whether they would prefer to return to the European Union as an independent country.
A cynic might suggest that this is analogous to telling a condemned man that he cannot apply for a reprieve until after his execution has taken place because, for all he knows, it might not be quite as bad as he thinks.
It's deeply curious. Over the last three years, we've had two referendums in which the people of Scotland have been implored by the UK government to vote for the option that would keep their country inside the European Union.
They were told that only a No vote in the independence referendum would guarantee EU membership, and they duly voted No. They were asked to vote Remain last June, and once again they plumped for the pro-EU option, this time by the overwhelming margin of 62% to 38%.
And yet having done exactly what they were told twice over, the UK government now treats them like disobedient children who at least need to be forced to give Brexit a try before turning their noses up at it.
Perverse, yes. Democratically indefensible, without a doubt. But at least now the stand-off we will be observing over the coming months has taken on a clearer shape.
May plainly wants to hold Scotland hostage within Brexit Britain for at least a few years, regardless of the wishes of its people. That is a straightforward repudiation of the decades-old British government policy acknowledging Scotland's right to democratic self-determination. As most authoritarian leaders do when seeking to see off a'separatist threat', she is relying purely on the might-is-right argument that the law gives her the absolute power to say no.
But this is an unprecedented situation, and the prime minister may be massively underestimating the leverage others have over her. In particular, there have been suggestions that the government's rather ambitious negotiating aims over Brexit have provoked gales of laughter among the political class in European capitals.
If there is to be any chance of something even vaguely resembling the desired deal being struck, the Europeans will be expecting some big-ticket concessions in return. High on their list may well be an open border in Ireland and a speedy resolution of the Scottish question. The argument that these are purely domestic matters for the UK could be given short shrift, with London being forcefully reminded of its obligations under international law.
It shouldn't be overlooked just how big a coup it would be for Brussels to hold on to one-third of the UK's landmass after Brexit. The London press likes to tell itself that Spain's concerns over its own "separatist" problem will put the kibosh on any notion of Scotland's cause being championed, but all the indications from Madrid are that this is wishful thinking on stilts.
And even if May gets her wish and a referendum is delayed until well after Brexit takes place, what will she actually have achieved in the long run? The narrative has now been established that the time for a referendum is when Scotland has had a good forcible taste of Brexit, which implicitly acknowledges that the time will eventually come when the answer to a request for a referendum will have to be "yes".
If the prime minister still wants to avoid a referendum altogether, she appears to be putting all her eggs in the basket of hoping that the request will cease to be made, i.e. that the pro-independence majority will be wiped out at the next Scottish Parliament election.
Given the voting system that is used, no-one can deny that's a possibility, but the irony is that the Scottish Tories' much vaunted "success" in recent times (they're actually still less popular than Corbyn's Labour is across the UK) makes it much less likely.
There is a natural centre-left majority in Scotland, and the winner of a two-horse race between a centre-left SNP government and a right-wing opposition that takes its orders from London is not terribly hard to predict.
May has taken out a hedged bet – and as things stand, she appears to be onto a loser with both sides of it.
James Kelly is author of the Scottish pro-independence blog, SCOT goes POP! Voted one of the UK's top political bloggers, you can hear more from James on Twitter: @JamesKellyStudio Trigger hasn't been on the scene very long, but they've already made a big impression. We sat down with two directors of their biggest hits, Kill La Kill (Hiroyuki Imaishi) and Little Witch Academia (Yoh Yoshinari), along with a production assistant of many hats, Hiromi Wakabayashi, to discuss the studio's past and future.
ANN: So in the case of Ninja Slayer, the show reminds a lot of American viewers of late-night Williams Street cartoons like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and things like that. I wanted to know if you had seen those and if they'd had any influence on Ninja Slayer?
Hiroyuki Imaishi: They just happen to look alike.
Oh, just a coincidence |
migraine medication- but failed a police breath test after being escorted from the grounds.
A National College for Teaching and Leadership panel heard senior staff checked her emails after concerns and found several inappropriate messages sent to her partner, including links to the Ann Summers website.
Another email to a porn website appeared to be an attempt to cancel her membership.
The first allegation against Collins arose on May 18, 2015, when she was said to be drunk in charge of pupils.
Headteacher Philippa Holliday told the panel “it was apparent that she was under the influence of alcohol” during a morning meeting.
Collins then refused to leave the school grounds and had to be escorted off the premises by the police.
Although she blamed migraine medication for her behaviour, she was breathalysed by officers and failed the test.
Following her suspension, Collins continued to contact staff and parents on 12 occasions.
In one case, she left voicemails for a parent which were “annoyed and aggressive” in tone and delivered in a “high pitched and exaggerated voice”.
A further allegation that Collins viewed dating websites on her work laptop during class time was not upheld because her browsing history showed she only used them out of school hours.
Collins did not appear at the hearing and was banned from the profession at least until February 2019.
Reaching her decision, Jayne Millions, on behalf of the education minister, said Collins’ behaviour amounted to “unacceptable professional conduct”.
She said: “The fact that Mrs Collins attended school whilst under the influence of alcohol and was responsible for pupils with learning difficulties, potentially leading to safeguarding issues had her behaviour not been reported promptly, was a significant factor.”When and when not to use acronyms and initialisms
There is a time and place for everything and using initialisms and acronyms is no exception. The whole point of using these forms of abbreviation in your business writing is to make your writing clearer. However, if you misuse or abuse initialisms and/or acronyms, you'll accomplish just the opposite, turning your memos and manuals into a confusing brew.
What is an initialism?
Essentially, initialisms are shorter forms of words or phrases that can come in handy when you need to repeat the same word or phrase a number of times throughout the same piece of writing. They are pronounced as a series of letters. For example, "World Trade Organization" is often written as "WTO." You can see how writing the three-letter initialism can save you a lot of time and keep your business document from sounding repetitive.
What is an acronym?
An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of a name or phrase. It is pronounced as if it were a word. Examples of common acronyms include "SARS" (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and "UNICEF" (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund)—imagine having to write that out each time in a 10-page document on the organization's initiative to improve educational opportunities for young girls in Africa!
Important things to consider before using an initialism or acronym
Outline what the initialism or acronym means
Short forms aren't always the best way to avoid redundancies. So, if you're going to use initialisms and/or acronyms in your business writing, remember: The first time you use an initialism or acronym in your document, the words should be written out with the short form placed in parentheses immediately after. This way, it's clear to the readers exactly what the letters mean. Here's an example:
A New World Order (NWO) came into effect after 9/11.
Be consistent
Readers will then be aware that any future reference to the "NWO" in your document really refers to the New World Order. After you've established an initialism or acronym in your paper, you must consistently use the short form in place of the words.
Stick to one definition of the initialism or acronym
Always clarify in your own mind the exact definition of each acronym you use. If you define SEM as "scanning electron microscopy" (which is a process), your acronym should refer only to the process throughout your paper. For example, the following sentence would be incorrect if included in the same paper:
We used an SEM in our experiments.
If you've already defined SEM as standing for the process, you cannot use SEM to refer to the item (i.e., a scanning electron microscope, which you use to perform the process of scanning electron microscopy), even though the first letters of each word are the same. In short, the same initialism or acronym can only refer to one thing in a document.
Don't forget about using articles
Remember that many initialisms or acronyms still require articles (i.e., "a," "an," or "the"). Let's use the New World Order again:
Incorrect: NWO has emerged in the 21st century.
Correct: An NWO has emerged in the 21st century.
Remember that NWO stands for a noun "New World Order," and nouns require articles before them.
If you're confused about whether to use "a" or "an" in front of an initialism or acronym that begins with a consonant, remember to speak the abbreviated form aloud. If the first letter of the initialism or acronym makes a vowel sound (regardless of whether or not the first letter is actually a vowel), you should use "an." The acronym "NWO" is a perfect example. While "N" is a consonant, it makes the short e sound (i.e., a vowel sound) when you say it. Consequently, "an" should be used.
Check to see if there is already an established initialism or acronym for your phrase
It's also important to remember that while you can sometimes make up initialisms or acronyms, there are many words/phrases that require abbreviating that are already established and universal. There are a number of online dictionaries you can use to search for commonly used initialisms and acronyms.
Initialisms and acronyms in academic writing
If you're using initialisms and/or acronyms in academic writing, remember that some scientific journals require you to introduce initialisms and acronyms once in the abstract of your article and then again upon the first use in the body of the article. Should you be unsure about how to use initialisms or acronyms when writing an academic article, please refer to your journal's specific requirements.
Too many initialisms and acronyms can turn your business writing into alphabet soup
Please remember that acronyms should only be used for words or phrases that are repeated a number of times throughout your document. If you use too many initialisms and acronyms, readers will become confused. Here's an example of extreme initialism/acronym usage in a press release:
In the US, the notion of an NWO became popular after the terrorist attacks on the WTC. However, officials in NATO and the WTO rarely refer to an NWO in proceedings relating to the GATT, and it can be said that the MVTO, the MFN clause, and SROs have little to do with an NWO.
As you can see, too many initialisms and acronyms can make your writing more difficult to understand. If numerous acronyms are necessary, we recommend including a glossary of initialisms/acronyms; your readers may then refer to it if they become confused.
TTYL—Save your casual initialisms and for text messages
Finally, while you may often be rotfl with your bff about the Chem hw that you need to get done asap, please remember that initialisms and acronyms used in instant messaging are rarely, if ever, appropriate for business or professional writing.
While using initialisms and acronyms correctly may help readers understand your work more easily, the incorrect use of initialisms and acronyms could turn your work into a mess. When in doubt, submit your work to our business editors for a fast, professional opinion.
Image source: jeshoots/Pexels.comThe economic benefit of Aberdeen FC's planned new stadium has been "grossly overstated", according to objectors who commissioned a new review.
A report from an economic consultancy found the harm could outweigh the benefits, the BBC News website has learned.
The club put plans for the £50m stadium and training facilities at Kingsford, near Westhill, on hold in October.
A fresh public consultation was launched ahead of another hearing.
The No Kingsford Stadium protest asked Stirling-based MKA Economics to look at documents related to the proposed relocation of the stadium presented by the club.
Crowd figures
Last month, a report by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce said the economic benefit of Aberdeen FC's planned new stadium could be greater than originally predicted.
The club said the analysis showed the plans would create more than 440 construction jobs, and the stadium, sport and training facilities would bring millions of pounds into the economy.
It also warned that crowd figures would suffer by not moving, and there was a risk of losing European football.
Image caption Protests have been held about the planned stadium site
However, No Kingsford Stadium (NKS) said the new review highlighted a potential risk to the economy as a result of construction and congestion caused by the stadium.
'Open to challenge'
The group said the Westhill and Kingswells area was already under pressure from population growth.
NKS director Clare Davidson said the research for the club was "open to challenge", adding: "The economic case presented by AFC is flawed and the economic benefit is grossly overstated."
The group wants the club to look elsewhere. Concerns have included traffic and parking issues.
Image copyright SNS Image caption The club wants to leave Pittodrie
Raymond Edgar, Kingsford project director said: "The MKA report is interesting although the more important comment and review comes from expert economists within the council who are satisfied with the findings.
"The methodologies used are compliant to HM Treasury guidelines and well understood.
"This analysis stands up to scrutiny and demonstrates the net economic benefit of the new stadium complex, while exposing opportunity and risks.
"The council asked us to consider further scenarios in our latest report and, under these scenarios and methods of calculation using all the information we have, the economic impact is greater, even in the most conservative scenario."
The closing date for written representations on the fresh public consultation to be submitted to the council was on Tuesday.
Another pre-determination hearing will be held in the new year.
The original pre-determination hearing was held in September.EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Jets linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin, who was knocked unconscious Sunday against the Cleveland Browns and taken to a local hospital after a frightening fourth-quarter pile up, was awake with feeling in his extremities at the conclusion of medical tests, according to a team spokesman.
Mauldin was diagnosed with a concussion, but there was no neck injury, the spokesman said. The initial announcement said he left the game with head and neck injuries.
Teammates said Mauldin was unconscious on the field in the fourth quarter. He was strapped to a spinal board and was taken off on a golf cart to a waiting ambulance.
Coach Todd Bowles and players said they saw "very little movement" from Mauldin, who was down for five minutes before he was transported.
Mauldin got caught at the bottom of a pile on a fumble return in the fourth quarter of the Jets' 31-10 win at MetLife Stadium. Several bodies fell on his head, pinning it to the turf. He rose to his feet for a couple of seconds, but crumpled to the ground.
The stadium fell eerily silent as the training staff and emergency personnel tended to Mauldin. No fewer than 10 people stood over him, carefully moving his body to the spinal board.
Several teammates stood nearby, many of them on one knee, praying.
"I was really scared," wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. "I saw him get up and try to take a couple of steps and he just collapsed right in front of me. It was scary."
Safety Calvin Pryor said Mauldin was unresponsive.
"It's tough, man," said Pryor, who was also Mauldin's teammate at Louisville in 2013. "I went out there to check on him. He still had his eyes closed at the moment. I wasn't able to say anything or get a response. I'm just praying for the best at this moment."
Running back Chris Ivory said "it looked like his eyes kind of rolled into the back of his head, eyes closed. He didn't look to be doing so good at that time."
Mauldin, a third-round draft pick, is popular among teammates because of his upbeat personality and determination. He spent most of his childhood in Atlanta without his parents, bouncing around to at least a dozen foster homes with his brother.
On the night he was drafted, Mauldin was so overcome with emotion that he cried on a conference call with reporters.
Mauldin missed the last three preseason games with a sprained knee, but he was active for the opener as a situational pass-rusher and special-teams player.
"He was running around, doing some good things, and for him to go down like that, first, your heart goes out to him and his family," Bowles said. "After that, it goes out to his teammates. You just hope he's not seriously hurt."How to Pick North Carolina in Your Bracket
Last year I wrote a piece called “How to Pick North Carolina in Your Bracket.” It was predicated on two simple ideas. One, picking North Carolina to win the national championship in 2015 was a terrible idea. Two, that I was absolutely going to fill out a bracket with North Carolina winning the national championship.
I wasn’t going to write a “How to Pick North Carolina in Your Bracket” column this year. I could lie and say the reason is that I’m above recycling the same schtick but the real reason is that I’m superstitious. I tell people I’m not superstitious because I like to think of myself as a thoroughly rational person. I’m not. I’ve worn the same thing for UNC’s wins versus Miami, Notre Dame and UVA. I also won’t tell you what it was because I don’t want to sap the outfit’s mystical powers. So yeah I’m superstitious and I didn’t wanna jinx a North Carolina title run by writing a piece about UNC winning the title.
Two things changed my mind. First, North Carolina won at Duke, steamrolled Notre Dame, then beat UVA — the Water Temple of basketball teams — in the exact type of game they’ve spent the past three and a half years losing with excruciating consistency. It’s gonna take more than the dumb jokes I’m about to make to bring the Tar Heel train to a halt. Second, Roy Williams wore his hat like this on the podium after winning the ACC Championship. Young Metro definitely trusts Roy Williams and I trust Carolina to overcome any jinx I’m about to lay down.
So without further ado, here is how to pick North Carolina to win the championship in your bracket.
Round of 64: North Carolina beats Florida Gulf Coast
The idea of playing Florida Gulf Coast may seem intimidating at first. It wasn’t that long ago that the Eagles were rim rocking their way to a Sweet Sixteen as a 15 seed. Here’s why you shouldn’t be scared. Trying to run with North Carolina is the basketball equivalent of invading Russia in the winter. The prospect of Florida Gulf Coast trying to run with UNC is the only thing that really makes this game compelling unless you are Stillman White’s mom.
Round of 32: North Carolina beats USC
I have Carolina playing the Trojans here, not because I’m afraid of Kris Dunn and Providence but because Providence is definitely losing to USC in the first round. Every year there is an 8-9 matchup where one team seems really dangerous and the other one seems really bland. Everyone picks the “dangerous” team and the bland team always wins. So congrats in advance to the Trojans for being Amy Adams in this situation. You’ve earned yourself the opportunity to lose by 15 to the Tar Heels in front of nearly 20,000 Carolina fans at PNC Arena.
Also it’s nice that I can type “USC” and it’s just implied I’m talking about the Trojans. You know, because South Carolina didn’t make the tournament. You can never be a winner when you serve mustard based barbecue.
Sweet Sixteen: North Carolina beats Indiana
The natural reaction is to look at this and figure I picked Indiana because I don’t want North Carolina to have to play Kentucky. And that’s true. The Wildcats have a great backcourt and are legitimately scary to any team in the field. But that’s not the reason I picked this game. I picked Indiana because I know if the Tar Heels and Hoosiers meet in the Sweet Sixteen Dan Dakich will spend the week talking about how he shut down Michael Jordan in 1984.
There is a 10000000% chance of that happening if this scenario unfolds. Dakich won’t mention that Jordan outscored him 13 to 4, that he fouled out, or that Dean Smith sat Jordan for the final 12 minutes of the first half after MJ picked up his second foul. He will totally mention how Indiana was a tougher program and how North Carolina is soft. You’ll endure this for a week then bask in the schadenfreude of North Carolina comfortably beating Indiana in the actual game. Then you’ll tweet the following “Man I just don’t think Indiana is a tough program. Dan Dakich.” Dan Dakich will read this tweet because he searches his name on twitter. Then he will block you. Which is good. The world will be a better place with less people exposed to Dan Dakich’s thoughts.
Elite Eight: North Carolina beats Xavier
Honestly I have no clue who will emerge out of the bottom of North Carolina’s bracket. Notre Dame, West Virginia and Wisconsin all seem like teams who could make the Elite Eight or lose in the first round. We’ll just go chalk here and pick Xavier — a solid program who seems to have an established Elite Eight ceiling.
By the way, remember the first time you saw Xavier’s name and were like “Oh cool like the professor in X-Men” and then someone told you it was pronounced “ZAvier” and not “EXavier.” That moment is why Xavier has an Elite Eight ceiling. Never pass up a chance to be associated with the X-Men.
Final Four: North Carolina beats Michigan State
He cannot beat them at his home. He cannot beat them in a dome. He cannot beat them when they dip. He cannot beat them on a ship. Izzo cannot beat them worth a damn. He cannot beat Carolina, Sam I Am.
Moving on…
National Championship: North Carolina beats Oklahoma
There are a ton of options at this point so let’s quickly run through them. Right off the bat Kansas is out. Even with his sideways hat I still don’t like Roy matched up against the Jayhawks. Obviously Duke is out as well. I don’t care that UNC actually matches up well with the Blue Devils. I still want no part of the nuclear winter that would accompany a UNC-Duke title game. Oregon seems like the type of high seed that is at the same time eminently beatable so they aren’t a bad pick. But they aren’t the right pick. The right pick is Oklahoma.
The Sooners boast college basketball’s most lethal scorer in Buddy Hield, so they absolutely have the capacity to catch fire and make a run to the championship. And make no mistake, the way the Sooners shoot from deep they are by no means an easy matchup for North Carolina. But there is one huge reason that Oklahoma can’t win a championship.
They slap the floor. Here’s the thing about slapping the floor. Duke did it for a long time. They actually don’t any more unless they are doing it in response to an opponent already having done it to them. If you’re a team that isn’t Duke and you slap the floor it means you are trying to be Duke. Nothing is worse than trying to be Duke. Trying to be Duke only really works if you are Duke because Duke has Coach K and his devil magic.
The Sooners aren’t Duke, so enjoy watching the Tar Heels beat a bunch of Duke wannabes en route to their sixth NCAA Title.
(Visited 84 times, 1 visits today)Share this...
A Short History of the Human Race
The Climb Out Of The Ice Age
Part 2
By Ed Caryl
Below is a plot of sea level and temperature for the last 21,000 years, when the world warmed out of the last ice age, and civilization became possible. This is the end of the Upper Pleistocene and the dawn of the Holocene. Note, that at the end of the last ice age it took 12,000 years for all the ice to melt. It was a long slog out of the caves. That first warm period, from 10,200 Before Present (BP) to 8200 BP was warmer than it is today, even though a third of the ice was still melting. The last major ice melted about 6500 years ago.
Figure 1 is a plot of the last 21,000 years. The heavy purple and green traces are sea level with the scale on the right. The thin rust and blue traces are temperature from a greenland ice core and the Antarctic Dome C ice core respectively with the scale on the left. Three other time lines are: thick blue, the time of the last North African Pluvial period, when the Sahara was a grassland; dark orange, the time of the Persian Gulf flooding; and the light orange timeline, interrupted several times, were times of Alpine glacier recession. The short 8.2 kilo year cold period is marked in light blue. Various sea level high stands just above the green sea level trace are labeled in the legend. The grey time-line is the time of the Clovis Amerindian culture. The pink timeline is the time of the Folsom Amerindian culture.
I call your attention to several things in Figure 1. From right to left, old to more recent: The end of the ice age began about 20,000 years ago, when the northern hemisphere suddenly warmed by 5°C as seen at the source of the Greenland ice, the North Atlantic. The Southern Ocean, as seen at Dome C, did not warm for another 2000 years. But, the Bølling Interstadial warming took place simultaneously, globally, 14,500 years ago. During that short warming interval, the ancestors of the American Indians made their way across the Beringian plain, down either the west coast of what is now Canada, or down through an ice-free corridor through Alaska and central Canada, thence down across the length of the Americas to as far south as Terra Del Fuego in just a couple of thousand years.
In North America, by 13,500 years BP, the Amerindian Clovis culture was living off the megafauna, the large mammals present in this era, using beautifully worked large stone spear-points. 1500 years later, after the megafauna were killed off, either by the Clovis people or the cold Younger Dryas period, they morphed into the Folsom Culture, using smaller stone spear-points more suited to the smaller remaining animals.
In North Africa, and southwest Asia, beginning 15,000 years ago, because earth’s axis tilt began to favor the northern hemisphere during summer, the deserts were favored with additional summer monsoon rainfall. This allowed more human migration from north Africa into the Levant. At this time the Persian Gulf was a low valley watered by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and several others, some now dry wadis, combining into the Ur Schott river, and before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), at least two large lakes. Fresh water springs, now 4 or 5 fathoms under the gulf off Bahrain, supplied additional water.
Figure 2 is a history of the Persian Gulf over the period from 74,000 years before present to 6,000 years ago. Source here.
There must have been people living in this valley, though because it is now flooded with 40 to 60 meters of water, the archeology necessary to prove it will be very difficult. But we do know that those occupation sites shown in the Stage IV panel above appeared very suddenly 8500 years ago on the Arabian shore and the people in those sites came from somewhere close by as they share a common and unique culture, the Ubaid culture. This valley may have been the source of the Eden stories. The sea level at the time of the Ubaid culture didn’t stop rising when it reached the level it has now. It rose an additional 5 meters in this area, flooding what is now southern Iraq for a hundred miles inland. Ur was established as a port, on the shore of this inland sea. There is evidence of reed-hulled sail boats in this time period, including bitumen fragments of the coating used to protect the reed structure, ceramic toy models, and an image on pottery showing a bipod masted craft. The ruins of Ur are now in the desert northwest of Basra, Iraq, far from the sea.
In this same period, Doggerland in what is now the North Sea, was also being flooded. The last bit of land there, what is now Dogger Bank, was an ever-shrinking island for several thousand years. Human produced artifacts have been dredged up by fishermen for many years. The last bit of land there went under about 6500 years ago.
Florida was also much larger before the sea level rose. Any coastal activity by Clovis culture people along the coast of the Americas is now under water. This is also true of many areas along in the Red Sea, the coast of India, and southeast Asia. A large area in what is now the South China Sea, the Sunda Strait, was also dry land and almost certainly settled.
The warm period from 11,500 to 8200 years ago was a time of many important advances for the human race. In this period, most of the important animals and agricultural crops we know today were domesticated in the Persian Gulf and Fertile Crescent region. Before this time people were nomadic, moving from one food source to another in the course of each year, building shelter as needed or living in caves. After this time many people lived in villages in permanent dwellings. By 8000 years BP, corn (maize) was domesticated in central Mexico.
As an example, Jericho is the oldest permanently occupied town, with the oldest level dating from 11,400 years BP. Before this time, the site had been used only as a temporary camp, as there is a large permanent spring nearby. The oldest level even had a 2 meter wall all around it with a watchtower that is still standing as it was buried in the tell. The dwellings were round pit houses, half sunken into the ground, with stone walls and a “wattle and daub” or adobe roof. World-wide, this type of house appears as the first permanent type dwelling in many cultures. It is still found in Northern Syria. At a similar village 5 miles north of Jericho, seedless domesticated figs have been found dating from this era. These would have had to have been propagated by cuttings, as the seeds never developed beyond the embryonic stage. Grains found at early Jericho were still of the wild variety, though they were gathered in quantity and stored for later use.
At Ur and H3 (above map, Figure 2, stage IV), domesticated grains were found, and 8200 years ago, evidence of irrigation, as well as domestic cattle, sheep, and goats. At this time, the domestic cat is found, though who domesticated who has not been established. Cats seem to have wandered in from the desert, found a source of food (domestic mice and domestic house swallows feeding on the stored domestic grain) and shelter, and decided to stay on. Some authors say this is “self-domestication.” I suspect cats domesticated us.
The first Holocene cold snap occurred 8200 years ago. Global temperature dropped about 2 degrees as seen at both poles. This lasted for about 200 years and was accompanied by drought and famine. This forced an increasing reliance on domesticated crops and animals, triggered the use of irrigation in Mesopotamia, and the domestication of corn (maize) in Central America. In North America, this split up the Folsom Culture people and drove the beginning of tribalism in the Paleo-Amerindians. This cold and arid spell was overcome by the technology, and the animal and plant domestication, that had developed in the earlier warm period.
Advances were made possible by the warm period that began more than 3000 years before all the ice melted. Sea levels were rising to be much higher than today and the human race was thriving on all continents except Antarctica. Warm is good. Cold is bad.
Next: The later Holocene and the rise of empires.Sc2ReplayStats is proud to announce it’s newest website feature: The Training Center.
The training center helps you improve by showing you what areas you are performing the best in. It compares statistics from your replays, like workers built, expansion timings, and upgrade timings, and compares them to the average times for your target promotion league. If you are Platinum, it will compare your statistics for the average in Diamond league so you can see how close you are to playing like a diamond league player; and help you decide what aspects of your play to focus on improving. You can check out an example replay here.
This tool is especially useful for players in the lower leagues; where refining your macro is the best way to move up a league. Once you get to a certain league, such as Diamond or Masters, the path to the next step is often based on harder to track statistics, like micro and decision making.
Nevertheless, even higher league players will find this a useful tool for tracking their chronoboost usage, upgrade timings, and base saturations throughout the game to make sure their play is crisp. The training center tracks your statistics separately for the early, mid, and late game so you can see statistics about:
Worker production
Gas and Mineral Income
Units lost
Idle workers,
Chronoboost, Larva Inject and MULE usage
Overbuilt supply
And more, separately for each stage of the game.
It also tracks:
Economy — Lists the construction time and the saturation time for each of your expansions
Upgrades — The completion time of every upgrade
Production — The time you started key tech and production facilities, like a Factory, Twilight, or Infestation Put.
The Sc2ReplayStats Training Center is only available to players with a Sc2ReplayStats Elite Membership. Elite Membership costs $5 a month, but it has access to a lot of great features in addition to the Training Center – more statistics, upload room, and replay searching, and a replay pack builder! In addition, you will be supporting an independent, ad-free eSports website — it’ll help us keep the website running and ad-free, and help us develop new features. As a thanks for supporting the website, Elite accounts take priority so your replays will parse faster and your support emails will be answered quicker. Look out for opportunities to win a free elite membership in the future.
If you’re not sure it’s worth an Elite Membership, you can try it out for free — you can use the Training Center for free on two replays per a day. The Training Center can be found on the menu, under “Elite Options.”
Thank you for supporting Sc2ReplayStats, and we hope you consider subscribing for an Elite membership — we’re excited for this new feature, and we hope you are too!Chris Floyd, Published: 25 February 2011 Hits: 9053
Muammar Gaddafi is not the only Arab tyrant using deadly violence against his people when they speak out against the destitution, repression and corruption that plague their country. In Iraq, the sectarian thugs put into power by American invaders are gunning down citizens in the streets.
The BBC reports that at least five people have shot and killed by security forces so far today, as the corrupt elite tries to keep the Arab Awakening from spilling into the war-ravaged land. But protests against the atrocious living conditions inflicted on most Iraqis by the client lords of the American occupation have broken out across the country.
Maliki, just like Gaddafi, has ordered troops into the streets to shut down the nation's capital city and stifle popular discontent against his rule. And just like Gaddafi, he has blamed "al Qaeda" for organizing protests against his benevolent rule -- without offering any proof at all for his wild assertions. He has, so far, refrained from actually bombing the populace like his Libyan counterpart, but the situation presents a curious contrast in reactions from the poobahs on the Potomac.
Deadly violence against peaceful protestors in other lands has been sternly (if often belatedly) denounced by the Nobel Peace Laureate in the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who prefers roughing up elderly, silent, non-violent protestors who dare stand up in her presence). But what will our stalwart defenders of freedom and human rights say about the killing of ordinary civilians by security forces in a country controlled by tens of thousands of American soldiers? And will these soldiers be called in to defend "stability" if it looks as if Maliki will go the way with Mubarak?
The BBC, the Guardian and the NY Times have more on the country-wide protests in Iraq:
At least five people have been killed in anti-government protests in Iraq as thousands take to the streets in cities across the country for a "day of rage". Baghdad has been virtually locked down, with the authorities banning traffic in the city centre and deploying several thousand soldiers on the streets...
Iraqi army helicopters buzzed overhead, while Humvees and trucks took up posts throughout the square, where a group of about 2,000 flag-waving demonstrators shouted "No to unemployment," and "No to the liar al-Maliki," referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The protests stretched from the northern city of Mosul to the southern city of Basra, reflecting the widespread anger many Iraqis feel at the government's seeming inability to improve their lives.
A crowd of angry marchers in the northern city of Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad, tried to break into the city's municipal building, said the head of the local city council, Ali Hussein Salih, prompting security forces to open fire killing three people and injuring 15, according to the Hawija police chief, Col. Fattah Yaseen.
In Mosul, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the provincial council building, demanding jobs and better services, when guards opened fire, according to a police official. A police and hospital official said two protesters were killed and five people wounded....
In the south, a crowd of about 4,000 people demonstrated in front of the office of Gov. Sheltagh Aboud al-Mayahi in the port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad....
... Around 1,000 demonstrators also clashed with police in the western city of Fallujah 40 miles west of Baghdad clashed with authorities, witnesses said. [For more on the glorious American legacy in Fallujah, see this recent piece.]
Justin Raimondo gives an apt description of what America's bipartisan elite have wrought in Iraq: "A sectarian regime dominated by Shi’ite fanatics has been handed power by the US occupiers, and there is no electricity, no regular supply of water, and certainly no "democracy" or anything vaguely resembling it."
And of course, the bitter, horrible irony of it all is that the tide now sweeping long-entrenched dictators from power in the Middle East would almost certainly be carrying off Saddam Hussein as well, if indeed he had not been removed by his own people before now. Hussein, who spent much of his career being aided to power and coddled in power by the American elite -- especially the Bush-Reagan-Rumsfeld wing -- would likely have chosen the Gaddafi exit strategy, with much attendant suffering; but this would have paled, by several orders of magnitude, before the million innocent people slaughtered as a result of the American aggression, the displacement of four million people from their homes, and the wholesale destruction of Iraqi society, once one of the most modern, secular and cosmopolitan in the Middle East, and now a sinkhole of murder, fear, violence and religious extremism.
But the old order of imperial domination, directly and by proxy, is crumbling before our eyes. It may be that the American aggression against Iraq was its high-water mark -- and its fatal overreach. The currents of the world are slipping out of the hands of the elites who believed they could always control them. I don't think people have yet realized the nature and extent of the youthquake we are seeing. There are more young people in the world than ever before, by far; the world belongs to them now, and they are taking hold it and reshaping it in ways no one can foresee. Again and again these days, Bob Dylan's words from almost half a century ago keep ringing in the mind: "Your sons and daughters are beyond your command;/Your old road is rapidly aging./Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand./O the times they are a-changin'."
It is not just a movement of the young, of course; many generations are adding their wisdom, energy and spirit (and across the Middle East, their bodies as well) to the fight. Here's an old campaigner, John Pilger, offering his perspective on one key aspect of our changing times:
The revolt in the Arab world is not merely against a resident dictator but a worldwide economic tyranny designed by the US Treasury and imposed by the US Agency for International Development, the IMF and World Bank, which have ensured that rich countries like Egypt are reduced to vast sweatshops, with half the population earning less than $2 a day. The people’s triumph in Cairo was the first blow against what Benito Mussolini called corporatism, a word that appears in his definition of fascism.
How did such extremism take hold in the liberal West? "It is necessary to destroy hope, idealism, solidarity, and concern for the poor and oppressed," observed Noam Chomsky a generation ago, "[and] to replace these dangerous feelings with self-centred egoism, a pervasive cynicism that holds that [an order of] inequities and oppression is the best that can be achieved. In fact, a great international propaganda campaign is under way to convince people – particularly young people – that this not only is what they should feel but that it’s what they do feel."
Like the European revolutions of 1848 and the uprising against Stalinism in 1989, the Arab revolt has rejected fear. An insurrection of suppressed ideas, hope and solidarity has begun. In the United States, where 45 per cent of young African-Americans have no jobs and the top hedge fund managers are paid, on |
everything that had happened. Alaric had already left us. Cyn missed him terribly. I couldn’t handle another trip to the hospital, so I’d taken her to the festival, hoping it would cheer her up. She’d had a good time, just exploring the grounds and she even got her face painted.
She looked gorgeous in her chosen outfit for the skit.
“Go on outside. I hear them now.” I hugged her and she seemed to glide out the front door just as Luna and Cali pulled up. I had to grin as I watched them from the window. It seemed like forever before Cyn led them to the garage.
“Ok, everyone ready?”
I got nods and grins all around. “Well, here we go then!”
It was pitch dark in the garage, but it wasn’t a problem for me. Being a vampire has its uses. I had to lead Alduin in so he didn’t fall flat on his face. “Hey, watch it!” he grumbled as I made him sit.
“Shhh!” I had to hold in a laugh.
I took my place, and then the lights came on.
As Cyn gave her lines, I had to admire her. She was doing really well. She played her Pixiepire role very well. “Once upon a time, in a desert beside a vast ocean, the pharaoh of Egypt woke up next to the king of pirates.”
Then I heard the reactions of our audience. Calysta let out a whistle and called out, “I want a pyramid of my own, Pharaoh!”
Then I heard my own wife’s voice call out, “Where’s your queen, baby? I volunteer!” It sent a shiver down my spine and I had to hide a grin even as I had to recite my next lines.
Alduin had written the skit revolving around the Pharaoh and the Pirate King who had yet to find love. It was a good idea, and the way Alduin had written it, the girls would love it. Except… I’m no actor. Not by a long shot. I couldn’t help but stare at my wife, watch the play of emotions over her face. Turns out, I’m not the only one who couldn’t concentrate on the skit. My father-in-law couldn’t stop staring at his wife the entire time he was supposed to be speaking.
I did have to hand it to Cyn, though. She really shined in her part. Of course, I think she might be spending a bit too much time with my wife. That smack upside the head was definitely an improvisation. As was our wild west proprietor and his saloon girl making out in the corner.
By this point, poor Draco was the only one that seemed to be taking his role seriously at all. He gave his speech rather eloquently. But his granddaughter was busy flirting with me and I was busy flirting back.
Cyn was still having a ton of fun. After the last “scene”, Cyn got to bring in the rest of the packages Alduin and I had picked up. Cali and Luna tore into the packages and then ran up to Cyn’s room to change. We waited downstairs.
Alduin was being impatient. “What is taking them so long?” he groused.
Truth be told, I was getting impatient, too. I wanted to see my wife. As footsteps sounded above, I held my breath as my wife came down the steps.
It was like a punch right in the gut. Luna was beautiful, inside and out. But watching her descend those steps in the garb of a Pirate Queen… It fit her right down to the ground.
When she stood at the bottom of the stairs, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She took my breath away on a regular basis. But there was something in the way she looked at me then, something that had me closing my eyes for a moment.
She sauntered over to me, her hips swaying. I’m pretty sure she was trying to kill me. “Hello my King,” she whispered, her voice low and sultry.
“You… Luna, you are so beautiful.” It wasn’t in character, wasn’t even all that eloquent as compliments go. But I couldn’t get the words out. I couldn’t find any that adequately described how I felt about what I was seeing, or how she made me feel on a regular basis. I wasn’t a poet, I didn’t have my brother-in-law’s gift with words.
All I could do was tell her the best way I knew how. Through my actions. There was activity going on around us, I knew that. Alduin had been laughing when his sister came down. But I could hear his breath catch as Calysta came down.
Luna looped her arms around my neck. We didn’t need words at that moment. It worked for us.
Truth be told, I wanted to carry my wife off to bed immediately and I was pretty sure I wasn’t alone in that thought either. But Cyn insisted that we all take some photos to commemorate the night. So that’s what we did. I’ll be putting a couple of these in my wallet, I think.
As I lay here, holding my wife close while we get ready to sleep after we had taken care of our son, I can’t help but look back on tonight with a smile. I’m certainly no actor. I’ll leave that to Calysta. But it was the most fun I remember having… ever, really. I snuggled closer to my wife.
“Good night my Pirate King,” she murmured, her voice already half-asleep.
“Good night, my Queen,” I whispered back, leaning up to kiss her cheek before closing my eyes and letting myself fall into sleep.
Author’s Note: Another huge shoutout to Ivane. The shots from the skit are all hers. Aren’t they just freakin’ awesome? And she found the costumes which I just love!
AdvertisementsAnother active offseason is in store for the White Sox, who find themselves with needs all over the diamond.
Guaranteed Contracts
Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections by MLB Trade Rumors)
Contract Options
Alexei Ramirez, SS: $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Free Agents
I have difficulty criticizing Rick Hahn’s active 2014-15 offseason, as I was a fan of his moves and thought the White Sox would contend this year. However, major acquisitions Melky Cabrera, Adam LaRoche, and Jeff Samardzija bombed. To compound matters, position players Avisail Garcia, Conor Gillaspie, and Alexei Ramirez were brutal as well. It’s almost freakish that so many players performed below expectations in the same year, and the result was an 86-loss season. That came on the heels of 89 losses in 2014 and 99 losses in 2013.
This team seems in too deep to blow it all up, plus they’ve still got a strong, affordable core. Abreu, Sale, Quintana, and Eaton generated about 18 wins above replacement in 2015, and will cost less than $30MM in 2016. That remains a fantastic bargain, so GM Rick Hahn needs to take another shot at complementing his core with the right veterans.
So, what can be done about baseball’s worst collection of position players, by measure of wins above replacement? Starting behind the dish, WAR doesn’t do Tyler Flowers justice, as he’s worked himself into one of the game’s best pitch framers. With so much work to do elsewhere on the diamond, retaining Flowers is a reasonable starting point. Geovany Soto, a minor league signing who worked out well, could be re-signed early in the offseason.
I don’t see much point in trying to sell low on Cabrera. This might be grasping at straws, but he at least showed signs of life in July, and the best bet for 2016 is to hope he can bounce back and supply a two-win season at age 31. Given Cabrera’s consistently poor defense, the team would be improved by having him spend the majority of his time at designated hitter. Abreu’s defense at first base is no longer a liability, and the team could reduce his DH games to 25 or so.
This alignment leaves LaRoche without a starting spot on the 2016 club. Hahn can spend the next few months searching for an interesting bad contract swap or a salary dump partner, and then release him if those efforts come up empty.
Though Avisail Garcia is only 24, it’s time to try someone else in right field. Hahn says he’s still confident in Garcia, but the team can’t afford another replacement level season as they hope for him to develop. Garcia should be shopped to rebuilding clubs for something useful this winter, and sent to Triple-A if no good offers come in. 2015 rookie Trayce Thompson is actually three months older than Garcia, but could land a starting outfield spot on the strength of a strong 135-plate appearance debut. It’s a red flag, however, that Thompson hit.260/.304/.441 at Triple-A. In a perfect world, he’d be penciled in for a fourth outfielder role next year.
The White Sox should be in the market for at least one regular corner outfielder, as well as another player who can help out. The free agent market features four excellent options in Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alex Gordon. All of them are projected to earn $100MM+ and more than $20MM per season. There are ways to fit such a signing into the team’s payroll, though it would require most of their available resources. There is a tier of outfielders below this group in the $8-15MM salary range, such as Dexter Fowler, Denard Span, Gerardo Parra, Austin Jackson, Steve Pearce, and Colby Rasmus. The trade market could include Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun, Marcell Ozuna, and Yasiel Puig. Ozuna would be particularly interesting for Chicago, as he’s yet to reach arbitration and will be earning less than $600K. He’ll be appealing to many teams, however.
So outfield is wide open and in need of multiple acquisitions. The infield picture isn’t much better for the White Sox. The big question is whether to choose a $10MM club option or a $1MM buyout for longtime shortstop Alexei Ramirez. Ramirez’s improved second half suggests he might have another two-win season left in him, but at age 34 picking up his option would definitely be a gamble. I think the $9MM net price is only slightly above Ramirez’s market value, but the White Sox might not want to tie up that much payroll space in him.
There’s the idea of using 2015 rookie Tyler Saladino as a bridge to top prospect Tim Anderson, though that’s a poor win-now plan. The free agent market offers Ian Desmond, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Jimmy Rollins. Though Desmond himself had an off-year, I still see him pushing for a four or five-year contract, so I don’t see him as a fit for the Sox. A crosstown swap for Starlin Castro makes some sense. Castro, 26 in March, is signed through 2019 but could spend a few months at shortstop until Anderson is ready and then settle in as an above average second baseman. However, the Cubs may still like him for that role. In that case, Javier Baez could be a target.
Third base is another question mark for the White Sox. Saladino, Mike Olt, and Matt Davidson are in-house options. Juan Uribe could be a fun pickup on the free agent market, and David Freese will be out there as well. Trade options include Todd Frazier, Martin Prado, Daniel Murphy, Trevor Plouffe, and Luis Valbuena. One sleeper could be Korean third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang, who might be posted by the Lotte Giants.
This year, second base was handled mainly by Carlos Sanchez and Micah Johnson. It’s yet another potential area of upgrade, with Daniel Murphy and Howie Kendrick profiling as the top free agents and Brandon Phillips and Neil Walker looking like trade candidates. One free agent we haven’t mentioned yet is Ben Zobrist, who MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk pegged as a potential White Sox target given their multitude of needs and the veteran’s versatility. However, the 34-year-old Zobrist could seek the Victor Martinez contract (four years, $68MM), which the White Sox were wise to avoid last winter. Murphy is a younger player who should cost less than Zobrist and can at least handle both second and third base, though he’d likely cost the White Sox their second round draft pick.
Once again, Sale and Quintana are locked in atop Chicago’s rotation, a duo that provided 415 strong innings this year. Danks’ contract makes him likely to hang around as the fifth starter. Rodon, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2014, joined the big league rotation on May 9th and recorded a 3.79 ERA in 23 starts. His control needs improvement, but it was a solid rookie effort. Samardzija isn’t likely to return, but making a qualifying offer is an easy decision. The Sox could replace Samardzija in-house with some combination of Erik Johnson, Frankie Montas, Tyler Danish, and Chris Beck.
Hahn probably won’t address all of his team’s needs through free agency, and it’s possible he’ll deal from the team’s pitching depth to acquire a position player. Assuming Sale remains off-limits, Quintana will be a popular target for other teams. Only a handful of position players would justify surrendering five affordable years of control of Quintana, Puig among them. I think Hahn is more likely to deal from his stash of unproven but mostly MLB-ready arms. It’s possible the team could add a low-level veteran starting pitcher in free agency if they compromise their rotation depth.
Hahn’s retooled bullpen was above average in 2015. There’s reason for further optimism in 2016. Robertson is better than his 3.41 ERA, and the Sox will enjoy a full season from Nate Jones. I imagine they’ll try to re-sign Albers, who came on a minor league deal and had a quality season despite missing three months in the middle with a broken finger.
Earlier this month, Hahn told reporters the team will be retaining Robin Ventura as manager for 2016. Given the way Ventura’s last three seasons have gone, however, he will likely be on a short leash entering the new season. Before then, expect plenty of offseason action for the White Sox, who have a laundry list of needs to address if they are to return to contention in 2016.These terrorist attack now happen in Europe with the regularity of clockwork. In 2015 Paris witnessed two. Now it is the turn of Brussels.
The pattern of response to each of these terrorist attacks is always the same. Western governments express shock and outrage. Security is tightened. The weeks pass and everything goes back to what it was before.
Never is any discussion allowed of Western policies that might have played a role in creating conditions for the terrorist attacks.
The policies are those the Western powers have followed in the Middle East for decades.
The first is the failure to promote a viable solution to the long running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The second is the disastrous policy of regime change Western governments have pursued in the Middle East since 2000.
The third is the West's habit of manipulating local jihadi terrorists in order to achieve its geopolitical goals.
© AFP 2018 / Mauricio LIMA What is Utterly Wrong About Washington's Foreign Policy Doctrine
The key Western country is the US and though its key allies — Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Turkey — have all played their part it is to the US that one must look for a rethink.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is indeed difficult. However the reason it has festered for so long — poisoning the whole Middle East in the process — is because the US has never really sought a solution to it.
Instead of being genuinely even-handed it has tilted towards Israel, in the process strengthening the hardliners within Israel whilst undermining those many Israelis who support a compromise.
The regime change policy meanwhile involves overthrowing those very Middle Eastern governments that have been the major force of stability in the region. This despite the fact that most of them were or wanted to be the US's friends.
President Putin set out the consequences in his recent speech to the UN General Assembly:
"Instead of bringing about reforms, aggressive intervention rashly destroyed government institutions and the local way of life. Instead of democracy and progress, there is now violence, poverty, social disasters and total disregard for human rights, including even the right to life."
The chaos has in turn created a power vacuum the jihadis have filled.
© REUTERS / Francois Lenoir Twin Explosions Hit Brussels Airport: 13 Dead, 35 Injured
Whereas in 2000 the jihadis were an isolated fringe, today they control territories the size of countries and have a presence in every state of the Middle East and beyond.
Worse still despite all the evidence of their anti-Western violence the Western powers seem incapable of dropping their habit of trying to manipulate them.
We are now seeing this most starkly in Syria and Yemen where the Western powers have effectively allied themselves with Al-Qaeda affiliates in their battle to overthrow local secular governments as part of the regime change policy.
This is a pattern which goes back all the way to the catastrophic policy of supporting violent jihadis to overthrow the secular Soviet backed government of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
As President Putin also put it in his speech to the UN General Assembly:
"It is hypocritical and irresponsible to make declarations about the threat of terrorism and at the same time turn a blind eye to the channels used to finance and support terrorists, including revenues from drug trafficking, the illegal oil trade and the arms trade.
It is equally irresponsible to manipulate extremist groups and use them to achieve your political goals, hoping that later you'll find a way to get rid of them or somehow eliminate them.
I'd like to tell those who engage in this: Gentlemen, the people you are dealing with are cruel but they are not dumb. They are as smart as you are. So, it's a big question: who's playing who here?
This is the sort of clear-headed thinking that is needed if the very real threat jihadi terrorists pose is to be overcome.
It is a bitter truth that in the West it is nowhere to be found. Until it is the risk jihadi terrorists pose will not go away and all the protestations of shock and outrage we will shortly hear from Western governments following the latest terrorist attacks in Brussels will amount to nothing.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do notnecessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.Update: Please note, PotD leveling is still best for level 1-60, but not efficient for 60-70.
Having played FFXIV on and off since Alpha, there have been a few different “flavor of the month” ways to level in the game. As of Patch 3.45, many folks are using Palace of the Dead as a means of efficient, no-stress leveling that you can honestly just jump into.
Palace of the Dead (PotD) is basically an instanced dungeon in which a solo player or group of players descend through the floors of dungeon, 10 floors at a time. Your character has Aetherpool weapons and armor which, along with experience, is completely separate from your actual character. With two save slots, you can progress through PotD and level up your weapons, armor, and PotD class level.
Completing PotD through its max 200 floors is a challenge, so for this guide we will cover the basics on how to use PotD for leveling any DoM / DoW classes. The goal is to complete the set of 10 floors as quickly as possible, as completing each set yields a massive chunk of experience for your class outside of PotD. Below are some general tips, along with some more fine-tuned tips for speed running PotD. Best of luck – and don’t forget: Help others.
PotD General Tips
Grind floors 1-10 until Aetherpool +10 / +10.
After +10 / +10, grind floors 1-50 until +40 / +40 ish.
After +40 / +40 ish, grind floors 51-60 until leveling is complete.
Gold chests contain Pomanders. Silver chests contain upgrades. Bronze chests contain items.
Check current Pomander buffs before using another.
Kill Hornet and Slimes first, as each have 1-shot mechanics.
Only open chests when out of combat (Luring) and at full health (Exploding).
Group should try to follow same path to avoid traps.
You can also hug walls to reduce risk of triggering traps.
Use Pomander of Rage w/ Fortune on high density floors or last floors, as available (don’t use when No Knockback).
Use Pomander of Lust on boss fight.
Use Pomander of Witching for accidental large pulls.
Use Cairn of Return to revive dead party members.
Bring Echo Drops to cure silence (on self or others).
PotD Speed Run Tips
Utilize Sprint uptime to increase pace.
Limit mob kills to threshold of unlocking Passage.
Don’t go out of your way for chests.
Accursed Hoard > Gold chest > Mob kills for Passage > Silver chest.
* Special thanks to the Reddit /r/ffxiv Discord community for helping tweak some of the info – Cheers! *Imagine a situation where the Pathankot Air Force Base had embraced modern security features. Infra-red cameras would've detected the terrorists as they approached. Smart surveillance systems can sense new or lingering objects in the field of vision, identify it as a threat and prioritize what needs to be displayed to the viewer in the control room. Had the terrorists disabled the surveillance system, somehow their presence would've been detected by motion detectors or laser fences and the possible point of breach could've been pinpointed. An Automatic Weapon System piloted by an operator in the control room would have been used to engage and mow down the terrorists before they climbed over. Early detection also gives operators inside the base time to secure high value assets. Thesedays terrorists use army fatigues to avoid detection and infiltrate our installations. Adequate biometric verification systems at check posts and strategic locations could help in such a case. A modern security set up could've dissuaded or neutralized attackers.Adoption of such security technology also accentuates the vulnerability to cyber-attacks and thus a cyber-security element should also be built into the set up.Given that 15 million babies are born prematurely every year and that preterm births are a major source of health complications in kids under five, you might expect modern medicine to have a pretty good handle on the problem.
But Larry Rand, an obstetrician at the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center, in San Francisco, says the current level of understanding of what causes preterm births and how to stop them is poor. Doctors often won’t know that a women is about to give birth until her contractions set in, which is too late to address the underlying cause or to prolong the pregnancy. He compares the current quality of forewarning to that of chest pains before a heart attack. They tell you what’s about to happen, but not early enough to do something about it.
That’s where the SmartDiaphragm comes in. A device that’s placed inside a pregnant woman’s vagina, it’s designed to sense for when microscopic changes in the cervix start to happen, and thus indicate that a child is on its way. Rand says the device, once fully developed, could give up to two weeks of early warning, thus giving doctors more options to deal with a women’s health problems.
The cervix, which sits at the lower part of the uterus, is composed mostly of collagen, the same substance in our noses and ears. During pregnancy, it remains stiff, effectively stopping a baby from leaving the womb. When a baby is about to leave the uterus, the cervix will begin to break down, becoming softer and looser. It’s possible with ultrasound to see the cervix changing shape. But looking at the collagen at a molecular level gives an earlier sense of what’s happening.
The SmartDiaphragm contains two sensors for doing that. One senses for impedance: the capacity of the collagen to conduct an electric charge. When the collagen contains more water, it will conduct more charge than when it’s still taut. The second senses for fluorescence: how objects emit light when light is shone on them. Denser collagen is more florescent. The sensors send data to a smartphone via a low-power Bluetooth connection.
“It’s like a virtual biopsy of the cervix that looks at the collagen using a noninvasive means,” says Mozziyar Etemadi, co-principal investigator on the project.
Early versions of the device looked like a large wand. More recent prototypes are smaller, made of silicone, and more like birth control diaphragms. Etemadi says the final product probably will be designed so women can place the device themselves. It’s not clear if they’ll have to wear it for short periods or longer.Richard and Cynthia Kelly.jpg
Richard and Cynthia Kelly are being held in the Shelby County Jail with bond set at $1 million each.
(Shelby County Jail)
A teen boy weighing only about 55 pounds is fighting for his life after spending much of two years locked in the basement of his Helena home with little food, water or medical care.
Authorities in Shelby County announced charges against the boy's adoptive parents, and say it's one of the most horrific cases they've investigated. "It's the worst case of neglect that I have ever seen," said Helena police Chief Pete Folmar.
The 14-year-old boy, whose name is not being released, is in critical condition at an undisclosed hospital. Authorities said he weighs less than half of what a boy his age should weigh.
'Challenged' teen kept in basement 2 years remains gravely ill: 'You just struggle to wrap your head around it' Richard and Cynthia Kelly late Monday afternoon were charged with aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony.
Richard and Cynthia Kelly late Monday afternoon were charged with aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony. They were moved from the Helena City Jail to the Shelby County Jail, where they were undergoing the booking process. Their bonds are set at $1 million bond each.
The investigation began Sunday when Helena police were notified by hospital staff through DHR of the boy's arrival at the hospital. Authorities say his parents took him there when his condition worsened.
According to the arrest warrants, the couple is accused of denying food, nourishment and medical care to the boy, who was "subjected to forced isolation for extended periods of time." Authorities say that "isolation" was disciplinary in nature.
The couple has another adopted child who is now a legal adult and who is fine. That young adult also lives in the Helena home.
Because of the nature of the suspected crime and the age of the victim, Folmar said he couldn't further discuss the case. The investigation is ongoing.
He did say the probe has been tough on investigators. Shelby County District Attorney Jill Lee agreed.
"I am bound to remind everyone that they remain innocent until proven guilty,'' Lee said. "But this office will prosecute vigorously and to fullest extent the law will allow."Art: Edward Cao Heart of the 209 By Shaun Al-Shatti
Nate Diaz said this would happen. He told us for years. The decade-long slog may not have been the way he drew it up, but even then, Diaz set the bait for his best catch in classic Diaz Brother fashion. Three fucks and one shit over 19 seconds on a live national primetime broadcast. A post-fight callout so profane that on-air censors punted the audio within seconds, leaving a live audience stunned and nearly three million at home wondering what the hell they just missed. You couldn’t script it any better. Afterward, in the bowels of the arena, Diaz said he only fought at UFC on FOX 17 to set up a fight with Conor McGregor. He worried that his message would be lost to the big long bleep, but his older brother Nick assured him that social media would carry the word, and of course Nick was right. This game can be dizzying. Within four months, Nate Diaz swung from persona non grata to beloved superstar, from no leverage to silly leverage. One win over the human Pulp Fiction briefcase and suddenly a decade of prediction looked prophetic. Diaz always told us he was here, right here, just waiting for that UFC push, just waiting for that nudge into the mainstream saved for the Northcutts and Van Zants. Now he’s on Conan beefing with Bieber. Can you imagine how all of this would’ve sounded two years ago, when things were so bleak the UFC whitewashed Diaz from its own lightweight rankings? A few keystrokes and poof — eight years of service gone, the fighting pride of Stockton replaced by a ghost, a name written in invisible ink. The higher-ups claimed he lost his No. 5 ranking for sporting reasons. Even worse, for "inactivity." This, less than six months after Diaz headlined a UFC show with a two-minute romp over a top-10 opponent. The kind of inactivity that draws over one-million eyes to a channel still in its infancy. Diaz cashed a disclosed check of $15,000 to show and $15,000 to win that last fight before he vanished into the ether — low numbers for any contender, but startlingly low for a veteran entering his fighting prime, a lightweight who predated the modern lightweight division, whose career arc followed a solitary path from The Ultimate Fighter to the UFC, who spent nearly a decade within company lines and already counted 17 main card appearances in 22 fights. Someone who through a trail of blood and middle fingers had proven to be among the best and most popular 155-pounders in the world. When Diaz showed up in Phoenix a year later, injured and disillusioned, the co-headliner on another FOX show, having been told explicitly how little he "moved the needle," he was the definition of an athlete going through the motions. He ended up making $16,000 in disclosed pay to fight the division’s No. 1 contender on a FOX broadcast that peaked at over 3.8 million viewers. Before the fight he told me straight up: I'll lose and they'll bring me back for another big spot. Say what you want about the Diaz Brothers, but those boys always knew the score. And that’s why all of this is so crazy. Somewhere between the cryptic tweets and vetoed requests for release, it started feeling like we were heading towards an inevitable and unfortunate end for Nate Diaz. His standoff with the UFC stretched across years, precious time wasted on infrequent paychecks while misinformation spread and an unsympathetic public all but wrote him off, the UFC’s own narrative casting him as a complainer, a malcontent who couldn’t play the game long enough to get out of his own way. But then Orlando happened, and this mercurial sport proved all over again that all it takes is one good night. One night where the one-twos started flowing and the swears started flying, and just like old times, the Stockton slaps rained down from the heavens on poor Michael Johnson — and like magic, everyone remembered everything that came before. Mid-round birds to Cowboy and double fingers over a fully locked-in triangle; it was like seeing an old friend for the first time in years and suddenly realizing how badly you missed them. Then came the callout to end all callouts. Then came reimbursement. And just like that, Nate Diaz was right. Ten years and 25 fights, perhaps the sport’s strangest and most winding road to UFC stardom, but it happened. Nathan Diaz is a star. A genuine star. Now and forever, and headlining what will likely be two of the most profitable pay-per-views in UFC history will only help that fact. Maybe this took longer than expected. Maybe the UFC just never understood what it had, how a hardscrabble figure like Diaz could have such broad appeal. Hell, maybe this was all just luck, and the perfect dance partner simply found the perfect dance at the perfect time. It doesn’t matter. If Diaz hit free agency after UFC 202, win or lose, he would be among the most coveted free agents of the past decade. And he did things his way. So to celebrate one of the most improbable ascensions the UFC has ever seen, we turned to those who understand best what Conor McGregor is up against. This is the story of how a younger brother from Stockton upended the fight game, one scalp at a time, told by those who know best what it means to stand against the 209. The King is dead. Long live the King. I Rob Emerson (The Ultimate Fighter 5): I didn't even know Nick had a younger brother until we got on that show. I heard there was going to be a couple of lions in that season and we were in the van, it was me, Cole Miller, Matt Wiman, Nate, I think Gray Maynard and a couple other guys. Guys with names. Quality guys. At that time there wasn't that big of a lightweight division. There wasn't even a lightweight division in the UFC, so I knew all of the names from the surrounding circuits. "Nate was quiet. You could tell he was a guy who, respect had to be earned. That was one thing I caught about him — it takes experience to be like that. You have to keep an eye on the quiet guys." —Rob Emerson I also knew Nick was from Stockton. I'd driven by there a couple times. My daughter lives in Redding in Northern California, so I'd passed through Stockton a few times and I knew it was kind of a rough city. Especially if you're born and raised there, you have to be pretty rough coming from there. And Nate just gave off that persona. He was quiet. You could tell he was a guy who, respect had to be earned. That was one thing I caught about him — it takes experience to be like that. Normally, guys who are newer in the sport, they don't have real, life-experience confidence. It's more confidence they've built around themselves, like shit their friends told them. Those are the guys who talk, the Gabe Ruedigers and other guys on the show. You kind of just check them off. But you have to keep an eye on the quiet guys. Manny Gamburyan (The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale): Being in that house, it was the worst thing ever. Imagine. Imagine no TV. No cell phone. Sixteen dudes in the same house. They're all your opponents. The guy you're about to fight lives with you, eats with you, sleeps in the same house. It was kind of fucked up. You learn a lot about yourself. Your character. I mean, you might know yourself, but being away from your family and being you, just you, alone — it was like jail, to be honest. Nate and I ended up being on the same team, and we actually thought about it — we thought about leaving. I remember I said: ‘You know what, Nate? That fucking fence right there? Let's just jump that and get the fuck out of here.' There were a couple times we considered it. It wasn't a joke. It was serious. Emerson: They told us when we got there: ‘you guys think it's cool and fun and games, but by Day Three you guys are going to start getting on each other's nerves. You guys are going to start hearing the same stories from the same people. You guys are going to be sick of everyone's bullshit. Watch. It always happens. Every season. Day Three is the day you guys break.' We're like, nah, fuck that. We're in this house, there's no girlfriends, we can do whatever we want. Fuck this, we're going to have a good time. Sure enough, dude, Day Three rolls around and we're just like, ‘fuck, what am I doing here?' Everyone is getting on your nerves. You're just bored. They purposely set it up that way, there is no source of entertainment. So, I had a marker and I wrote ‘Suck it Team Pulver' on the wall, and Nate took it kind of personally. One of the other guys gets him going, maybe Manny or someone, and then Nate takes it personally. He's freaking out. ‘Who wrote on my wall?!' He's getting all personal with me. But I think it was just the whole scenario, the whole thing, it weighed heavy on him. Like, you get in a house full of these fucking guys who you don't know, who you have to fight? Him and his brother both are big on, the guy you're fighting is your enemy. You are going to war. You are not going to make friends with him. And man, to be forced to live in a house with guys like that, the ice breaks really quick. Alvin Robinson (UFC Fight Night 12): I was a big Nick Diaz fan, and I'd watched The Ultimate Fighter. I was actually supposed to be on the season and in the house with those guys, I just didn't want to do it so I turned down the opportunity. But I watched that season and I liked Nate. I liked his attitude. I grew up in California, so that's the attitude that I grew up around, guys like Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz. So when they offered me that fight after he won The Ultimate Fighter and I was his first fight after the finale, I was excited. We both trained under the Gracie name. When we were going to fight, I flew out by myself. I didn't take any cornermen or anything. I got to the airport in Vegas and the UFC picks me up and they ask, ‘you're here by yourself?' I say, yeah, I'll be here most of the week by myself. And they're like, ‘okay.' The guy gets on the phone and he starts saying, ‘hey, Alvin is here by himself. We need to get him some security.' And I'm like... security? What do I need security for? What are you guys talking about? They're like, ‘look, when we get to the hotel, we want you to go straight to your room. Check into your room. Because Nick and Nate, they're tough guys. If they see you by yourself, they'll jump you. Like, they'll beat you up in the lobby. There's going to be a fight.' They're telling me all of this stuff and I'm laughing. I'm like, sure, whatever. I mean, I'm not afraid of that kind of stuff, you know? So I'm there and I'm sitting down in the lobby waiting to check into my room |
be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /customers/b/e/9/robotchampion.se/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/fs/package.module.fs.php on line 258 Warning: |
Charles Stross, Seanan McGuire or Elizabeth Bear. Also, feel free to point out anyone we might have missed in the comments.
Advertisement
1) Lionel Fanthorpe
The Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, an Anglican vicar, wrote for Badger Books during the 1950s and 60s under many pseudonyms, possibly more than 20 different names in total. Due to the sheer number of books under different names, which were sometimes being used by other authors for Badger Books at the same time, there is no complete bibliography. Collectors estimate that Fanthrope wrote over 180 books, 89 which were written during a 3 year period. On average he completed a book every 12 days. To quote from the Fanthorpe fan page:
Badger Books would send Fanthorpe a cover painting, often the more lurid the better (see the Cover Gallery for examples). He would be asked to write a back-cover blurb and suggest several titles for the book to go along with the art. After a title was settled on, he would start writing the novel. A humorous example is The Last Valkyrie. For those of you who don't know, a Valkyrie is a mythological Norse figure who took valiant warriors from the battlefield straight to Valhalla where they would feast and fight forever in paradise. The Last Valkyrie is set mainly in ancient Greece. It concerns Daedelus, his son Icarus and King Minos. Near the end of the book one chapter is devoted to explaining the whole of Norse mythology. It has the feel of a last minute realization of "We need to fill another 20 pages! Oh, and I should bring Valkyries into this somewhere."
Advertisement
Neil Gaiman is frequently quoted as having said, "Do not read too much Lionel Fanthorpe at one go, your brains will turn to guacamole and drip out of your ears."
2) Mercedes Lackey
Mercedes Lackey began publishing in 1987 with her book Arrows of the Queen. Since then she has published 142 books, an average of 5.5 books/year. Some 30 of those books are in in the Valdemar Saga, her best known works. Lackey is still publishing books, with at least two books scheduled to be published in 2014. She has collaborated on eight books, with co-authors including Eric Flint, Dave Freer, James Mallory, Rosemary Edghill, and others.
Advertisement
3) Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony is a renowned science fiction/fantasy author who believes that one of his greatest achievements is having published a book for every letter of the alphabet. He is best known for the the Xanth series. Between 1967-2013, he wrote over 100 books, averaging almost three books a year, and he's still writing and publishing today. The 37th Xanth novel, Esrever Doom, will be out later this month.
Advertisement
4) Walter Gibson
Walter B. Gibson, under the name Maxwell Grant, is credited with writing the pulp adventures of The Shadow during the 1930s and 40s. He wrote 282 of the 325 Shadow novels, often writing up to 10,000 words a day. He wrote on average 24 novels a year — because his contract stated that if he could write more than 24 novels in a year, the publisher would give him more assignments to fill his "slack time." Gibson also wrote for the Biff Brewster series. In addition to his fiction work he was a practicing magician and wrote many books on magic and the occult. He was once featured in an advertisement for Corona typewriters (at left) that claimed he wrote an astounding 1,440,000 words in less than 10 months.
Advertisement
5) Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove, best known for his alternate history novels, has written 120 books and is still writing. In the 34 years he has been publishing, Turtledove has averaged 3.5 books/year. He has written under some pseudonyms, including Eric G. Iverson and Mark Gordian, and he has also collaborated with authors such as Richard Dreyfuss, Judith Tarr, S.M. Stirling and Kevin Sandes.
Advertisement
6) Andre Norton
Andre Norton was a prolific fantasy author, best known for the Witch World series. She was the author or co-author of over 250 novels, including 52 books with collaborators. Between her first publication in 1934 and her death in 2005 she published an average of 3.5 novels a year.
Advertisement
7) Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was one of the most successful and influential science fiction writers of all time. He wrote so many books, short stories, and essays that it’s difficult to find an accurate count. Even Asimov himself didn’t believe he had a complete bibliography of his work. By most accounts, he published well over 500 books in 9 of the 10 Dewey Decimal categories. By the end of his life he had published well over 400 pieces of short fiction, including the Foundation series and the Robot series.
Advertisement
8) Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss is one of the most influential and prolific British science fiction writers. In addition to being the first president of the British Science Fiction Association, he has written dozens of books and hundreds of short stories. Between 1942 and the present he wrote 65 novels, almost one book every year — but his most impressive output comes from short fiction: he wrote over 370 short stories between 1954 and 2011, about seven stories a year.
9) Wolfgang Hohlbein
This German author has published over 200 novels, and is still writing — but very few of his books have been translated into English. He's the co-author of the Enwor series, about Skar, a member of a traveling martial arts clan called the Sakai. Some of his books also involve retellings of Germanic folklore — and he's also written a number of Indiana Jones novels that were never translated into English.
Advertisement
10) Ray Bradbury
Best known for Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury was actually most prolific with short fiction. Many of his novels were actually pieced together collections of previously published short stories. He also wrote plays, television scripts, essays, poems and short stories. In total he published over 600 short stories in his 72 year career, averaging eight stories per year.
Advertisement
11) R. A. Salvatore
Even R.A. Salvatore himself can’t keep track of how many books he’s written. When asked how many Dark Elf books he’s published he guesses 23 — admitting that he might have forgotten a few. He is best known for the Forgotten Realms novels. Since he published his first novel, The Crystal Shard, in 1988, Salvatore has written well over 100 books. On average he publishes four books per year. He is still publishing today with at least one book scheduled to come out in 2014.
Advertisement
Also noteworthy:
Marion Zimmer Bradley, with dozens of novels including the Darkover series, Michael Moorcock, with 70 novels and 150 short stories, Tanith Lee, with 79 books and 100 short stories, Stephen King, with 94 novels and 185 short stories; C.J. Cherryh, with 70 novels and 83 short stories and novelettes; Arthur C. Clarke with 21 novels and 12 co-authored books — but over 100 books total in various categories; Anne McCaffrey with 52 novels, 28 co-authored novels, and 66 short stories; Philip K. Dick with 44 novels and 121 short stories; and Terry Pratchett with some 55 novels, including 40 Discworld books.The firehose of bile from Twitter users at the death of former First Lady Nancy Reagan on Sunday reveals the success of leftist radicals’ attempts to rewrite the facts of the War on Drugs, the program put into place by Ronald Reagan with the support of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign. That revisionist history is a key component of the current “mass incarceration” movement that is aimed not only at putting dangerous felons back on the street, but also in turning them into both foot soldiers in the revolution and a voting bloc for Democrats.
An analysis of hundreds of tweets revealing the left’s outpouring of hatred in the 24 hours after Nancy Reagan’s death shows that much of the animosity towards the Reagans stems from anger about the War on Drugs.
I discussed this on today’s edition of Breitbart News Daily (full audio below).
As you’ll see in the dozens of tweets we’ve included below, many of the angry haters directly blame the Reagans for the plight of black people, a situation that they tie into the drug war.
This hatred isn’t just an outburst that should be blown off. It’s part of the revolutionary left’s 50-year plan to fundamentally transform America, and it’s happening right under our noses.
Worse, the mass incarceration agenda is being implemented by President Obama in conjunction with Republicans.
Understanding this history is crucial to understanding the hate and, in turn, asking Republicans to recognize the very real threat posed by the mass incarceration movement.
Five Decades of Agitprop on Black Incarceration
Twitter’s foul blast of hate against Nancy Reagan is no accident. It’s the direct result of a 50-year propaganda campaign aimed at black Americans—and, frankly, liberals of every color—promoting the Black Panther Parties anti-American, anti-law-enforcement agenda and reviling and rebuking Ronald Reagan, a champion for the United States and law and order.
The animosity between radical black activists and Ronald Reagan goes back to the days when Reagan was the Governor of California and an outspoken critic of radical leftist movements.
The modern mass incarceration movement also has its ideological origins in the 1960s, when the idea of releasing black people from prison en masse was popularized by the Black Panther party in its “10-Point Platform.”
Point 8 of the 10-Point Platform called for every single black person in the United States to be immediately freed from prison. Quoting:
8) We want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails. We believe that all black people should be released from the many jails and prisons because they have not received a fair and impartial trial.
This agitprop—propaganda designed to agitate the masses—continues today in the Black Lives Matter movement’s focus on the issue of “mass incarceration.”
The Black Panthers believed that every incarcerated black person was a “political prisoner,” a belief which led to protests and slogans in the 1960s such as “Free Huey,” “Free Bobby,” and “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.” These referred to Black Panther party cofounders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, and Black Panther ally Angela Davis.
It didn’t end in the 1960s, however.
This same line of sloganeering exists right now with current campaigns to Free Mumia and Free Rasmea Odeh. These refer to former Black Panther and convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and Palestinian terrorist Rasema Odeh.
Last year, Breitbart News reported on a video put out by the Black Lives Matter movement that featured both Odeh and Angela Davis.
What’s important to understand is that none of these “Free Whoever!” movements are based on a belief in the innocence of the people that the activists want to be freed; they are all actually based on the ideological belief that every single black person should be released from prison.
The racist idea of simply opening the prison doors to black Americans is, obviously, a bizarre and intellectually indefensible position that wouldn’t pass the smell test for any person with common sense.
Black radical activists are aware that their real position about freeing every black person from prison is both dangerous and nonsensical, so they hide their position. This effort at muddying their real objectives has been aided by liberal media outlets, who don’t report the truth of what these Black Power advocates believe, even though it’s right there in the 10-Point Platform.
Attacking the Reagans became part of this active disinformation campaign, as the overtly black nationalist revolutionary goals of the Black Panthers morphed into an academic and legal agenda that has become the mass incarceration movement.
Mass Incarceration’s Anti-Reagan History Rewrite
One of the leaders and forerunners of the modern mass incarceration movement is 1960s radical Angela Davis. Davis comes from an academic background; she attended Brandeis University and was mentored by the intellectual father of the New Left, Herbert Marcuse from the Frankfurt School.
Around the time she joined the Communist Party of the United States, Davis became enamored with the gun-toting Black Panthers and fell in love with the violent Black Panther cofounder George Jackson, who spent his entire life in prison. Angela Davis fled authorities after guns she owned were used in the bloody Marin County Center hostage takeover that was done in an attempt to free George Jackson. As the New York Times reported in a story on her eventual acquittal:
The charges against her were lodged late in August, 1970, shortly after Jonathan Jackson, 17, smuggled guns into a Marin County courtroom in San Rafael, Calif, and armed three black convicts. They then attempted to escape by using a judge, an assistant district attorney and three women jurors as hostages. The judge was taken hostage with a shot gun taped to his neck. He died in the getaway vans outside the civic center along with Jackson and two of the three convicts who participated in the escape.
But no horrible act goes unrewarded by the left.
Today, Angela Davis is a professor emerita at University of California, Santa Cruz and one of the revered leaders of mass incarceration movement.
The Black Power Movement’s fifty-year obsession with the Reagans continues with their constant refrain hammering on the idea that the War on Drugs is part of a racist system of oppression designed to keep “people of color” down.
As Angela Davis described the War on Drugs in a 2014 interview:
…drugs have served—the so-called war on drugs, which, as we know, has been a war on poor communities, black and Latino communities, all over the country—that so-called war on drugs has been the major motor driving the rising prison population. So, I often point out we need to look at the corresponding pharmaceutical-industrial complex when we, you know, think about the way drugs have served as a pretext for incarcerating such vast numbers of people of color.
This argument is prevalent on the left and by extension to many black Americans, who have shown undying fealty towards the Democrat Party despite having nothing to show for it regarding a better life for millions of black Americans.
Part of the argument that the War on Drugs was effectively a war on black people is based on the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 27, 1986.
One provision of the act mandated a minimum sentence of 5 years without parole for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine while it mandated the same for possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine, a disparity that critics say was caused by racism due to the idea that crack cocaine is used predominantly by black people whereas powder cocaine was used by whites.
The “blame Reagan” narrative, however, ignores the real history. As Wall Street Journal editorial board member Jason O’Reilly wrote at The Federalist:
The harsher penalties for crack cocaine offenses were supported by most of the Congressional Black Caucus, including New York Representatives Major Owens of Brooklyn and Charles Rangel of Harlem, who at the time headed the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Crack was destroying black communities, and many black political leaders wanted dealers to face longer sentences. “Eleven of the twenty-one blacks who were then members of the House of Representatives voted in favor of the law which created the 100-to-1 crack–powder differential,” noted Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy.
A Change in Tactics Spawns the Modern Mass Incarceration Movement
1960s-era Communists like Angela Davis longed for revolutionary change, but they grew tired of life on the run underground. They learned that the smarter route to the revolution they longed for was to put down their guns and bombs and head into the ivory tower.
In the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, they began affecting change the way that Davis’s mentor Herbert Marcuse in the Frankfurt School had suggested: through cultural Marxism, which included impacting the culture through academia and the arts.
Art continues to play an important role in this propaganda effort, including recent films meant to agitate black Americans by whitewashing the real history of the ’60s. These include the taxpayer-funded The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution documentary and the film Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners. It has even made its way to popular culture, such as Beyoncé Knowles’s Black Panther inspired Super Bowl halftime show, which acts as a gateway drug to interest in radical black groups.
Professor Angela Davis is joined in the halls of academe by the likes of Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver, who currently teaches law at Emory University, as well as former Students for Democratic Society communist revolutionaries such as Bill Ayres, Bernardine Dohrn, and Kathy Boudin, all of whom went on to become teachers after years underground plotting the overthrow of the United States.
That generation helped lead the way for the current crop of academic black liberation radicals, including Michelle Alexander, the former Stanford Law School professor who wrote the movement’s bible: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
Alexander’s patron in this endeavor was billionaire leftist philanthropist George Soros.
As her biography states:
In 2005, she won a Soros Justice Fellowship, which supported the writing of The New Jim Crow, and that same year she accepted a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University. Since its first publication,The New Jim Crow has received rave reviews and has been featured in national radio and television media outlets, including MSNBC, NPR, Bill Moyers Journal, Tavis Smiley, C-SPAN, and Washington Journal, among others. In March, the book won the 2011 NAACP Image Award for best nonfiction.
The awards, glowing reviews, and academic air of respectability are all designed to cover the tracks of the movement’s real goal of releasing all black prisoners, a topic we will highlight and prove in future stories at Breitbart News.
Of course, Michelle Alexander also has attacked Ronald Reagan and Republicans as waging a racist war on black America. As she wrote in 2011 at the Huffington Post:
President Ronald Reagan officially declared the current drug war in 1982, when drug crime was declining, not rising. From the outset, the war had little to do with drug crime and nearly everything to do with racial politics. The drug war was part of a grand and highly successful Republican Party strategy of using racially coded political appeals on issues of crime and welfare to attract poor and working class white voters who were resentful of, and threatened by, desegregation, busing, and affirmative action.
From the 10-Point Platform to Obama Policy
The mass incarceration movement has a friend in the White House in the form of President Barack Obama, as well as allies in the Department of Justice such as former Attorney General Eric Holder, who was a black student activist for black liberation at Columbia University in the early 1970s, and current Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
President Obama put this policy into action with the largest release of prisoners in U.S. history, and Attorney General Lynch indicated that, with the help of Republican politicians, more prisoner releases are on the way. Lynch outlined this in an interview on PBS last year:
GWEN IFILL: And so this week, one of the things you suggested was release — the beginning of a series of releases, starting with 6,000 prisoners who have been held, you believe, too long. That’s a drop in the bucket against the 2.2 million people who are held in federal and local jails and prisons. How do you expand on that? LORETTA LYNCH: Well, the sentencing reform efforts that are on the Hill, I think, are very encouraging. The Senate came out with a bill just last week. I believe the House is announcing their bill today. We look forward to reviewing those and working with both houses to make them not only effective, but productive in a way that keeps our communities safe and also gives people a chance at rebuilding their lives, because that can be done.
While Republican politicians have bent over backward to prove how bipartisan they are in working with mass incarceration advocates, they seem to forget that everything President Obama does has a political purpose.
One immediate goal is to turn ex-felons into a voting bloc. As Mother Jones reported one month ago, in Maryland alone approximately 40,000 felons in that state have been given the right to vote, and it’s just the beginning:
At issue in Maryland’s bill was whether to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentence but are still on parole or probation. The bill passed the legislature last year, but Hogan vetoed it. Last month, the state House voted to override the veto, leaving a squeaker of a vote in the state Senate. Unlike in many states, ex-offenders in Maryland already had the right to vote after all terms of their sentences were met. (Felons still in prison remain unable to vote.) The new law makes Maryland the 14th state to allow felons to vote once out of prison. But as the Baltimore Sun reports, it was tough to muster enough support for the override, which ultimately broke down along party lines.
The Impact Isn’t Just Academic: Twitter Shows Street Hatred of the Reagans
The left’s push for mass incarceration and it’s parallel attacks on Ronald Reagan can be seen in the hate-filled tweets directed at his widow after her death.
Now that you know the history, you’ll see the results in the disgusting rhetoric of “the people” on Twitter, as five decades of steady propaganda have trickled down from the ivory tower to the gutter.
https://twitter.com/lulee95/status/706642022925336576
https://twitter.com/MattUtters/status/706651423216312320
I added a video to a @YouTube playlist https://t.co/pb8Yz6Pr0y Nancy Reagan died today Good I'm fucking glad the cunt is dead I hate — BurtWuertenberg 📼💿Ὄ🇺🇸☕🍩💓💣🎸🍭🚌 (@Burtw07031968) March 7, 2016
Fuck off (and unfollow) anyone who hesitates to treat Nancy Reagan with the complete contempt she deserves. Also: read some fucking history. — Ren Jender (@renjender) March 7, 2016
Nancy Reagan finally died. Took a long time ya dusty old cunt. — Bernese Mountain Dawg (@Zizi_Softtail) March 6, 2016
Nancy Reagan finally just says 'no'. Fuck. About time. https://t.co/fntlumB8Lz — ∞ Kelley Dawn Price (@earthshamankel) March 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Nihilistopheles/status/706558562818850816
https://twitter.com/arln1966/status/706657328867774465
Big party today, dancing on Nancy Reagan's grave. So glad you are dead you cunt. — Mark Land Marks (@MarkLandMarks) March 6, 2016
They are responsible for more death in this country than any of us could possibly imagine. Fuck Nancy Reagan. Fuck Ronald Reagan. — loaf (@Dofmau5) March 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/baldheadbasset/status/706670847742877696
Can we stop with this Nancy Reagan bullshit her war on drugs was bullshit she was a fuck'in CUNT — hmmm… (@_MrZachary_) March 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/regguevara/status/706680869046480901
https://twitter.com/dimitriDutch/status/706700429816688640
NANCY REAGAN WAS A BITCH, WAS A BITCH! FUCK MARGARET THATCHER AND NANCY REAGAN AND THAT CUNT RONALD REAGAN!!!! — garufἴ (@GarethWareth) March 6, 2016
Man fuck Nancy Reagan. And fuck Ronald too. — I'm your favorite. (@Jon_Purpose) March 7, 2016
Fuck Nancy Reagan.. The Reagan Years and everyone who had a hand in the Drug war against black and brown people.. Rest in piss. — Old Baltimore (@OG_HARM) March 6, 2016
Fuck Nancy Reagan fuck the Reagan administration fuck crack cocaine — matthew (@gangwich) March 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/tinycicada/status/706643559298965505
Fuck you and fuck Nancy Reagan. https://t.co/dPUgXrz7n9 — Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) March 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/bigBoDawson/status/706658106218942465
Fuck Nancy Reagan. She was vermin. Her husband too. — Optimistic Doom (@OptimisticDoom) March 7, 2016
Man fuck Nancy Reagan, fuck mandatory minimums, fuck the war on drugs, fuck the prison industrial complex. — Cpt. Pwnage (@Jacobleonpwnage) March 7, 2016
fuck Nancy Reagan and her weak ass husband, they got black ppl fucked up. I'm glad they both dead. — Rr. (@womynism) March 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Ben_Neato/status/706706267436232705
https://twitter.com/SMOKELAHOMA420/status/706707617914048512
https://twitter.com/FulcrumAmber/status/706721830136991744
https://twitter.com/Dream_Elusive/status/706721979009671168
Fuck Nancy Reagan, anti-christ. When she said addicts should "just say no", a comedian replied "I'm going to need more information". buh-bye — 43 (@Mike_Peake) March 7, 2016
Poor Nancy Reagan. Married to that monster, a total freedom of speech destroying cunt…and now she has died. — @PeteWadeOfficial (@PeteWadeYeah) March 7, 2016
Is it OK to say "fuck Nancy Reagan" and all she did to support and encourage the War on Drugs? — Jeff Burk (@Jeff_Burk) March 7, 2016
Note: My article yesterday featured two vile tweets directed at Nancy Reagan that were actually from months ago, not from immediately after her death. I regret the error; however, it in no way changes the fact that there was an immediate outpouring of hatred towards Nancy Reagan, and there were hundreds of tweets that I did not post in that story.
Below is the full audio from interviews on this topic today on Breitbart News Daily and yesterday on Breitbart News Sunday:
For more details on the Black Panthers and Black Lives matter, follow Breitbart News leader investigative reporter and Citizen Journalism School founder Lee Stranahan on Twitter at @Stranahan.Texas's love/hate relationship with Washington's money
Texas Gov. Rick Perry and state lawmakers must close a budget deficit of as much as $27 billion.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration's 2009 stimulus program to spur the economy and assist cash-strapped states.
Perry also likes to trumpet that his state balanced its budget in 2009, while keeping billions in its rainy day fund.
But he couldn't have done that without a lot of help from... guess where? Washington.
Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.
"Stimulus was very helpful in getting them through the last few years," said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers, said of Texas.
Even as Perry requested the Recovery Act money, he railed against it. On the very same day he asked for the funds, he set up a petition titled "No Government Bailouts."
"Join our fight and add your voice to a growing list of several thousand Americans who are fed up with this irresponsible spending that threatens our future," Perry wrote on his blog on Feb. 18, 2009.
A governor's spokeswoman played down the money's role in shoring up Texas's finances.
"Texas would have balanced its budget regardless of the presence of stimulus dollars," said Lucy Nashed, Perry's deputy press secretary. "This money came from the pockets of Texas taxpayers, and we are committed to getting our fair share of these dollars, which would have otherwise been disbursed to other states."
Difficult years ahead
Unfortunately for Texas, and for most other states in the union, the stimulus safety net has dried up. So they are now facing draconian spending cuts as they try to close yawning budget gaps for fiscal 2012, which starts July 1 in most states.
Texas is in trouble too. State lawmakers last week unveiled an austere budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal years that cuts $31 billion in spending. Schools, colleges, Medicaid and social services for the needy will be hit especially hard.
The state won't replace any of the federal stimulus funds with its own revenues, said Rep. Jim Pitts, who is writing the budget bill for the Texas House. It doesn't have the money. The state comptroller estimated that revenues will be $15 billion less in fiscal 2012-2013 than the previous two-year period.
Gone are the $4.3 billion in stimulus funds for Medicaid and $3.25 billion for public education. The resulting cuts outlined in the budget means schools would likely close and class sizes would get bigger. And because the budget proposes a 10% cut in Medicaid reimbursement rates for doctors, physicians will likely leave the system, making it harder for the poor to get health care.
Other areas are being hit too. For instance, the state would have to lay off 565 caseworkers who investigate child abuse. And stimulus funded child care and job training programs would also end.
Of course, stimulus alone could not have plugged this year's revenue hole. Lawmakers are suggesting a wide range of cuts to bring the budget back into balance. In all, nearly 9,300 government jobs would disappear.
"The federal money bought us some time and that time has run out," said Eva De Luna Castro, budget analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which focuses on low- and moderate-income Texans.
The budget introduced earlier this week is only the first step in a long process to crafting a final spending plan. Lawmakers and Perry will weigh in over the next few months. The state's fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
But a vocal chorus of Democratic lawmakers and advocates are already urging the GOP, which controls the Texas legislature and governor's mansion, to tap into the state's estimated $9.4 billion rainy day fund to blunt some of the spending cuts and replace the stimulus money.
Stimulus "helped us save our rainy day fund for an even rainier day," De Luna Castro said.How historically accurate should a video game be when depicting something like the First World War?
The conflict is one of the bloodiest in human history, having left 16 million dead and creating geopolitical conflicts that continue to this day.
Game developers have long used history as their digital playground and tweaked the facts to suit their needs — adding some colourful characters here or a few more explosions there. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series, set in periods such as the Italian Renaissance or Revolutionary France, is just one example.
The question is whether the studio DICE would do the same for Battlefield 1 (available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC), a first-person shooter set in what was (prematurely) called The War to End All Wars.
The opening prologue plunges the player into the middle of a major offensive in France in 1918, with the charred remains of buildings and trees strewn about a blasted wasteland of mud and corpses.
As a member of the Harlem Hellfighters, a real-life regiment that consisted largely of African-American soldiers, you have to defend an area from a German onslaught. Artillery rains from above and enemies with flamethrowers flood your position with fire and smoke.
Historian Nathan Smith examines the new video game Battlefield 1's portrayal of the First World War 2:49
After about two minutes — if you survive that long — you run out of ammo, and find yourself outnumbered. When you're inevitably gunned down, a short card with your soldier's name and lifespan appears on the screen — for example, "Matthew Collings (1884-1918)." Then you're placed in the role of another doomed recruit, in another part of the battlefield.
The point Battlefield 1 clearly wants to make is that the war took young soldiers' lives by the thousands — most of them never had the chance for a moment of glory.
Video games usually deal in fantasies of power, so this hyper-realistic, fatalistic message is unusually dour.
'Powerful' opening prologue
Florian Wittig, producer of the YouTube channel The Great War, called the opening segment "very, very powerful," and felt it was probably the game's strongest chapter.
"I think it really drove home, in a very small nutshell, what I think some of these battles must have felt like," he said. "I think it was quite poignant."
Nathan Smith, a Toronto-based historian and co-editor of a blog series about Canada's role in the First World War, was also largely positive about what he saw in the prologue.
"As a visual representation, I think it's quite accurate," he said, immediately recognizing one soldier's use of a Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle. Other details that impressed Smith included a German soldier's powerful (but unwieldy) flamethrower and British Mark V tanks rolling over trenches and shattering barricades.
Battlefield 1 paints a vividly desolate image of the Western Front during the First World War. (DICE/Electronic Arts (screenshot))
Smith pointed out that Battlefield 1 also visits a number of less commonly seen locales.
"If someone made a game about the First World War maybe 20 years ago, I'm not sure they would take you to the former Ottoman Empire — the present-day Middle East," Smith said. "I think that's a good thing. it's showing you more of the war, and how broad it was."
Dramatic effect
Of course, this is still a video game, and some liberties were taken to amp up the moment-by-moment excitement. For one, the set pieces are filled with hand-to-hand combat. In reality, most of the casualties on the Western Front had a "faceless nature" to them, according to Smith.
"Most of the soldiers, certainly on the Western Front, died as a result of shell fire. So they were killed by people they couldn't see, and the people doing the killing couldn't see them, either. Usually, anyway. But that wouldn't make for a very interesting game, I don't think."
One chapter in the single-player campaign stars a Bedouin woman fighting against the Ottoman Empire alongside Lawrence of Arabia. (DICE/Electronic Arts)
He also points out that you wouldn't have seen a German Zeppelin used as a bomber in the middle of a battle the way it is in the game's prologue. The giant blimps were more typically used to carry out long-distance bombings.
"I've never heard of a zeppelin being used right on the front lines," Smith said. "It looks cool, though."
Super soldier syndrome
Wittig was disappointed that other chapters focused on one individual pulling off more conventional acts of heroism. Instead of inhabiting a different soldier every time you're killed, you take the role of one character and play through his or her story for a couple of hours.
In one chapter, a charismatic pilot shoots down dozens of German planes, surviving in the face of impossible odds — this despite introductory text that stresses most pilots lasted an average of 17 days before dying.
Indeed, it's difficult to appreciate that soldiers died in such large numbers when you're playing the First World War equivalent of Han Solo.
"I would have preferred to stay with the feeling of the prologue, which was 'You're a cog in the wheel,'" Wittig says.
Boosting interest, awareness
That said, imposing documentary levels of historical accuracy on such a widely popular video game series might ignore its greatest potential: generating wider interest in the Great War.
Wittig says that since the first Battlefield 1 trailer dropped in May, his YouTube channel accumulated 5,000 new subscribers — the largest spike since it launched in 2014.
Subscriber growth since <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Battlefield1?src=hash">#Battlefield1</a> was released by the way. If you are still skeptic that video games spark interest in history. <a href="https://t.co/nHzjY5DRN2">pic.twitter.com/nHzjY5DRN2</a> —@WW1_Series
Despite taking some creative liberties to ensure an enjoyable gaming experience, Battlefield 1 might have some positive side effects.
"A game like this has the power to significantly increase the awareness and interest in this conflict," Wittig says. "That's undeniable, I think."Two things can be true at once. President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul is slanted to the rich, as Democrats say and Republicans like to ignore. It also comes with tax cuts for average people, which Democrats bypass in slamming Trump’s “betrayal” of the middle class.
Trump’s signing of the tax bill into law Friday capped a week also marked by a national security speech in which Trump misrepresented the records of his predecessors in his ceaseless effort to claim achievements that in many cases remain ambitions.
A look at statements by a variety of political players over the past week:
TRUMP: “The bottom line is, this is the biggest tax cuts and reform in the history of our country |
day you must. I now come to the evening hours.
IX
INTEREST IN THE ARTS
Many people pursue a regular and uninterrupted course of idleness in the evenings because they think that there is no alternative to idleness but the study of literature; and they do not happen to have a taste for literature. This is a great mistake.
Of course it is impossible, or at any rate very difficult, properly to study anything whatever without the aid of printed books. But if you desire to understand the deeper depths of bridge or of boat-sailing you would not be deterred by your lack of interest in literature from reading the best books on bridge or boat-sailing. We must, therefore, distinguish between literature, and books treating of subjects not literary. I shall come to literature in due course.
Let me now remark to those who have never read Meredith, and who are capable of being unmoved by a discussion as to whether Mr. Stephen Phillips is or is not a true poet, that they are perfectly within their rights. It is not a crime not to love literature. It is not a sign of imbecility. The mandarins of literature will order out to instant execution the unfortunate individual who does not comprehend, say, the influence of Wordsworth on Tennyson. But that is only their impudence. Where would they be, I wonder, if requested to explain the influences that went to make Tschaikowsky’s “Pathetic Symphony”?
There are enormous fields of knowledge quite outside literature which will yield magnificent results to cultivators. For example (since I have just mentioned the most popular piece of high-class music in England to-day), I am reminded that the Promenade Concerts begin in August. You go to them. You smoke your cigar or cigarette (and I regret to say that you strike your matches during the soft bars of the “Lohengrin” overture), and you enjoy the music. But you say you cannot play the piano or the fiddle, or even the banjo; that you know nothing of music.
What does that matter? That you have a genuine taste for music is proved by the fact that, in order to fill his hall with you and your peers, the conductor is obliged to provide programmes from which bad music is almost entirely excluded (a change from the old Covent Garden days!).
Now surely your inability to perform “The Maiden’s Prayer” on a piano need not prevent you from making yourself familiar with the construction of the orchestra to which you listen a couple of nights a week during a couple of months! As things are, you probably think of the orchestra as a heterogeneous mass of instruments producing a confused agreeable mass of sound. You do not listen for details because you have never trained your ears to listen to details.
If you were asked to name the instruments which play the great theme at the beginning of the C minor symphony you could not name them for your life’s sake. Yet you admire the C minor symphony. It has thrilled you. It will thrill you again. You have even talked about it, in an expansive mood, to that lady—you know whom I mean. And all you can positively state about the C minor symphony is that Beethoven composed it and that it is a “jolly fine thing.”
Now, if you have read, say, Mr. Krehbiel’s “How to Listen to Music” (which can be got at any bookseller’s for less than the price of a stall at the Alhambra, and which contains photographs of all the orchestral instruments and plans of the arrangement of orchestras) you would next go to a promenade concert with an astonishing intensification of interest in it. Instead of a confused mass, the orchestra would appear to you as what it is—a marvellously balanced organism whose various groups of members each have a different and an indispensable function. You would spy out the instruments, and listen for their respective sounds. You would know the gulf that separates a French horn from an English horn, and you would perceive why a player of the hautboy gets higher wages than a fiddler, though the fiddle is the more difficult instrument. You would live at a promenade concert, whereas previously you had merely existed there in a state of beatific coma, like a baby gazing at a bright object.
The foundations of a genuine, systematic knowledge of music might be laid. You might specialise your inquiries either on a particular form of music (such as the symphony), or on the works of a particular composer. At the end of a year of forty-eight weeks of three brief evenings each, combined with a study of programmes and attendances at concerts chosen out of your increasing knowledge, you would really know something about music, even though you were as far off as ever from jangling “The Maiden’s Prayer” on the piano.
“But I hate music!” you say. My dear sir, I respect you.
What applies to music applies to the other arts. I might mention Mr. Clermont Witt’s “How to Look at Pictures,” or Mr. Russell Sturgis’s “How to Judge Architecture,” as beginnings (merely beginnings) of systematic vitalising knowledge in other arts, the materials for whose study abound in London.
“I hate all the arts!” you say. My dear sir, I respect you more and more.
I will deal with your case next, before coming to literature.
X
NOTHING IN LIFE IS HUMDRUM
Art is a great thing. But it is not the greatest. The most important of all perceptions is the continual perception of cause and effect—in other words, the perception of the continuous development of the universe—in still other words, the perception of the course of evolution. When one has thoroughly got imbued into one’s head the leading truth that nothing happens without a cause, one grows not only large-minded, but large-hearted.
It is hard to have one’s watch stolen, but one reflects that the thief of the watch became a thief from causes of heredity and environment which are as interesting as they are scientifically comprehensible; and one buys another watch, if not with joy, at any rate with a philosophy that makes bitterness impossible. One loses, in the study of cause and effect, that absurd air which so many people have of being always shocked and pained by the curiousness of life. Such people live amid human nature as if human nature were a foreign country full of awful foreign customs. But, having reached maturity, one ought surely to be ashamed of being a stranger in a strange land!
The study of cause and effect, while it lessens the painfulness of life, adds to life’s picturesqueness. The man to whom evolution is but a name looks at the sea as a grandiose, monotonous spectacle, which he can witness in August for three shillings third-class return. The man who is imbued with the idea of development, of continuous cause and effect, perceives in the sea an element which in the day-before-yesterday of geology was vapour, which yesterday was boiling, and which to-morrow will inevitably be ice.
He perceives that a liquid is merely something on its way to be solid, and he is penetrated by a sense of the tremendous, changeful picturesqueness of life. Nothing will afford a more durable satisfaction than the constantly cultivated appreciation of this. It is the end of all science.
Cause and effect are to be found everywhere. Rents went up in Shepherd’s Bush. It was painful and shocking that rents should go up in Shepherd’s Bush. But to a certain point we are all scientific students of cause and effect, and there was not a clerk lunching at a Lyons Restaurant who did not scientifically put two and two together and see in the (once) Two-penny Tube the cause of an excessive demand for wigwams in Shepherd’s Bush, and in the excessive demand for wigwams the cause of the increase in the price of wigwams.
“Simple!” you say, disdainfully. Everything—the whole complex movement of the universe—is as simple as that—when you can sufficiently put two and two together. And, my dear sir, perhaps you happen to be an estate agent’s clerk, and you hate the arts, and you want to foster your immortal soul, and you can’t be interested in your business because it’s so humdrum.
Nothing is humdrum.
The tremendous, changeful picturesqueness of life is marvellously shown in an estate agent’s office. What! There was a block of traffic in Oxford Street; to avoid the block people actually began to travel under the cellars and drains, and the result was a rise of rents in Shepherd’s Bush! And you say that isn’t picturesque! Suppose you were to study, in this spirit, the property question in London for an hour and a half every other evening. Would it not give zest to your business, and transform your whole life?
You would arrive at more difficult problems. And you would be able to tell us why, as the natural result of cause and effect, the longest straight street in London is about a yard and a half in length, while the longest absolutely straight street in Paris extends for miles. I think you will admit that in an estate agent’s clerk I have not chosen an example that specially favours my theories.
You are a bank clerk, and you have not read that breathless romance (disguised as a scientific study), Walter Bagehot’s “Lombard Street”? Ah, my dear sir, if you had begun with that, and followed it up for ninety minutes every other evening, how enthralling your business would be to you, and how much more clearly you would understand human nature.
You are “penned in town,” but you love excursions to the country and the observation of wild life—certainly a heart-enlarging diversion. Why don’t you walk out of your house door, in your slippers, to the nearest gas lamp of a night with a butterfly net, and observe the wild life of common and rare moths that is beating about it, and co-ordinate the knowledge thus obtained and build a superstructure on it, and at last get to know something about something?
You need not be devoted to the arts, not to literature, in order to live fully.
The whole field of daily habit and scene is waiting to satisfy that curiosity which means life, and the satisfaction of which means an understanding heart.
I promised to deal with your case, O man who hates art and literature, and I have dealt with it. I now come to the case of the person, happily very common, who does “like reading.”
XI
SERIOUS READING
Novels are excluded from “serious reading,” so that the man who, bent on self-improvement, has been deciding to devote ninety minutes three times a week to a complete study of the works of Charles Dickens will be well advised to alter his plans. The reason is not that novels are not serious—some of the great literature of the world is in the form of prose fiction—the reason is that bad novels ought not to be read, and that good novels never demand any appreciable mental application on the part of the reader. It is only the bad parts of Meredith’s novels that are difficult. A good novel rushes you forward like a skiff down a stream, and you arrive at the end, perhaps breathless, but unexhausted. The best novels involve the least strain. Now in the cultivation of the mind one of the most important factors is precisely the feeling of strain, of difficulty, of a task which one part of you is anxious to achieve and another part of you is anxious to shirk; and that feeling cannot be got in facing a novel. You do not set your teeth in order to read “Anna Karenina.” Therefore, though you should read novels, you should not read them in those ninety minutes.
Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels. It produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature. It is the highest form of literature. It yields the highest form of pleasure, and teaches the highest form of wisdom. In a word, there is nothing to compare with it. I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the majority of people do not read poetry.
I am persuaded that many excellent persons, if they were confronted with the alternatives of reading “Paradise Lost” and going round Trafalgar Square at noonday on their knees in sack-cloth, would choose the ordeal of public ridicule. Still, I will never cease advising my friends and enemies to read poetry before anything.
If poetry is what is called “a sealed book” to you, begin by reading Hazlitt’s famous essay on the nature of “poetry in general.” It is the best thing of its kind in English, and no one who has read it can possibly be under the misapprehension that poetry is a mediaeval torture, or a mad elephant, or a gun that will go off by itself and kill at forty paces. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the mental state of the man who, after reading Hazlitt’s essay, is not urgently desirous of reading some poetry before his next meal. If the essay so inspires you I would suggest that you make a commencement with purely narrative poetry.
There is an infinitely finer English novel, written by a woman, than anything by George Eliot or the Brontes, or even Jane Austen, which perhaps you have not read. Its title is “Aurora Leigh,” and its author E.B. Browning. It happens to be written in verse, and to contain a considerable amount of genuinely fine poetry. Decide to read that book through, even if you die for it. Forget that it is fine poetry. Read it simply for the story and the social ideas. And when you have done, ask yourself honestly whether you still dislike poetry. I have known more than one person to whom “Aurora Leigh” has been the means of proving that in assuming they hated poetry they were entirely mistaken.
Of course, if, after Hazlitt, and such an experiment made in the light of Hazlitt, you are finally assured that there is something in you which is antagonistic to poetry, you must be content with history or philosophy. I shall regret it, yet not inconsolably. “The Decline and Fall” is not to be named in the same day with “Paradise Lost,” but it is a vastly pretty thing; and Herbert Spencer’s “First Principles” simply laughs at the claims of poetry and refuses to be accepted as aught but the most majestic product of any human mind. I do not suggest that either of these works is suitable for a tyro in mental strains. But I see no reason why any man of average intelligence should not, after a year of continuous reading, be fit to assault the supreme masterpieces of history or philosophy. The great convenience of masterpieces is that they are so astonishingly lucid.
I suggest no particular work as a start. The attempt would be futile in the space of my command. But I have two general suggestions of a certain importance. The first is to define the direction and scope of your efforts. Choose a limited period, or a limited subject, or a single author. Say to yourself: “I will know something about the French Revolution, or the rise of railways, or the works of John Keats.” And during a given period, to be settled beforehand, confine yourself to your choice. There is much pleasure to be derived from being a specialist.
The second suggestion is to think as well as to read. I know people who read and read, and for all the good it does them they might just as well cut bread-and-butter. They take to reading as better men take to drink. They fly through the shires of literature on a motor-car, their sole object being motion. They will tell you how many books they have read in a year.
Unless you give at least forty-five minutes to careful, fatiguing reflection (it is an awful bore at first) upon what you are reading, your ninety minutes of a night are chiefly wasted. This means that your pace will be slow.
Never mind.
Forget the goal; think only of the surrounding country; and after a period, perhaps when you least expect it, you will suddenly find yourself in a lovely town on a hill.
XII
DANGERS TO AVOID
I cannot terminate these hints, often, I fear, too didactic and abrupt, upon the full use of one’s time to the great end of living (as distinguished from vegetating) without briefly referring to certain dangers which lie in wait for the sincere aspirant towards life. The first is the terrible danger of becoming that most odious and least supportable of persons—a prig. Now a prig is a pert fellow who gives himself airs of superior wisdom. A prig is a pompous fool who has gone out for a ceremonial walk, and without knowing it has lost an important part of his attire, namely, his sense of humour. A prig is a tedious individual who, having made a discovery, is so impressed by his discovery that he is capable of being gravely displeased because the entire world is not also impressed by it. Unconsciously to become a prig is an easy and a fatal thing.
Hence, when one sets forth on the enterprise of using all one’s time, it is just as well to remember that one’s own time, and not other people’s time, is the material with which one has to deal; that the earth rolled on pretty comfortably before one began to balance a budget of the hours, and that it will continue to roll on pretty comfortably whether or not one succeeds in one’s new role of chancellor of the exchequer of time. It is as well not to chatter too much about what one is doing, and not to betray a too-pained sadness at the spectacle of a whole world deliberately wasting so many hours out of every day, and therefore never really living. It will be found, ultimately, that in taking care of one’s self one has quite all one can do.
Another danger is the danger of being tied to a programme like a slave to a chariot. One’s programme must not be allowed to run away with one. It must be respected, but it must not be worshipped as a fetish. A programme of daily employ is not a religion.
This seems obvious. Yet I know men whose lives are a burden to themselves and a distressing burden to their relatives and friends simply because they have failed to appreciate the obvious. “Oh, no,” I have heard the martyred wife exclaim, “Arthur always takes the dog out for exercise at eight o’clock and he always begins to read at a quarter to nine. So it’s quite out of the question that we should…” etc., etc. And the note of absolute finality in that plaintive voice reveals the unsuspected and ridiculous tragedy of a career.
On the other hand, a programme is a programme. And unless it is treated with deference it ceases to be anything but a poor joke. To treat one’s programme with exactly the right amount of deference, to live with not too much and not too little elasticity, is scarcely the simple affair it may appear to the inexperienced.
And still another danger is the danger of developing a policy of rush, of being gradually more and more obsessed by what one has to do next. In this way one may come to exist as in a prison, and one’s life may cease to be one’s own. One may take the dog out for a walk at eight o’clock, and meditate the whole time on the fact that one must begin to read at a quarter to nine, and that one must not be late.
And the occasional deliberate breaking of one’s programme will not help to mend matters. The evil springs not from persisting without elasticity in what one has attempted, but from originally attempting too much, from filling one’s programme till it runs over. The only cure is to reconstitute the programme, and to attempt less.
But the appetite for knowledge grows by what it feeds on, and there are men who come to like a constant breathless hurry of endeavour. Of them it may be said that a constant breathless hurry is better than an eternal doze.
In any case, if the programme exhibits a tendency to be oppressive, and yet one wishes not to modify it, an excellent palliative is to pass with exaggerated deliberation from one portion of it to another; for example, to spend five minutes in perfect mental quiescence between chaining up the St. Bernard and opening the book; in other words, to waste five minutes with the entire consciousness of wasting them.
The last, and chiefest danger which I would indicate, is one to which I have already referred—the risk of a failure at the commencement of the enterprise.
I must insist on it.
A failure at the commencement may easily kill outright the newborn impulse towards a complete vitality, and therefore every precaution should be observed to avoid it. The impulse must not be over-taxed. Let the pace of the first lap be even absurdly slow, but let it be as regular as possible.
And, having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.
Finally, in choosing the first occupations of those evening hours, be guided by nothing whatever but your taste and natural inclination.
It is a fine thing to be a walking encyclopaedia of philosophy, but if you happen to have no liking for philosophy, and to have a like for the natural history of street-cries, much better leave philosophy alone, and take to street-cries.I get email.
A lot of email, actually.
I'm guessing we all probably do.
For me, it's advertisements, it's mailing lists I've signed up for (or haven't), it's news alerts, it's notes from friends and family, from my agent, it's many internal ESPN notices, it's the many different producers and shows I work with at ESPN, it's work obligations, it's start/sit advice, it's asking for a job, an internship, a tweet or some other promotion for their fantasy football blog, it's invitations to appear on radio shows and podcasts, so many podcasts, it's requests for money, for items to be donated, for appearances to be made at their draft, it's challenges to play against people who are sure they would beat me, invitations to play with people in their league because that'd be fun for them, it's investment opportunities, it's people who want to partner with me on something, it's a great idea they are sure I have never heard of before, it's a complaint about something around ESPN or ESPN Fantasy that I have nothing to do with, it's fantasy football bad beat stories... an insane amount. Trust me, you weren't alone in losing because of the Kansas City D/ST on Monday night. It's team name suggestions, it's wanting a ruling on something that went down in their league, it's anonymous trolls, it's great pictures of fantasy loser punishments (those are my favorites), it's things I have missed on Twitter (I swear they send those every three minutes, it seems), it's letting me know about the bad advice that cost them a game, the playoffs or the league title, it's other people in the fantasy football industry asking for advice or an introduction or wanting to know if we have any openings at ESPN. So many of those. It's short, it's long, it's in all caps, it's urgent I read it now, it's from people I know and people I've never met, it's reminders, it's offers and every once in a while, it's these...
Dear TMR,
My brother and I have never been close. While our five-year age difference is hardly insurmountable, our lives have taken diverging paths. We were both raised as Orthodox Jews, but I abandoned a faith he embraced. He's chosen a career of altruism, working in a non-profit, while I chose one of selfishness, working in the entertainment industry. I watch football every Sunday, he can't tell you who was in last year's Super Bowl. We're as different as Tom Brady and Bryce Petty and like they probably do, we can go months without speaking.
Which is all to say he's probably the last person I'd think to share a fantasy football team with. Then a friend asked to take over an abandoned dynasty team in his league. Though this would be my fourth team, the request came the same day as yours to (again) invite someone new to fantasy this year. So I thought what the heck.
I told the commissioner I'd take the team as long as I could co-own with my brother. Then I texted him congratulating him on his 50% stake in our new fantasy team and sent him links to some of your "mediocre" fantasy advice. I waited for him to object. He didn't. He said what the heck, too.
Fantasy isn't entirely unfamiliar to him, he's played fantasy baseball, but football is definitely not his forte. Since reading your first columns he's been asking a ton of questions. Some are frustrating ("Why are we waiting to draft a kicker if they score a lot of points?"), some are valid ("You really think Cutler's worth the risk?") and some are philosophical ("Do we even need a defense?").
But the point is we've spoken more in the past week than in the previous six months.
As an avid downloader of the 06010 and someone familiar with the amount of negativity sent your way online, I figured you deserve to hear about the positive. -- Sam G
Watch The Fantasy Show every weekday The Fantasy Show with Matthew Berry airs at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2 every weekday. We will, however, be on ESPN on Mondays during the season. There are also late night re-airs (check your listings and set those DVRs) and replays are always available on WatchESPN by clicking on the NFL tab.
Hi Matthew, I hope this finds you well. My name is Paige (I'm a guy, just as a heads-up), I live in Maine and I've been downloading (not listening) to your podcast for 4-5 years. Love it! Been playing fantasy football since 1997-ish. My oldest daughter (also named Paige, I'm a father of three girls) is getting married in October 2017 to a guy I REALLY like. His name is Jeff and we bonded over the Fantasy Focus Football podcast! We'd both listen on the way home from work and text when we got home about the episode. I joined his family league and this year there was an opening in my dynasty league, so he's now in mine. And he got me a Yaters gonna Yate T-shirt for Christmas! Fantasy football brought me and my future son-in-law together and I couldn't be more thrilled. Thanks for all you do, Paige
Dear Matthew,
The day after last year's regular season ended, I tweeted a little thank you to you and two other analysts for your help throughout the season. You were the only one who responded. Not to disparage the other two, but your response was much appreciated, especially considering the amount of mentions you probably get every day. You also didn't know at the time whether I had won simple bragging rights or an enormous prize. Back to that in a second. The point is that you acknowledged me anyway and I thank you for it. When I met you at a book signing in NYC, you were equally as nice.
The league I won was a national season-long contest with a five-figure prize. As luck would have it, three weeks later I won a playoff contest on that same site for another five-figure prize. I don't say that to brag, but to mention that because of that success, I have been given an opportunity to write recently and I am really enjoying it. Even more meaningful was the fact that my victories allowed me to essentially pay for my wedding.
My fiancée and I moved in together two years ago and got engaged last June. We picked a date and a venue and were starting to work out the details when I realized we were in way over our heads financially. We both make enough to pay the bills, but apparently not enough to pay the bills and pay for a wedding. I remember arguing with her over my fantasy football entry fee last year and basically saying to her that fantasy was our only shot at having a real wedding. Though I honestly didn't believe at the time I could realistically beat almost a thousand other teams to win the grand prize, she trusted me enough to do so, and the rest is history. Thanks to fantasy football, we got married during Week 1 and I could not be more thrilled.
Best wishes,
Mick Ciallela
Matthew Berry's Fantasy Life By fantasy players, for fantasy players. As a gift or just for yourself, gear up and show your pride about the game we all love. -- TMR
Hello Berry, I am a huge fan of the 06010 podcast. I am, for the first time, in a league where all members play seriously and I am loving it. I am 3 and 0. I just want to thank you for making fantasy more fun! Unfortunately, I am dealing with health issues and have been on sick leave from work for the last two months. Playing fantasy and listening to you on the show and podcast are helping me get through a difficult time in my life, so I wanted to thank you for that! Thanks, Brett, Ontario, Canada
Hey Mr. Berry: My mom has never really been around for me. But don't worry about that, my dad is a pretty good mom. Your new show is killing it. I love every second of it. I just wanted to let you know that when there are days that I'm sad I don't have her around that I now have [fantasy football] as an escape from all the stress and the sadness that surrounds my life and it's a great escape. Thank you Mr. Berry, I hope you continue to find happiness. Sincerely, Harrison, West Virginia
This has been just an awful, difficult week. Words are inadequate. At least any I could come up with. But where there is darkness, we look for light, and for me, I found it sifting through email. I can't tell you how much these emails meant for me to read. Because the thing I love about the game we all play -- the thing I have ALWAYS loved about the game we all play -- is that it's so much more than a game.
That it's family and friends and bonds with people we've known all our life and people we've never met. From all ages, all walks of life, from grandma to young kid, no matter where we are in life or what we believe in, there is a common language and a shared set of experiences that do not and cannot change. It's an escape to a world where everyone and everything is equal. Whether you are the CEO or just an intern, a grizzled veteran or just trying it for the first time, we are all sitting there, hoping they get it to our guy on the 1-yard line instead of play-action to a fullback no one has.
I often say that fantasy football is life and in a small but important-to-me way, I was really glad to be reminded of that this week.
Let's get to it.
Quarterbacks I love in Week 5
Dak Prescott is fifth in fantasy points among QBs this season, and he gets to face a Packers team against which he recorded his first career 3-TD game last season. AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: Dak has played the Packers twice. In the 2016 regular season, he was 18-for-27 for 247 yards and three scores. Then, in the playoffs he was 24-for-38 for 302 yards and another three scores. Aaron Rodgers & Co. should have no issue scoring here, which means Dak is going to have to keep up. Prescott has been terrific lately and you like facing Green Bay away from Lambeau (since the start of last season, opponents have completed 69 percent of passes and scored 28.9 points per game at home against them compared to 61.4 and 19.0 at Lambeau). And our friends at ESPN Chalk tell us the over/under in this game is one the highest of Week 5, so Prescott is locked in as a top-five play this week.
Jameis Winston, Buccaneers: Until further notice we are starting our skill players against the Patriots. You want stats? I got stats. They've allowed a 300-yard passer in all four games this season. No other team has allowed more than two. Opponents are completing passes against New England at the fifth-highest rate in the league, and the Patriots have given up 11 passing touchdowns, tied with the Titans for most in the league this season. They have also coughed up the most fantasy points to QBs this season. Winston's dropback percentage is 67 percent this season (a career high) and he's in the top 10 in pass attempts per game. Giddy up.
Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers: I get it. He's been bad. Less than 250 yards in three straight games, he's got Antonio Brown all mad at him and -- through four games -- is the 20th-best QB in fantasy. And then here comes Jacksonville, a defense that is allowing the fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks (just 6.3 a game). So maybe it's not surprising I was the only one to rank Big Ben inside my top 10. But while my own eyes tell me the Jags' defense is certainly improved this year, are we all sure they're world beaters? They've played the Tom Savage-led Texans in Week 1, the Titans, a completely lost Ravens offense in their first trip to London and the Jets. The only real QB they've faced is Marcus Mariota, and while he didn't have a huge game against them, he didn't need to because Tennessee handled them in a 37-16 pasting in which the Titans rushed 36 times for 179 yards (5.0 yards per carry) and three scores. I don't know, man. I understand everyone's concern, but since 2015, Big Ben is the second-best QB on a points-per-game basis when playing at home. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, so I bet Brown goes off in a game in which Ben reminds everyone what he can do. I'm in on Roethlisberger this week.
Others receiving votes: With Derek Carr and maybe Mariota out, plus a lot of big names on bye, you may be digging deep. So it's worth noting the Colts have allowed more than 15 fantasy points to every QB they've faced this season and they are better than you think against the run, so Brian Hoyer could be useful. So could Josh McCown against his former team, the Browns. They've given up the fourth-most fantasy points this season to opposing QBs and that list consists of the road version of Roethlisberger, the ghost of Joe Flacco, Jacoby Brissett and Andy Dalton.... I'll downgrade Carson Palmer a bit if Fletcher Cox plays, but the Cardinals can't run and volume (Palmer leads the NFL with 45 pass attempts per game) will help against the Eagles' 30th-ranked pass defense.
Quarterbacks I hate in Week 5
With the caveat that this week it's especially hard to "hate" any QB with a pulse, I'm not crazy about...
Alex Smith, Chiefs: The Texans' numbers against the pass look just OK overall on the season, but you know, what happens when you subtract Tom Brady? I mean, Smith has been terrific but, you know, he's not Tom Brady. Especially traveling on a short week. So, quarterbacks not named Tom Brady vs. the Texans this season? Just a 53.9 percent completion rate, 155.3 yards per game and only one touchdown. Now, they've faced Blake Bortles, Andy Dalton pre-Bill Lazor and half of Marcus Mariota, so it's also skewed the other way. But I think they play conservatively on the road and lean on Kareem Hunt here, especially since the Chiefs' defense is good, so I don't see Smith having to go nuts here either in what should be a low-scoring game. He's outside my top 15 this week.
Philip Rivers, Chargers: While playing in front of a hostile crowd is nothing new for Rivers this season, he is part of a West Coast team traveling east for a 1 p.m. game local time. Rivers has struggled this season when under pressure; he's just 27th in completion percentage when blitzed, plus two of his four interceptions came when blitzed. The Giants rank fifth in blitz percentage. With Keenan Allen likely to be held in check by Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, this feels like a heavy Melvin Gordon game, especially after he's been chirping to the press about wanting more work and the Giants allowing 142 rushing yards a game, fifth worst in the NFL.
Running backs I love in Week 5
Not only has Todd Gurley been a major factor in the passing game, but his seven total touchdowns are one more than he had in all of 2016. Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire
Todd Gurley, Rams: Just in case you were thinking of getting cute because it's Seattle, just stop. Gurley has the most touches from scrimmage in the league and only Le'Veon Bell has more carries than he does this season. The volume keeps him as an RB1 in a middle-of-the-pack matchup. That's right, middle of the pack. The Seahawks have allowed opposing RBs to average 5.12 yards per carry, fourth most in the league. That includes 3.17 yards before contact per carry, third most in the league. You're starting Gurley and I suspect he winds up with a low rostered rate in DFS tournaments.
Frank Gore, Colts: The fact that Gore is facing his former team doesn't matter so much that his former team isn't very good. The 49ers have allowed the fourth-most points to opposing running backs this season, and Gore has gotten 67 percent of the Colts' carries the past three weeks. In a game the Colts should win (or at least be very competitive), Gore should get a lot of work in a plus matchup (Gore averaged 22.7 touches a game in the Colts' past seven wins).
Duke Johnson Jr., Browns: I'm the highest on him and only one other ranker even has him inside the top 20 (PPR only), which is odd to me. Johnson is currently RB16 on the season and has increased his targets in each game, finishing with nine catches on 10 targets in Week 4. Part of the reason for this? No team in the NFL has passed more often than the Browns (73 percent of plays), and when they pass, they pass to Johnson, who has 28 targets this season, fourth most among running backs. Part of the reason the Browns have passed so much is they have been down big, but they should be more competitive with New York. That said, they don |
problems. He also created a group of local politicians who were politically in debt to him personally. Township mayors are nothing to sneeze at. They control the local mobilization networks and distribute quite a bit of patronage. Back in those days, people who had descended from the central bureaucracy simply didn’t engage local people as an equal, but Soong actually wanted to listen to their problems and work with them to get things done.
When Soong took over as governor in early 1993, it was assumed that he would be a temporary place holder. The position was scheduled to transform from an appointed position to an elected position in December 1994, and it was understood that, as a mainlander, he had no chance of becoming the elected governor of Taiwan. Most people assumed the contest would be between two Taoyuan Hakkas, Wu Po-hsiung and Hsu Hsin-liang. However, as Soong traveled to all corners of Taiwan Province, his popularity skyrocketed and people began to rethink the assumption that he couldn’t win an election. When he announced that he wanted the KMT nomination, there was an intense competition with Wu. Wu famously proclaimed that he would run, even if all that was left in Taiwan was Alishan. However, Soong had the upper hand as he was supported by LTH, while Wu was allied with the minority non-mainstream faction (and had tacit support from the New Party). Eventually Wu yielded.
In the campaign, Soong pioneered a few things that we are all familiar with now. You know those ubiquitous vests that every politician, from legislator to neighborhood head candidate, wears telling you his name, position, and party affiliation? Soong started that by wearing a baseball cap that had “Taiwan Province Governor Soong Chu-yu” stitched on the side. It was different and kind of cool. He also turned the number 309 into his campaign slogan. Taiwan Province had 309 townships, and Soong had visited them all. For a few election cycles, the first thing every county magistrate candidate did was visit every township or even every village in the county. Before becoming governor, Soong didn’t speak anything but Mandarin. During the campaign, the DPP constantly tried to attack him for not being able to speak Taiwanese. However, Soong responded by starting to learn. He wasn’t very good, but he learned how to speak a bit, and he started every occasion by greeting everyone in Taiwanese. His implicit message was that he was trying hard to understand ordinary people. However, Soong took this one step further, and did something no one had done before. He also studied some basic Hakka, and he would throw out a few phrases of Hakka. And he learned a few phrases of Amis, which no one had ever bothered to do. Hakka and indigenous voters thoroughly embraced him, since he had shown respect in a way that no one else had thought to do. In response, Soong learned some Paiwan, Attayal, Bunon, Rukai, and other indigenous languages. The KMT has always done well in Hakka and indigenous areas, but Soong did even better than that.
Sometime soon after Soong’s triumphant re-election in 1994, something began to change. My guess is that Lien Chan began to see Soong as a threat to replace him as LTH’s successor. Lien had access to LTH’s ear, and he might have slowly poisoned LTH’s mind, reminding LTH that Soong was a mainlander and could not be trusted. Around this time, the term “Yeltsin Effect” also entered Taiwan’s political vocabulary. As the directly elected president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin had pushed aside Michael Gorbachev, who had been the indirectly chosen head of state of the USSR. Prior to the 1996 presidential election, the parallels between Russia and Taiwan Province may have alarmed LTH. Even after the presidential election, Soong could claim a stronger mandate since he had won a higher vote share in a largely overlapping electorate. Whatever happened behind the scenes, LTH turned against Soong.
LTH pushed for a deal with the DPP to abolish the provincial government. While the negotiations were underway, Soong struck back. He dramatically announced his resignation. He ended up serving out his term, but this move marked him as different from other KMT elites. Soong would not simply bow to the inevitable. He fought back. This caused LTH to try even harder to suppress Soong’s career. After Soong’s term as governor ended, the focus turned to the 2000 presidential election. All the polls showed that Soong was overwhelmingly the popular favorite. (In early 1999, typical polls were something like Soong 45, Chen 25, Lien 8.) However, there was no way LTH was going to nominate Soong. LTH was firmly in control of the party, and he used that control to give the nomination to Lien. Again, Soong refused to accept this result and announced an independent run for the presidency. The turning point in the campaign was when the KMT unleashed the Chung-hsing Bills Finance Scandal, accusing Soong of corruption. It damaged Soong, but it didn’t help Lien much. In the end, Chen Shui-bian won by less than 3%.
In the immediate aftermath of the election, returning to the KMT probably wasn’t a realistic option. Perhaps Soong could have waited for the fallout to settle, returned to the KMT in a year or two, and eventually risen to the top of the party. Perhaps he, not Ma Ying-jeou, would have become president in 2008. However, Soong opted to go his own way and form the People First Party. In doing so, Soong deepened a shift that had already started in the presidential election. In 1994, Soong was part of LTH’s mainstream KMT. He outmaneuvered Wu – who was favored by the non-mainstream – and then the New Party ran a candidate against him in the general election. By the 2000 election, he had started to shift to what would soon become labeled as the deep blue portion of the spectrum. Lien was seen as LTH’s puppet, and he was a Taiwanese defending LTH’s special state to state relationship position. The orthodox KMT swung behind the mainlander Soong, with the United Daily News decisively endorsing him a week before the election. When Soong formed the PFP, a lot of deep blue figures left the KMT to join him, as did most of the remnants of the disintegrating New Party. Of course, Soong still had his grassroots supporters, but he became increasingly identified with the unification slice of the political spectrum.
[This is where Typhoon Soudelor decided to take four days from my life. It’s ok with me if we don’t have another typhoon like that for the next few years.]
During the Chen Shui-bian era, Soong and the PFP were the reasonable hardline unification supporters. (The unreasonable hardline unification supporters were the New Party, of course.) However, as the KMT reformed itself under Lien and then under Ma, it also moved toward a clearer pro-unification position. This squeezed the political space open to the PFP. In the 2004 legislative election, the PFP lost a dozen seats and went from being a nearly co-equal partner to a clear junior partner in the Pan-Blue coalition. When electoral reform passed abolishing the old multimember districts in favor of single member districts, its disadvantageous position became even clearer. A number of PFP legislators switched parties, jumping to the KMT in order to try to save their careers. The PFP negotiated on behalf of the rest, eventually obtaining four spots on the KMT party list for PFP members, though they had to join the KMT. In effect, almost the entire PFP legislative caucus was swallowed whole by the KMT in 2007 and 2008. Rather than being a PFP faction within the KMT, these people simply became regular KMT politicians. Their former ties to the PFP were quickly forgotten.
The defection of all the hardline unification legislators back to the KMT turned out to be an opportunity for Soong and the PFP to return to their 1990s roots as defenders of the average person. Soong tended to ignore questions about China while at the same time harshly criticizing the Ma government for being out of touch with the economic pain that regular people were experiencing. Ma was pursuing grand schemes with an ideological fervor, and Soong responded by arguing that good governance requires thinking about how the details of policies will impact ordinary people rather than simply looking at the top-line economic growth statistics.
With this stance, Soong has often found himself on the same side as the DPP. Tsai Ing-wen has also stressed the importance of looking beyond aggregate GNP growth, and the DPP shares a desire to mitigate the pain that the losers of increased cross-straits trade incur.
As an opponent of Ma’s approach to governance and now freed of the hardline unification elements, Soong has also been able to go back to his allies in the nativist wing of the KMT. Most of the township mayors and other local politicians that Soong built such strong ties to in the 1990s are much more comfortable with Wang Jin-pyng’s style than with Ma’s or the defenders of KMT orthodoxy in the military system. Figuratively, Soong can speak their language effortlessly, even if he literally doesn’t speak their language (Taiwanese) very fluently.
The result is that Soong – once thought of as a classic mainlander and later thought of as the champion of pro-unification – is now trying to cultivate the light blue vote, made up primarily of native Taiwanese who increasingly no longer self-identify as Chinese. Once you think about who Governor Soong was, it doesn’t seem strange at all that he would be targeting this market. Maybe the deep blue Soong of the Chen Shui-bian era was the aberration.
Soong seems fated to be one of those figures who had the political talent and training but not the timing or luck to be president. He has kept himself relevant for three decades by thoroughly reinventing himself four times. However, he isn’t simply impressing people with a pretty picture frame. Soong’s appeal has always been grounded in substance. He was an effective party hack in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and he was effective as governor. Moreover, he has always tapped into people’s concerns and desires, whether it was for effective and compassionate governance or for Chinese nationalism and stronger economic connections to the Chinese market. Soong probably has a few scenes left in the last act of his remarkable career. He probably won’t win the 2016 presidential race, but he could do very well in the election and set the PFP up for a much more promising future. After the election is over, he will need to figure out how to position his party in the aftermath of the likely KMT debacle and find a successor to lead whatever emerges. After that, Soong will probably be too old to take the front stage, and he will probably evolve into one of those wise old sages who the frontline politicians rely on for timely political counsel.
Or maybe not. Perhaps the curious career of James Soong will take yet another unlikely turn.
Like this: Like Loading... RelatedFX has put in development a half-hour comedy from You’re The Worst creator/showrunner Stephen Falk and writer Alison Bennett.
Written and executive produced by the pair, the untitled project is described as a dirty, female-driven take on the “you can’t go home again” story following Ali, an unrelentingly dissatisfied TV writer who returns to her hometown in rural Pennsylvania to live “the simple life.” Upright Citizens Brigade alumna Bennett hails from a town in Central Pennsylvania where, by her own account, “federal prison inmates staged a haunted house for the public every year.”
The comedy falls under the overall deal Falk recently signed to develop and produce projects for FX Networks and FX Prods. and follows FXX’s third-season renewal of You’re The Worst, which he created and executive produces. Bennett has written episodes of the series, on which she is an executive story editor. Her other TV writing credits include Hey Girl and The Awesomes.
Bennett and Falk are repped by UTA and Jackoway Tyerman.Facebook announced two changes today that it hopes will make it easier to staunch the spread of fake news. The first change is to the News Feed, where users will no longer see “Disputed Flags,” or red badges displayed under articles flagged by Facebook’s third-party fact-checkers. Instead, they will see Related Articles, or links to content from reputable publishers. The second change is a new initiative to help Facebook understand how people judge the accuracy of information based the news sources they use, which won’t result in any immediate changes to the News Feed, but is meant to help the company gauge how well its efforts to stop the spread of misinformation are working.
Along with Google and Twitter, Facebook is currently under pressure by critics who say it hasn’t done enough to combat fake news on its platform, including articles by “troll farms” that disseminate misinformation to make a profit or sway public opinion on politics and other hot-button issues. The issue became more urgent during the presidential election and all three companies have been called to testify in congressional hearings over how their platforms were used by Russian-backed trolls to influence U.S. politics.
Almost exactly one year ago, Facebook implemented several changes to fight fake news, including easier steps to report articles, partnerships with fact-checking organizations and features, like Disputed Flags, that alert people when they are about to read or share articles that have identified by fact-checkers as fake news. Facebook also started demoting fake news links, which it says usually mean they lose 80 percent of their traffic.
In today’s announcement, Facebook product manager Tessa Lyons said Facebook decided to replace Disputed Flags with Related Articles because the red badges actually had the effect of reinforcing beliefs.
“Academic research on correcting misinformation has shown that putting a strong image, like a red flag, next to an article may actually entrench deeply held beliefs—the opposite effect to what we intended,” Lyons wrote. “Related Articles, by contrast, are simply designed to give more context, which our research has shown is a more effective way to help people get to the facts. Indeed, we’ve found that when we show Related Articles next to a false news story, it leads to fewer shares than when the Disputed Flag is shown.”
Facebook will now display Related Articles with links identified as “fake news”
Launched in 2013, Related Articles are what Facebook calls the links it displays on News Feeds after users finish reading an article. Related Articles were originally created to boost engagement and prevent people’s News Feeds from being flooded with silly memes by directing them to content from reputable publishers instead. Then in April of this year, Facebook announced a test that showed Related Articles before articles about trending topics, with the intent of giving users “easier access to additional perspectives and information.”
Another blog post written by the team leading Facebook’s efforts against fake news–product designer Jeff Smith, user experience researcher Grace Jackson and content strategist Seetha Raj–gives more insight into today’s announcement. Over the past year, the team says they visited different countries to conduct research into how misinformation spreads in different contexts and how people react to “designs meant to inform them that what they are reading is fake news.”
As a result, they identified four major ways the Disputed Flags feature could be improved.
First, the team wrote, Disputed Flags need to tell people immediately why fact-checkers dispute an article, because most users won’t bother clicking on links to additional information. Second, strong language or images like a red flag sometimes backfire by reinforcing beliefs, even if they are marked as false. Third, Facebook only applied Disputed Flags after two fact-checking organizations had determined it was false, but that meant it sometimes did not act quickly enough, especially in countries with very few fact-checkers.
Finally, some of Facebook’s fact-checking partners rated articles on a scale (for example, “false,” “partly false,” “unproven” or “true”), so context and nuance was lost when a Disputed Flag was applied, especially on rare occasions when two organizations fact-checked the same article but came to different conclusions about its credibility.
Displaying Related Articles before someone clicks on a link is meant to address all of those issues by making it easier to get context, requiring only one fact-checker’s review, working even for on articles that got different ratings and preventing the kind of reaction that might cause someone to dig in their heels about a belief, even if it is wrong.
Furthermore, even though the new application of Related Articles doesn’t “meaningfully change” clickthrough rates, Facebook’s anti-fake news team says it leads to fewer shares. In a bid to increase transparency, users will also now see badges that identify which fact-checkers reviewed an article.
“As some of the people behind this product, designing solutions that support news readers is a responsiblity we take seriously,” wrote Smith, Jackson and Raj. “We will continue working hard on these efforts by testing new treatments, improving existing treatments and collaborating with academic experts on this complicated misinformation problem.”
Featured Image: FacebookA 1-year-old girl is dead and the child's 18-year-old babysitter is in critical condition after a shooting Thursday night in Central City, the New Orleans Police Department said. Police say two men are being sought in connection with the shooting.
The toddler and babysitter were walking in the 2800 block of South Saratoga Street when shots rang out just before 8:20 p.m., according to the NOPD. The woman, who was shot in the back, rushed inside a relative's nearby home with the child, and someone inside called 911, NOPD spokesman Frank Robertson said.
Robertson said the woman was in surgery at University Hospital at 10 p.m. and is expected to survive.
Neither victim has been identified.
NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas, who was on the scene shortly after the shooting, said two men were seen fleeing the scene on foot. Police consider the men suspects and are searching for them. Police have no motive in the case, and could not say if the woman and child were the intended targets.
"We have very little to work with," Serpas said. "Please, if you know anything, we know this happened at a time during the evening when people were one the street, say something, you can call Crimestoppers, you don't have to give your name. This is a time when the people and city of New Orleans have to rally together and say this is unacceptable."
Serpas said NOPD officers responded to the report of the shooting within one minute, and that EMS workers were on the scene within five minutes.
At Purple Rain, a bar down the street on the corner of Washington Avenue and South Saratoga, a crowd was watching the Saints game.
Stunned bar patrons said the street, which features the bar, a church and just two homes facing Lafayette Cemetery No. 2, had a quiet reputation. There has been one violent crime reported on the block this year, a simple battery on July 18, according to NOPD reports.
Initial reports from the NOPD had said the woman who was shot was the baby's mother.
Stay with NOLA.com for updates as this story develops.A former Verizon network engineer is beginning a four-year jail term after being sentenced for scamming Cisco and Verizon out of millions of dollars worth of kit and fencing it through the reseller community.
For nearly a decade, Michael Baxter, 62, used his position at Verizon to order processors, cards, and other networking equipment from Cisco, saying it was needed to repair Verizon's critical infrastrure. In fact, he was selling it and using the proceeds to fund a high-rolling lifestyle, including frequent foreign holidays and a round of plastic surgeries for his girlfriend.
"To accomplish his fraud, this defendant exploited a program designed to keep this critical infrastructure running uninterrupted: Cisco’s program for replacing expensive equipment on a moment's notice," said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates in a statement.
"He also abused his insider access to Verizon's procurement system," Yates said. "He funded a lavish lifestyle with his stolen funds and has now earned himself several years in a federal prison."
Seven years after joining Verizon, Baxter began exploiting purchasing access to an extended warranty contract Verizon had with Cisco. If a part failed, Cisco undertook to get a new one sent out before receiving the old one in return, to deal with network outages more quickly. Baxter sent out hundreds of false failure reports for equipment, some costing up to $40,000 apiece, and then sold them to resellers.
Not content with this system, Baxter also had Verizon purchase around half a million dollars worth of kit from Cisco directly, again apparently for critical network operation. This too went out via the reseller market.
Baxter ran this scam for almost a decade before being found out and fired from Verizon. According to the FBI, he spent his purloined loot to buy jewelry, cars, and "extravagant international travel, and other personal luxury goods and services, including multiple cosmetic surgeries for his girlfriend."
In addition to his sentence of four years in the big house (and three years of probation thereafter), Baxter was ordered to pay Cisco $2,333,241.18 in restitution and $462,828 to his former employer. Neither company is expected to see much of that since there's not much of a market for second-hand breast implants, so the ruling will most likely bankrupt Baxter.
The fact that a network engineer was able to get away with such a relatively simple scam for almost a decade raises serious questions about the internal accounting of the companies involved. El Reg suspects that Baxter is not the only person involved in the affair that's going to earn some hard time in the near future. ®As Teddy Roosevelt is the patron saint of the Art of Manliness, I am of course really looking forward to watching Ken Burns’ new documentary on his life (and that of his other famous relatives) later this month. In the preview to the film, the narrator discusses TR’s early years:
“He seemed infatuated with everything, so long as it provided him with the opportunity to excel. He was in almost perpetual motion, riding, swimming, shooting, competing in the long jump and 100-yard dash against his brother and his cousins. He rarely won, but he always tried. And in between, he devoured books and liked to recite poetry by the hour to his New York neighbor and sometime sweetheart Edith Carrow. ‘His energy seems so superabundant,’ his father wrote, ‘that I feel it may get the better of him in one way or another.'”
In commenting on TR’s very active life, historian Patricia O’Toole offers a most interesting observation:
“I think if he were a little boy today, he might be given Ritalin and grow up to be a salesman of some sort and we would never have heard from him again. Look at photographs of him. Whenever he’s seated, if he has a hand on a desk or a hand on his knee, it’s always in a fist. There’s all that coiled energy. It’s not—it’s not anger, it’s just energy coiled, waiting to be let loose.”
I thought this was a truly fascinating observation and decided to go digging through hundreds of archival photographs of Teddy to see the phenomenon for myself. And indeed, in photo after photo, no matter what TR is up to, his hands are balled into fists. He often makes an improbable attempt to stick his fist into his pocket. Even when he is “in repose” his fingers seem to instinctively inch towards his palms.
This manifestation of coiled energy was hardly skin deep. TR carried the vigor of his boyhood through to the end of his days. And he learned how to harness it too, so that it was not scattered and diffuse; it did not lead to a tragic self-immolation as it does with some men. He channeled his abundant energy into a laser beam of strength, spirit, and drive that he could then focus on any endeavor he pursued. His fire and fight allowed him to accomplish the following during his 60 years of life:
Worked as state legislator, police commissioner, and governor in New York Owned and worked a ranch in the Dakotas Served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fought as a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War Served as President for two terms, then ran for an unprecedented third term Became the first President to leave the country during his term in order to see the building of the Panama Canal Wrote 35 books Read tens of thousands of books — several a day, in fact, and in multiple languages Discovered, navigated, and then named a completely uncharted Amazonian river over 625 miles long Earned the Nobel Peace Prize and the Medal of Honor (posthumously)
Roosevelt infused vitality and virility into every aspect of his life. He practically bounded from room to room, giving hearty handshakes, slapping backs, and grinning ear to ear. Even as he got involved in politics, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. As President, he took visiting leaders and dignitaries on long hikes and up rock faces in the parks around DC. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times a week, a practice he regularly continued as President until one blow detached his left retina, leaving him blind in that eye. Thereafter, he practiced jiu-jitsu and continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during winter.
TR not only approached the “practical” functions of his life with irrepressible energy, but championed the pursuit of virtue with equal fervor. As he barnstormed around the country, giving up to 20 speeches a day, sometimes for just a few minutes from the back of a train, he never tired of beseeching citizens to live uprightly and to strive for what he considered the 3 cardinal virtues: decency, courage, and common sense.
“Precept is a very good thing, but to my thinking an ounce of practical energy is worth any amount of precept without action.” -TR
Operating with this kind of epic level of vim and vigor was part of what TR called living the strenuous life — the only kind of life fit for those who wished to live and die as men. For the ancient Romans, energy was manliness, and Teddy showed the possibility of embodying this definition of manhood even in the 20th century.
Below are my favorite photographs of TR’s fists; may they stand as a reminder to live with moxie and might and to get off the couch and into the arena!
The Strenuous Life
On the Campaign Trail
“In Repose”A source apparently close to online gaming site Max Console has informed the publication what to expect from the next Nintendo 3DS firmware update which is known as 3.0.0-7x. Nintendo themselves haven’t announced the firmware update, so this is all just speculation and rumour. Here’s what the source claims will be in the next 3DS update:
Ability to access Nintendo eShop account from other internet enabled devices including computers and smartphones.
This system update will allow users to take pictures of QR codes with the 3DS from the other device’s screen to redeem purchased content.
This update will add the application “Nintendo Network” to the 3DS.
Ability to update physical Nintendo 3DS Games via Nintendo Shop (DLC feature).
A “Game Preview” Mode for the Nintendo 3DS system Nintendo Shop.
Enhances the speed of the handheld.
Increases the system security with automatic security updates.
Nintendo Zone will be automatically added to European 3DS owners.In the present study, the effects of 8 weeks of low volume high intensity interval training (HIIT) was investigated on circulating diabetes-related cytokines and free fatty acids (FFA) in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and matched controls (CON).
METHODS:
Participants exercised for 8 weeks (3 weekly sessions: 10 × 60 sec HIIT) on a cycle ergometer supervised by medical staff. Prior to the intervention and after the last HIIT session, venous blood samples were collected.
RESULTS:
Circulating omentin-1 concentrations increased significantly in both the CON-group (p = 0.003) and in the T2D-group (p = 0.002). Pentraxin-3 (p = 0.010) and IL-1ra (p = 0.031) levels increased significantly in the CON-group. Plasma FFA in the T2D-group was significantly reduced after 60 min (p = 0.011). Post HIIT area under curve of circulating FFAs was reduced by -17.73 ± 6.99% (p = 0.041) in the T2D-group.
CONCLUSION:
We observed only modest exercise-induced improvements of multiple diabetes-related cytokines. Circulating levels of FFAs were significantly lowered in the T2D-group.Feb. 4 marks the anniversary of a war America won — but doesn’t care to crow about. When the memory only produces shame and regret, you can understand why.
Such is the fate of the Philippine-American War, otherwise known as the Philippine Insurrection, which began on Feb. 4, 1899. It’s a reminder of a time when America’s dreams of imperial greatness got in the way of its democratic values.
Independent film director John Sayles made a movie about it last year called “Amigo.” On a scant $1.5 million budget, Sayles showed a humanistic vision of the war as seen through the eyes of Filipinos in one village and how they deal with the occupation by U.S. soldiers. How does one collaborate without betraying the nationalist rebels, many of whom are family?
But “Amigo” faded fast. So, here’s a little background:
The war started in a Manila suburb, when American soldiers shot at “the goo-goos,” one of the many offensive terms U.S. soldiers used for the Filipinos, and indicative of the racist tone in the war. The nationalists returned fire, and the sequel to the Spanish-American War was under way.
Insurrection doesn’t begin to describe the full-fledged war that lasted three years, with more than 100,000 Americans involved. Depending on the accounts you read, the Filipino civilian death toll ranged from 250,000 to as high as 1 million, counting those who died from disease or starvation.
The war was an American betrayal. Nationalists, under Emilio Aguinaldo, had broken off from Spain and, relying heavily on a promise of U.S. support during the Spanish-American War, started their own independent republic in 1898 — the first in Asia. That promise was broken when the McKinley administration sought the Philippines as a colony and tapped into a new patriotic fervor for American Imperialism.
Some historians believe McKinley instigated the Philippine-American War to gain support in Congress to ratify the Treaty of Paris. That’s where the U.S. dealt with Spain directly, cutting out the new Philippine leadership. Instead of becoming the independent country it had hoped for, the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States for $20 million. Aguinaldo went from president to insurrectionist, just like that.
The idea of winning “hearts and minds” and the use of waterboarding had their origins in this war.
We’re still dealing with those legacies today.
Emil Guillermo is an award-winning American Filipino journalist who writes for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund www.aaldef.org/blog. He can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.Over half of US states have enacted laws legalizing some form of marijuana use — either medical or recreational, or both in the cases of Colorado and Washington.
And Americans, as a unified group, favor marijuana legalization.
When asked by Pew Research, "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal or not?", a whopping 57% answered yes (while just 37% responded with no).
Even when you break down Americans by age groups, every demographic from Millennials (18- to 35-year-olds) to Baby Boomers (52- to 70-year-olds) supports legalization.
Only one group opposes legalization — the so-called "Silent" generation (71-88-year-olds) oppose legalization 59% against to 33% in favor.
Things break apart when you start looking at people by political affiliation.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Business Insider.
"Most Republicans (55%) oppose marijuana legalization, while 41% favor it," Pew's latest poll found.
Democrats, overwhelmingly, support legalization — 66% of Democratic respondents said they favor legalization, while just 30% oppose.
Notoriously, neither candidate for president favors marijuana legalization.
Clinton favors the re-classification of marijuana, but she's not in favor of outright legalization for medical or recreational use. As Clinton's website states: "She believes we should use alternatives to incarceration for low-level, nonviolent marijuana users, and she will reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance."
Trump has publicly supported medical marijuana throughout his campaign, but his policy on marijuana has shifted from one of pro-legalization to something a bit more cautious. Trump explained his approach to marijuana legalization to ABC News' Martha Raddatz in a November 2015 interview:
"It's something that I've always said maybe it has to be looked at because we do such a poor job of policing. We don't want to build walls. We don't want to do anything. And if you're not going to want to do the policing, you're going to have to start thinking about other alternatives. But it's not something that I would want to do."
Regardless of the political demographics tied to marijuana legalization on a nation-wide scale, individual US states are already making moves toward legalization. A whopping nine states will vote this November on initiatives to legalize some form of marijuana use — five of those states are voting on full-on recreational legalization.In the TV series Person of Interest, two government artificial intelligence programs—one gone rogue—can access virtually every surveillance camera across New York City, including privately operated ones in places like parking garages, hotels, and apartment complexes. The creators of the show try to stay one step ahead of modern technology. So the question is: do cities really create networks of interconnected private and public security cameras?
Yes, they do. If you're going to San Diego Comic-Con (and the Person of Interest team is), you'll want to pull on your Batman mask or slather on the Sith paint if you're passing any of the marked locations on this new map. You could very well be under surveillance as part of the San Diego Police Department's "Operation Secure San Diego."
Operation Secure San Diego—ostensibly intended so first responders could get a view of a crime as it’s happening—encourages private businesses to allow the cops to access their surveillance video cameras. It also gives officers sitting in their squad cars the power to tap directly into live feeds. The first to share its streams was Hotel Indigo, a hotel popular with the Comic-Con set in San Diego's Gaslamp district.
Whether you’re a resident or tourist, Operation Secure San Diego should make you a little nervous. SDPD wants to reassure you. As they write in a "news flash":
We are very cognizant of the impact this may have on privacy issues and the public's perception of being on video. The SDPD can assure you that we have procedures in place that allow the viewing only when summoned to the Hotel Indigo (or any additional partner) for a service call.
That might be comforting... if it were actually true.
San Diego technologist Jeff Hammett got curious and filed a public records act for those procedures. He did not get them, because now, according to SDPD, these procedures don’t exist. Here’s what SDPD told Hammett:
There are no responsive documents for your request to any copies of procedures regarding viewing these camera feeds. Operation Secure San Diego is still in the development stages. There are no procedures at this time.
In 2010, Hotel Indigo's manager assured reporters that police could only access the hotel's four lobby cameras when called to the scene and that police would be limited to watching the feeds live, no recording. Four years later, a written police policy does not exist and, without a policy, there can be no way of identifying policy violations.
Nevertheless, Hammett was able to obtain the list of 40 locations that are already in Operation Secure San Diego’s network, most of which are government property, such as trolley stops and police substations. Several, however, are on private property, including the cameras at Hotel Indigo and Prudential Realty, just blocks away from the San Diego Convention Center.
Click here to see the map.
San Diego has a legitimate interest in public safety, including during massive events like San Diego Comic-Con, but it hasn’t been shown that this interest warrants a system of interconnected surveillance cameras or police access to private video feeds—especially in a city like San Diego that brags about “hav[ing] such a low crime rate.” Even if this were shown, SDPD needs to do a better job of defining the limits of this program.
Who can access the feeds and under what circumstances? What kind of paper trail is created when they access a feed? San Diego has been playing with facial recognition systems; are these being applied to the feeds? How long after a reported incident can SDPD continue monitoring the cameras? Does a police officer have the technological access to turn on a camera by himself, at any time, or only during a crisis or with authorization from higher up? Have the feeds been tested for security vulnerabilities?
Then there's the big question: can some vigilante, crime-predicting artificial intelligence program built by the sinister guy from Lost tap into it through a backdoor?
So many questions and so few answers. Maybe SDPD will be watching you, maybe they won't. One thing we can say is that we hope to see you at Comic-Con. EFF will be at Alaska Robotics’ exhibition hall booth (#1134) 2 - 3 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Also check out EFF's Guide to Comic-Con.
Irony Update: Ten minutes after this post went live, the San Diego Police Department tweeted:"SDPD welcomes Comic Con visitors to town. We look forward to seeing a lot of superheroes."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOks2HArHf0
New Zealand singer and songwriter, Lorde, has accomplishment such a large amount in her short career. “Glory and Gore” is a song which perfectly showcases this talented singer’s ability to change tempo and octaves with ease. Having been compared to the XX and Lana Del Rey, Lorde is the type of artist that you can listen to regardless of your situation. Her melodies and vocals seem to seamlessly mesh with the world around you.
With |
world trying to turn their passions and ideas into real life objects while improving my own skills and craft. I still enjoy building my collection of finished models and memories attached to each of them, so if you are looking for something similiar or totaly new, something you can’t find in the shops, write me a comment below and we can create it together.Senators flash anger at Paul — and vice versa He “needs to learn the rules of the Senate,” McCain snipes.
Tempers are flaring in the Senate.
With lawmakers slated to take procedural votes later this evening on a bill to reform the PATRIOT Act, Sens. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) refused to yield the floor to fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who has promised to force a sunset of key parts national security law. The spat prompted a terse back-and-forth during a rare Sunday session prompted by Paul’s refusal earlier this month to allow votes on the issue.
Story Continued Below
With dozens of Senate onlookers donning “Stand with Rand” T-Shirts, Paul tried to interject as Coats and McCain were speaking in defense of of the National Security Agency. But McCain and Coats wouldn’t yield the floor.
Paul “needs to learn the rules of the Senate,” McCain sniped at the Kentucky Republican.
The dust-up is just the latest sign of discontent over Paul’s willingness to grind the Senate to a halt — annoyance that’s particularly on display among seasoned lawmakers and defense hawks like McCain.
When Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who was presiding over the chamber, said later that time for debate had expired, Paul was incensed. He said he had not gotten to speak and argued the time had been miscounted, even calling for a roll call vote to challenge Grassley’s rulings. Paul ultimately was allowed to speak for a few minutes, but not before McCain objected again to Paul speaking, and the typically tranquil Grassley raised his voice.
After the spat, Coats — who was previously lamenting lies told about the NSA by unnamed members of the Senate — walked over to talk to the visibly agitated Paul and said he wasn’t trying to silence the Kentucky senator. But Paul appeared uninterested in Coats’ explanation, and the conversation — audible in the Senate balcony reserved for reporters — ended with a wave of the hand and “whatever” from Paul.
McCain, standing a handful of desks away, looked on chuckling.
Follow @politicoOn a brisk day in October almost a year ago, Google announced Android 2.0 alongside the Motorola DROID. On that same day, satellite navigation companies like Garmin and TomTom saw their stock prices deflate faster than Yankees fans’ spirits in the sixth inning last night. This was no coincidence. With Android 2.0, Google announced the addition of free satellite-guided turn-by-turn navigation to its popular Google Maps service. Garmin and TomTom both saw mobile as a big part of their futures, and here Google was breaking the space wide open. How can paid services possibly compete?
Netherlands-based navigation giant TomTom found at least one possible answer to that question this morning when it announced a new partnership with HTC. It is becoming increasingly difficult to sell smartphone-based navigation products directly to consumers, so the key is to get manufacturers and carriers to pay for these solutions — and to pay for new solutions that utilize the current Location Based Services (LBS) craze. TomTom, after all, provides much more functional and polished mobile navigation solutions than Google ever will.
The new deal announced this morning places TomTom’s maps in HTC’s new integrated navigation solution, HTC Locations, which HTC calls a “zero-wait navigation experience”. The service will initially be available on the HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z, and only in Europe and Asia. HTC Locations will expand to new devices and regions, though no further release schedule was provided.
The catch? HTC Locations will be free to end users, along with some basic functionality. Turn-by-turn navigation, however, will be a premium paid add-on, making it a much less appealing option than it could have been if HTC ate the expense as a value-add. Unless HTC decides to block Google Maps Navigation from its HTC Locations-equipped devices, we don’t see this new deal going very far at all. Sorry TomTom, looks like you’ll have to reroute your trip yet again.
ReadThe Double R Diner from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks is popping up on Melrose for a limited run. From October 16-22 the original Johnny Rockets location will be filled with collectibles, costumes, exclusive merchandise items, authentic props and wardrobe—and, of course, David Lynch’s very own brand of coffee. Showtime, the television home of the recent reboot of the series that originally aired from 1990 to 1991, is behind the pop-up, a version of which showed up earlier this year at South by Southwest.
Open from noon to 8 p.m. daily at 7505 Melrose Avenue, you’ll be able to outfit yourself for an eerie Halloween in authorized cosplay costumes of characters from the series, including Dougie and Candie, say organizers. The costumes and accessory items are on sale from $10 for a smaller trinket to $350 for a full costume for the committed fan.
October is already busy month for David Lynch, with his annual Festival of Disruption taking place this weekend at the Theater at Ace Hotel, featuring, fittingly, a screening of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
RELATED: Cancel Everything. The Museum of Ice Cream Is About to Put More Tickets on Sale.
Stay on top of the latest in L.A. food and culture. Sign up for our newsletters today.Shortstop J.J. Hardy (2) of the Baltimore Orioles (seen in this file photo) homered but the Orioles still could not beat the State College of Florida Manatees. Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images
(CBS News) Last week the sports world debated whether the talent-laden Kentucky Wildcats could beat the NBA's Washington Wizards. Apparently the hypothetical question should have been: Could the State College of Florida Manatees actually beat the Baltimore Orioles?
The answer is yes. But with slightly altered rules.
On Tuesday, the community college beat the lowly Orioles 2-1 in an exhibition game in Sarasota. To be fair, the game was somewhat rigged. The Manatees had actual Orioles pitchers and catchers playing for them - and most of the Baltimore starters were pulled by the fifth inning.
The Orioles lost 93 games last year and are picked by many to finish last in the AL East again this year. Still, this is a major league team who on Tuesday started everyday players like J.J. Hardy (whose homer accounted for the Orioles' only run) and Adam Jones.
SCF's Orlando Rivera, who scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the fourth inning, told the Bradenton Herald that despite the game's controlled scrimmage atmosphere, the victory was legit.
"A 'W' is a 'W'," he said. "Even though we didn't have our own pitchers, a 'W' is a 'W'... You gotta take the 'W'."
In fact, it's the college team's second "W" over a major league team in three years. The Herald notes that in 2009, when the school was known as the Manatee Community College Lancers, the program beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4. The Pirates would go on to lose 99 games that season.OCTOBER 06, 2010
Patricia Lobo
On Day 2 of the 2010 World Vaccine Congress in Lyon, France, Martin Bachmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Cytos Biotechnology, discussed a novel approach to managing patients with allergic asthma. He said that allergic asthma, the most common form of asthma, has become dramatically more prevalent in the past century. According to Bachmann, one possible explanation for the increasing frequency of asthma may be “reduced exposure to environmental pathogens in modern societies.” He said that this idea, which may be “summarized under the umbrella of the ‘hygiene hypothesis,’” suggests that “lower rates of infection with bacteria and viruses may skew the immune system towards a so-called ‘T-helper type 2 response,’ leading to allergic diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis.”In order to shift the immune response to a more balanced “type-1 and regulatory T cell response,” Bachmann said that Cytos Biotechnology has developed a natural protein-based nanoparticle filled with a potent stimulator of the innate immune system, a ligand for toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). This receptor “binds bacterial DNA originating from an infection and prepares the immune system for a counterattack, inducing a normal anti-microbial T-helper type-1 immune response and suppressing type-2 responses that lead to asthma and allergies,” he said. The resulting TLR9 ligand loaded nanoparticle (QbG10) therefore “aims at treating the cause of allergic asthmatic inflammation and should provide patients with a novel therapeutic alternative that could either replace or complement commonly used asthma medications, such as inhaled corticosteroids, while maintaining or improving asthma control.”Previous studies have shown QbG10 to be safe and efficacious for treatment of allergic rhinitis. Bachmann discussed results from a recent study that aimed to find out whether QbG10 may show a similar efficacy profile for treatment of asthma, a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that causes breathlessness, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing.This randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter, phase II trial involved 63 patients suffering from persistent allergic asthma that required maintenance therapy with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to achieve asthma control. Bachmann said patients were randomized to treatment with either CYT003-QbG10 or placebo as add-on treatment for four weeks. At week 4, patients “entered a corticosteroid reduction phase, where the ICS dose was initially reduced by 50% for the following four weeks and completely withdrawn at week 8 if patients’ clinical stability allowed,” he said.Under CYT003-QbG10 treatment, daytime and night-time asthma symptoms decreased, while they increased under placebo (p=0.003). At week 12, asthma symptoms had decreased by 33% under QbG10 treatment; they had increased by 29% under placebo (p=0.01). Use of relief medication doubled ( 106%) in the placebo group, but remained stable in the QbG10 group (-4%) (p=0.01). The corresponding combined symptom and medication score improved by 17% in the QbG10 group, but worsened by 71% for the placebo group (p=0.006), with a first significant difference seen already in the second week after the start of treatment.Lung function (FEV) as assessed by spirometry significantly improved vs. placebo from week 6 onwards. At week 12, FEV1 had decreased on placebo by an average of 251 ml (-8.4%) while it remained stable on QbG10 treatment (-18.5 ml, -0.6%) (p=0.01).A significant reduction in blood eosinophils under QbG10 therapy versus placebo (p=0.043), and a trend toward reduced exhaled nitric oxide levels in treated patients, showed the anti-inflammatory effects of treatment, which was safe and well tolerated. Bachmann said that local injection site reactions of mostly mild to moderate intensity and two instances of headache were “the only adverse events that were suspected to be associated with treatment and occurred in more than one patient.” He said that these results led researchers to conclude that QbG10 is a highly active drug for the treatment of asthma with great potential for further development.On the morning of September 11, the detectives of the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Division traveled in force toward the burning towers of the World Trade Center, the biggest crime scene in American history, to find absolutely nothing for themselves to do. The city had been quickly cordoned off. Some made it as far as Chambers Street. Others were stopped at Canal Street. Stand by, they were told. They milled about for hours, waiting for orders that never came. Finally, a contingent of officers was dispatched toward ground zero with garbage cans to collect guns and equipment left by fallen first responders.
Later in the day, a group of them gathered at the Police Academy, where Deputy Chief John Cutter told them to start contacting their informants. At that moment, it may have been the only possible commandwhich didn’t mean it was a useful one. Despite the name, the Intelligence Division was mostly concentrated on gangs and drug dealers, as well as providing a glorified chauffeur service for visiting dignitaries. International terrorism had never been part of their purview.
But they had to start somewhere, and the detectives did what they were told, reaching out to their network of informantsdope dealers and gang membersto ask what they knew about the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
For the next few months, the Intel cops worked alongside the FBI out of makeshift command centers aboard the decommissioned USS Intrepid and in an FBI parking garage, where detectives sat on the concrete floor, responding to a flood of tips pouring in from a public consumed with the possibility of another attack, questioning Muslims whose neighbors suddenly deemed them suspicious.
When Ray Kelly was sworn in as police commissioner in January 2002, one of his first goals was to eliminate that kind of aimless fumbling. The first man to rise from cadet to police commissioner and the first person to hold the top job twice, Kelly was police commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins, when terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the garage below the World Trade Center’s North Tower in 1993.
Though Kelly’s detectives were instrumental in solving that bombing, they’d never had a chance to prevent it. And that attack had done nothing to change the attitude of the federal governmentspecifically the FBIwhich rarely gave local police information it could use ahead of time.
After 9/11, the debris field smoldering a block away from Kelly’s Battery Park apartment crystallized the notion that as long as the federal government controlled all the information, the NYPD was merely waiting to respond to the next attack, helpless to prevent it.
So Kelly called for a new approach, the likes of which America had never seen. Over the ensuing decade, the FBI, CIA, and NSA would build surveillance programs that monitored bank transactions, phone records, and the e-mail routing fields known as metadata, which have recently erupted in the scandal surrounding Edward Snowden’s revelations. But the NYPD went even further than the federal government. The activities Kelly set in motion after 9/11 pushed deeply into the private lives of New Yorkers, surveilling Muslims in their mosques, their sporting fields, their businesses, their social clubs, even their homes in a way not seen in America since the FBI and CIA monitored antiwar activists during the Nixon administration. It was a proactive approach, but, in constitutional terms, a novel one.
To reinvent the Intelligence Division, Kelly called on David Cohen, a former senior CIA officer who was a year into a post-retirement stint with the Wall Street insurance giant American International Group. Kelly offered a rare opportunity not just to return to intelligence work but also to build something from scratchin effect, the city’s own CIA.
Cohen joined the CIA in 1966 as a 26-year-old economist, a slender young man with a firm jaw and conservative pompadour haircut in the style of a young Ronald Reagan. He left in 2000, having served as the deputy director of operationsAmerica’s top spy. And during those nearly 35 years, the bookish, bespectacled Cohen had been one of the most creative agents at the CIA, with a gift for reshaping bureaucracies toward new ends.
Back in the eighties, he started an analytical team to investigate terrorism, the first of its kind at the agency. Then, in 1996, years before Osama bin Laden entered the public consciousness, Cohen assigned a dozen officers to gather intelligence on him.
Still, many in the CIA regarded Cohen’s tenure at the helm of the spy service as a dark period. From 1995 to 1997, under pressure from a budget-conscious Congress and an uninterested White House, Cohen gutted the CIA’s spy corps and cut loose many of its paid informants. In an unusual move, the New York Times in an editorial called for Cohen’s ouster.Sept. 4, 2013 - Arizona Rattlers quarterback Nick Davila holds up his son, Moses, 3, during the pregame festivities before the Diamondbacks played the Toronto Blue Jays at Chase Field. (Photo: Charlie Leight/azcentral sports )
Quarterback Nick Davila said about 130 family members and friends have bought tickets to see him lead the unbeaten Rattlers against the LA KISS Sunday at the Honda Center.
But the man who means the most to him, his father, won't be there.
"Nah, he's not going to be able to go, but he'll be watching it," Davila said about his dad, who has had complications since having an artificial heart put in early this Arena Football League season.
Davila has returned home to Southern California twice this season to be with his ailing father.
This is the first time it's a work trip for the left-hander since he left to play his college career in Cincinnati then start his pro career in Spokane.
When the LA KISS started an Arena Football League team this year, Davila was excited about the prospects of going home to play before family and friends.
Davila says he will try to keep it from being an emotional return.
"It's just another game," Davila said. "That's how I'm going to treat it."
Davila felt his performance slipped last week in a 70-38 rout of Spokane. He threw interceptions to the jack linebacker on successive possessions. Without a premier quarterback the Shock's offense struggled, and the Rattlers (9-0) capitalized with eight stops, including four interceptions, two by Arkeith Brown.
The KISS (2-7) have lost six in a row, but they signed 43-year-old Aaron Garcia to lead the offense last week. And this week, they brought in new offensive linemen to protect the veteran, who has played in the league since breaking in with the Rattlers in 1995.
Coach Kevin Guy expects Garcia to be much improved after a full week with the KISS.
"We need to play better," Guy said. "We didn't play as well as we could have last week. There are some things we need to improve. Right now, we saw some chemistry problems with Mo (receiver Maurice Purify) being out.
"We're in Week 10. We shouldn't be making mental mistakes this time of year. It should be physical mistakes. I'm going to look at the practice tape and make some adjustments."
Sunday night's game
NEWSLETTERS Get the Sports Breaking News newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Can't wait to read sports news? Get crucial breaking sports news alerts to your inbox. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Varies Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Sports Breaking News Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters
Rattlers (9-0) at LA KISS (2-7)
When: 5 p.m.
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim.
TV: Cox 7.
Scouting report: The KISS are partly owned by rock icons Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS. Former Rattlers fullback/linebacker Bob McMillen is head coach. QB Aaron Garcia joined the team last week. The KISS have lost their last six after starting out 2-1.They have broken only 40 points once during the past six games. This is the first-ever meeting between the West Division teams.Modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are giving scientists unprecedented insight into the inner workings of the human brain. When neuroscientist Jason Yeatman of the University of Washington noticed a large fiber bundle that was unfamiliar to him and did not exist in modern scientific literature, he couldn’t believe he was actually the first person to discover the structure.
It turns out that he was right; the structure had been described before. However, the book that contained the last known mention of the fiber bundle had not been read in over 100 years. Yeatman and Kevin Wiener of Stanford University are co-authors of the paper, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The structure is now officially named the vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF). It is a tract of white matter that defies convention and connects areas of the brain vertically, rather than horizontally like most other white matter pathways. The pair used advanced MRI techniques and found that the pathway originates in a region at the back of the brain where visual processing occurs called the occipital lobe. Signals then spread out to many other regions in the brain, depending on what is required by the visual input.
“We believe that signals carried by the VOF play a role in many perceptual processes, from recognizing a friend’s face to rapidly reading a page of text,” Yeatman said in a press release.
The researchers also developed a computer algorithm for other neuroscientists to use that will allow measurements of the VOF to be completed more quickly. Since this structure has been forgotten for so long, there is a lot of catching up to do in learning about VOF’s function and determining if it can be targeted clinically to treat reading or visual disorders.
“To support reproducible research, our lab makes a strong effort to share software and data,” added senior author Brian Wandell of Stanford. “We believe this is a powerful way to ensure that our findings can be both checked and used in labs around the world.”
When Yeatman found the structure in the brain and was unable to identify it, he and Wiener started asking colleagues and searching through the literature. They were guided toward old anatomy books, dusting off progressively older tomes until they finally hit pay dirt.
“Kevin found an atlas, written by Carl Wernicke near the turn of the (20th) century, that depicted the vertical occipital fasciculus,” Yeatman explained. “The last time that atlas had been checked out was 1912, meaning we were the first to view these images in the last century.”
In addition to rediscovering the VOF, the researchers did more work and were able to find out why this structure essentially fizzled out from history. When neuroanatomist Carl Wernicke first identified the structure in 1881, its vertical orientation did not go over well with everyone else. Theodor Meynert, who led the field in his era, vehemently denied that pathways could go any other way but horizontally. Other scientists in the late 1800s had also made sketches of the structure, but inconsistent naming habits and criticism from the top brass in the field ultimately muddled the VOF into obscurity.
“When we started, it was just for our own knowledge and curiosity,” added Weiner. “But, after a while, we realized that there was an important story to tell that contained a series of missing links that have been buried for so long within this puzzle of historical conversation among many who are considered the founders of the entire neuroscience field.”Now, check out the list below:
#1 Traveling Carnival / Abandoned Amusement Park
Ever since Pepper made her first appearance in Asylum, there was some speculation that AHS would be heading to a ‘Freak Show’ traveling circus for one of their future settings. I couldn’t be more on board with this!
For one, those places are creepy as hell—and the Carnies, think about how much fun this show could have with a cast of characters who are members of a traveling Carnival… the possibilities are endless!
This being AHS, I think the Carnival/Freak Show setting would make for an entertaining season of television and could be based on some pretty bizarre real-life acts such as the Elephant Man, the Four-Legged Lady, the Half Lady, the Human Unicorn and the Lion-Faced Boy just to name a few (see pictures
Recently, it was revealed that AHS would (obviously) be renewed for a fourth season and apparently Ryan Murphy already has a non-contemporary setting picked out-- whatever that means! With this news though, I've decided to start exploring possible American locations for future installments of the series. The show is clearly inspired by both American horror movies as well as real-life events so I’ve picked out settings which could easily incorporate this standard formula that AHS uses every season. Also, because they tend to use the ‘flashback’ fairly often, it would make sense for them to choose locations that have a lot of history. And, just because everything is better with music, I've got Harry Belafonte's Shake Senora below for your listening enjoyment (from one of the greatest movies of all time... BEETLEJUICE):Now, check out the list below:Ever since Pepper made her first appearance in Asylum, there was some speculation that AHS would be heading to a ‘Freak Show’ traveling circus for one of their future settings. I couldn’t be more on board with this!For one, those places are creepy as hell—and the Carnies, think about how much fun this show could have with a cast of characters who are members of a traveling Carnival… the possibilities are endless!This being AHS, I think the Carnival/Freak Show setting would make for an entertaining season of television and could be based on some pretty bizarre real-life acts such as the Elephant Man, the Four-Legged Lady, the Half Lady, the Human Unicorn and the Lion-Faced Boy just to name a few (see pictures here ).
AHS has already been to a murder house and an asylum so I thought why not have an entire season dedicated to a Cemetery/Funeral Parlour location.
Another really interesting component that I would absolutely love to see on AHS is a Ghostbuster type theme. So, for example, why not have a group of people (kinda like the two geeky guys from the Insidious movies) who basically go around bustin’ ghosts. It would be a shout out to one of the best horror comedies ever made! And the graveyard is an easy setting to introduce this type of plot. Maybe some ghosts and goblins can escape from their graves and start wreaking havoc, sending in our ‘Ghostbusters’ to investigate. Who you gonna call?
The graveyard setting also makes it very easy to introduce any historical figure. Pick a tombstone, any tombstone—the possibilities are endless! This season, we have already seen the writers introduce the Axeman of New Orleans into the story and even explain what happened to him (even though no one actually knows what happened to him in reality). So why not have the show explore the disappearance of another real person like Jimmy Hoffa and the mystery of his body? Once again, they could take an existing mystery that is extremely interesting and continue the story with an American Horror twist of course! I said it once and I’ll say it again—the possibilities are endless. If you want to learn more about the Jimmy Hoffa story, click
#3 Campground on Beach/Lake The entire season could revolve around a family who runs a funeral parlour located on the Cemetery grounds (think Six Feet Under meets The Addams Family). We’d get to meet different kinds of quirky characters like The Embalmer and the Undertaker. And of course, in AHS fashion, they could include some corruption within the family (i.e. maybe one of the family members is selling corpses or body parts for a profit). To be honest, the possibilities are endless when the setting in question is a resting place for the dead. Or dead animals—Pet Sematary FTW!Another really interesting component that I would absolutely love to see on AHS is a Ghostbuster type theme. So, for example, why not have a group of people (kinda like the two geeky guys from the Insidious movies) who basically go around bustin’ ghosts. It would be a shout out to one of the best horror comedies ever made! And the graveyard is an easy setting to introduce this type of plot. Maybe some ghosts and goblins can escape from their graves and start wreaking havoc, sending in our ‘Ghostbusters’ to investigate. Who you gonna call?The graveyard setting also makes it very easy to introduce any historical figure. Pick a tombstone, any tombstone—the possibilities are endless! This season, we have already seen the writers introduce the Axeman of New Orleans into the story and even explain what happened to him (even though no one actually knows what happened to him in reality). So why not have the show explore the disappearance of another real person like Jimmy Hoffa and the mystery of his body? Once again, they could take an existing mystery that is extremely interesting and continue the story with an American Horror twist of course! I said it once and I’ll say it again—the possibilities are endless. If you want to learn more about the Jimmy Hoffa story, click here.
So many classic American horror movies take place in the woods: Blair Witch Project, Evil Dead, Cabin in the Woods, and of course, Friday the 13th could all be used as inspiration for an entire season dedicated to the campgrounds of the USA!
Who can’t relate to a good ghost story by the campfire while roasting some marshmallows (mmm…burnt marshmallows) and hotdogs on the open flame. And what better way to start the story than by having a group of campers telling ghost stories by the fire while they are out on a camping trip.
Regardless where the writers went with this idea, I’m pretty sure it would be awesome no matter the choice! For one, they could easily explore the origins of Bigfoot given the entire season would be taking place in the bush—or any other type of monster that dwells in the forest for that matter.
Or why not pay homage to Friday the 13th and have a Jason-type serial killer on the loose in the woods. Nothing says American Horror like Jason and Friday the 13th!
Another interesting concept might be to use a theme about nature and the destruction of nature. Why not have the wildlife, plants and trees come to life and take revenge on the human beings who are desecrating their lands! Woodland Critter Christmas, anyone?
With so many horror movies taking place in the woods, I think we will have to see something like this sooner or later! Now, where did I put those marshmallows?
#4 American Northwest (South Dakota/Wyoming/Montana)
Again, this setting would allow the show to go back and forth between present and past. It could introduce historical figures such as General Custer and Sitting Bull. And offers a unique plot that is loosely based on real facts. Moreover, the writers could go deep into magic vs. non-magic belief systems and even incorporate shape-shifting into the story (for some reason I’ve always wanted to see a tribe of Leopardmen Shapeshifters—anyone else with me here?).
That said though, the story could begin in a small town in South Dakota (a town that I had the privilege of visiting when I was younger while on a family vacation). The town I am referring to here is named Wall, South Dakota. Now, you might be wondering what is so special about this particular town. The town is actually famous for the Wall Drug Store and its Marketing campaign. The drug store has hundreds of billboards that can be seen for hundreds of miles throughout South Dakota and neighboring states (and can be found on a 650-mile stretch from Minnesota to Montana). Pretty neat stuff.
Now, how does horror fit into all of this? Well, I could potentially see a season like this starting off with a family heading out on a vacation and it all starts with them seeing these billboards for miles before actually reaching Wall, South Dakota. The twist, however, could be that the billboards are really a way for the locals to lure tourists to their town—think ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ or Rob Zombie’s ‘House of 1000 Corpses' or 'The Devil’s Rejects’ as inspiration for this little idea. Plus, the Badlands is in close proximity, adding a little more creepiness to the setting.
As you can see, the American Northwest would make for a completely awesome, unique and interesting setting. So much history, a lot of which never gets put into the mainstream.
And, a couple more obscure ideas: Devil’s Tower National Monument is close-by, located in Wyoming and would make for an awesome setting. There is also some Native American mythology attached to Devil’s Tower. The story involved a group of girls who ended up being chased by a group of giant bears. They climbed up a rock and prayed to their Great Spirit. The rock ended up rising, protecting them from the bears. The bears clawed their way at the rock, leaving claw marks in the sides of the rock and giving Devil’s Tower its unique look. Oh, and it was also featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Need I say more. Check out more about Devil's Tower
Lastly, they could even explore the mythology of the Jackalope for a little comedic relief. I mean, who wouldn’t wanna see a little rabbit with antlers on this show!?! That would be AWESOME!
#5 Snowy Alaska This season features a pretty heavy theme of Witchcraft vs. Voodoo, which opens up the door for some other potentially crazy wild showdowns. I have an interesting idea regarding how this could all play out. The American Northwest is known historically for the gold rush as well as a little well-known battle that took place in 1876—the Battle of Little Bighorn. This entire setting and the history that comes with it would be amazing on the television screen. I can already see it: somehow General Custer is back from the dead and he’s brought an army of dead cowboys with him! Only to be met by Sitting Bull and his army of dead Indians, armed only with Tomahawks and Bow and Arrows… maybe throw a little magic in there too… epicness.Again, this setting would allow the show to go back and forth between present and past. It could introduce historical figures such as General Custer and Sitting Bull. And offers a unique plot that is loosely based on real facts. Moreover, the writers could go deep into magic vs. non-magic belief systems and even incorporate shape-shifting into the story (for some reason I’ve always wanted to see a tribe of Leopardmen Shapeshifters—anyone else with me here?).That said though, the story could begin in a small town in South Dakota (a town that I had the privilege of visiting when I was younger while on a family vacation). The town I am referring to here is named Wall, South Dakota. Now, you might be wondering what is so special about this particular town. The town is actually famous for the Wall Drug Store and its Marketing campaign. The drug store has hundreds of billboards that can be seen for hundreds of miles throughout South Dakota and neighboring states (and can be found on a 650-mile stretch from Minnesota to Montana). Pretty neat stuff.Now, how does horror fit into all of this? Well, I could potentially see a season like this starting off with a family heading out on a vacation and it all starts with them seeing these billboards for miles before actually reaching Wall, South Dakota. The twist, however, could be that the billboards are really a way for the locals to lure tourists to their town—think ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ or Rob Zombie’s ‘House of 1000 Corpses' or 'The Devil’s Rejects’ as inspiration for this little idea. Plus, the Badlands is in close proximity, adding a little more creepiness to the setting.As you can see, the American Northwest would make for a completely awesome, unique and interesting setting. So much history, a lot of which never gets put into the mainstream.And, a couple more obscure ideas: Devil’s Tower National Monument is close-by, located in Wyoming and would make for an awesome setting. There is also some Native American mythology attached to Devil’s Tower. The story involved a group of girls who ended up being chased by a group of giant bears. They climbed up a rock and prayed to their Great Spirit. The rock ended up rising, protecting them from the bears. The bears clawed their way at the rock, leaving claw marks in the sides of the rock and giving Devil’s Tower its unique look. Oh, and it was also featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Need I say more. Check out more about Devil's Tower here. Lastly, they could even explore the mythology of the Jackalope for a little comedic relief. I mean, who wouldn’t wanna see a little rabbit with antlers on this show!?! That would be AWESOME!
Call me crazy, but Siberia could have been a good show…it had SOME potential, especially with the snowy setting it had offered up. Of course, the show ended up being pretty terrible, but that is not to say that it didn't provide me with a great idea for an upcoming season of AHS.
Obviously, many horror movies take place in the ice, cold and snow so by doesn't AHS head North to Nome, Alaska. Nome is an ‘interesting’ setting for so many reasons—but the main reason is that, apparently, there were some disappearances back in 2002 which spurned a 2009 film called ‘The 4th Kind’. Apparently the film was promoted as being “based on true events” and that alien abductions were the reasons for the disappearances but this has been disputed and people have suggested that the movie makers were only trying to exploit the situation. See, we already have a plot!
AHS could easily explore this setting and, being the great horror fiction show that it is, they could easily create a story revolving around some disappearances in a remote town in Alaska. This could also open up the flood gates to drop some other awesome horror genres. I’m thinking a story about a pack of werewolves (which could be a possible explanation for those Nome disappearances), and maybe throw in an Abominable Snowman for good measure!!! Like this season and the Coven, I think it would be a great idea to explore a pack of Werewolves and is there no better setting than icy Alaska for this story to take place?
A snowy setting would completely switch things up. It would introduce a lot of new ideas to the show and movies such as The Thing and The Shining come to mind when I think about getting my scare on in the snow.
#6 Florida Keys / Bermuda Triangle
My last idea could be really original and unique if done properly. Now, you’re probably wondering how in the hell a tropical setting like the Florida Keys could possibly make its way into American Horror Story! Well, hear me out… this one is actually inspired by some pretty cool, unsolved mysteries. Not to mention that hit horror |
Taylor (BC Fin Min) Cogeco Audet (64%) 1 Rogers (36%) PostMedia Godfrey (6.5%) David Emerson (Lib. Cab. Min) 1 Quebecor Péladeau Brian Mulroney (Cons. PM)Francoise Bertrand (Chair CRTC)Kory Tenycke (VP Sun News, ex Harper Dir. of Communication) 1 Rogers Rogers John H. Tory (ex. Ont. PC leader)David Peterson (ex Lib Premier Ont.) 4 Issabelle Marcoux (Transcontinental Shaw Shaw Sheila Weatherhill (PM Advisory Cmmt on Public Service) 3 Torstar Atkinson, Thall Hindmarsh, Campbell, Honderich Roy Romanow (ex Premier of Saskatchewan) 2 Phyllis Yaffee (Dir. Astral) Globe & Mail Thomson (65%) 2 OTPF (25%) Bell (15%) Telus Publicly Traded Diversified Stockwell Day (ex CPC Cab. Minister) Not Relevant 14 16
Sources: Corporate Annual Reports and Forbes Corporate Executives & Directors Search Directory <http://people.forbes.com/search>
Things are particularly strange in Canada by the added fact that eight of the top ten TMI companies in this country are family-controlled. This degree of media mogul control and political ties to the inner sanctums of top media companies is reminiscent of an ‘ancien capitalism’, where families and the ‘political class’ are in charge rather than citizens and ‘expert’ managers at the helm of publicly-traded firms where ownership is dispersed and corporate operations transparent.
Things are different in the US, where Eli Noam points out in his authoritative Media Ownership and Concentration in America that the number of owner-controlled media firms fell from 35 percent to just 20 percent between 1984 and 2005 (p. 6). I think that Noam slightly exaggerates the decline given that five of the top global media conglomerates — Comcast (the Roberts family), News Corp (Murdoch family), Viacom-CBC (Redstone family), Bertlesmann (remnants of Bertlesmann and Mohn families) and Thomson Reuters (Thompson family) – are of this type. Moreover, the media baron still cuts a large figure at the top ICT and Internet companies to, think: Apple (Jobs), Facebook (Zuckerberg), Google (Page, Brin and Schmitt), Microsoft (Gates and Ballmer), Yahoo! (Yang), IAC (Diller and Malone) and CBS (Redstone).
The ongoing case of the telephone hacker scandal in the UK reminds us that with the Murdock family – Rupert and his son James – at the helm, we are far from the end of the era when media moguls ran supreme. Thus, while not totally unusual, the degree of ties between moguls and political appointments at Canada is of a different kind and more extensive. Such arrangements are backwards, if you will, and more like nations with a tradition of oligarchic capitalism, as in Russia and Latin America, then in the liberal capitalist democracies of the US and Europe.
It is not that we just have an outmoded system of family control with ex-politicos having positions of influence right across the ranks of TMI sectors, but also that the main players have ownership stakes in one another’s companies, as is the case with Rogers owning about a third of the equity in Cogeco and Bell a residual 15 percent stake in the Globe and Mail.
Also blunting the sharp edge of competition and independence between different players in the market is the fact that directors on the board of one company sit on the boards of supposed rivals. Phyllis Yaffee, an industrial stalwart with oodles of experience and one who actually does have the expertise and savvy to fill a directors’ shoes is on boards at Astral and Torstar. Paul Godfrey, also an old hand and savvy operator in the business, sits on the boards at Astral and PostMedia Co. — the company a company that he has spearheaded the development of to assume ownership of the twenty odd newspapers (Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, National Post, Calgary Herald, Montreal Gazette, etc.) left behind by the wreckage of Canwest. That wrecked vassal is yet another company that was family controlled (the Aspers) and not shy about stacking its board with ex politicos (e.g. Derek Burney, ex. Chief of Staff for Harper).
We also, as I have said repeatedly in this blog and elsewhere, a very highly concentrated set of industries. Altogether, the big 10 firms listed in the table above account for just under three quarters of all revenues in the TMI industries (excluding wired and wireless telephone services). I think the two are related.
It is not just that all our TMI industries, individually and as a whole, are very highly concentrated, but that policy and regulation in this country does not deal with this fact. Instead, policy-makers and regulators, to a large degree, cultivate concentration on the grounds that whatever problems this raises will be offset by industrial gains.
As David Ellis pointed out the other day, the CRTC does not regulate the TMI industries on the basis of any known standards of market concentration, but functions primarily to grease the supply-side of the industrial machinery that make up the TMI sectors.
The problem is not just that this leaves consumers and citizens on the sidelines while industry calls the shots. The problem is that the phenomenon of politicos on the boards of directors at the major TMI companies, and the revolving door between the regulator and government policy-shops on one side and industry on the other are pervasive, enduring and systemic.
What this means is that we cannot just look for one-off instances of influence peddling, as in, say, the allocation of spectrum in past and forthcoming wireless auctions, as Peter Nowak points out. Nor is that putting Harper’s former Director of Communication, Kory Tenyecke in the position of VP at QMI’s Sun News will leave a dirty trail of finger prints on every story covered, with lurid tales of stories spiked and stories spun to favour Harper and the Conservatives.
To be sure, a few cases of such things will happen, with one or two leaking out to become grist for the mill and confirming some people’s worst fears. The problem is deeper than that, however, and less easy to suss out in terms of what it all means. However, as I showed during the election this year, it is true that of the twenty-two papers that issued endorsements for Prime Minister in the last election, all but one stood foursquare behind Harper — a wall of Conservative editorial opinion behind the Conservative candidate for PM.
Yet, the meddling hand of direct owner or political influence is much more subtle, and rarer than this. Instead it takes place at two more general levels: corporate policy making and the allocation of resources, say, resources for faster Internet connections, more journalists and coverage of world affairs and the environment versus cut-backs, low levels of investment and fluffy content to titillate and instigate bickering rather than understanding and civil discourse. It is at this general level that directors hold sway. Indeed, that’s what they’re hired for, to set long term policy and make sure that those directly controlling the purse-strings do so wisely.
Beyond this, the real problems are three-fold: First, the revolving door between regulator (CRTC) and those who make the rules while in government, on the one hand, and the TMI companies, on the other, institutionalizes an approach to media policy as industrial policy and a strategic game. The extent of this also means that everybody in the game must adopt a similar strategy, which only aggravates the problem and makes things all the less apparent in terms of who and what is really calling the shots.
Consequently, regulation and policy-making is not so much about guiding the development of telecom, media and Internet in relation to democratic and free press values but industrial policy concerns. As I stated earlier, the CRTC serves principally to grease the supply-side machinery of these industries, rather than regulating in the public interest or in relation to a broad understanding of how people actually use media facilities and what we want. Perhaps this is not surprising, given that the last known sighting of the CRTC’s old motto, “communication in the public interest”, was in December 2008 (see here). It has disappeared from the top of its webpage and prominent place on the front of publications ever since. No wonder some commissioners and the vice-chair have a hard time understanding the link between media and democracy.
Such arrangements are an affront to common sense and to principles of a free press in liberal capitalist democracies. They smell bad and smack of crony capitalism unfit by even the standards of liberal capitalist democracies.
Finally, they fly in the face of liberal theories of a free press. According to classical theories of the free press, and especially Whig tales of press history from the rise of advertising-funded mass media in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the media are suppose to be independent of government. They are also to serve as a watchdog nurturing the public sphere rather than as waiting lapdogs for retired politicos in the hope that they can tilt the industrial policy-making game in their new masters’ favour.
AdvertisementsIn a new interview with IGN, Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada touched on his work on the Marvel TV shows and revealed something particularly interesting regarding the company's upcoming Iron Fist collaboration with Netflix.
"The cast is amazing. Another show that will be completely different from Luke, Jessica and Daredevil. That's really our goal. We're trying to offer four shows, that live in the same universe but offer fans a completely different look. Martial arts will play a huge part in Iron Fist. I would also say that Iron Fist has more villains, in our first season, than any of our other shows. There's a lot going on. Scott Buck, the showrunner and his writing team have created a fantastic story for us and have wove in some great legends from Marvel present past. We're still in production so we're not quite at the point where we'll begin promoting it but I think fans are going to dig it. "
Just how many villains do you think Danny Rand will face? We know the series will feature Harold and Ward Meachum but outside of these two, all the other proposed villains have just been fan speculation. Obviously, the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying will have to be featured so that counts as another villain of sorts. But talk of the show including Davos aka Steel Serpent, has yet to be confirmed by Marvel. They've also yet to confirm that Wai Ching Ho will reprise her role as Madame Gao, who is likely the Crane Mother of K’Un-Zi, one of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven (another being K'un-Lun). Surely Danny will need some help with so many foes. Perhaps those Shang-Chi rumors are true after all? Although it would make more sense for Danny to get a timely assist or two from Lei Kung the Thunderer.It’s not every day that we can get some good ole bashing against the lefties: Enter ABC’s Last Man Standing.
On Friday’s episode, “The Friendly Library,” Mike Baxter takes a couple swings at the left, leading off with Obama.
While discussing his successful vlog for the Outdoor Man, he jests that he’s much better liked than the former president.
Kyle: Well, I -- Don't you want to know who the finalists are?
Mike: Finalists for what?
Ed: The "Meet Outdoor Man" essay contest. Where the winner gets to sit in on your 500th vlog.
Mike: I thought I killed this idea.
Ed: No, no, no, no, no. Y-you said, "I'd -- I'd rather not do it," I said, "I'd rather you did," and here we are! Kyle, go ahead.
Mike: No, no, no, no, no. My vlogs are not some cheap promotional gimmick. They're well-written and enjoyed by millions of people. I don't know the exact number, but I know it's more than Obama had.
What a rare occasion to hear a joke about Obama and not Trump! Good one, Mike!
Fortunately, the laughs don’t stop there.
When he meets with the winner of the vlog contest, their greeting kicks off by mocking bogus liberal foreign policies.
Mike: Yeah?
Kyle: Hey, the, uh, contest winner's here, Mr. B. His name's Wayne Sizemore.
Mike: Okay, cool. Hey, Wayne. Mike Baxter. Nice to meet you.
Wayne: You, too. Your hands are as soft as a liberal's foreign policy.
Mike: Well, except these hands actually…
Wayne: Actually work. You used that line in Vlog 304, when you had a sale on Dr. Brown's Camping Soap.
Later, Wayne quotes Mike from a previous vlog stating “If I want comedy, I'll watch CNN.”
Ah, quite refreshing to have the left take some hits for a change. Too bad we don’t see more support for conservatives across the networks.Season ticket prices in Scottish football have largely fallen for 2016-17, with many clubs freezing or reducing ticket prices.
The BBC Sport's annual Price of Football survey reveals the cheapest available in three of the top four tiers has dropped.
Season-ticket charges in the Scottish Premiership fell by 5.5%, largely due to Hamilton Academical cutting the cost of a seat at New Douglas Park by £200, opting for a tag of £150 to try to get numbers through the gates.
League One clubs reduced theirs by much the same percentage, while in League Two they actually fell by nearly 20%.
However, in the Championship they are up slightly, with Hibernian remaining the most expensive for all tickets and catering.
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster commented: "All 42 SPFL clubs work tirelessly to ensure they have a pricing structure which provides as much value for money as possible, especially for families to help attract the next generation of supporters.
"Reductions in ticket prices help increase accessibility to Scottish football in all corners of the country and all clubs are to be congratulated for their ongoing efforts in this area."
A ticket to the Old Firm game can cost as much as £49
If you are going for the full matchday experience, taking in a Scottish Premiership game complete with a cup of tea, pie and a programme to browse, it will cost you £28.29, only £2.81 dearer than in 2011.
However, a visit to either Celtic Park or Ibrox for an Old Firm game could set you back up to £49 for the ticket alone.
In the Scottish Championship the matchday experience comes in at £24.03 on average, with the most expensive matchday ticket of £22 at Easter Road and the cheapest of £15 at Raith Rovers.
The SPFL also confirmed attendances north of the border are up.
"In season 2015-16 some 4.18m supporters attended 860 SPFL league games - up from 4.12m in 2014-15 and 4.06m the year before - and we anticipate that trend continuing this season," Doncaster said.
It also confirmed that since the league restructuring, more than 300,000 supporters have attended play-off matches involving 26 clubs.
When it comes to catering, Forfar Athletic are not to be outdone by anyone in the UK it seems as their £1.20 pie washed down with an 80p cuppa is priced lowest in the whole BBC study.
You will not get a matchday programme for less than £2, but at Tynecastle and Ibrox you will be expected to hand over £3.50 to read about Hearts or Rangers.
The average price of replica shirts has also fallen almost across the board.
Former Lowland League outfit Edinburgh City have the cheapest shirts in Scotland, in fact in most of the UK, at £19.99 for juniors and £29.99 for adults.
But if you want to kit yourself out in Championship side Ayr United colours, the tops will come in the highest in Scotland at £45 and £55, dearer even than Scottish champions Celtic.Among the hundreds of recommendations listed in New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $20 billion plan to protect New York from climate change is a call to stock up on oysters. Not the kind you’d want to knock back with a nice pilsner on a Friday afternoon: The idea is to build large underwater oyster reefs around the harbor that could prevent coastal erosion and absorb storm surges. “Soft” infrastructure like this — reefs, wetlands, dunes, and other “natural” systems — is gaining in popularity over “hard” levees and sea walls as an effective way to insulate cities from sea-level rise.
Turns out, some of the best of these defenses might already be in place: Yesterday the journal Nature published the first-ever nationwide maps that reveal just how much existing coastal habitats are going to save our butts from rising seas and wild storms. Remove reefs, coastal forests, marshes, kelp beds, and other coastal habitats, the study finds, and twice as much coastline and 1.4 million more people will be highly exposed to climate risks.
Stanford marine ecologist Katie Arkema and her colleagues pulled a vast trove of data — Census Bureau population stats; property values from real estate site Zillow; wave and wind exposure data from NOAA; published climate models; and maps of coastal ecosystems from scientific literature — and mixed them together to visualize where these natural systems offer the most, or least, protection.
The map below shows where the greatest risk from sea-level rise and storm surge will be in 2100, based on models from the 2013 National Climate Assessment. Red areas represent not just places where sea levels are projected to rise the most, but also factor in the presence of protective offshore habitats; the type of shoreline (beach, cliff, etc.); and the spot’s exposure to wind, waves, and other weather. Coastal Southern Florida, for example, which is generally expected to get inundated by sea-level rise, actually appears yellow, because of its abundant ocean-absorbing wetlands. Except Miami, that is: That city, the little red dot at the bottom right corner of the state, is still screwed. But things could be worse. The inset bar graph shows how many more people would be in high-risk red areas if those natural barriers were removed; in Florida, roughly an additional 300,000 people would be exposed, in New York another 300,000.
So how does that risk translate to a dollar value? In another map, Arkema summed up residential property values in every coastal county and laid them alongside each county’s relative level of protection; (a) shows today and (b) shows 2100. The shading indicates an estimate of the total value of property protected by natural barriers given the level of risk each county is exposed to. In (b), more counties become dark red as the level of risk increases with projected climate change. Put another way, these numbers represent the value of protection we get from the environment for free.
Finally, Arkema used demographic data to see how natural barriers serve to protect the poor and elderly, as a proportion of the total population in each county, from climate risks. Again, the left-hand maps represent current conditions, and on the right is 2100. Remove reefs from the Gulf of Mexico, and poor families along the cost would be disproportionately at-risk; pave over the wetlands in Florida and the elderly would get hit hardest by rising seas.
Taken together, Arkema says, the maps make a compelling case that protecting our coasts from climate change starts with protecting the natural systems that already exist.
“We want to ensure that we conserve the ecosystems where we have them, because if we lose them it’s going to require massive investment,” she says; in other words, schemes like Bloomberg’s, or FEMA’s faltering flood insurance program, could run an even higher bill. Pollution and development pressures, she says, mean “it’s unrealistic on a national level, but not on a local level, that we could lose all this habitat.”
This story was produced as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.I’ve recently accepted the position of V.P. Roller Derby with Roller Sports Canada. For those who are unaware, Roller Sports Canada is a Federally Incorporated Not For Profit which has been created to promote and further roller sports in Canada. They have been a member of the Canadian Olympic Association since 1979 and are currently a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and are sending both Roller Figure and Roller Speed skaters to the Pan Am Games in Toronto in 2015.
I see this as an incredible opportunity to provide support for the Roller Derby Community in Canada from a national level.
A simple Google search turns up “Sport Canada contributions and recipients” which lists the following for 2013:
Broomball – $235,527
Cricket – $178,000
Ringette – $499,000
Among many other sports to a grand total of almost $211 Million in grants to amateur sports.
Unfortunately Roller Derby does not currently qualify for federal or provincial grants or funding (for the most part) due to not being organized at both a federal and provincial level. I see this as a major current road block not only for the development of our local teams but also for our provincial and national teams to making this a major sport in Canada. Imagine if our national and provincial teams could travel to events without having to worry about those travel costs (both nationally and internationally).
My hope is through Roller Sports Canada we can start down the road to organizing at a Provincial and a National level through which we can obtain funding for all from the National level through to the local leagues. And no, this is not an organization to replace WFTDA or MRDA. On the contrary I believe that organizationally having Federally recognized National and Provincial organizational bodies is one of the most important things that we can do in Canada right now and will only help push Canadian Roller Derby further and farther in those orgnizations.
To that end I’ve produced a questionnaire for anyone interested in Roller Derby in Canada to fill in. I would like to accept responses from now until January 10th and after that time I will collect the information and make it all public through the RSC website and here on Facebook.
The questionaire is at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6699RMP and I would be very thankful if you could all respond and share this post to our other Canadian Roller Derby skaters, fans, coaches, officials, and other support staff. It is private and I do not collect any personal information.
So please, fill this in and share it with your leagues and fans.
I’m excited for big things to happen!
Thanks Jim Bourne (Dev Null)
AdvertisementsIt's wrong for people to think that they have to be wealthy to get rich investing in the stock market, famed buy-and-hold investor Ron Baron told CNBC in a Friday interview.
"You have to have a small amount of money and invest it regularly for a long time, and live to get to be old. That's how you get rich," said the billionaire founder of Baron Capital, which has nearly $26 billion in assets under management. He appeared on "Squawk Box" from the sidelines of his annual investor conference in New York City.
"It's all about compounding," he said, referring to the power of making regular investments and reinvesting the returns over decades.
Baron has made billions of dollars by doing extensive research, buying the stocks of what he feels are undervalued companies, and keeping them for an average of about 14 years. But individual investors don't need to pick stocks, he said. "The simplest thing for people to do is buy an index fund."
"If you invest $5,000 a year for 30 years... it's worth $890,000" based on historical stock market returns, he calculated.In 2003, Lynndie England — along with her boyfriend and at least a dozen other soldiers — posed for a series of photos documenting prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. Now, she's a welfare mom who wants a second chance.
England, who served about half of a 3 year sentence for her relatively minor role in the Abu Ghraib scandal — she was only convicted of posing for the pictures of abuse committed by her boyfriend (and the father of her child) — returned to her hometown (and her parents' house) after she was paroled. It wasn't an easy homecoming, according to a new story by the AP.
Former Army reservist Lynndie England hasn't landed a job in numerous tries: When one restaurant manager considered hiring her, other employees threatened to quit. She doesn't like to travel: Strangers point and whisper, "That's her!"
Her family received hate mail from all over the world because of the publicity surrounding the photographs and trial and, 5 years after the abuses were discovered, letters just keep coming. This, despite the fact that England wasn't actually accused (or convicted) of physical abuse of prisoners — and despite the fact that the Senate Armed Services Committee concluded that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were the direct result of Administration policies that "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees."
What England does have is the son, Carter, with whom she was pregnant when she began serving her sentence — but even motherhood is difficult for her.
She worries about whether she's a good mother to her 4-year-old son Carter. "Normal moms have jobs. They get up, they take their kids to school, they go to work, they come home, they cook, they clean, they do all that," she says. "I'm home all day." She says she submitted hundreds of resumes for all kinds of jobs, but no one would give her a chance. She stopped trying months ago and depends on welfare and her parents to get by.
Advertisement
Lynndie England, however, isn't really alone in this. An earlier article in the Guardian about her post-incarceration struggles points out that fast food places won't hire felons. It's true, too, that many landlords won't accept convicted felons as tenants. Having spent a sum total of 18 months in prison (and another 18 on parole), with a dishonorable discharge on her résumé — let alone with her now infamous face — England may well be destined to spend a good chunk of her life relying on the state to support her.
According to the Department of Justice, in the U.S., the overall recidivism rate — the rate of those released from prison who are re-arrested — is nearly two-thirds. The recidivism rate for women offenders is lower — 52 percent — but that still means that more than half of all women who do time end up arrested again. Women like England, who was only convicted and imprisoned once, the recidivism rate is 21 percent, which still means one out of every 5 women incarcerated is arrested again. In no small part, the recidivism rate is a reflection of the doors this society closes for most people convicted of crimes — and anyone that thinks that the money one can (or cannot) afford to spend on a lawyer is often a factor in the kind of justice one receives is fooling themselves. Those people convicted of crimes and sentenced to prison are by and large people without much (if anything) in the way of financial resources; when they are released, they are then subject to what amounts to extra-judicial punishment in terms of employment and housing discrimination. No one expects that prison does much, if anything, to rehabilitate its inhabitants so, when they're released, they are treated as though prison has made them worse people.
Should Lynndie England really be prevented from answering the phone in an office or flipping burgers at McDonald's? And, maybe more importantly, is it in our benefit that she is prevented from doing so? The statistics on recidivism and anecdotal evidence of those that did their time yet can't reintegrate into society say no — but, day in and out, they're told that there's no place for them back in our world... and then we wonder why we keep sending the same people to jail.
Advertisement
Abu Ghraib Scandal Haunts W.Va. Reservist [Associated Press]
'What Happens In War Happens' [The Guardian]
Related: Criminal Offenders Statistics [Bureau of Justice Statistics]
Women Offenders [Bureau of Justice Statistics]The Rangers' first-round series against Washington is done, but it didn't stop John Tortorella from taking one last parting shot at the Capitals.
Tortorella joined Michael Kay & Don La Greca on Tuesday.
Tortorella started by praising his team's mindset in winning a tough seven-game series but then veered off to take a dig at the the Capitals, some of whom vented frustration about the officiating after being eliminated.
"We got everybody and their brother whining out there in Washington about what happened in that series," Tortorella said. "I think that's a big reason they lose that series."
"I think our mindset has been very good as far as not letting anything bother us, just getting ready to play each day. Play a game, practice the next day, just go about our business."
Tortorella's response came after Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin raised some eyebrows after Washington's 5-0 loss in Game 7, telling a Russian reporter that he thought the league wanted to see the series go the distance.
"I am not saying there was a phone call from [the league], but someone just wanted Game 7. For the ratings," Ovechkin told Slava Malamud of Sport-Express (in a Russian-language interview). "You know, the lockout, the escrow, the league needs to make profit... I don't know whether the refs were predisposed against us or the league. But to not give obvious penalties (on the Rangers), while for us, any little thing was immediately penalized."
The comments were made in reference to Game 6 in which the Rangers received five power-plays and the Capitals received none.
Capitals GM George McPhee expressed his displeasure with the officiating as well.
"I don't think there's a league conspiracy but it sure didn't feel right. Alex wasn't wrong," McPhee told reporters on Wednesday when asked about Ovechkin's accusation. "I talked to them during the series but at some point you stop. They'll referee the way they want to referee."
Tortorella has been disciplined by the league multiple times for criticizing officiating, most notably during the 2011 Winter Classic. Following the Rangers' 3-2 victory over the Flyers, he called the officiating "disgusting" and insinuated that the league wanted the game to go to overtime. Tortorella was fined $30,000 for those comments.Coordinates:
This bull moose finds a gate at Kostroma Moose Farm rather narrow for his antlers.
Kostroma Moose Farm (Russian: Костромска́я лосефе́рма) is an experimental farm in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, where a herd of moose is kept, primarily for milk production; the farm supplies moose's milk to a nearby sanitorium. It is located near the village of Sumarokovo in Krasnoselsky District of Kostroma Oblast, some 25 km east of the city of Kostroma.
History of the moose domestication work in Russia [ edit ]
As early as 1869, the Russian zoologist and explorer Alexander von Middendorff wrote to the Tsar's Government:
“ Even the civilized Europe these days has failed to domesticate the moose,[1] the animal that doubtlessly can be of great utility. Our government ought to apply all possible efforts toward the domestication of this animal. This is doable. The reward would be great, and so would be the glory. ”
These young moose won't forget the way to the winter camp, because this is where the daily meals of steamed oats are served.
The idea of the moose domestication did not get much traction in Czarist Russia. However, it reappeared in the 1930s’ Soviet Union; it was suggested at the time that moose cavalry could be efficiently used even in the deep snow. In 1934, the Soviet Government's Nature Reserve Committee ordered creation of moose reserves (zapovedniks) and moose breeding centers (лосиные питомники). Experimental work, initiated by Petr Alexandrovich Manteufel (Петр Александрович Мантейфель), took place at a number of locations: in Yakutia, at the Serpukhov Experimental Game Farm, and in the Buzuluksy Bor Nature Reserve (Бузулукский бор) in Orenburg Region. This experimental work included mounting pistols, spikes, and shields to the antlers of a moose, as well delegating moose labor to tasks of hauling cannons and long range artillery.
However, the work was not finished in time for World War II, and when the war came, the entire idea of cavalry as a combat force was swept away.
After the war, the idea of domesticating the moose was pursued again, with the focus on agricultural use. It was thought that the moose, whose very name means twig eater in an Algonquian language, could provide an ideal way of improving the utilization of the biomass production potential of the taiga of northern and eastern Russia, which are not particularly suitable for either food crop planting or conventional animal husbandry. If the moose could be farmed, they could be provided with feed practically for free, utilizing the by-products of timber harvesting: tree branches and bark.
To study the behavior of the moose, each animal at Kostroma Moose Farm is equipped with a radio transmitter.
The first experimental moose farm, led by Yevgeny Knorre, was launched in 1949 by the staff of the Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve, outside of the settlement of Yaksha in the Komi Republic. Rare photos from that period, one of a moose being ridden and one of a moose pulling a sledge, were included in the 1969 paper "Behavioural changes in elk in the process of its domestication"[2]
Research quickly showed that being penned in stalls is not conducive to moose biology; the animals' health would suffer in such conditions, possibly because of the lack of certain nutrients that the free-ranging animals can find in wild plants. Moreover, it would be very expensive to supply captive moose with suitable fodder, as the moose are picky eaters and will not eat branches thicker than some 10 mm (0.4 in) or so.
The life of a farm moose [ edit ]
A bottle-fed baby moose develops attachment to its caregiver.
The more feasible technique, adopted first at Yaksha and later at Kostroma Moose Farm can be called "moose ranching". It is somewhat similar to the semi-domesticated reindeer husbandry pursued by the people of the tundra, or the sheep herding of the steppes.
During a large part of the year, the animals are allowed to roam free throughout the forest. They usually do not go too far, however, because they know the farm (or the winter camp, as the case may be) as the place to get their favorite foods and as a safe place to give birth to their young.
The Kostroma moose give birth to their young in April or May. A farm-born moose calf is taken from its mother within 2–3 hours after birth and is raised by people. It is first bottle-fed with a milk substitute, and later fed from a bucket. The resulting imprinting effect makes the growing animal attached to people; the steamed oats will remain one of its favorite foods for the rest of its life.
Machine milking.
In the meantime, the mother moose is being milked by the farm's milkmaids; due to a similar imprinting mechanism, the cow moose will soon recognize them as her "substitute children". At this point, it can be released to the forest; it will come back to the farm every day to be milked during the rest of her lactation period (typically, until September or October).
In winter, the animals spend much time at the woodlots in the nearby forests where trees are being cut, feeding on the byproducts of timber operations. The abundant supply of forest foods, plus daily rations of oats and salted water keep them around the woodlot even without the fence.
It was found early in the course of the moose domestication research that some animals are more attached to the farm than others. Therefore, it is hoped that a multi-generational selection program will result in breeding a domesticated variety of the moose. However, in the conditions of the existing moose farms the prospects of artificial selection are made somewhat difficult by the fact that in the free-range conditions farm moose cows often mate with wild moose bulls.
The Kostroma Farm [ edit ]
A milkmaid with her favorite moose cow.
Dr. Minaev, whose Cand. Sci. dissertation has to do with using radio monitoring to study the behavior of the moose in the process of domestication, and Luchik the Moose, wearing a collar with a radio transmitter
Kostroma Moose Farm, established in 1963 under the aegis of Kostroma Oblast Agricultural Research Station (Костромская государственная областная сельскохозяйственная опытная станция), where the free-range moose ranching techniques described above are used. A Moose Husbandry Laboratory was created at the research station to coordinate research work conducted at the farm, both by the Kostroma zoologists and by researchers from Moscow and elsewhere.
Unfortunately, in 1985, the Moose Husbandry Laboratory was transferred from the Kostroma Agriculture Research Station to the Kostroma Forestry Research Station, while the moose farm was transferred to the Kostroma Forestry Enterprise (Костромской лесхоз); due to budgetary cuts, the Moose Husbandry Laboratory was closed altogether in 1992. In these conditions, the farm continued to operate more like a petting zoo than a research facility.
It was not until January 2002 that the Moose Husbandry Laboratory was re-created, its parent organization now being called Kostroma Agricultural Research Institute. In 2005, Kostroma Moose Farm was transferred from the forestry enterprise to the Kostroma Oblast Natural Resources Committee. This allowed resumption of the research work on the farm.
The main lines of farm's business are:
Milk production. The farm's livestock includes around 10-15 milk-producing moose cows. The milk, reported to be rich in vitamins and microelements and to be useful for the treatment of peptic ulcers, radiation lesions and some other conditions is supplied to the nearby Ivan Susanin Sanatorium.
Harvesting antler velvet. A bull moose grows a new pair of antlers every summer. Similar to the maral farms in New Zealand and Siberia, moose antlers can be harvested while |
would be blown off by the fluttering flag.
“I used to wear my hair up, so instead they got me a pink velvet ribbon to put round my hair which matched the hats,” laughs Lonsbrough.
Hoy, who will be carrying the British flag for the second time, told reporters on Monday: “To lead out your team at a home Olympics is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that I can’t wait to experience in just a few days time.”(CNN) The captain of the Yale men's basketball team was expelled from the Ivy League school after facing a university-led investigation into a sexual misconduct allegation, a source told CNN on Thursday.
CNN has learned from a source close to Jack Montague that, according to Montague, he had a consensual sexual relationship with another student in 2014. A year later, in fall 2015, Montague was summoned to appear before Yale's University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct
Montague was expelled months later. The university has not confirmed these details, citing confidentiality. Montague last played for the basketball team, which is going to the NCAA tournament for the first time in more than five decades, on February 6.
"Information pertaining to a student's withdrawal from the university is maintained as part of the student's confidential educational record," a university statement said. "The university does not make distinctions in treating as confidential the different circumstances under which a student may be withdrawn from Yale. The governing principle is that all student educational matters, including disciplinary matters, are a private educational concern between the student and Yale; the university therefore does not disclose the details of a student's status."
Quoted in the New Haven Register last week, Montague's father, Jim Montague, said his son has been expelled from the university.
"We have strict orders from our lawyers (not to comment)," Jim Montague told the Register. "Soon enough, I'd love to tell the other side of the story. It's ridiculous, why he's expelled. It's probably going to set some sort of precedent. We're trying to do things the gentleman's way, so we're keeping things close-knit. But you guys will get a story."
The allegation against Montague sparked a recent protest on Yale's campus calling for greater awareness and action on issues related to sexual assault.
An attorney for the family of Montague -- who didn't play the final eight games of the regular season -- was not available for comment in response to an inquiry from CNN on Thursday.
Blake Thomson, a childhood friend of Montague's who also attends Yale, told CNN on Thursday that Montague's only goal right now is to clear his name.
Both the New Haven and Yale police departments have said there are no complaints or investigations into Montague.
Controversial support
Montague's Yale teammates recently showed their support. In a February 26 game against archrival Harvard, the Bulldogs wore gray warmup jerseys with Yale spelled backward on the front and Montague's number, 4, and his nickname, "Gucci," on the back. The game was televised nationally.
The team's action sparked negative reaction on campus. Posters were hung up around campus criticizing the gesture.
The team apologized Wednesday.
"Yale Men's Basketball fully supports a healthy, safe and respectful campus climate where all students can flourish," the team statement said. "Our recent actions to show our support for one of our former teammates were not intended to suggest otherwise, but we understand that to many students they did. We apologize for the hurt we have caused and we look forward to learning and growing from these recent incidents. As student representatives of Yale we hope to use our positions on and off the court in a way that can make everyone proud."
Nearly 450 Yale students participated in a chalk-in Wednesday to show their support for survivors of sexual assault. The event was co-sponsored by Unite Against Sexual Assault Yale and the Yale Black Women's Coalition. Helen Price, the co-director of Unite Against Sexual Assault Yale, a student organization, says the event was organized in response to the basketball team's show of support for Montague.
"There's been a lot of anger and frustration on campus recently," Price said.
One chalk-written message read: "Imagine if Yale men cared as much about ending rape culture as they cared about sports."
2012 Title IX agreement
Yale's University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct was instituted in 2011 about the time the federal government investigated the university for alleged Title IX violations involving the way it handled reports of sexual misconduct.
Title IX bars gender discrimination in education.
The Department of Education interprets Title IX to say that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination, and therefore schools could be held responsible if they don't investigate and adjudicate these cases.
The federal investigation was spawned by a 26-page complaint filed by 16 students after a video released online that showed fraternity recruits yelling chants encouraging rape as they marched through campus. The complaint also followed reports of a party in which undergraduate students were allegedly asked to strip naked.
The U.S. Department of Education found no incidents of noncompliance by Yale but acknowledged in an agreement with the university that Yale "largely under-reported" allegations of sexual harassment.
When the deal with the education department was announced, Yale said: "Over the past two years, the university has committed extensive resources toward improving its policies, procedures, practices and services to provide an environment in which all students feel safe and well supported, and protected from sexual misconduct."
The committee draws members from students, faculty and administrators.
Postseason hopes for hoops team
Montague's last game was February 6, a home contest against Cornell that Yale won easily, 83-52, led by Montague's 16 points. For the season, he was averaging 9.7 points per game, the best in his four seasons with the team. He was the team's fourth-leading scorer this season.
After a 71-55 win Saturday over Columbia that clinched Yale's first NCAA tourney bid since 1962, senior Justin Sears revealed that some of the team FaceTimed with Montague before the game, according to USA Today.
"He's our leader, our captain," Sears said, via the USA Today story. "He's still our captain.... It's tough. There's not much to say because it's a controversial situation. We just have to wait and let everything play out and see.... He's our brother, and we miss him."
The men's basketball team has clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 54 years by winning the regular-season Ivy League title.
Yale has never won a game in the men's NCAA tournament.In a valiant effort to rethink the ubiquitous refrigerator -- which has seen few design changes since the invention of freon fridges in the 1930's -- Russian designer Yuriy Dmitriev has unveiled a fresh-looking, gel-filled appliance of the future. His Bio Robot Refrigerator utilizes a special gel-like substance that suspends and cools food once inserted. Dmitriev's design was a finalist in the Electrolux Design Lab competition, which challenges entrants with the task of redesigning modern appliances for the future.
The Bio Robot Refrigerator mounts on a wall — Dmitriev points out it can be mounted horizontally, vertically or even on the ceiling. The fridge does not have a motor or other traditional technology like most refrigerators, — the gel does all the work — so, 90% of the appliance is actual usable space. To use the fridge you basically shove food into it’s biopolymer gel — which has no odor and is not sticky — and it is suspended and cooled until you need it again.
Dmitriev notes that the cooling agents are the “bio robots” inherent in the gel that use luminescence — light generated in cold temperatures — to preserve food. Although this sounds super techy and fun, Dmitriev doesn’t really explain how it’s going to work, so we’re a little skeptical of the Bio Robot Refrigerator becoming a reality someday.
Viability aside, the fridge is definitely a huge step forward in terms of rethinking the design of one of our most-used appliances. Probably the best thing about this concept machine is that it uses zero energy for cooling — it just needs energy for it’s little control pad. Compared to the typical modern fridge, which uses about 8% of a household’s energy, this nifty-looking gadget of the future could cut our energy use significantly.In HateSong, we ask our favorite musicians, writers, comedians, actors, and so forth to expound on the one song they hate most in the world.
The hater: Anthony Jeselnik’s Comedy Central show, The Jeselnik Offensive, combines the late-night format with the uncensored feel of a podcast panel show. With guests such as Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Nick Kroll, Amy Schumer, Kristen Schaal, and many others joining him each week, Jeselnik presides over ridiculous news stories and helps to viciously pick them apart. In a segment called “Defending Your Tweet,” he reads a tweet written by a panel member and forces them to defend it—a surprisingly funny commentary on the permanence of a fickle medium. It’s the blackest version of a talk show to come along in years. The second season of The Jeselnik Offensive premières July 9.
Advertisement
The hated: Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” (1994)
Anthony Jeselnik: You know, I read The A.V. Club a lot, and as soon as I saw the HateSong thing, I immediately thought, “Oh my God, ‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden.” And then I got really bummed last night because I had to listen to it and watch the video again, and it’s… the worst song in the world.
Advertisement
The A.V. Club: Do you remember the first time you heard it?
AJ: I guarantee I was a kid… it came out in what, 1994?
AVC: Yeah, it was May 1994.
AJ: It was toward the end of MTV’s heyday, when people would just watch videos all the time, and they played the bejeezus out of “Black Hole Sun.” They tried to make it the hit of the summer, and I guess it was, but I just remember that video and it just being played constantly. The video is awful.
Advertisement
AVC: The video makes no sense at all.
AJ: No sense, and it’s like someone who worked on that video discovered that they could make people’s eyes and mouths bigger and thought they were James Cameron doing Terminator 2 and just threw it everywhere. It’s awful, just aggressively boring, annoying, and uncomfortable.
AVC: After the song became a huge hit, Chris Cornell said that he’d written it in about 15 minutes.
Advertisement
AJ: I totally believe that. I don’t believe that Soundgarden likes that song. Like, I remember Eminem once said that he knew his song “My Name Is” was going to be a huge hit because the first time he heard it he was annoyed. It’s something about an annoying song that just grabs onto people. But I don’t think that anyone likes “Black Hole Sun.” I’ve never heard of anyone who likes it. I don’t understand why it gets played so much. It’s become a summer jam, and it’s not a summer song at all.
AVC: Kim Thayil called it the “Dream On” of their set.
AJ: But I like “Dream On”—I fucking love that song. Every key of this song is designed to annoy. It’s aggressively annoying. The pacing of it—it’s over five minutes long, which is inexcusable. It should be two minutes, then maybe I wouldn’t hate it so much, but it’s the one song where every time it comes on the radio I will dive for the dial and change it.
Advertisement
AVC: There’s a story in New York Times Magazine about Jason Everman, who got kicked out of Nirvana and then Soundgarden, and ended up as a Special Forces soldier.
AJ: Yeah, I heard about that.
AVC: Getting kicked out of Nirvana is one thing, but getting kicked out of Soundgarden sounds like a blessing in disguise.
Advertisement
AJ: Absolutely, maybe he wasn’t ugly enough to fit in with the rest of the band and they had to get rid of him, and then he had to go to war to get “Black Hole Sun” out of his head.
AVC: Did the song get progressively more annoying to you as it went on, or was it just immediately something you hated?
AJ: I never would’ve thought about it again, the first time I heard of it, except they just played it all the time. It’s almost Pavlovian, you just hear the keys start to come up and hear him start to say, “Black hole sun, won’t you come” over and over again, and it’s this malaise that infects your brain. I think the more I hear it, the worse it is. The first time I heard it, if I’d never heard it again, I would never think of it. It’s just a bad song that got way overplayed and it’s still overplayed. It’s the one song I’ll hear all the time, still.
AVC: It’s on alt-rock radio all the time.
AJ: It crosses all barriers, and it sucks every time.
AVC: Cornell called the lyrics “the closest to just playing with words for words’ sake” of anything he’s written. And reading them now, that makes sense.
AJ: Absolutely, they’re completely nonsensical and—I don’t know a lot about music, but the tune is terrible. If you just heard the instrumental version, you’d want to kill yourself. And when you hear the words, the lyrics are brutal, and the way he sings them. If you watch the video, look at the band while they’re playing the song. They have the look on their faces that everyone has when they listen to the song, of just pure unadulterated boredom and annoyance.
Advertisement
AVC: That video is particularly abysmal.
AJ: It’s just trying too hard. I don’t know what they were doing, if they were trying to make a commentary on something about people in the suburbs, but every character is annoying in their own way, they all have this dumb look on their faces. It’s like, “Okay, you’re chopping up a fish, or you’re combing your hair,” but they do it as hard as they can. It’s just this slow draw from beginning to end, there’s no story, there’s nothing you could ever enjoy. Every single person in that video sucks, every actor sucks, and the director sucks. Everything about it just sucks.
AVC: It has all those canted-angle shots of the band with those terrible green screen clouds behind them.
AJ: Oh, it’s the worst green screen. And then the black hole shows up. I read a little bit about it, and they said that they had done two versions of the video. One version was kind of lo-fi with a little bit of effect, but then when it started to get a lot of airplay, they did another one with even more stretched-face effects. But you never see one and think, “Oh, that’s cool.” I’ve never reacted so badly to a special effect before, and they use it over and over again.
AVC: Then that black hole starts sucking everything up by the end.
Advertisement
AJ: It looks like someone spilled a Pepsi on a projector, is what it looks like. It just doesn’t look like anything remotely resembling a black hole, or that you would ever be scared of, or that these people somehow deserve whatever fate they’re getting by being pulled into a sun. I assume that’s like the physical embodiment of the experience of listening to “Black Hole Sun”—being yanked out of your life toward a black hole.
AVC: Is it just this Soundgarden song, or do you hate all of them?
AJ: I don’t like Chris Cornell’s voice. Some people are like, “You must not like Eddie Vedder or Scott Weiland,” but I love both those guys. It’s just something about Chris Cornell, that everything he sings sounds awful and the same. He sings everything the same.
Advertisement
AVC: Does that affect your opinion of Audioslave as well, even with the guys from Rage Against The Machine?
AJ: Oh absolutely, Audioslave was ruined for me. I even hate “Spoonman.” But something about “Black Hole Sun” slowed him down enough for maximum atrocity. I hate it. It wasn’t even a question of what to pick. My only fear of doing this segment was that you would say someone else just did “Black Hole Sun,” and then I wouldn’t know what to do.BEIRUT, Lebanon — Even as a United Nations human rights team was investigating the violence in Syria, activists said Tuesday that security forces killed at least five more civilians in an assault on the suburbs of Hama, one of the country’s most restive cities.
The team was sent by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate what it has called “systematic human rights violations” in the government’s attempt to crush five months of protests challenging President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power. Activists said Tuesday that among those killed were three women caught in raids on al-Ghab plain, a stretch of farmland in the northwest.
It was an eventful — if increasingly routine — day in Syria, where the government tried to project an image of control and calm by once again unleashing its security forces even as civilians continued to demonstrate that the use of lethal force could not quell their uprising.
The United Nations says at least 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since the revolt began in mid-March.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
But the government continued to face other pressures as well, which have only mounted in recent weeks since President Obama and other Western leaders called on Mr. Assad to step down. The United States ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, paid a surprise visit to the southern town of Jasem, marking the second time in two months he has visited an area that has been the scene of protests and violence. The visit is likely to enrage the Syrian government, just as his first visit, to Hama, did.THE toast is not so much “slainte” as “l’chaim”. A growing number of Scotch whisky distilleries are having their single malt whisky certified as kosher to tap into the rapidly expanding Jewish whisky drinking market.
While some whisky is naturally kosher, whisky that has matured in wine or sherry casks is not. Instead, some of Scotland’s best-known distilleries are bringing in rabbis to supervise whisky bottlings, which allows them to have malts certified as officially kosher – meaning that they conform to the regulations of kashrut, or Jewish dietary law.
Distilleries now producing kosher-certified whisky include Glenmorangie, Ardbeg, Auchentoshan, Glen Garioch, Bowmore, Glenrothes and Tomintoul. Many of the kosher bottlings are exported to the United States and to Israel, while some are sold to the Jewish community in the UK.
David Margulies, director and owner of London-based kosherwineuk.com, which sells more than 25 single malt kosher-certified whiskies, said: “It is a market which has expanded hugely recently.
“There are more Jewish people drinking whisky than ever before, and some Orthodox people have a problem with whisky that is sherry casked, although not all Jews do. Distilleries don’t want to have this problem so special batches are made supervised by rabbis.”
Hannah Fisher, senior brand manager for the Bowmore and Glen Garioch distilleries, said: “It’s a growing market, and we certainly have a Jewish community of whisky drinkers that ask for kosher products.
“We want to be able to give clear communication of what’s kosher and what’s not. We think it will continue to grow as a market, not least because there are more specialist retailers out there who can sell these tailored products.”
Glen Garioch has just produced a new kosher whisky, Glen Garioch Virgin Oak, which is matured in virgin North American white oak casks.
Although the whisky process is itself kosher, most wine and sherry is not, meaning that, for some Jews, whisky that has matured in a barrel that once contained wine or sherry no longer conforms to Jewish dietary law.
In New York, single malt whisky has become so popular in the Jewish community that it has spawned the Jewish Whisky Company, an independent bottling company that sells Scottish malts including Glen Moray, Laphroaig, Ben-Riach and Arran.
“We want to cater to the Jewish market in a way that nobody has before,” said founder Joshua Hatton, who also runs an annual whisky festival in New York City called Whisky Jewbilee.
“With a focus on kosher-keeping Jews to ensure their dietary needsare met, we always maintain two-thirds of our line to be ex-bourbon matured whisky which is kosher by nature. Furthermore, as a Jewish-owned company, we follow the laws of Pesach [Passover], ‘selling’ our grain-based goods for an eight-day period in the spring before purchasing them back afterwards.”
He added: “There are a lot of ins and outs when it comes to Halachah [Jewish law] and we’re making sure to follow them so that our kosher- keeping brothers and sisters know we have their backs.”
In Israel, whisky has become so popular that its first single malt whisky distillery is currently under construction. The Milk and Honey Distillery, which promises to produce a kosher “Speyside/Highland inspired single malt”, will use waters from the Holy Land and is being created under the eye of Scottish master distiller Dr Jim Swan.
Duncan Baldwin, brand development director at Tomintoul distillery, which produces a number of kosher-certified whiskies including the 14-year-old Tomintoul Kosher Portwood, said that it was a way of expanding the whisky’s audience.
“Some of the Tomintoul range has been classified as kosher and ratified, and we just think that by doing that we allow ourselves the opportunity to serve a wider audience than would have been otherwise,” he said. “America is an important market and they serve a big Jewish community. Having kosher-certified bottlings allows those who strictly follow the Jewish faith the opportunity to try our whiskies.”
Margulies said he thought it would continue to be a lucrative avenue for whisky distillers. “I anticipate the market will continue to boom, and more distilleries will start producing kosher-certified whisky. It opens up an extra market for whisky distilleries, and the Jewish market are big spenders and they have some cash, so why not?”
However Hatton said that some Jews believe that kosher certification is not necessary.
“As the Jewish Whisky Company, we remain respectful to those that have concerns regarding ex-sherry/other ex-wine casks. However, we align ourselves with many Scottish rabbis that deem all whisky to be kosher by nature regardless of cask type used in the maturation process,” he said. “Because of this, we will not steer clear of bottling ex-sherry/other ex-wine cask matured whiskies.”
A Scotch Whisky Association spokeswoman said: “We welcome interest from Jewish consumers and many Scotch whisky brands are listed as meeting kashrut dietary rules. Individual companies will consider whether or not to pursue kosher certification.”
Twitter: @emmacowingTehran (AFP) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard said it has brought down an Israeli stealth drone above the Natanz uranium enrichment site in the centre of the country.
"A spy drone of the Zionist regime (Israel) was brought down by a missile... This stealth drone was trying to approach the Natanz nuclear zone," the corps said in a statement on its official website sepahnews.com.
"This act demonstrates a new adventurism by the Zionist regime... The Revolutionary Guard and the other armed forces reserve the right to respond to this act," the statement added.
An Israeli spokesman told AFP in Jerusalem on Sunday that the military does "not address foreign media reports".
Natanz is Iran's main uranium enrichment site, housing more than 16,000 centrifuges. Around 3,000 more are at the Fordo plant, buried inside a mountain and hard to destroy.
Israel has often threatened to attack Iranian nuclear installations.
Iran and the P5+1 powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- reached a six-month interim agreement under which Iran suspended part of its nuclear activities in return for a partial lifting of international sanctions.
In July that deal was extended by four months until November 24 to give the two sides more time to negotiate a final accord aimed at ending 10 years of tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.
The sides remain split on how much uranium enrichment Iran should be allowed to carry out.
Washington wants Tehran to slash its programme by three-quarters, but Iran wants to expand enrichment ten-fold by 2021, chiefly to produce fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Israel, a sworn enemy of Iran, opposes any agreement allowing Tehran to keep part of its uranium enrichment programme, saying Iran could use the material to make an atomic bomb.
Iran has consistently denied wanting to make nuclear weapons.Google's very hot on the whole web apps topic, with it promoting things like Chrome Apps on both Chrome OS and Android, as well as things like Instant Apps, introduced earlier this year at I/O. Well, it seems like Google is preparing another assault, this time with 'Progressive Web Apps,' a way to make web apps more powerful and useful to end users, plus make it easier for developers to put them together.
A Progressive Web App is a powerful web application that can be used anywhere, on any OS. As you use the app more and more, it gradually will get more powerful. The app loads quickly, can send push notifications, and if you add it to your Android homescreen through Chrome, it will act like a'real' app, in full screen with no browser chrome.
However, Progressive Web Apps also have an extra special use on Android: they can be packaged into WebAPKs. This gives Progressive Web Apps more integration with the core Android OS, making them feel very much like native apps; fast, fluid, and with the same material UI. This is achieved by the app being packaged into said WebAPK, which can be placed on the homescreen with an icon and name. WebAPKs also have greater permission abilities than standard Progressive Web Apps, and use their allocated resources more effectively.
You can test Progressive Web Apps in Chrome 47 or later (the current stable version is 52); Google's sample is a simple Weather application. WebAPKs, however, are only available in the latest, off-the-trunk Chromium builds, which you can grab here.Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is out today and the reviews are starting to come in. Is it the saviour of the Call of Duty franchise?
Advanced Warfare is the first Call of Duty game to benefit from Activision’s three-year development cycle. The game is developed by Sledgehammer Games, the studio that co-developed Modern Warfare 3. Sledgehammer Games is made up of ex-Visceral employees, the team that worked on the first Dead Space game. Advanced Warfare will be running on a new engine and will feature motion-capture tech that’s being used in the production of Avatar 2.
The singleplayer campaign follows Mitchell (Troy Baker), an ex-US Marine who joins Atlas, a private military corporation lead by Will Irons (Kevin Spacey). Mitchell will use the high-tech exoskeleton suit throughout the game, which is one of the main gameplay features.
Multiplayer borrows the same Exo Suit abilities found in singleplayer. Things like boost-jump, boost-dodge, and double-jump are all in there. Popular modes like Team Deathmatch, Search & Destroy, Capture the Flag, and Kill Confirmed are making a return. New modes like Momentum and Uplink will be debuting with Advanced Warfare.
Polygon – 9/10
Videogamer – 8/10
Joystiq – 4/5
Gamespot – 8/10
ShopTo – no score
IGN – review in progress
Eurogamer.de – 8/10
GameStar – 8.4/10
GameInformer – 9/10
Metro – 8/10
GameReactor – 8/10
GameTrailers.com – 8.7/10
God is a Geek – 8/10
Let us know in the comments below if we missed a score and we’ll add when we get a moment.
Advanced Warfare is out starting Monday November 3 for the Day Zero edition and November 4 for the regular version.I was 13 years old in October 1991. That was when a book called The Dragon Reborn, by a guy called Robert Jordan changed my life. I saw it. I bought it (and the two prior volumes) and thus began my love affair with The Wheel of Time.
Fast-forward almost 22 years. Last week, I finished a complete re-read of the first 13 books in the series via the excellent audiobooks read by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. And then I began A Memory of Light, the 14th and final book of Robert Jordan’s epic masterwork. The Wheel of Time may have no beginning and no ending, but I can’t help but feel like an important chapter of my life is finally coming to a close.
Back to October ‘91. By that point, I had been riding my bike to the local bookshop for at least a couple years. Left out of the driveway, right through a hole in a school fence, left across a field, through another hole, and straight across the deserted back lot of an old shopping center. It took about five minutes. I’d spend what felt like hours in the fantasy section. Looking back on those solo excursions—often with nary a dime in my pocket, but with plenty of time on my hands—I can appreciate how they altered the arc of my life. I already loved reading, true. But the time spent huddled in the back corner of that garish white outbuilding in the middle of a dying suburban shopping center cemented my love of three things: books, writing, and fantasy.
The fantasy/sci-fi section of a bookstore was an amazing place in the early 1990s. TSR was at its zenith. There were more Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels than you could count. D&D manuals were everywhere. Eddings was my guy, along with Weis, Hickman and Richard A. Knaak. Larry Elmore’s art was, as far as I was concerned, the only art. Anne McCaffery was there on the shelf, but her dragons looked too safe for my tastes. Tad Williams wrote a trilogy about a chair made of dragon bones, swords forged from the nails of a crucified messiah, and a redheaded oaf with destiny. Classics by Tolkien, Adams, Pratchett and Herbert filled the shelves, packaged and repackaged for any and all tastes. A leather-bound Lord of the Rings omnibus with beautiful gold inlay? Yours for $99.99. A Dune Chronicles paperback box set? $39.95, young man, but don’t waste your money—just read the first three. And looming over it all were trade paperbacks of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, peering down from the ‘employee recommendation’ end caps, murmuring, “you’re not ready…yet,” in a seductive whisper.
There was plenty to choose from. And to this day, I’m not sure if I chose Jordan or if Jordan chose me. I devoured those first three books in a matter of days. And then, when I finished, I waited. And time passed.
For the next three years, Jordan released a new volume every fall. I’d re-read the whole thing before every new book came out. It is an honor I’ve bestowed upon exactly two series—The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice And Fire. Much like Martin’s epic, The Wheel of Time demands to be read as a whole. It was an investment of time, even then, when time was plentiful. As later volumes were released—through college, law school and into my nascent adulthood, the re-reads became tougher to complete. But as my reading slowed, so did Jordan’s writing. Gaps between books became longer. The books themselves covered less ground. But the Wheel kept turning.
The series and I evolved together over the years. As I aged, my perspective shifted, as perspectives do. And it seemed to me Jordan’s writing changed as well. How could it not? The series matured in tone, in content. But the changes weren’t jarring. They were a natural progression. It isn’t often that one literally grows up with a set of characters, but that is what happened with Rand, Perrin and Mat.
Robert Jordan passed away on my birthday in 2007, nearly two years after the release of Knife of Dreams, the 11th volume in the series. A story moving toward an epic conclusion ground to a halt when the tragedy struck. Would we see it finished? Did anyone know the ending? How horrible, I thought, to devote your life’s work to something and not see it finished. With the advent of the World Wide Web, there were numerous places to discuss, rant, theorize and gnash teeth over the uncertainty of it all. For the fans, The Wheel of Time—and its author—was more than a bunch of books. This community of people—often of wildly divergent viewpoints—was united in its devotion to this series and its creator.
When the announcements came from Harriet and Brandon Sanderson, I breathed a sigh of relief. The wheel would continue to turn. Bittersweet, sure, but evidence of the respect Jordan had for his fans. He knew, even at the end, that the books were as much ours as his. And as much as he wanted it finished, he wanted us to have an ending. He wanted to leave us with something whole. Jordan bequeathed his life’s work to the people that made it possible. It was an act of grace, kindness and respect that spoke to the intimate relationship Jordan had with his fans.
And so the end began. The storm gathered. The Last Battle loomed. Sanderson was able to achieve Jordan’s tone while wisely eschewing mimicry. The story progressed, both on and off the page.
Between that fateful day in 1991 and today, things have changed. The world is a darker place. Scarier. More complicated. Childhood frustrations have given way to adult concerns. Marriage, babies, houses, losing jobs and finding new ones. Births, deaths, illness and injury. These things happened in life and they happened in the books. And through it all, this wonderful series consistently brought me back to being 13 years old, with nothing more important to do than hole up with a book to find out what would happen next.
Twenty-two years is a long time. And in every one of those twenty-two years, I’ve read at least one or two books from The Wheel of Time. During a period when so much changed—both personally and in the larger world—The Wheel of Time was a constant. Knowing that it will soon be over is difficult. How do you come to terms with the end of something that has been with you for so long? The answer, I think, is that you don’t.
Jordan’s books are timeless. New generations will continue to discover The Wheel of Time. They’ll find them in dusty boxes in their parents’ basements. They’ll read them on ereaders and tablets and things still unimagined. They’ll have fresh eyes and no expectations. They’ll have the opportunity to experience fourteen books filled with love, war, heartbreak, honor and redemption. But they won’t have that singular experience that defined the series for me. As it grew, I grew. And that, I think, is why these books are so important.
I’m still not sure how it all ends, but there’s one thing I know for sure—though I’ll soon finish The Wheel of Time, I don’t think it will ever be finished with me.
Check back soon for Zachary’s review of A Memory of Light.
Title image by TheWoollyOne.A major tragedy was averted at MY Hospital in Indore on Tuesday when the oxygen pipe of a patient, Rameshwar, who is admitted in ward 27, caught fire. The 60-year-old was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and was admitted in the intensive care unit a week ago.
According to sources, the patient was a habitual smoker and was trying to light a 'bidi' despite being put on artificial respiration.
When the flame of the 'bidi' came in contact with oxygen, it resulted in the ignition of a huge flame. The face and neck of the patient were severely burnt but luckily the flame did not enter the oxygen pipe.
“A major tragedy was averted. If the flame would have entered the pipe, the entire oxygen line could have burst. We have a central line for the supply of oxygen and it could have led to a major disaster,” said a nurse on condition of anonymity.
Dr AD Bhatnagar, superintendent, MY Hospital said he had no clue about the incident as he is on leave. The doctor-in-charge Dr Sunil Narang said, “The patient received burn injuries and is being treated. The pipe caught fire because it came in contact with the flame." According to nurses, he was smoking with his face covered under a blanket.
The fact that a patient was able to smuggle cigarettes inside a ward without being caught has again put a question mark on the security at the hospital.
First Published: Mar 24, 2015 17:05 ISTTrump motioned to the gallery of magazine covers on the wall next to him, which included an issue of Playboy from 1990 (‘‘And that’s when it was really Playboy’’) and another of Trump on the front of The New York Times Magazine in 1984. ‘‘I’ve had much more than 15 minutes of fame, that’s for sure,’’ he said. Trump can be hyper-solicitous of the press. His orbit is largely free of handlers and is very much his own production, down to his tweets — which he types or dictates himself. I asked Trump if his campaign conducted focus groups. I knew what his answer would be but asked anyway. ‘‘I do focus groups,’’ he said, pressing both thumbs against his forehead, ‘‘right here.’’
Getting close to Trump is nothing like the teeth-pulling exercise that it can be to get any meaningful exposure to a candidate like, say, Hillary Clinton. This is a seductive departure in general for political reporters |
.
It's very early to call the organization's decision to put him in the middle a success. He has yet to face more challenging matchups. However, it's hard to not get excited at the prospect of having someone effective at turning defence into offence beside Pacioretty, and seeing on a regular basis some of the plays the first line managed on Saturday night.Image: Shutterstock
When Dr. Evelyn Figueroa became a doctor in 1999, very few women were opting for IUDs, the little T-shaped birth control devices inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy.
The University of Illinois family medicine physician placed, she guesses, just eight of them in the span of three years. Now that IUDs are the hot, not-so-new thing—fueled by personal essays and advocates—she inserts about 12 every month, and has worked with thousands of patients who have them. Her Chicago clinic speaks to the national trend: The rate of IUDs has doubled in the last decade.
And that new frontier has its own new frontier: new science might give the average woman more power than ever to insert and remove IUDs.
Just two months ago, a group of public health researchers in India teamed up with Stanford University to pilot test a device that would make inserting an IUD a simpler process. They tested it on postpartum women with health providers who had no former experience inserting IUDs. (This process was closely monitored.) They concluded that no only was it safe, but that the device might even reduce risk of infection compared to normal techniques.
The team's new design is on the bottom. Image: GHSP
This could mean extended access to millions of women who can't get to licensed gynecologists or family doctors for contraception, or pay for their services.
"If there isn't access, people are going to make their own access," said Figueroa, who was not involved with the study.
She said the risks of inserting IUDs are not high. One in 1000 women are at risk for a perforated uterus during the procedure, when it's done by a trained medical provider. And that risk decreases with experience, so a controlled medical setting is usually the safest.
But in areas where women don't have access to contraception, Figueroa said IUD placement would still be much safer than an unwanted pregnancy and its consequences.
Meanwhile, women are already removing their IUDs at home without a doctor's help. There are tutorials on YouTube and multiple threads on parenting forums of women who have removed their own device or had a partner pull it out for them. The reasons they do it vary — from people who think they gained weight, to parents who are ready for a new child.
Dr. Figueroa said her own patients have removed their own IUDs usually by accident, if they've become partially dislodged or if they mistook the IUD strings for tampon strings. But she said self-removal is largely safe—and a sign that more women want to be in control of their reproductive health.
"People who are able to have autonomy in their birth control and not have the doctor regulate them is key."The Secret Sister is the Greek author Fotini Tsalikoglou’s first novel to be translated into English. At just more than 100 pages, it’s really more of a novella, but considering its brevity, its scope is really quite amazing.
“Eight hours and thirty-five minutes,” the novel begins: the duration of a flight from New York to Athens. The year is 2013 and Jonathan Argyriou, a Manhattan-born Greek-American in his early 30s, is bound for the Greek capital, in what will be his first visit to his family’s homeland. As the plane prepares for take-off, he fancies his absent sister Amalia is strapped into the seat next to him, beginning an imaginary conversation with her that will last the length of the flight and reveal the full story of his family’s troubled past.
In 1922, two sisters, 7-year-old Erasmia and 5-year-old Frosso, flee the Turkish soldiers attacking Smyrna: “In one minute we had to leave, we had to abandon our identity, in one minute what we were had ceased to exist.” They lose their mother in the chaos, but the girls make it to Athens, where they build a home for themselves in New Ionia, a slum suburb settled by refugees.
Eighteen years later, and Europe now ablaze with the Second World War, the newly-wed Frosso sets sail for America with her husband Menelaos, leaving Erasmia behind. But, beset by depression during the crossing, the young bride flings herself over the side of the ship into a watery grave. Just two months after they left, Menelaos returns to Athens a widower, immediately marrying Erasmia in her sister’s place.
The couple safely cross the Atlantic and settle in New York, and after 12 years in this new city, a daughter is born: a baby girl they name Frosso after the beloved they lost. But this kind of repetition is dangerous. The second Frosso grows up haunted by the first; unable to escape a doomed past that’s hers by default. She attempts to break with tradition – takes an American name of her own, calling herself Lale Andersen; names her children without a hint of their Greek origins; children whose father, possibly fathers, she never acknowledges, let alone marries – but ultimately it’s all in vain. A deep, dark misery pervades her life, poisoning everything it touches, and tragedy, once again, lies in store for the Argyrious.
“The story will never stop repeating itself,” his ageing grandmother Erasmia tells Jonathan. “That’s how people are made; it’s human nature not to be able to prevent repetition. That’s what ‘human being’ means: that which cannot prevent repetition.”
I was reminded here of the English philosopher Iris Murdoch’s wonderful novel The Word Child, which tells the story of a man trapped in a nightmare of his own making, haunted by a ghostly repetition of the tragic events that begat his hopeless situation in the first place. Just as Murdoch’s philosophical learning informed her work, so too Tsalikoglou’s work as a psychologist clearly saturates hers. “[A] person is never a single one, but lots of people together,” explains Jonathan knowingly, “and the things people have inside them are many and muddled up, and it’s this ‘lots of people together’ that makes us want one another.”
Another novelist worth mentioning is of course Jeffrey Eugenides: both his 2002 novel Middlesex and The Secret Sister hinge on a bond forged between siblings on the burning quay at Smyrna.
Tsalikoglou is really quite brilliant on the psychology of family secrets. “Each family is fed by its secrets,” her distressed narrator declares. “Like a strangely bulimic climbing vine, the unrevealed secrets embrace the family’s flesh a little tighter each day, until in the end they become one with it. You can’t tell the vine from the flesh. A couple joined for all time, and if you try to pry it apart, you destroy it.” The elegance of her simile no doubt also owes much to Mary Kitroeff’s seamless translation.
The Secret Sister is a mesmerising read; a psychologically rich and haunting study of things “lost in silence” within one family, the individual trials they suffer mirrored and magnified in the larger conflict and hardship suffered by their homeland over the course of the 20th century.
Lucy Scholes is a freelance journalist who lives in London.
The book is available from Amazon
thereview@Thenational.aeEarlier this year, in a sweltering classroom in Delhi, I met a young Indian boy named Ram. His father is a watchman in a government apartment block, and the family live in the building’s garage. But there is no toilet, so Ram, a small, whipsmart and endearingly cheeky boy, must cross two busy highways to get to the overcrowded public toilet in a nearby slum.
Obviously, rather than risk this, Ram and his siblings sometimes do their business in the open near the apartment block, making him one of India’s 564 million people who practise open defecation. Because of this, Ram told me: “They’re throwing us out.” I asked where his family will live instead and he just shrugged.
Now India is growing fast it’s time to update our tired image of the country | Jason Burke Read more
Ram is an example of the idea that children can be active citizens. They earn this right because they can teach us adults things we have forgotten, as with a child’s most common lament: “That’s not fair!” They are right: it has been 25 years since India launched itself on to the path of structural adjustment, and despite media focus on its growth, triumphs and controversial prime minister Narendra Modi, it’s not just Ram who should be saying that there is too much about modern India that is not fair.
Modern India has a massive middle class (the third largest in the world after China and the US), economic growth that makes market economists salivate and the third largest number of billionaires. It also has 250 million people with zero assets. Not even a radio. And, as Caught Short, a new report by WaterAid reveals, it has more stunted children than any other country. Nearly 50 million Indian children are stunted, including Ram. Probably because, like millions of other Indian toddlers, he was constantly exposed to disease carried by faecal particles he encountered when going to the toilet wherever he could.
A single gram of human excrement can contain 10m viruses, 1m bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 worm eggs. Living barefoot and not washing your hands, you’re likely to ingest dangerous bugs with your food and drink, if you have any. Diarrhoea ensues; and any nourishment children do get is washed out by the bugs, stunting their growth and development. Half of all cases of malnutrition are linked to diarrhoea, says WaterAid. If a child experiences five or more cases of diarrhoea before the age of two, he or she may be stunted. Beyond that age, “the effects are largely irreversible”.
Ram’s situation is unfair and immoral, but it’s also uneconomical. Poor sanitation loses India 6.4% of GDP – $53.8bn – according to World Bank calculations. It is now well known that investing a dollar in sanitation can save a government $6-8 in costs: healthcare, mostly, but also days not worked and children whose earning potential is as stunted as their height.
The writer and activist Harsh Mander, author of a searing book on Indian indifference called Looking Away, would give children a fair start (which is the name of a current Unicef India campaign), in the form of a universal social floor. It would cost 10% of GDP and cover an equal school environment, where children of different backgrounds – income, ethnicity or religion – are schooled together. There would be access to basic healthcare, in a country where a quarter of the population fall into poverty because of hospitalisation costs. This is not a fantastical proposition. In 2014, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said that “there’s now overwhelming evidence that [user fees for healthcare] actually worsened health outcomes”. Higher taxes? What an unfashionable notion. Yet India’s tax income is 14% of GDP, one of the lowest among similar nations.
It is common in India to stop at traffic lights and see a young girl with dirty hair and a wide smile gesturing to her mouth; or a boy selling tissues or trinkets. It has also become far too common, on a micro and macro level, for India’s thriving middle class to look away – or worse, to look through. Unicef’s Fair Start campaign highlighted this with a film that used children from marginal communities as actors. It may not seem a sophisticated concept, but it is groundbreaking for one reason: when the film’s wealthy children see poor children begging, or heading off into the bushes to go the toilet, they actually notice them. Unlike the adults, who have learned that windows can be opaque, these children see clearly to the other side of their prosperity and privilege.
Do we have to wait for this generation to grow up before we stop tolerating the current levels of inequality and poverty? No one is asking Indians to look through a looking-glass. Just a window, and to acknowledge that the poverty on the other side is not only unfair and unacceptable, it’s fixable.There can be no more elegant example of the alienation of the modern workplace than the fact that hundreds of millions of employees across the globe spend their lunch hours pretending to be farmers on the internet. With all the breathtaking and transformative power of the web at their fingertips, armies of workers and young people still choose to spend their online hours growing virtual potatoes on badly animated digital fields.
One of the biggest forums for this activity is FarmVille, the online role-playing game made popular through Facebook, whose players tend and trade digital crops and livestock. Almost 100 million people subscribe to the game, which has just announced profits of $500m (£300m) for 2010. I have an account myself, and have spent many happy hours playing on my virtual farm, although my attempts to grow virtual opium were swiftly curtailed by the virtual CIA.
This week, FarmVille's controlling company, Zynga, has begun a major expansion drive, announcing a new deal with Yahoo and marketing its in-game credits in real-world supermarkets. Zynga's stock is predicted to soar, especially after the launch of CityVille, an urban version that runs along the same principles of clunky virtual enterprise. Because of the extraordinary speed with which FarmVille has become popular, it is tempting to regard it as a fad; but this is no isolated phenomenon.
The internet now boasts several massively popular farm-themed video games: from Farmerama to Happy Farm, where 23 million people in China and Taiwan daily tend their digital crops. Altogether, since 2008, the number of regular players of farm-themed online games across the world has ballooned to almost 150 million – 2.5% of the entire human race.
Most video games have obvious escapist themes, allowing players to immerse themselves in fantastical scenarios such as leading dwarf armies or shooting aliens in epic space battles. FarmVille is not really about escaping to a farm – most of the office workers saving their digital coins to buy virtual tractors would panic were they ever to be presented with an actual pig. Perhaps what the sudden popularity of co-operative farming games shows is that, for many modern workers, the idea of owning a piece of land within a friendly community is now just as inconceivable as pulverising zombie invaders in Resident Evil 4.
Farming games tap into a powerful collective wish-fulfilment fantasy: the fantasy of running your own life rather than being a peasant in the neo-feudal hierarchy of corporate serfdom. The precarity and anxiety of modern labour conditions have become more acute during the financial crises of the past two years, and this is precisely the timeframe in which the craze for these online games took off.
The bitter irony, of course, is that FarmVille itself is a neo-feudal state, where rich virtual landowners exploit the free labour of virtual farmhands to make real profits. For all its evocation of rustic utopia, this and other farm simulations are ruthless markets whose exploitation of human emotion is anything but virtual. Real-world gift cards, now available in real-world supermarkets, can buy FarmVille players in-game advantages such as better "equipment" and more "seeds", and, as with many games, some independent speculators have made huge profits by trading online assets and even running gaming sweatshops to boost their profits. The launch of CityVille may simply be the logical next step in the online industrial revolution.
The stated mission of Zynga is to "connect the world through games" – but rather than connecting the world, online farming games unite it in a compliant virtual fantasy of self-determination that displaces real resistance. Alienated workers pay real money to play out a fantasy of having control over the products of their own labour, but the true tragedy is that, even in the jerky bucolic idyll of FarmVille, they are still working for someone else's profit.RALEIGH, NC – Peter Karmanos Jr., Owner and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has hired Don Waddell as President of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment.
“Don is a very experienced and well-respected hockey executive,” said Karmanos. “He will bring a fresh approach to the business side of the Carolina Hurricanes.”
Waddell, 55, comes to Carolina after spending the last three seasons as a professional scout with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Prior to joining the Penguins in January 2012, Waddell was general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers from the team’s founding in 1998, until 2010 when he took the role of team president. Waddell also served as executive vice president and co-chair of the executive committee of the Atlanta Spirit, the parent company of the Thrashers, the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena. He won the Stanley Cup as assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.
Prior to becoming an NHL executive, Waddell helped build and guide two International Hockey League (IHL) franchises in San Diego (1990-95) and Orlando (1995-97) as those clubs’ executive vice president and general manager. While in Orlando, he was vice president of RDV Sports and served on the executive committee that oversaw the NBA’s Orlando Magic, the IHL’s Orlando Solar Bears and the company’s retail and aviation interests. Waddell was twice named IHL executive of the year (1992-93 and 1995-96).
Waddell played four seasons of Division I collegiate hockey from 1976-80 at Northern Michigan University where he majored in business management. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1978, and spent three years with the organization. Waddell played more than nine seasons of professional hockey, spending the final years of his playing career as player/coach of the IHL’s Toledo Goaldiggers (1985-86) and Flint Spirits (1986-88). He also served as head coach of the San Diego Gulls in 1991-92, and was interim head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers on two occasions during his tenure with the club.
A native of Detroit, MI, Waddell has served in several capacities with USA Hockey during the past five decades. In October 2013, he was named international consultant with a special focus on player identification and interface with the U.S. National Junior Team and USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Waddell was the general manager for United States’ teams at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, and the 2001, 2002 and 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Men’s World Championships. As a player, he helped Team USA to the gold medal at the 1983 IIHF World Championship.Nepal, 25 April 2015 was a day of sorrow. An earthquake took place and thousands of people were killed and injured. A day of devastation and grief that will never be forgotten. A tragedy beyond words.
Jai from Blog Oh! Blog has created and released a brand new free WordPress theme called NEPAL dedicated to victims of the Nepal earthquake that occurred on April 25, 2015.
We talked a few days ago and you know me! I wanted to take a closer look at the theme NEPAL.
NEPAL is a beautiful and wonderful theme with an elegant look and feel. The theme is built with Bootstrap, BxSlider, jQuery, FontAwesome making this a flexible and customizable theme. The design is responsive and adaptable meaning the theme will adjust to looking perfect in any devices from small mobile phones, tablets to wide desktop screens. Try to resize the window in the demo.
NEPAL can be used for various purposes and you can configure the home page through the theme options and the custom post sections. The theme features a dedicated home page and blog page section.
It doesn’t matter if you use NEPAL for website types such as aid organizations, fund raising, personal blog or other similar websites. You will get a beautiful designed and functional theme with a great look.
If you want to assign icons to your custom post type called ‘features’ you need to download Icon Meta Box plugin (download link here). Jai also included a sample XML data file in the theme zip file so you can import this and set up the theme for yourself. Features included in Nepal:
Theme options
Responsive and adaptable design
Unique Home/Blog/Single layouts
Parallax Sections
Built with Bootstrap
BxSlider
Blog page
Widgets
Nepal is a colorful and wonderful free WordPress theme with a spacious layout and I promise you can create a great online presence with this theme.Georgia has beaten out North Carolina and other states to become the site of a new $200 million Caterpillar Inc. manufacturing facility, Gov. Nathan Deal and Caterpillar officials announced today.
Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar is the world’s largest construction and mining equipment manufacturer, and the one-million-square-foot plant will produce small tractors and excavators, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Work at the new plant will include major fabrications, paint and final assembly, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The factory, near Athens, Ga., will hire 800 workers initially, growing to a total of 1,400 workers by 2020, Deal said at a press conference at the Georgia Capitol, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Caterpillar officials said the factory will also support an additional 2,800 jobs at suppliers in the US, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Caterpillar’s search for a new facility was fueled largely by a strategic decision to shift production from Japan to a site closer to its large base of customers in North America and Europe, the company said in a statement last fall. The machines are currently made at Caterpillar’s facility in Sagami, Japan.
More from GlobalPost: Caterpillar moving factory from Japan to North America
"The Athens site was selected from among dozens of locations considered due to its proximity to the major ports of Savannah and Charleston, a strong regional base of potential suppliers, a positive and pro-active business climate and a good pool of potential employees with manufacturing experience," Mary Bell, vice president of Caterpillar's Building Construction Products division, said at the press conference today, the Associated Press reported.
It’s not the only recent example of Caterpillar pulling up stakes and moving production across state or national borders in search of optimal business conditions.
On Feb. 3, days after Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed an anti-union, right-to-work bill into law, Caterpillar announced that it would move its Electro-Motive Diesel locomotive plant in London, Ontario, Canada, to Muncie, Ind., the Toronto Star reported. In Canada, Caterpillar had been battling 450 unionized workers who refused to accept a 50 percent pay cut.
More from GlobalPost: Right to work law passed in Indiana over union duesIgor Vasilyevich Kurchatov (Russian: Игорь Васильевич Курчатов; 12 January 1903 – 7 February 1960), was a Soviet nuclear physicist who is widely known as the director of the Soviet atomic bomb project. Along with Georgy Flyorov and Andrei Sakharov, Kurchatov is known as the "father of the Soviet atomic bomb" and, later, "the father of the Soviet Nuclear Missile" for his directorial role in a clandestine Soviet nuclear program formed during World War II in the wake of the USSR's discovery of the Western Allied efforts to develop nuclear weapons. After nine years of covert development, as well as Soviet spies successfully infiltrating the Manhattan Project, the Soviet Union successfully tested its first nuclear weapon, codenamed First Lightning at the Semipalatinsk Test Range in 1949. In 1954 he was awarded the USSR State Prize in physics.
From 1940 onward, Kurchatov worked on and contributed to the advancement of the nuclear weapons program, and later advocated for the peaceful development of nuclear technology. In 1950, Kurchatov contributed in the development of the Hydrogen bomb with Andrei Sakharov who originated this development as Sakharov's Third Idea. Other projects completed under Kurchatov included the installation and development of Soviet Union's first particle accelerator, the Cyclotron, inauguration and establishment of the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the world's first nuclear power plant in Obninsk, and the completion and launching of the Lenin, the first nuclear-powered surface vessel, under his leadership, in 1959.
Biography [ edit ]
Kurchatov in 1926
Kurchatov was born in Simsky Zavod, Ufa Governorate (now the town of Sim, Chelyabinsk Oblast) in the family of a chartered surveyor.[1] He was of Russian ethnicity.[2] After completing Simferopol gymnasium №1, he enrolled at the Physics department of the Crimea State University, earning his doctorate degree in Physics there, under the supervision of Abram Ioffe. Kurchatov also studied at the Polytechnical Institute in Petrograd where he earned his degrees in naval engineering.[1]
After studying Physics and Naval engineering, Kurchatov was a research assistant at the faculty of Physics of the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in Baku.[3] Later he researched under Ioffe at the Physico-Technical Institute on various problems connected with radioactivity. After working in a variety of research laboratories and the Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute in Baku for a year, he came to the Leningrad Institute for Physics and Technology (the Russian abbreviation of this famous institution is LFTI) in 1925.[3] Kurchatov's talent for experimenting and organization was recognized there. His early work was consumed with physics of crystals like dielectric and ferroelectric materials.[3] Kurchatov felt at home with these studies. One of his important results was the discovery of ferroeletric properties of Seignette salt. This discovery earned a degree of doctor of physics and mathematics for him. He was awarded this degree without a dissertation in 1934.[3] In 1932, he received funding for his own nuclear science research team, which built the Soviet Union's first cyclotron particle accelerator in 1939.
Academic research [ edit ]
Between 1931 and 1934 he worked in the Physical department of the Radium Institute (Leningrad) which was headed by Vitaly Khlopin [ru] where Kurchatov was researching as a senior scientist and took part in the creation of Europe's first cyclotron (work was started in 1932, the cyclotron was completed in 1937).
Then to 1943 he worked at the Ioffe Institute with Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov. In that period (by November 1941) they devised a method of demagnetizing ships to protect them from German mines, which was in active use through the end of World War II and thereafter.[4][5][6] Kurchatov's laboratory separated from the Ioffe Institute and moved to Moscow in 1943 for the work on the Soviet atomic bomb project.
In 1932, George Gamow and Lev Mysovskii submitted a draft for consideration by the Academic Council of Radium Institute, which was approved by the Soviet government. Khlopin, under the guidance and direct participation of Igor Kurchatov, Lev Mysovskii and George Gamow, installed the Europe's first cyclotron particle accelerator. Installation was finished in 1937, and the research began to take place on 21 September 1939.[7][8]
Kurchatov and his apprentice Georgy Flyorov discovered the basic ideas of the uranium chain reaction and the nuclear reactor concept in 1939. In 1942 Kurchatov declared: "At breaking up of kernels in a kilogram of uranium, the energy released must be equal to the explosion of 20,000 tons of trotyl." This announcement was practically verified during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Scientific experiments and the Soviets' nuclear project [ edit ]
Kurchatov as employee of the Radium Institute in 1939.
I. V. Kurchatov took part in many scientific experiments through 1933–1940.[3] Together with K.D. Sinel'nikov he started working on the first proton accelerator at the Kharkov Institute for Physics and Technology in 1933.[3] Also that year he headed organizing the committee of the First All- Union Conference on the Atomic Nucleus.[3] Kurchatov studied neutron absorption by the nuclei and discovered nuclear isomerism two years later in 1935.[3] Later in 1935 he held a seminar on neutron physics, while also working with L.V. Mysovskii at the State Radium Institute.[3] In 1937 he investigated resonance neutron absorption by nuclei.[3] Kurchatov started to take part in cyclotron and the development in 1941 jointly with A.I. Alikhanov of the LFTI cyclotron and completed it after World War II.[3] Finally he helped with the discovery of the fission process with O.Hahn and F. Strassman and then they started an in depth investigation of uranium.[3] This investigation brought about determining the number of secondary fission neutrons; isolating uranium-235 as a fissile isotope; and, finally discovering the spontaneous fission of uranium-238 with G.N. Flerov and K.A. Pertzhak.[3] In 1941, the Kurchatov group had joined the ranks of the leading laboratories in Europe and the United States. Then this group started working on chain reactions.[3] Kurchatov was aware of the unique prospects of this new research area and became a member of the Uranium Committee at the Academy of Sciences.[3] V.G. Khlopin headed the Uranium Committee at the Academy of Sciences in 1940 and 1941.[3] This committee wrote to the government arguing that they needed to boost uranium research.[3]
The Soviet's nuclear project under Kurchatov happened in three broad periods. The first phase is from 1935 to 1945, which was the research stage. Then the building of the atomic industry and atomic weapons phase was from 1946 to August 1949. The third stage was the progress of the atomic industry, the creation of hydrogen weapons and the birth of the atomic power generation and the atomic fleet in the Soviet Union from 1950 to 1957.[3]
In the research stage Kurchatov assembled the Ioffe School's physicists.[3] He assembled his own people to enlist the support of the many familiar schools like of the RIAN and the Institute of Chemical Physics, and the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences (known in the Soviet Union as FIAN) to work out physical problems.[3] The physical problems occurring were not being able to obtain nuclear data needed for the startup of a physical reactor; not being able to find a model of nuclear-blast physics; not being able to obtain plutonium in "impulse" microgram quantities; and lastly, not being able to develop a process for obtaining ultrapure graphite and metallic uranium.[3]
The engineering and industrial phase began in early 1945.[3] This phase can be considered phase of the project.[3] It is said that Kurchatov was caught nodding when a new political situation arose after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.[3] The second phase began on 20 August 1945 when the State Defense Committee made the decision to set up a Special Committee, a Technical Board, and the First Main Administration to be put in charge of the implementation of the atomic project.[3] Kurchatov and his team were in charge finding out new problems, at the time, unknown to scientists.[3] This team acted as research supervisors of major engineering projects, which include: the startup of the first physical reactor, Ph (1946); the design, construction, and startup of plants for plutonium production, radiochemical extraction, and metallurgy (Kurchatov, plants A, B, V, Chelyabinsk-40, in 1948 and 1949); the development of a physical reactor and an industrial heavy-water one (Alikhanov, Laboratory no. 3, 1949; OK-180, Chelyabinsk-40, 1951); the development of a manufacturing technology of diffusion separation of uranium-235 and uranium-238 (I.K. Kikoin, plant D-1, Sverdlovsk-65, 1949–1951); the development of industrial mass separators for the electromagnetic separation of isotopes of uranium (L.A. Artsimovich, SU-20, Sverdlovsk- 45, 1950); and, finally, the design calculation, modeling, construction, and production of the first atomic bomb (Khariton, Arzamas-16, 1946–1949).[3] During this industrial phase, Kurchatov's team of engineers, those on construction sites, plant floors, and research laboratories completed these missions within three years in 1942 to 1945 (Gaponov).[3] The results of these missions were the solution to the Soviet's nuclear safety.[3]
Kurchatov's special, outstanding role follows from the USSR Council of Ministers:
Decree no. 5070- PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 66 No. 1 2003 1944ss/op, signed by Stalin (29 October 1949), concerning the award of atomic project participants [13], in which Kurchatov's name tops the list: "In view of his exceptional service to the Soviet Fatherland in the matter of solving the problem of utilization of atomic energy and pursuant to the Council of Ministers Decree no. 626-258, of March 21, 1946, the Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics hereby DECREES: I. 1. KURCHATOV, Igor' Vasil'evich, academician, scientific leader of the atomic reactor and atomic bomb project: to be nom-inated for the title of Hero of Socialist Labor; to be awarded a bonus of 500 000 rubles... "to bestow upon Academician I.V. Kurchatov the title of Laureate of the Stalin Prize First Class; to build... and transfer to Academician I.V. Kurchatov a town house and a dacha....".[3]
The third stage of Kurchatov's work began at the end of 1949.[3] Kurchatov was handling with being a scientific leader of the project to perfect nuclear weapons and create hydrogen weapons and also being a scientist with a vision to build the foundation for the future advance of nuclear science and engineering.[3] The first group of researchers that helped solve the problem to find a unique design of a nuclear-thermonuclear weapon was led by Sakharov Puff in 1953 known as RDS-6 these group members were I.E. Tamm, Z.S. Belenky, V.L. Ginzburg, A.D. Sakharov, Yu.A. Romanov, and I.Ya. Pomeranchuk, V.N. Klimov, N.N. Bogolyubov, and D.V. Shirkov.[3] Later, a joint team headed by Khariton discovered the basic physical principle of modern thermonuclear weapons, radiation implosion, and carried out a successful test in 1955 the team included: Ya.B. Zel'dovich, Yu.A. Trut- nev, and Sakharov.[3] Achieving these scientific discoveries effectively solved the strategic task of securing the Soviet Union's nuclear similarity with the United States.[3] It created a basis to stop the atomic race, both sides started to lean towards political solutions that could lead to the discontinuance of the nuclear race and cessation of nuclear tests, and Kurchatov was also a necessity to that step.[3]
Atom bomb project [ edit ]
Kurchatov in 1940
In 1941, Germany commenced a large-scale military offensive against the Soviet Union under codename Operation Barbarossa. During this time, Kurchatov was leading the research in nuclear physics and was widely known in the Soviet Academy of Sciences for his wide research. Because of the war with Germany and her allies, the Soviet Union did not undertake any serious initiative to start scientific research into nuclear weapons until 1942. In April 1942, Georgii Flerov, who would later become a key figure in the nuclear program, addressed a secret letter to Joseph Stalin pointing out that nothing was being published in the physics journals by Americans, British, or even Germans, on nuclear fission since the year of its discovery in 1939, and that indeed many of the most prominent physicists in Allied countries seemed not to be publishing at all. This academic silence was highly suspicious and Flerov urged Stalin to launch the program with immediate effect as he believed that other nations were already secretly advancing their programmes. In 1943, the NKVD obtained a copy of a secret British report by the MAUD Committee concerning the feasibility of atomic weapons, which led Joseph Stalin to order the commencement of a Soviet nuclear programme (albeit with very limited resources).
Stalin turned to the Soviet Academy of Sciences to find the best administrator to lead the program, and as a result, the Soviet Academy of Sciences chose Kurchatov for his wide experience in nuclear physics. Ioffe recommended Kurchatov to Vyacheslav Molotov who advised Stalin to appoint Kurchatov as the formal director of the nascent Soviet nuclear programme and the development of Soviet nuclear weapons began in the 1940s. Kurchatov switched his research first to protecting shipping from magnetic mines, and later to tank armour, and finally to nuclear physics.
During its formative years, the atomic bomb project remained a relatively low priority until information from spy Klaus Fuchs and later the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki goaded Stalin into action. Stalin ordered Kurchatov to produce a bomb by 1948, and put the ruthless Lavrenty Beria in direct command of the project. The project took over the town of Sarov in the Gorki Oblast (now Nizhny Novgorod Oblast) on the Volga, and renamed it Arzamas-16. The team (which included other prominent Soviet nuclear scientists such as Julii Borisovich Khariton and Yakov Borisovich Zel |
content, suggesting that the words "bisexual" and "gay" are included in it. However, the terms in the list are merely one of the signals they use: since the LGBT-related words affected by the error aren't inherently explicit, Twitter is supposed to look at them alongside other signals to determine if a post should be behind an adult filter.
Twitter has admitted that the list is out of date and still included terms primarily used in non-sensitive contexts. It was definitely a disaster waiting to happen when mixed with its shoddy search implementation. See, the social network allowed tweets with the terms in the list to be marked explicit based on text alone within the search function. So, even if the rest of the tweet that has the word "gay" in it is perfectly wholesome, the post will still get flagged on the results page.
According to the platform's policies, tweets marked as sensitive show up as collapsed link in search results. "When all Tweets containing certain terms were incorrectly collapsed on the photos, video and news search tabs," the company explained, "the search results in those tabs returned an error message indicating that no content was available." To fix its mistake, Twitter has already updated the list to remove terms that shouldn't have been included. It said it's also implementing changes to its system over the next 24 hours to make sure its website doesn't unnecessarily filter LGBT-related posts again.
We've identified an error with search results for certain terms. We apologize for this. We're working quickly to resolve & will update soon. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 5, 2017
2 / As outlined in our media policy, media that may be considered sensitive is collapsed in places such as search results, meaning that images and videos would be presented as a link, not automatically populated. https://t.co/4KYjAPrnM5 — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 7, 2017
4 / Our implementation of this list in search allowed Tweets to be categorized based solely on text, w/out taking other signals into account. Also, the list was out of date, had not been maintained and incorrectly included terms that are primarily used in non-sensitive contexts. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 7, 2017A SEX shop in Spain has caused controversy after trying to get into the Christmas spirit with its dildo nativity scene.
Non Sit Peccatum, based in Toledo, commissioned an artist to paint the figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus onto ceramic dildos, before displaying them in the shop window.
The unique recreation of the iconic biblical scene led to angry outbursts after several people said they were offended.
Shop owner Hector Valdivielso said: “A man with his wife ordered me to remove the offending scene and said that if I didn’t he would remove it himself.”
Valdivielso received so many insults and calls that he had to call the police.
The shop sign was vandalised with the word ‘pecadores’ – sinners – before a group called the Children of the Virgin Mary launched a boycott on the store.
Days later a dozen-strong crowd gathered outside to harass customers.
“It was affecting my business,” said Valdivielso. “Who wants to come to a store like this to hear a sermon?”.
The owner removed the scene from the window and replaced it with a poster asking passersby to vote on whether or not he should replace it, with an overwhelming 78.5% saying he should.
“People asked me not to give in to blackmail,” Valdivielso said. “So it’s going back in the window”.We’re in a “post-factual” world, a phenomenon embraced by the Trump administration from Day One when White House spokespeople blatantly lied to the press and defended their lies by saying they were presenting “alternative facts.”
The good news is that Trump & Company are knowingly evading the truth because they think they can manipulate belief. They do not have the power to change facts, but they can try to author alternative realities for the people. That it is a conscious strategy means it can be identified, called out and resisted.
A second piece of good news: This is an old and known tactic in American politics, especially populism and its black-sheep relative, fascism. There are ways the media can push back.
To this last point, here is how the phenomena was described by a political scientist, Victor C. Ferkiss, in a 1957 paper titled “Populist Influences on American Fascism.” He described how the Populist movement of the 1890s morphed, in part, into domestic fascist movements of the 1930s. Creating an alternative reality was key.
First, they rejected the “elites” and academics. “Cut off from the mainstream of American life, Populists developed not merely their own economics but their own history, and, through intellectual inbreeding, refined and strengthened ancient hatreds. The most significant developments in this process were the break with urban liberalism and the development of intransigent nationalism.”
The national game plan of Trump, presidential aide Steve Bannon and others of the so-called alt-right is pretty clear. Debating how many people were at the Inauguration, denying the validity of unemployment figures; clamping down on the Department of Agriculture, EPA and other agencies from communicating with the outside world or releasing scientific data; propagating a false claim of voter fraud; creating cognitive dissonance between statements and policies — it’s part of a blueprint. It’s not a barrier to governing, it’s a way of governing. Bannon wants the media to “keep its mouth shut” because he wants to tell his story, unhindered.
One difference between now and the 1930s is that the alt-right of that era was a minority with little hold on the levers of power. Now they run the government and include the “leader of the free world.” In the ’30s, domestic populist and fascist threats abounded, but the leaders who were of the greatest threat were on the other side of the oceans.
So the media’s task now is complicated. It has to be able to punch up — challenging and reporting and telling truth to power. And it has to punch down — not literally punching Nazis as in this video — but taking fringe, extremist threats seriously.
Trump’s populist Inauguration speech citing America First was more than a dog-whistle to right-wing extremists. They remember well the rhetoric of the first pre-World War II American First movement, a coalition of economic populists, domestic fascists, Nazi sympathizers, anti-war pacifists, anti-Semites, isolationists, anti-immigration advocates, Depression-weary unemployed, and middle-class white nationalists. The term is being revived for a reason. Populism tends to be a complex, impatient constituency, notoriously difficult to organize and hold together. Creating a new identity and political mythology helps to bind things, for while.
A subset of the domestic movement in the ’30s and ’40s were militant paramilitary groups modeled on Nazi Brown Shirts and Storm Troopers, Mussolini’s Black Shirts, and the Ku Klux Klan. Influential were the German-American Bund, the Silver Shirts and the Klan-like Black Legion. In Hitler’s Germany, the Nazis organized such groups to commit extreme acts — riots, murders, pogroms — the government could deny having anything to do with, catching much of the media in a “he said, she said” dilemma. In the book “Beyond Belief: The American Press & the Coming of the Holocaust 1933-1945,” Deborah Lipstadt documents how the media was flummoxed by Nazi denials, manipulated by German PR and the Nazi insistence on alternative facts. American press coverage too often painted Hitler as a moderating influence in Germany, a buffer against Brown Shirt extremism, a leader trying to protect the Jews for their own good, a man incapable of ordering the outrageous acts reported. Reality, of course, caught up with everyone.
A tricky question for the media: How much attention to give to extreme elements?
When neo-Nazis harassed members of the Jewish community in Whitefish, Montana, this winter, threatening an armed march through the streets in retaliation for local demonstrations outside a building owned by white nationalist Richard Spencer’s mother, the press covered the controversy (an excellent feature about Whitefish by The Stranger’s Eli Sanders is here). Leading the coverage there was ABC Fox Montana. Reporter/anchor David Winter says the station has gotten pushback from viewers, local officials and Whitefish residents who thought the station should have ignored the controversy. Winter says the news organization has thought very carefully about its coverage and has even consulted the Poynter Institute about it. Winter says that after his coverage of Whitefish he received death threats and was trolled by Spencer sympathizers.
The January neo-Nazi march was delayed, though Winter says the city has approved a permit for the march, which might take place in February. In the meantime, Winter’s station has aired a lengthy Skype interview with the march’s neo-Nazi organizer, Andrew Anglin of the Daily Stormer website. Winter says there has been tremendous negative feedback and that people are upset that they’ve given “voice to someone with so much vitriol.” Winter says, “I don’t feel like we’re a mouthpiece for him, but giving people a better understanding of what’s going on in this man’s mind. People don’t understand how these people have such vile thoughts.”
Looking away won’t make fascism go away.
The case of Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos speaking at the University of Washington on Inauguration night was an example of both the importance of and limits of mainstream media coverage. That a demonstrator was shot by another outside the venue understandably took over much of the news coverage. The actual talk by Yiannopoulos seemed to get lost in the shuffle. But social media helped fill the gaps. Reporters who were inside Kane Hall, like Erica C. Barnett, gamely tweeted outrageous, misogynistic nuggets from the speech and later wrote her impressions of Yiannopoulos. She describes him as an “insecure narcissist” whose “flippant misogyny and racism come across as opportunistic and insincere.” Crosscut’s Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz also produced a compelling account.
Yiannopoulos’ talk — or “show” as he called it — was live-streamed on YouTube so those of us who did not attend could watch it and note the audience reactions (lots of laughter and applause). Judge for yourself whether the presentation was worthy of a public university campus, protests and a shooting. Despite Yiannopoulos’ claims at the time that his backers were the victims, the shooter was a gun-toting supporter of his, not a Seattle liberal, and the victim an anti-fascist activist.
I found a local example from 1937 that shows the differences in media coverage of right-wing extremism. That year, the head of the West Coast’s pro-Nazi German-American Bund, Hermann Schwinn, came to speak at the German House on First Hill, a center for German cultural activities. The Seattle Times ran a short notice of the talk as an “anti-communism” lecture. And it was. But it was also a Hitler pep-rally, with Nazi flags, people sieg-heiling and singing Nazi songs in German. Afterward, when two members of the Seattle city council threatened legislation to take away the club’s license to operate, leaders of the German community denied that anything pro-Nazi had taken place. In response to the German Club controversy, the Times ran an uncritical story, “Seattle Germans, Angry, Deny Charges of Pro-Nazi Meeting,” in which club leaders dismissed and ridiculed the idea that the event was pro-Nazi.
But their denials were a lie. While the Times didn’t cover the event, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Jewish Transcript did, which is why we know some of what was said and heard inside the club. When confronted with this evidence, the German Club organizers agreed to no longer hold such events there, and the city council dropped its threat to yank their license. It was later revealed that many club members were well aware of the nature of the event and had debated, even fought, among themselves about Nazified events there.
Extremists groups are difficult to cover, and the media might not take them seriously or might not want to hold a magnifying glass to hate. There’s a fear of “normalizing” extreme views. Scholars still debate whether the pre-war internal fascist threat or Nazi influence was overblown or under-reported.
If sunlight is a great sanitizer, mainstream media organizations shouldn’t shy away from extremist groups and speakers, and they need to find ways to accurately convey the tenor of what is said and done, and how it is being received. Many of the groups on the far right are now operating under a blanket of approval from the very top, where some of their views are embraced, some lightly condemned, and others have been recast into more acceptable language. Still, since fascist tendencies are flowing from the top of the political food chain, it’s more imperative that the empowered fringe be taken seriously.
Those who profess that facts still matter must double down in digging them out, and in cultivating and mobilizing a “constituency” for the truth. This will likely push the mainstream media into uncomfortable zones and circumstances. But they are being given a golden opportunity to prove their worth in a time when old media models and formulas no longer work. Given that a free press is essential to democracy, the challenge for the media is this: If you can’t confront fascism, what are you here for?NEW DELHI: Soon, Aadhaar will be linked to one's driver's licence, said Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday.The minister didn't give a time frame to link the unique identification number with driver's licences.His comment though comes even as the Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether Aadhaar violates privacy, something it plans to do in November.Before ruling on Aadhaar and privacy, the apex court took up the issue of whether privacy is a fundamental right, and last month ruled that it indeed is.So, linking Aadhaar with driver's licences may be on the government's agenda, but it remains to be seen whether it is something that can be carried through."We are planning to link driving licence to Aadhaar. I have had a word with (Union minister Nitin) Gadkari Ji regarding this," said Prasad on Friday at the at Digital Haryana Summit 2017."So digital identity confirms physical identity with the help of digital technology," the minister elaborated.The minister further said "PAN was linked to Aadhaar to stop money laundering".Late last month, the Centre told the Supreme Court it will extend the deadline for mandatory Aadhaar to avail social benefits to December 31 from the earlier September 30.Attorney General KK Venugopal, on the Centre's behalf, made this statement to a Supreme Court bench when petitioners sought an early the top court's last judgment declaring privacy a fundamental right.Louis Jacobs
Bonnie F. Jacobs, a paleobotanist at Southern Methodist University, writes from Ethiopia, where she is studying fossils of ancient plant and animal life. The current field season in the Mush Valley of Ethiopia is financed by a grant to Ellen Currano of Miami University, Ohio, from the National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration.
Monday, Jan. 3
None of us has ever experienced a site like this. Not only are the shales full of leaf fossils, but we have now also found beautiful and important fossil bones, including the tooth of a small mammal and the scapula of an artiodactyl. (This is an order of hoofed animals that are also known as even-toed ungulates — picture a mammal that walks on its tippy-toes, like a gazelle.)
These discoveries mean there is great potential for finding other mammals here, including primates. This site will fill a gap in the record of African vertebrate evolution — there are no others of this age known.
Treats for the paleobotanists include a fossil flower, many seeds, a bean pod with seeds in it and part of a lobed leaf that, when whole, must have been as big as your head (even if you are big-headed). The leaves are quite abundant, so in two days’ work we have already collected more than 300 specimens.
Ellen Currano
In order to get a good sample of leaves for ecological and climate analyses, we collect each locality from a single horizontal level, sub-sampling from at least three places across several lateral meters of outcrop. We repeat this method in several spots in order to understand the ecology of this place across space and time. The thickness of a sampled stratum is five centimeters, which represents a short time interval — probably less than a century. So our samples allow us to “see” the forest, with all its variation, across at least half a kilometer and through perhaps a couple of centuries. Once we understand how many species we have and what they were, we will gain some understanding of the ecology of these communities.
Leaves can also be used to estimate past rainfall — and rainfall seasonality — based on their size. As you probably know, the leaves of plants found in a tropical rain forest are moderately large, while the leaves of plants in desert species tend to be small or even tiny. These correlations can be used to draw inferences about fossil assemblages and past rainfall amounts. The luxury of having a large sample size that includes many species will make for a more reliable estimate.
Among other things, we are also looking at the role that insects played in our ancient plant communities. Ellen Currano, an assistant professor at the University of Miami in Ohio, is an expert in the analysis of insect damage on leaf fossils, and here she is to explain what she’s noticing in Mush Valley:
Because our fossil leaves are so well preserved, I can analyze the insect feeding damage on them. Some of the leaves have holes in them, and I can tell that these holes were made while the plant was alive because there is a rim of thickened tissue surrounding the hole, essentially a scab that formed to protect the wounded area. Because insects are the most common culprits today, I assume that these 22 million-year-old holes were also made by insects.
Another type of feeding damage I have seen here are galls. Galls form when an insect lays an egg within a leaf. This stimulates the plant to create a tumorlike protuberance of new tissue around the egg. The insect hatches, lives within the gall, eats the gall tissue and eventually emerges to continue its life cycle.
Ellen Currano
I study insect feeding damage for three reasons. First, the insect fossil record is patchy. Although there are amazing insect fossils, particularly the ones preserved in amber, they are few and far between. Studying the different types of feeding damage from a fossil leaf site allows me to infer what types of insects lived during times when we have no insect fossils, and how many species there were then.
Second, I am interested in how plant and insect communities respond to climate change. In the middle latitudes, I have found that insect feeding damage increases as temperature increases, most likely because of tropical insects migrating north. But what happens in the tropics, the warmest part of the earth?
Finally, I am looking for clues to solve Darwin’s mystery of why there are so many species of insects. There is particular diversity in the tropics, probably because tropical insects are very specialized feeders, able to eat only a single species of plant. This means that many species of insect tend to be crammed into a region. By studying the types of insect damage and what proportion of the damage was made by specialized feeders, I can determine whether tropical insects were as diverse and specialized 22 million years ago as they are today.I’m not sure how one is supposed to review a book like Guantánamo Diary. It’s not literature; its historical account of a complex episode is subjective; and perhaps a fifth of its contents are redacted. Some of the pages are comically over-censored: a slab of black with only one word left uncut. Page 301 begins “But anyway…” and then there are seven pages of redactions. But even if Guantánamo Diary is not a perfect book, it is a necessary one.
The author is Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian Muslim. In 1988, he won a scholarship to attend college in Germany. He left Europe in 1991 to join al-Qaeda and its fight against the communist government of Afghanistan. Slahi insists that he cut his ties with Islamism after the country was liberated – he returned to Germany, later moved to Canada and finally resettled in Mauritania. In 2000, he was arrested in connection with an attempt to blow up Los Angeles International Airport. These interviews came to naught and he was released. In 2001, he was arrested following 9/11, flown first to Jordan, then to Afghanistan and then, finally, to Guantánamo. He has resided in the Caribbean prison ever since and his release looks unlikely.
Slahi proclaims his innocence. Sometimes, his surprise at what is done to him stretches credulity: this is a man who was present in Afghanistan in the early Nineties during a period of terrible bloodshed, who must have been made aware of how awful humanity can be. Nevertheless, thereafter he may well have come into contact with certain players in the Islamist network but there is no evidence that he consciously assisted them. The case against him is weak and even if it were stronger, the things that Slahi claims were done to him are nothing short of war crimes. They leave one asking what on earth the West is fighting for.
Slahi was frozen, intimidated, forced to drink seawater, starved, isolated, sexually humiliated and made to endure threats made against his family. “All the guards were masked with Halloween-like masks, and so were the Medics,” he writes in one chapter. Sometimes there was too little food. “And then it was the opposite extreme: I was given too much food and a guard came into my cell and forced me to eat all of it.” This was washed down with too much water, to the point when he felt like his abdomen might explode. But he continued to drink as ordered, until he vomited it all up again.
Slahi’s torturers are always shouting, often rude, forever eating. Some are capable of being nice, including someone who reads passages of the Old Testament to keep Slahi entertained. Even towards those who are thoroughly wicked, Slahi professes that he feels no hatred. On the contrary, his behaviour is an example of suffering with good grace. Those who want to understand the Muslim mind would do well to examine how the narrator tries to model himself on Mohammed, the comfort that he takes from prayer, and his spiritual priorities. He is deeply upset at the way that the guards carry a copy of the Koran, throwing it about and showing no respect. To him, it is the literal word of God and a holy object.A motorized skateboard—an idea so bone-headedly simple, it makes you wonder why these things aren't everywhere already.
Turns out, the design problems involved in mounting an adequately powerful motor and its battery onto a slim slab of wood are not easily solved. It took the crew at Boosted Boards several years of experimentation with a series of decreasingly dangerous prototypes to get this particular board rolling.
And roll it does. Twin brushless motors sit at the back, where they spin the rear wheels by means of dual carbon belts—the same kind used in motorcycles and e-bikes. The motors get their juice from a 40-volt lithium ion phosphate battery mounted beneath the front of the board just behind the front trucks. The battery at front is connected to the motor in the back by means of a flat cable that runs the length of the bamboo deck. This makes for a cool visual detail—you can just barely make out a series of longitudinal ridges under the grip tape.
Speed is controlled with a hand-held remote. It has a dead-man trigger under your index finger and a back-to-front, spring-loaded throttle rocker under your thumb. Push the throttle forward to go. Push backwards to slow down and stop. Another neat detail: When you're slowing down, the motor regeneratively charges the battery.
It'll carry at least 250 pounds. I weigh 240, and I felt like the acceleration was pretty good when I tested it. I also had no problems going up and down modest hills. Anyway, it's the deceleration that really takes some getting used to—you learn to bend your knees and lower your center of gravity before engaging the reverse drive. Otherwise, you'll tip off of it. Top speed is 20 mph. There's a governor on it, so it can probably go much faster, but 20 feels pretty damn fast. In most situations, I was comfortable cruising at closer to half that speed. It's not as maneuverable as a regular street-style skateboard—there's no kick tail, so you can't kick-turn. It takes some practice, but it sure is a blast.
The range is roughly six miles, depending on hills and how much of a fat-ass you are. Of course, you can always just push it like a regular longboard, so you can't get stranded when the motor runs out. In all, it's a very fun, freeing vehicle and an excellent way of getting around town if you've got to go a few miles and you're not a bike person (or a Segway person).
It's also pricey. Each board costs $2,000. And that's the other big reason you don't see motorized skateboards everywhere: The good old non-motorized version of the same thing costs about 20 times less. But if want to roll into the battery-powered future, you can pre-order one on the company's website.posted by Moose
ADVERTISING:
Awesomeness is what we need and we need you to tell us why AMD Radeon™ is awesome in the comments below. Make an effort, don´t make it too short as we will be on the hunt for quality answers. Unserious answers will be disregarded as usual. You can write multiple comments, but be sure that spamming the same comment won´t get you places.And of course, creativity will be rewarded as we will not only give out a powerful graphics card but 50 copies of the full version of the brand new BioShock Infinite during the joinDOTA Masters. 25 via the comments and 25 via the bets.We will choose one winner for agraphics card from the comments below but you will also be able to win another via the betting system. Within all people who have completed placing bets on all matches from the joinDOTA Masters today and tomorrow, we will pick the lucky winner at random. So make sure to be there on time to not miss your chance (matches might be created only shortly before they start!).And by the way, everybody planning a purchase of a new graphics card should definitely go to " Never Settle Reloaded ".Now good luck to all participants and enjoy the tournament today and tomorrow!Get the biggest Daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
A mother-of-four was locked up for burgling the home of a friend who suffers from dementia.
Rebecca Kidson, 30, was only caught when security cameras were fitted at the home of the man, who also has a drink problem, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
She was charged with burglary and bailed on condition that she did not return to the house. But she returned four days later, said Noel Philo, prosecuting.
Drug user Kidson, who had 68 previous convictions including burglary, was sent to prison for two year five months.
She was banned for life from contacting the man or visiting the street where he lives.
Judge Nigel Godsmark QC told her: "You had a trouble history and a troubled past. You have been given many opportunities by the courts and face a situation where there is a custodial sentence."
The court heard Kidson took cigarettes and cash from the home of the man who lives in Newark.
She was also involved with a group of people who attacked a woman suspected of having information about another incident.
(Image: Nottinghamshire Police)
In this case, Kidson told her: "Give a statement and you are dead."
The victim was left with a bruise near the left eye and was in fear of a repeat attack, said Mr Philo.
Digby Johnson, who represented Kidson, told the judge she was friends with the burglary victim.
"She did a bit of cleaning, tidying and he started to give her money. Because her drug addiction developed, she accepts she was taking money without his permission.
"She was a regular visitor to the premises. On occasions, she went in when she was not invited in. It is one of the things which has left her most ashamed," said Mr Johnson.
Kidson had "a chaotic lifestyle" but her drug problem was under control. However on Christmas Day, she was bereaved by the death of the man who fathered her four children.
"She was using heroin and crack cocaine and not looking after herself. She was existing rather than living.
"Her remand in custody has been a blessed release, in the context of getting three square meals a day," said Mr Johnson.
Prison could be "a turning point" for Kidson of Yorke Drive, Newark, said Mr Johnson. She plans to move out of the town when freed.
Mr Johnson added: "All her friends and influences in Newark are negative."
Kidson admitted burglary on October 7 and 11; assault by beating; witness intimidation and failing to answer bail.TrueXinjiang.com is a Web site that appeals instantly to the western eye. The site, designed specifically to disseminate a Han-Chinese version of life in the remote autonomous region of Xinjiang, China, is free of many of the displeasing characteristics, such as clutter and endless pop-up ads, found on Chinese Web sites. This English-only site, a subsidiary of Global Times, which is in turn a subsidiary of the Communist Party-sponsored People’s daily, lacks even a Chinese Language version, leading Western viewers to the conclusion that the site is exclusively maintained for them.
TrueXinjiang.com, launched Jul. 13, 2009, less than a week after unrest left 197 dead in the region’s capital Urumqi, features articles about the recent unrest and ensuing judicial aftermath, as well as opinion pieces by unnamed Han residents, glorifying their homeland.
Creators of the Web site describe it in the “about us” feature on the True Xinjiang homepage:
The site is the largest portal on Xinjiang in English language and aims to present everyone a true picture of this autonomous region in Northwest China. Through this portal, aspects of Xinjiang rarely known to the outside world have a chance to highlight their charms. It covers culture, religion, travel and latest developments in Xinjiang with voices from both authorities and individuals.
Information on the “July 5th incident”, in which Xinjiang’s most populace minority, the Uighur, killed 197 Urumqi residents, is in abundance. A column dedicated to news on the unrest sits at the top of the homepage. There’s no lack of information on Rebiya Kadeer either. Kadeer, chairwoman of both the World Uighur Congress and the Uighur American Association, is accused by the Chinese government of orchestrating the violence on Jul. 5 via her home in the Washington, D.C. area. Kadeer denies the charges.
Keeping in line with all other Chinese media, debate as to the nature of Kadeer’s intentions is non-existent in articles at True Xinjiang:
[Kadeer] was colluding with leaders of terrorist, secessionist, extremist, and criminal organizations. She was organizing and plotting activities that aim to split China.
In response to Kadeer’s claim that the Uighur’s situation resembled that of African-Americans before 1955, an article titled “Piercing Through Rabiya’s Veil” seeks to paint a picture of harmony among ethnic minorities:
…in no way have the Uygurs experienced these kinds of things, or any similar discrimination. Anyone who does not believe this can just go around China and will see the Hans and the Uygurs rubbing shoulders with each other, especially in Xinjiang.
Many of the articles at truexinjiang.com, all of which give no credit of authorship, give the reader the sense that Xinjiang is not the region of ethnic tension that Western media have made it out to be. The term ‘Han’ refers to Chinese largest ethnic group. The Han, who make up 92% of the population, dominate most aspects of Chinese society. Often compared to the situation in Tibet, ethnic tension in Xinjiang is commonly attributed to the influx of Han into the region since its formal incorporation into the People’s Republic of China in 1955. Han now compose 40% of the population in Xinjiang, up from less than 10% before 1949.
A shuffling photo display on the True Xinjiang homepage shows China premier Wen Jiabao embracing an elderly Uighur farmer who lost family in an earthquake in 2003. Another photo demonstrates the leisurely demeanor of weekends in Urumqi: two Uighur women pedal a buggy down a park lane.
One columns featured on the site sheds the formal drape of newsworthy information and gives readers a sense of what life in Xinjiang is really like—for Han Chinese, that is. Xinjiang: My Hometown provides a few quick opinion pieces about Han residents’ sense of home in the region—again lacking authorship:
I come from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. But when I told it to my new friends, most of them was very surprising, ‘what? You are from Xinjiang. But you didn't look like a girl who comes from Xinjiang.’ Yes, it is true. Of course, I'm a Han nationality. However, I cannot understand why I must look like a Xinjiang's girl?
Another column, Xinjiang in My Eyes, depicts the region as a safe destination for travel and business in the eyes of foreigners. In this article titled “Japanese Bar Owner: Bar example of Ethnic Unity”, a Japanese bar owners explains how his kitchen is a kettle of inter-ethnic harmony:
‘Our kitchen is a good example of unity. Our Han chefs are learning from Uygur colleagues how to make Uygur dishes while the Han chef is teaching our Uygur staff how to cook Sichuan food. We call that very beneficial,’ said [the bar owner], who said he was attracted by the mixed culture in Urumqi and he is learning the Uygur language.
One feature not to be taken as blatant propaganda is the addressing some hot issues on the minds of Xinjiang residents. The Internet blackout, enacted by the government since the unrest in July, has taken heavy tolls on business in the region. Truexinjiang.com gives voice to the issue, and not necessarily at the behest of the government. Two businessmen describe the inconveniences of running a business without internet access in an article titled “Missing Link”:
‘To carry on my business, I had no choice but to set up a new office in Dunhuang, which is the closest town to Urumqi in Gansu province and has added to my costs. No Internet means no income for me,’ said Li Nan, who sells dried fruit online. ‘Dunhuang has become a holy place for businessmen like me, although it takes 14 hours to get here from Urumqi by train.’
“‘Xinjiang needs the Internet. The region is already less developed (than other parts of the country) and cutting off the Net only make things worse. Imagine how many businesses could be lost because of the ban,’ said Jurat Hamiti, a 30-year-old businessman. ‘The region's economic development is just as important as stopping terrorists.’
An interview with Jiang Zhaoyong, a current affairs commentator based in Beijing, sheds some light on Han-Uighur ethnic tensions:
Undoubtedly, tensions and grudges exist between the two ethnic groups. Each has its own internal identity, and there is an division between the two ethnic groups… In recent decades, the sense of frustration, deprivation and hatred among Uygur is actually caused by China’s development mode, characterized by an overly rapid modernization process and pace of social change.
Yet for a site that claims to represent the reality of the autonomous region, one would expect some editorializing from the native ethnicities’ perspective. Unfortunately truexinjiang.com hasn’t given a voice to the Uighur population, or any other of the 13 native ethnic groups who call the province home. These voices are inseparable from a clear representation of the region.Mr Justice Hedley said the one-year-old was comatose after a “catastrophic accident” and it was “unrealistic” to think his condition would ever improve.
He acknowledged that the baby’s mother and father believed “where there’s life there’s hope” and that their faith compelled them to resist switching off their son’s ventilator.
But while praising the parents’ dignity and moving evidence, the judge went on to say that the preservation of life by medics “cannot be everything”.
“No understanding of life is complete unless it has in it a place for death which comes to each and every human with unfailing inevitability. There is unsurprisingly deep in the human psyche a yearning that, when the end comes, it does so as a 'good death'.
“It is often easier to say what that is not rather than what it is but in this case the contrast is between a death in the arms and presence of parents and a death wired up to machinery and so isolated from all human contact in the course of futile treatment.”
Mr Justice Hedley concluded, having “pondered long and anxiously over this matter all too aware of the gravity of any such decision”, that it was in the baby’s best interests that he could be removed from supported breathing and instead given palliative care.
“My last words must be of profound sympathy to [the parents], whose loss and sorrow can I think only be grasped by those who also have passed through the valley of the shadow of death with their own children.”
In most cases where patients are not expected to recover from brain injuries or disabilities, relatives agree with doctors that life support can be switched off.
But when loved ones disagree, judges can be called upon to decide whether or not their wishes should override those of NHS trusts.
In one High Court case three years ago, the father of a severely disabled baby wanted everything possible done to keep his son alive while his estranged partner supported medics’ view that he had no quality of life. After six days of evidence, the father changed his mind and the baby was allowed to die peacefully.
But in another case, from 2006, a judge ruled that a terminally ill 18-month-old still derived some pleasure from being cared for by his family, and was given the right to be kept alive.
The latest “tragic and difficult” case, decided in the High Court this week, involved the first and only child of a married couple who was born healthy in 2011 but in May suffered a “catastrophic |
who almost made the team out of training camp. He will mature and refine his game much like Max Domi did and look how that turned out. He’ll be in a Coyotes uniform next season.
In Fischer you have a power forward prototype much like Shane Doan. He gets to the net, and knows what to do when he gets there. He may need a couple years to get to the NHL, but when he does watch out.
In Merkley you have a player much in the mold of a Ray Whitney. He had 70 assists last year for Kelowna and looks to be in the NHL in two to three years.
See what I mean? With this much talent there is no reason why the Arizona Coyotes won’t be in the hunt for a CUP by 2021… maybe sooner?Football is a game of strategy, energy and effort. But, when it comes down to it, the old coaching phrase rings true: It’s about who you got.
Recruiting, and in extension, talent, is the name of the game in college football. With that in mind, 247Sports introduces the College Football Team Talent Composite for 2017. The rankings are a way to quantify talent on each FBS roster based on a team’s recruiting results – and if you don’t think that matters, you’re just wrong.
The Top 5: No Real Surprises
Shocker here, but the four of the five most talented teams in the country are the same four teams that sit atop the AP Preseason Top25. Alabama is No. 1, followed by No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 USC. Georgia surged from No. 6 a year ago to fourth. Florida State, a popular ACC pick, sits at fifth.
Alabama has earned seven straight top-ranked recruiting classes, so its place at No. 1 is no surprise. Neither are the Crimson Tide’s results during that period: three national titles, four national title game appearances and seven double-digit win seasons. The Tide has a whopping 18 former five-stars on their roster and totals out at 995.81 points, 13 points better than their 2016 Team Talent Composite score.
A look at the 3-year trend of the Team Talent Composite's Top 10.
Ohio State is not much different. The Buckeyes have recruited at another level since Urban Meyer arrived at the school, and they have a national title, two College Football Playoff appearances and a 61-6 overall record to show for it. The Buckeyes, with total 955.51 points, have more four-star recruits on their roster than anybody (56).
In the three-year history of the Team Talent Composite, the USC Trojans have always been in the top-3. Based on that, they've been underachievers, but things appear to be changing. They won 10 straight games to finish the 2016 season, and quarterback Sam Darnold is a Heisman Trophy favorite. USC has 934 points, a two-point decrease from their 2016 score.
The Bulldogs have 11 former five-star recruits on their roster, more than anybody not named Alabama. Kirby Smart & Co. added three such prospects to their team this offseason.
As for Florida State, the Seminoles grade out with 924.97 points and 10 five-star recruits; the latter mark is more than No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 USC. Despite slipping in the Team Talent Composite rankings, Florida State in fact has a much higher score than it did in 2016 (902.46).
Trending Up
- Mark Richt always recruited well at Georgia, but Kirby Smart showed an ability to do so at a different level last year, inking the nation’s third-ranked class. That group has jumped the Bulldogs to the Top 4 of the overall talent rankings. It's interesting to note that Georgia has three former five-star running backs on its roster (it added De'Andre Swift in 2017), but just two total five-star linemen (DT Trent Thompson and OL Isaiah Wilson).
Scoring two TDs vs. Rice, 2017's No. 1 TE Colby Parksinson is already impressing
- Stanford should be a hard place to recruit to because of its academic rigors. But David Shaw has had no issues acquiring talent. Last year, the Cardinal signed two five-star tackles, the nation’s top-ranked QB and TE to go along with a small but quality group of 14, which incidentally ranked No. 14 overall. With those additions, Stanford’s team talent ranking has jumped from No. 17 to No. 14. Stanford's total points jumped from 778 to 810.
- D.J. Durkin has done some good at Maryland. The Terps reached a bowl a year ago and also signed a Top 25 class. The result? Maryland is now No. 28 in the Team Talent Composite rankings after sitting at No. 34 a year ago.
Trending Down
- There will likely be a more dramatic drop represented next year, but Ole Miss is trending down. It signed the nation’s No. 31 overall class last year, which is a significant drop from what Hugh Freeze did early in his tenure. The Rebels ranked No. 15 a year ago in team talent but sit at No. 17 this season.
- 2016 was a rough year for Michigan State on and off the field, and that’s reflected in the Team Talent Composite. The Spartans signed one of their worst classes in recent memory (36th nationally) and saw a number of talented players booted from the program. The result is a drop from No. 22 to No. 30 in the Team Talent Composite.
Overachievers
- The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten a year ago at No. 20 in the Team Talent Composite ranking. Up incrementally to No. 19 in 2017, the underachiever label won’t last much longer for James Franklin and company. But, at least for now, Penn State is doing more with less compared to its Big Ten East rivals Ohio State (second) and Michigan (seventh).
Few have mastered the "more with less" thing better than Mike Gundy
- Oklahoma State and Oklahoma both belong on this list. But at 37th, which ranks fifth in the Big 12, the Cowboys get the nod. Mike Gundy has shown a penchant for developing talent that fits his system, and that’s very much the case heading into 2017. For instance, James Washington is a preseason All-American. He also ranked as a three-star recruit in the industry rankings (247Sports did peg him as a four-star).
- Washington made the College Football Playoff a year ago, and their team talent ranking slotted them at 25th this year. Chris Peterson lands his share of stud recruits, but he might do more with less than any coach in the country dating back to his Boise State days.
- A shoutout to Louisville. Yes, it helps when you have a Heisman winner under center — and in the College Top247, we do rank Lamar Jackson as the No. 1 player in America. But the Cardinals' 2016 team ranked just 32nd in the Team Talent Composite. Louisville might have finished slow – three straight losses – but this is still a team that won nine games, including a decimation of Florida State.
- Finally, Wisconsin has to make this list. Entering 2017 the Badgers are a trendy pick to win the Big Ten, but they rank just 38th in the Team Talent Composite. Last year, Wisconsin ranked 37th. The Badgers have been to the Big Ten title game four times in six years.
Underachievers
- Despite a Top 10 talent-ranking each year, the Auburn Tigers have won eight or fewer games each of the last three seasons. Can Jarrett Stidham help Gus Malzahn turn things around?
- LSU has national-title level talent at No. 6 overall. But the Tigers also haven’t won more than 10 in a single season since 2011. Ed Orgeron impressed in his interim stint a year ago. Now it’s time to see if he can turn premium ingredients into a championship product.
- And continuing in our stop through the SEC, Georgia has plenty to prove at in its fourth slot. Smart got a bit of a pass in Year 1 as the Bulldogs went 8-5. But with as much talent as they have returning, that type of performance won’t cut it in Year 2.
- Let’s just lump a few other teams together: No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 UCLA and No. 13 Texas. Those three teams have one thing in common from a year ago – a losing record. Teams with as much history and talent as those three shouldn’t have losing seasons. But here we are.A man was sentenced for his role in attacking a CHP officer. Tony Shin reports for the NBC4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. on July 31, 2015 (Published Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015)
A suicidal man who attacked his rescuer was sentenced to prison Friday, nearly three years after stabbing a California Highway Patrol officer in the eye.
Javier Hernandez, 48, was trying to jump off the La Sierra Avenue overpass above the 91 Freeway in 2012 when CHP Officer Dane Norem grabbed his leg to stop him, Riverside County authorities said.
Hernandez pulled out a knife and attacked Norem for about three minutes. The assault nearly left Norem blind.
"I got slashed at first, I got a diagonal cut that came across my face which ultimately popped my eye," Norem said. "I got several stab wounds to my shoulder and a few lacerations to my arm."
2015 Southern California Images in the News
Norem says he continued to hold onto Hernandez, despite being stabbed, because he feared if Hernadez jumped a motorist could have been hurt or killed below.
Three people came to aid Norem, including an off-duty Riverside Police Officer and a San Bernardino County sheriff's sergeant.
Norem was honored for his actions with California's Medal of Valor in 2013. Although he is still recovering, he hopes to resume patrolling within the next few months.
Hernandez apologized to Norem at his sentencing Friday, during which Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michelle Levine also commended the people who helped rescue Norem.
"It was nice that he apologized," Norem said. "And hopefully he meant it. And everyone will move on from here."
Hernandez was sentenced to 18 months to life in prison.Police are searching for a mysterious female jogger who has been terrorizing a Colorado Springs neighborhood with heinous public poops, KKTV reports.
The woman, who local residents have nicknamed "the Mad Pooper," first jogged into town over the summer. At first, she probably seemed innocent enough jogging through the neighborhood, out for some sun and cardio or whatever. But the town soon found that she had much more nefarious, turd-related intentions.
Local homeowner-turned-victim Cathy Budde told KKTV that the jogger has stopped to squat in her lawn roughly once a week since the beginning of August. It was her young children who first caught the woman in the act, prompting Budde to run out and confront her—but the woman allegedly showed no shame, just pride in a poo well done.
"[My kids said], 'There's a lady taking a poop,'" Budde told KKTV. "So I come outside, and I'm like... 'Are you serious? Are you really taking a poop right here in front of my kids!?' She's like, 'Yeah, sorry!'"
The woman ran off that time, but the coils continued to come—and they don't seem to be the product of some bad IBS or GI issue, either. According to the Buddes, there are plenty of public restrooms in the nearby park, but the jogger has opted instead to drop deuces outside their residence or in nearby backyards. She even reportedly brings her own TP, so the poops are definitely premeditated. According to KKTV, the sprinting shitter has even been spotted pinching a loaf behind a nearby Walgreens, instead of taking advantage of the store's actual facilities.
"I put a sign on the wall that's like, Please, I'm begging you, please stop," Budde said. "She ran by it like 15 times yesterday and she still pooped."
Budde has even tried to figure out the woman's exercise/poop schedule, so she can perhaps catch the woman or spray her with a garden hose or whatever one does to stop an adult from shitting on their grass, but the Mad Pooper was too smart for that.
"Two other times we've caught her... [But] she changed up her time a little bit because she knew I was watching."
Budde has turned over video footage of the Mad Pooper to police, in hopes that they can put an end to the turd terror. But police are struggling to grunt out a solution. "It's abnormal, it's not something I've seen in my career," Colorado Springs police sergeant Johnathan Sharketti told KKTV. "It's uncharted territory for me."
Maybe the police should hang up some fliers, since that's worked in the past with problem poopers—or just keep an eye out for a runner who is suspiciously packing a whole lot of Charmin.Since beginning service in 2001, Portland Streetcar has grown steadily into the largest modern streetcar system in the United States. Today, Portland Streetcar provides over 15,000 rides each weekday; that's nearly 5 million rides each year, and over 50 million rides since the system opened.
As our ridership increases, we continue to look for opportunities to improve and expand service.
Better service means changes in three important areas:
Service Improvements: Additional trains and more frequent service Trackway Changes: New switches, turnbacks or relocation of Streetcar tracks Expansion to New Neighborhoods: Streetcar tracks in new communities to support growth in key corridors, consistent with adopted plans
Service Improvements
Improving the frequency of trains is the top priority for managing expected growth in ridership and overcrowding on the system today. In addition to more frequent trains, we're working to add service in the early morning hours to better support the growing number of users who rely on Streetcar to get to and from work.
Expected service improvements over the next few years include:
Added AM Peak service on the NS Line to support commuters in NW Portland and the South Waterfront (scheduled for September 2017). Improved frequency of trains on all lines from 15 minutes, to 12 minutes by 2020, and 10 minutes by 2025.
Each step will require investment in new streetcars, operators and mechanics, and eventually the construction of a new maintenance facility to support the growing fleet.
Portland Streetcar is working to buy five additional streetcars in Fall 2017, with the goal of adding the streetcars to the existing fleet by late 2019 or early 2020.
Trackway Changes
A few minor changes to our existing track are planned to better serve riders. Many of the changes are related to projects occurring around our system as roads are rebuilt, buildings are constructed, or other opportunities for more efficient routes arise.
Some known changes on the horizon include:
Construction of a new turnback at NE Grand & NE Weidler, allowing B Loop streetcars to turn around and continue service as A Loop streetcars during Broadway Bridge lifts, closures, or other special events.
Traffic control changes on NE Grand from E Burnside to NE Davis to improve the reliability on the #6 bus and the B Loop during PM Peak hours.
Reconstruction of the OHSU Plaza station and relocation of tracks at the base of the Aerial Tram during construction of the new SW Bond Ave, planned for 2019 or 2020.
Extension of streetcar tracks on SW Moody Ave to SW Hamilton Ct., coinciding with the construction of Moody south of SW Bancroft on Willamette Shoreline Trolley property.
Replacement of aging shelters and stations with more modern design and customer amenities.
Expansion to New Neighborhoods
Streetcar makes our city a better place to live by complementing transit options like buses and light rail and connecting Portlanders to centers of employment, education, and housing.
City Plans include several possibilities for new lines in areas likely to experience significant growth over the next 20 years. New routes will tie-in to the existing streetcar system and provide direct access to essential services such as education, health care, and jobs.
The priority expansions for Streetcar include new connections to Montgomery Park in NW Portland and to Hollywood Town Center in NE Portland. Streetcar is currently working with neighborhood and community groups to better understand how to meet community needs and address critical issues such as impacts to bus service, parking, housing supply, and affordability.
To request a presentation for your community, or to learn more about the projects please email or call Dan Bower, Executive Director of Portland Streetcar, Inc. at dan.bower@portlandstreetcar.org or 503-869-0820.Swedish media company Modern Times Group have been slowly increasing their eSports market share under the radar. Following the purchase of a 74% share in ESL for €78 million in July they have been busy looking at other ways that they can expand into the growing eSports market.
Less than two weeks ago Swedish tech publication Breakit.se reported that sources had informed them that MTG were looking to purchase DreamHack. Breitbart can now confirm this is true but also that MTG acquired another eSports company that went largely unnoticed.
Sources within DreamHack confirmed that MTG had been in talks to purchase a controlling interest and that the stumbling block was valuation. It is alleged that the company’s new owner, Bernt Ohlén, who acquired the company in dubious circumstances from his own son after having shares temporarily transferred to him during a court case, is holding out for a much bigger payment. “The general consensus is if 74% of ESL is worth €78 million then he feels what we’re being offered doesn’t represent value” one source confirmed.
There is already an existing relationship between MTG and DreamHack after the two companies partnered on the creation of a studio for the production of eSports content in 2013. The operating costs of the studio are reputedly covered solely by MTG, adding another nuance to the negotiations.
However, while people have been talking about the potential of DreamHack and ESL being effectively owned by the same parent company, raising fears of a potential monopoly, another one of MTG’s purchases seems to have gone unreported. Recently Breitbart learned that they had also bought the popular American online league ESEA.
Sources from within ESL confirmed that ESEA had indeed been acquired by MTG, stating that it was a “complete buyout” that would lead to a change in the upper echelons of management and ownership. One source also confirmed that it means that controversial ESEA owner, Eric Thunberg, who has presided over and fueled some of the biggest controversies in the company’s history, will be leaving. They added, “He won’t be missed.”
The makes sense as an existing partnership between ESL and ESEA has been in place since the European company announced that it would be expanding into North America. In March 2014 ESL purchased the agency Esports Services (ESS) which was founded by ESEA’s co-owner Craig Levine. Since then they partnered on their own “super league” that features the best Counter-Strike teams from Europe and the Americas, with $500,000 of prize money handed out over the course of the season.
Industry insiders have speculated what the purchases could mean and the consensus seems to be two-fold. Firstly, that MTG want to ensure that they have a controlling interest in the biggest tournament organisers in the industry for the purposes of ensuring they have content to broadcast. Secondly, that owning these three properties would facilitate the introduction of a global tour that teams could be compelled to compete in ahead of competitor’s tournaments.
Breitbart reached out to MTG and DreamHack for this story, but both chose to decline to comment.Google is expanding its accelerated mobile pages program to the Asia-Pacific region with hopes of reaching another 1 billion people.
Today, Google announced that major Chinese search engines including Baidu and Sogou are joining AMP, bringing around 90 percent of the Chinese search market into the fold of the open-source project. Another newcomer is Yahoo Japan, which has 58 million daily users in Japan. The news comes on the first day of Google’s AMP conference in New York, where hundreds of developers and partners are meeting today and Wednesday.
Google’s open-source AMP program—first announced in October 2015—began as a way to make the mobile web load faster to benefit publishers, advertisers and users. While it launched with news content from publications such as The New York Times and BuzzFeed, the program is quickly expanding to other types of websites, including social media platforms and e-commerce websites.
Along with announcing its major expansion into Asia’s search market, Google is also continued to expand elsewhere. The company said that by second quarter, Tumblr—an early adopter of AMP—will add more than 300 million blogs to the program over the coming weeks.
“I think one of the goals of AMP from the very beginning has been to get the entire tech community to really rally around one way of building accelerated mobile content that works really great for publishers, that lets publishers control their destiny, but lets distributers accelerate it and make platforms feel like this is really native code,” Google vice president of engineering David Besbris told Adweek after his keynote address. “Doing it in an open way, and across a broad coalition of tech companies, distribution companies and publishers—this is really just the long arc of what we’ve been working on since we first started the project.”
Other social networks have already been using AMP for a while, such as Pinterest, which now has more than 1 billion pages using the technology. (According to Pinterest, around 95 percent of Pin pages use AMP; it’s holding the other 5 percent back to monitor the difference between the old and the new.)
“Our primary reason for doing AMP is all about speed,” Sam Meer, an engineer at Pinterest, said this morning in New York. “Faster mobile pages mean more engaged users.”
According to Besbris, one area of expansion in 2017 could be related to e-commerce. For example, Snapdeal, an e-commerce website in India, has been using AMP to boost average daily orders by 52 percent, with a 97 percent increase in daily traffic on listing pages. EBay also came on in 2016 as one of the first e-commerce companies to launch on AMP. In a blog post last September, eBay said it had nearly 15 million products posted to AMP-supported pages.The president of Sierra Leone has been unable to attend a summit in London to discuss the Ebola crisis after his chartered plane experienced technical difficulties before taking off.
Ernest Bai Koroma was due to attend the international conference, organised by the UK and Sierra Leone governments, to discuss how the global community can provide an effective response to the crisis in West Africa.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Development Secretary Justine Greening are also among those taking part in the global event at Lancaster House in central London.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
A Foreign Office spokesman told The Independent: "Unfortunately the President of Sierra Leone is now unable to attend the Defeating Ebola conference.
"The chartered plane he was scheduled to fly on experienced significant technical difficulties prior to take off.
Shape Created with Sketch. See the Ebola outbreak mapped Show all 7 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. See the Ebola outbreak mapped 1/7 25 March 2014 This outbreak of the Ebola virus first emerged in the Guéckédou region of Guinea, at a crossroads with both Liberia and Sierra Leone 2/7 31 March On 31 March the WHO confirmed the outbreak was now international, spreading first into Liberia's northern-most Lofa region 3/7 27 May The virus spread to Sierra Leone at the end of May - just as agencies were hoping the worst was over 4/7 27 July In Sierra Leone the virus boomed, and then it spread to Nigeria when the Liberian diplomat Patrick Sawyer flew from Monrovia to Lagos 5/7 9 August The Nigeria cases sparked fears around the world, and there have now been deaths in Spain and Saudi Arabia involving people who had travelled to West Africa. The numbers of cases continue to rise 6/7 17-20 September In mid-September, Senegal confirmed its first case linked to the Ebola outbreak, a development the WHO described as a top priority emergency. Numbers of cases continued to grow exponentially in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, as experts warned they could number one million by January if not contained 7/7 8 October Two cases of Ebola have now been reported in the US and Europe - the first times the virus has been contracted among health workers outside Africa 1/7 25 March 2014 This outbreak of the Ebola virus first emerged in the Guéckédou region of Guinea, at a crossroads with both Liberia and Sierra Leone 2/7 31 March On 31 March the WHO confirmed the outbreak was now international, spreading first into Liberia's northern-most Lofa region 3/7 27 May The virus spread to Sierra Leone at the end of May - just as agencies were hoping the worst was over 4/7 27 July In Sierra Leone the virus boomed, and then it spread to Nigeria when the Liberian diplomat Patrick Sawyer flew from Monrovia to Lagos 5/7 9 August The Nigeria cases sparked fears around the world, and there have now been deaths in Spain and Saudi Arabia involving people who had travelled to West Africa. The numbers of cases continue to rise 6/7 17-20 September In mid-September, Senegal confirmed its first case linked to the Ebola outbreak, a development the WHO described as a top priority emergency. Numbers of cases continued to grow exponentially in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, as experts warned they could number one million by January if not contained 7/7 8 October Two cases of Ebola have now been reported in the US and Europe - the first times the virus has been contracted among health workers outside Africa
"We are currently exploring alternative ways for the President to participate in the conference."
Government foreign travel advice for Sierra Leone says there are "narrowing commercial options" for flights to the country.
It says British Airways has suspended flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia until December 31 due to the public health situation.
Air France has also suspended flights to Sierra Leone while a number of other airlines have suspended flights to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, the Government's foreign travel advice website says.
Video: Idris Ebla's parents were from Sierra Leone
Experts have warned the outbreak in West Africa has developed at an unprecedented scale.
It has been claimed the current rate of infection stands at 1.7, meaning for every ten people who contract the virus, a further 17 will be infected.
More than 40 British military personnel and aid experts are working in Sierra Leone following a request for assistance from the country's government and the World Health Organisation.
More than 160 NHS staff are also due to travel to Sierra Leone following a call for volunteers to help fight the disease earlier this month.
Experts believe doctors and scientists have a 90-day window to find a medical solution and halt the spread of Ebola.
The death toll from the highly infectious condition, which has spread across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, has reportedly risen to more than 3,000.
Additional reporting by Press Association
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
Subscribe nowAs we have all come to expect, Google tops the web traffic graphs every week for as long as I can remember. But not this week. For the first time Google has been knocked off the top spot by, you guessed it, Facebook.
Facebook has taken the #1 US web traffic slot before, but only for a single day. That occurred at the end of last year on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day, but the week ending March 13th, 2010 is the first time Facebook beat Google for an entire week’s worth of traffic.
In total, Facebook managed 7.07% of all US web traffic, while Google only managed 7.03%. Together they achieve a commanding lead over the competition with a combined share of over 14%.
Read more at Hitwise Intelligence
Matthew’s Opinion
Google is no slouch when it comes to keeping track of everything that happens on the web. Such monitoring will include its own share of web traffic and those of its competitors. With that in mind, Google would have seen this coming, and alarm bells would have been sounding on those three days where Facebook went #1 over Christmas.
What’s interesting about this data is how it potentially ties in to the rushed release of Google Buzz. You can imagine Google’s management team getting together in early January and discussing how to combat the rise of Facebook. They likely had predictions of when Facebook traffic could regularly surpass Google’s own, and formulated a plan to keep ahead.
Was that plan Google Buzz? If it was, then it completely backfired. The fallout from that did Google more harm than good, and Facebook has now managed to steal the top spot. Will Facebook now retain the largest market share? I suspect it will bounce back and forth between the two companies for quite a while.VANCOUVER, BC - Playing their second Major League Soccer match in three days, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3W-2L-2D) defeated Western Conference rivals FC Dallas (3W-3L-1D) 1-0 on Saturday evening.
An early goal from Camilo Sanvezzo led the Blue and White to their first-ever win over the Texas-based outfit and ended Vancouver’s four-match winless streak in the league in front of 18,027 on Bell Pitch at BC Place. The weekend result took Whitecaps FC up to third place in the Western Conference standings and should also provide a boost of confidence, as the ‘Caps now embark on a busy stretch of MLS and Amway Canadian Championship action in the next few weeks.
“I think, first of all, I’m pleased to get the win,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie. “I think it was a hardworking professional performance, and I think that’s what we need to do week in, week out. I felt that against Kansas City, we were a bit too naïve in the way we opened up at times, and after we lost a goal, we opened up a bit too much. Professional soccer isn’t just about chasing the game and leaving yourself wide open, you have to be solid and we got back to that tonight and I think that was, you know, the big reason behind our win. I thought we were fairly comfortable in the game, had a couple good chances on the break, and if that final pass had been just a bit better, it could’ve helped us.”
With a short turnaround from Wednesday’s home defeat to Sporting Kansas City, Rennie made four changes to his side and set them out in a 4-3-3 formation. Jun Marques Davidson and Matt Watson came into midfield for Atiba Harris and John Thorrington, while Camilo and Omar Salgado replaced Davide Chiumiento and Eric Hassli in the Vancouver attack. It was Salgado’s first start since the 2-1 defeat at Colorado Rapids on July 9, 2011.
With the BC Place roof open on an overcast night, Whitecaps FC made a bright start to Saturday’s match, with Camilo having two efforts go wide of the target inside the first 10 minutes. Yet, the Brazilian did not have to wait long to get on the scoresheet.
On 11 minutes, Camilo took a pass from Young-Pyo Lee on the right flank before making an incisive run into the FC Dallas box. With space and time, the South American curled a superb left-footed strike past FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz - who was deputizing for Hoops number one Kevin Hartman - and into the far corner of the net for his second goal of the season.
The early goal prompted a response from the visitors, who applied some good pressure on their Canadian hosts in the first half. Whitecaps FC goalkeeper Joe Cannon saved a Daniel Hernandez free kick on 17 minutes and a low Bruno Guarda shot on 38 minutes. Brek Shea also threatened with two shots wide of goal but Vancouver took their slim advantage into the halftime break.
The second half proved to be a scrappy affair from both sides, but just like the first half, the match had all the hallmarks of a closely-fought Western Conference encounter. Shea drilled a pair of low strikes at Cannon, while a Martin Bonjour header and a Camilo shot from Lee’s cleverly-taken free kick on 72 minutes failed to test Seitz.
Harris and Hassli came on in the late stages to help see the match out for Whitecaps FC, but not before Camilo went close to scoring again. On 75 minutes, Watson did well to beat FC Dallas captain Ugo Ihemelu to a forward ball from Davidson and cut a fine pass back to the Brazilian from the visitors’ byline. Camilo’s first-time shot was well blocked away by Seitz.
Despite a late push from The Hoops, the final whistle from referee Edvin Jurisevic confirmed a third win of the season and a fifth clean sheet of the campaign for Whitecaps FC. For FC Dallas, Saturday’s defeat ended their winning streak at two matches, with all three of their losses this season coming on the road (0W-3L-0D).
Whitecaps FC return to the road to wrap up the month of April, as they visit the Ohio state capital for their lone regular season match-up versus Eastern Conference club Columbus Crew next Saturday. FC Dallas, meanwhile, are back in action on Wednesday when they host Real Salt Lake in another important Western Conference clash.
Budweiser Man of the Match: Camilo Sanvezzo
Scoring Summary:
11' - VAN - Camilo (Young-Pyo Lee)
Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 9 - Dallas 10
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 2 - Dallas 5
Saves: Vancouver 5 - Dallas 1
Fouls: Vancouver 19 - Dallas 11
Offsides: Vancouver 2 - Dallas 3
Corners: Vancouver 4 - Dallas 6
Cautions:
38' - VAN - Gershon Koffie
57' - VAN - Matt Watson
75' - DAL - Blas Perez
90' - DAL - Carlos Rodriguez
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Joe Cannon; 12.Young-Pyo Lee, 15.Martin Bonjour, 6.Jay DeMerit, 3.Jordan Harvey; 28.Gershon Koffie, 27.Jun Marques Davidson, 16.Matt Watson; 7.Sebastien Le Toux, 37.Camilo Sanvezzo (29.Eric Hassli 79'), 17.Omar Salgado (9.Atiba Harris 73')
Substitutes not used: 18.Brad Knighton,, 11.John Thorrington, 19.Carlyle Mitchell, 20.Davide Chiumiento, 23.Long Tan
FC Dallas
18.Chris Seitz, 3.Ugo Ihemelu, 22.Carlos Rodriguez, 14.George John, 17.Zach Loyd, 8.Bruno Guarda (31.Scott Sealy 72'), 2.Daniel Hernandez, 16.Bobby Warshaw (24.Matt Hedges 89'), 20.Brek Shea, 7.Fabian Castillo, 9.Blas Perez
Substitutes not used: 1.Kevin Hartman, 13.Hernan Pertuz, 28.Victor Ulloa, 32.Jonathan Top, 34.Ruben LunaOntario Brewing Awards entries up 50% in 2016
Toronto – Ontario Brewing Awards (OBAs) beer entries increased by 50% in 2016, according to numbers released today by organizers. Participating brewers were up 65%.
600 beers were submitted to this year’s OBAs by 112 Ontario brewers.
“It seems like such a long time ago that we started the Ontario Brewing Awards. It was easy back then – ask for submissions, collect the beer and do the judging in one night. Wow! How things have changed,” says Roger Mittag, organizer. Judging begins this evening, March 16, and resumes March 23.
In 2015, the OBAs received 400 entries from 68 brewers, and 251 beers were submitted by 46 brewers in 2014.
By contrast, a total of 1235 beers were entered into the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards.Copyright by KLFY - All rights reserved
KXAN - AUSTIN (KXAN) — Earlier this year, Mayor Steve Adler took the challenge of finding homes for an estimated 200 homeless veterans.
Adler promised a deadline of Veterans Day and missed it. The new goal is to find homes for the veterans by the new year.
"Homelessness is like the worst. You know what I mean. Being homeless is worse than being in the penitentiary," said Gary Robinson. He served in the Marine Corps. In January he lived in his car. Now, he has an apartment and is graduating from ACC to be an auto-tech. Having a home, he says, made it all possible.
"If I would have been homeless continuing out through my graduation I don't know if I would have made it," said Robinson.
He's a success story in a larger step forward in the mayor's initiative to end veteran homelessness. But it's important not to end here.
"If we declare victory now and people go, hey man I'm done. We're done. Alright let's take a bow. And you have this ongoing, ever unraveling problem." said Richard Troxell from House the Homeless. He says we still need more long-term affordable housing resources for mental health and advocates in the field to identify when new veterans move to Austin.
"Bring that all together, wrap it around these people in such a way that the veterans will stay," said Troxell.
During this process, the mayor said there are two major obstacles. Affordable housing is hard to find in Austin with occupancy rates through the roof. Also finding landlords willing to take city vouchers and rent their property out for $800 or less a month.
Despite the city of Austin's struggle to house all of the homeless veterans, the Texas Homeless Network said homelessness is down across the state |
2011, freebie Instagram became one of the most successful apps ever by clocking more than 30 million users on iOS since its launch in October 2010. Opening up access to Android users – which comprise 49 per cent of the smartphone market with sales of 237.7 million in 2011 – opens up a potential Insta-audience of hundreds of millions.
Judging from their enraged tweets, iPhone hipsters are upset at the influx of newbies because their own Instagram photo streams have become swamped by Android punters excitedly posting dozens of photos of their desks, cats and so on, slowing the app down. As one said on Twitter:
Too many ppl on instagram now! #claustrophobic
Comparing the move to Section 8, the US Housing initiative that brought people on state housing benefits into privately owned properties, PLAY4TEAMIPHONE said:
iPhone instagram: Gated community. It wus a great community until Android instagram: Section Housing #teamiphone
In harsher language, thegame opined:
Fuck them Android "Instagram" users slowing ere'thang the fuck up for the iPhone heads #ThisMeansWar.
Some expressed surprise at the degree to which iPhone users felt affected by the change:
I didn't realise people with androids getting instagram was affecting iPhone users day to day lives so much... Wow.
A Blackberry user commented:
Instagram is not available on Blackberry. Brb crying.
Founded by Stanford grads Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the company has 12 employees and $47.5m in investments. The firm has said it has plans to "experiment" with actually making money.
Combining the human desire to document the cuteness of their pets with a series of colour filters which make the resulting crap photos look good and a constantly streaming photo social network, Instagram seems to have hit the sweet spot in the app market. ®Brand-new 224 Valkyrie, designed specifically for MSR 15 platforms, pushes accuracy envelope to extreme distances.
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Federal Premium’s 224 Valkyrie takes the long-range precision and ballistic performance of the MSR 15 platform to unheard of heights. The results recorded by Federal Premium engineers during the cartridge’s extensive development and testing process speak for themselves. The 224 Valkyrie provides extremely flat trajectories, supersonic velocities at as far as 1,300 yards downrange, and match-grade accuracy.
It offers dramatically improved trajectories over all other MSR 15 cartridges, including the 22 Nosler, 223 Rem. and 6.5 Grendel—with roughly half the recoil of larger cartridges offering comparable ballistics, such as the 6.5 Creedmoor.
224 Valkyrie Built To Go the Distance
Loaded with a selection of high-performance projectiles, the 224 Valkyrie is the new first choice of long-range target shooters and hunters looking to extend the reach of their favorite MSR 15. Plus, even though the new cartridge was designed for gas-driven MSR 15 actions, it’s also extremely effective from bolt guns. All of this is great news for shooters who’ve longed for practical, economical and exceptionally reliable 1,000-plus-yard performance.
The 224 Valkyrie is based on a 30 Rem./6.8 SPC case necked down to.224 caliber. This gives it similar geometry to the 22 Nosler—although the Valkyrie’s ingenious blend of case capacity and ample ogive space, coupled with a highly efficient, heavy-for-caliber.224 projectile, produces downrange exploits the 22 Nosler can’t touch.
It offers up to 127.88 inches less drop and 68.76 inches less wind drift at 1,000 yards than the 223 Rem and other short-action calibers like the 22 Nosler and 6.5 Grendel. Plus, its ballistics are comparable to much larger, harder-kicking calibers like the 6.5 Creedmoor—with as little as half the felt recoil.
To say this cartridge is fast, even at long ranges, is an understatement. Testing conducted by Federal Premium engineers confirms its high-speed capabilities. For example, the new 90-grain Gold Medal Sierra MatchKing produces leaves the muzzle at 2,700 feet per second; it maintains a blistering 1,950 fps pace at 500 yards and 1,268 fps when crossing the 1,000-yard line. In fact, it remains supersonic out to 1,300 yards. Velocities are based on 24-inch test barrels with a 1:7 twist.
“Along with its ballistic benefits, the 224 Valkyrie also lowers the financial barrier of entry into shooting 1,000 yards for fun and competition,” said Federal Premium development engineer Jacob Burns. “Shooters can use the widely available and popular MSR 15 platform with high-performance yet economical ammunition that costs less than traditional long-range rounds like the 6.5 Creedmoor.”
Initial Lineup
Federal Premium’s new cartridge will be initially available in four of its proven product lines, offering serious options for competitors, long-range target shooters, and hunters pursuing varmints up to deer-sized game.
224 Valkyrie 90-grain Gold Medal Sierra MatchKing
Extract the full long-range potential from 224 Valkyrie with the 90-grain Sierra MatchKing. The bullet design has been shot to win more matches than any other, thanks to a uniform jacket that ensures consistent, long-range accuracy, and a sleek boat-tail that maximizes ballistic coefficient.
224 Valkyrie 60-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint
The 224 Valkyrie is built to defeat wind drift and drop, and the 60-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint maximizes these built-in ballistics with a sleek, thin-jacket, polymer-tipped bullet. Its explosive expansion provides a violent energy release on impact for quick kills on varmints and predators.
224 Valkyrie 100-grain Fusion MSR
Virtually every component in Fusion MSR is optimized for peak ballistic performance in modern sporting rifles. New 100-grain 224 Valkyrie extends range even further, offering devastating accuracy and terminal performance on medium game—with half the recoil of cartridges with similar ballistics.
224 Valkyrie 75-grain American Eagle TMJ
Train like never before with 224 Valkyrie and American Eagle rifle. The loads feature Federal brass, clean-burning powder, consistent primers and accurate 75-grain TMJ bullets. They're the ultimate range ammunition for the ultimate MSR 15 cartridge.
Join the Valkyrie Revolution
The easiest way to capitalize on the new cartridge is to purchase a firearm from one of the many gun makers quickly jumping on the 224 Valkyrie bandwagon. You can also purchase a new upper and use with your existing lower.
A gunsmith or other person trained in the art of building MSRs can also make the necessary modifications using a barrel chambered in 224 Valkyrie, 224 Valkyrie headspace gauge, plus a 6.8 SPC bolt head and 6.8 SPC magazine. Consumers can expect to see widespread availability of new guns, uppers, and barrels as the cartridge gains traction in the marketplace. Again, it is recommended that shooters who decide to go the modification route enlist gun-building expertise to complete the transformation.
Shooters can expect full technical specifications for the new round once it is approved by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) in January at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. At that time, information such as chamber specifications and cartridge pressure standards, including SAAMI's maximum average pressure (MAP), proof pressure range and barrel length/twist recommendations will be communicated. Cartridge and chamber dimensions, drawings and diagrams will also be available soon after SAAMI makes the cartridge official.
Reloading data will be available in spring of 2018, when SAAMI releases its load-building specifications. However, reloading die sets will be available from RCBS, and other ammo-building components will also be offered by several popular brands.
Ultimately, Federal Premium’s 224 Valkyrie will unleash a new era of 1,000-yard-plus accuracy and performance for gas-driven MSR 15s and short-action bolt guns, without the hefty recoil and price tag of larger caliber options. Thanks to the continuation of Federal Premium’s 95-year commitment to excellence, shooters can expect best-in-class ballistics, supersonic flight past 1,300 yards (GM224VLK1) and extreme long-range accuracy from this exciting new cartridge. And with the full array of high-performance projectiles available, it’s poised to deliver on virtually every shooter’s needs.McDonald's rips up corporate structure in attempt to regain lost customers Read more
McDonald’s workers will gatecrash the burger company’s shareholder meeting later this month with “the biggest ever protest” demanding an end to “poverty wages” paid to many of its 420,000 staff.
As the company announced plans to turn around its ailing business, Fight for $15, a union-backed protest group, set out plans for a day of protest at the company’s Chicago headquarters.
“Fed up with pay that drives them to rely on public assistance to support their families and angry over the publicity stunt disguised as a wage increase, McDonald’s workers will insist that the fast-food giant include in its turnaround plan a serious investment in the cooks and cashiers who make its billions in profits possible,” Fight for 15 said in a statement on Monday.
The workers, who organised protests in cities across the US last month calling for a $15 an hour minimum wage, said they “would not be coming alone” to McDonald’s annual shareholder meeting on 21 May but would be “armed with 1m signatures from everyday Americans calling on McDonald’s to pay workers $15 an hour and respect their freedom to join together in a union”.
Fight for $15 swells into largest protest by low-wage workers in US history Read more
Adriana Alvarez, one of 101 McDonald’s workers arrested during a protest at McDonald’s shareholder meeting last year, said: “We may not have a seat in the room, but we’re sure that McDonald’s will hear us when we say that its turnaround needs to include investment in and respect for its employees.”
Alvarez, who has worked at McDonald’s for five years, said she is paid so little that she needs food stamps and Medicaid to care for her three-year-old son, Manny.
“I can’t pay my bills and support my son off the poverty wages that I make. That is why I am here fighting for $15 an hour – and union rights,” she said in a video message released on Monday as McDonald’s new chief executive announced his plan to turn around the company, which is rapidly losing customers.
Alvarez said she and her colleagues had decided to gatecrash McDonald’s annual meeting at its headquarters on the outskirts of Chicago because “that’s where they decided what to do with their money.”
“We’ve worked hard and we’ve walked a long path to get here,” she said. “Now it’s time for McDonald’s to make the right choice – to do the right thing for their workers.”
Is there hope for McDonald's? Or are you finished with lovin' it? Read more
As part of his plans to revitalise the company, the new president and CEO, Steve Easterbrook, said on Monday that he was aiming to turn McDonald’s into a “modern, progressive burger company.”
Easterbrook did not directly address the wages McDonald’s pays to its workers in his own video address on Monday, but he did say that McDonald’s needed to be more “progressive” and address the company’s “social values”.
Easterbrook later told the Guardian that being “progressive” meant the company offered “compelling pay” for its staff. He said McDonald’s had made “really purposeful commitments” on pay, training and benefits.
Within weeks of taking over as chief executive earlier this month, Easterbrook announced plans to increase its US staff’s minimum wage to $9.90, from the current average hourly wage of $9.01. The Fight for 15 movement dismissed this as not enough.EUGENE – Sen. Hillary Clinton defended the critical and sometimes harsh exchanges between her presidential campaign and that of rival Barack Obama, saying, “It is not a coronation, it is a contest.”
“I don’t take any of it personally, and I don’t take most of it seriously. That’s what happens in politics,” she said at a rally in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday.
“If you can’t stand the heat, don’t run for president because it’s a really hot kitchen in the White House, I’ll tell you that much,” she said.
Her comments came in response to a young man in the crowd who said he was an Obama supporter. He asked if anything said by her campaign might have hurt the Illinois senator and might merit an apology.
“I think this has been, by and large, one of the most positive and civil campaigns I’ve ever been a part of or know about,” she replied. “For those who are new to politics … it can be eye-opening especially when you choose sides and you’re for one or the other of us, that you can take very personally anything anybody says.”
“Elections are about choices,” she continued. “You’re supposed to present your case, and you’re supposed to critique the other case. That’s what you do in an election. It is not a coronation. It is a contest.”
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage
Photo: Reuters/Rebecca Cook (Clinton supporter at campaign stop in Detroit)About the author
(NewsTarget) Genetically Modified crops (or GM) are genetically modified organisms (GMO) that have been altered to meet a specific profile. They have also been the subject of controversy almost since their introduction two decades ago. A new study pinpoints three variations of GM corn (maize) as being linked to organ damage in mammals.The three varieties in question are Mon 810, Mon 863, and NK 603. The "Mon" is for, you guessed it, Monsanto and the NK is also a Monsanto product, being engineered for herbicide tolerance. The study was conducted by the Committee of Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN) and the Universities of Caen and Rouen in France.The study used the same data that was used by Monsanto to gain approval in several parts of the world. The data was released publicly in 2005 by European authorities when the three GM strains were approved for human consumption in both the U.S. and Europe.Gilles-Eric Seralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen and one of the principals in the study, says that the data "clearly underlines adverse impacts on kidneys and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, as well as different levels of damages to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system."Each of the three strains produced differing amounts of adverse impact, but the impact on vital organs was universal for all three GM crops.The study was completed in December 2009 and appears in the International Journal of Biological Sciences(IJBS). It conforms with and substantiates an earlier study done by CRIIGEN in 2007 on Mon 863.The results of that study were rejected by Monsanto.One controversy many point to when criticizing Monsanto's counter-analysis as well as the governmental acceptance of the GM crops is in the way Monsanto's studies were carried out. Traditionally, when testing drug, pesticide, or other human-ingested items' safety, the standard protocol is to use three different mammalian species.Monsanto used only rats for their studies, but still managed to win GMO approval in at least a dozen countries. Further, the studies were carried out in only 90 day spans, which is not long enough to find most chronic problems.Other problems with Monsanto's studies should have raised more red flags, but they were ignored by the governmental panels put in charge of making the decision to allow the company's genetically modified crops into wide distribution in their countries.The new CRIIGEN study concludes that the raw data makes it clear that all three GMO crops have real problems and should be put under "an immediate ban on the import and export of these GMOs." The study also strongly recommends additional long-term, multi-generational animal feeding studies be done on at least three species to provide truly scientific "data on the acute and chronic toxic effects of GM crops, feed and foods."Resources:1 - de Vendomois JS, Roullier F, Cellier D, Seralini GE. A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health. - Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5:706-726.3 Rejection of the 2007 study on Monsanto's website Aaron Turpen is a professional writer living in Wyoming in the USA. His blogs cover organic/sustainable living and environmental considerations ( AaronsEnvironMental.com ) and the science debunking mainstream medical and proving alternatives ( HiddenHealthScience.com ).Canadian white bread is a style of bread produced or sold by several companies—including Pepperidge Farm, Trader Joes, and J.J. Nissen—that has a heartier texture than the white bread typically found throughout the United States. J.J. Nissen also offers other Canadian-style breads. The term Canadian white bread is not used in Canada; as is the case with the term Canadian bacon, Canadian white is referred to as "white bread" in Canada and is called "Canadian white bread" only when it is exported.
Protein content [ edit ]
Because the Canadian Grain Commission requires relatively high amounts of protein in Canadian wheat, Canadian white flour usually has a protein content of 12-13%.[1][2] This contributes to the hearty consistency of Canadian bread.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
NotesStory highlights Tensions are high on the first anniversary of Libya's revolution
Human rights groups warn that armed militias threaten Libya's stability
A national survey found a lack of trust is prevalent among Libyans
Some Libyans are frustrated with the pace of progress
In Tripoli, "no guns" signs outnumber ones that say, "no smoking."
Khadija Teri made that telling observation in her blog a few days back.
She witnessed men drawing weapons while arguing on the street. "Seeing men shouting, waving guns and pointing them at each other just because of a silly argument is frightening," she wrote.
A year after the start of the Libyan revolution, human rights groups describe a nation of lawless militias who commit crimes with impunity and threaten to destabilize the nation by hindering efforts to rebuild.
Amnesty International said abuses committed by militias amount to war crimes and the monitoring group called on Libyan authorities to rein them in. Otherwise, Amnesty said, the risks Libyans took to demand justice in their homeland, could end up being in vain.
JUST WATCHED Libyan militias 'out of control' Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Libyan militias 'out of control' 04:47
A year ago, Libyans dared to take to the streets of Benghazi, their simmering anger heated to a boil by the arrest of human rights lawyer Fathi Terbil. As many as 2,000 protesters gathered outside of government offices. They chanted slogans against Moammar Gadhafi, the man who had ruled them with a firm grip for four decades.
It was unimaginable then that he could ever be ousted from power. But the Libyans persisted, inspired by their neighbors to the east and west.
They called for a "Day of Rage" on February 17. After that, the protests intensified and spread and eight long months later, after brutal fighting and a NATO air campaign, Gadhafi was defeated.
This week, Libyans could hardly believe a year has passed by.
Since October, when Gadhafi was captured and killed, many aspects of life seem normal. But in important ways, Libya has foundered.
Perhaps the nation is no different than any other that is recovering from trauma and massive upheaval. Frustration is palpable on the streets, as is an unease about what the future might hold.
As Libyans prepare to celebrate their freedom, revolutionary fighters in the capital are on high alert and additional checkpoints have sprouted everywhere.
Ordinary Libyans cling to the optimism that blossomed with the first protests in Benghazi last February. Building a nation after four decades of tyranny is no easy task, they say.
At the main plaza that Gadhafi called Green Square (it's now known as Martyr's Square), revolutionary music blares from cars.
But many still fear former regime loyalists might try to disrupt anniversary celebrations or somehow still destroy the new Libya.
In recent days, text messages have circulated among former regime loyalists calling for their own uprising to "liberate (Tripoli) from the NATO revolution." Videos by what is being self described as the Libyan "resistance" have also emerged on social media sites.
Only 17% of Libyans feel people can be trusted, found an Oxford Research International poll, touted as the first national survey of Libya and startling in some of its revelations.
Consider that only 29% of Libyans said they would prefer to live in a democracy; 35% said they would still prefer rule by a strong leader.
And 16% of the 2,000 Libyans surveyed were ready to resort to violence for political ends. That means 630,000 people are potential fighters, in addition to the 280,000 people who previously picked up a gun.
The revolutionary militias on the streets call themselves their nation's heroes. They are the ones who drove out Gadhafi, after all.
They insist on retaining arms to protect their revolution, especially given that military and police presence is virtually nonexistent.
Mohammed, 28, says Libya's government is weak; its defenses not strong enough.
The nation needs a government that can quickly integrate revolutionary factions under one umbrella; one that can activate a functioning judiciary. Recruit a national army, he says.
Without strong national reconciliation measures, Mohammed fears that Libya will risk civil war.
"I am hoping for the best every day," he says.
But he worries. And is not alone in his fears.
Criticism has been rising of the National Transitional Council and the performance of the interim government.
Many Libyans say they are frustrated with the slow pace of rebuilding, not unusual for a nation almost starting from scratch. But the question is will the Libyan government be able to maintain confidence of its people?
Other Libyans decry the lack of transparency in decision-making and the government's inability to impose authority over the the militias.
Tripoli residents complain of daily cuts in electricity and an ill-equipped health care system.
Some of that frustration has surfaced very publicly.
Last month angry protesters stormed the NTC headquarters in Benghazi and the deputy head of the council, Abdulhafidh Ghoga resigned from his post amid the protests.
Government officials argue that they have inherited a mess left behind from the four decades of Gadhafi rule. They have pleaded for patience.
Anes AlSharif, the former spokesman for the Tripoli Military Council, an umbrella group of the armed factions in the capital, blames the current situation on the lack of leadership by the civilian authority.
"There is a feeling growing that the NTC is not doing enough towards driving this revolution from phase one to phase two in this transitional period," he says.
Libyans have only to look at Egypt to see how prickly the revolutionary journey can be.
"It is a government with no real power and what it really needs is to have a partnership with the guys who are on the ground and make them a part of this state," AlSharif says.
Voters are set to go to the polls at the end of June to pick a national assembly that will be tasked with drafting a constitution.
The goal before was to get rid of Gadhafi. Now, Libya's leaders will have to unify the nation with new goals -- ones that respect the enormous sacrifices of the Libyan people, AlSharif says.
"We need to be faithful to their sacrifices to our country and to... remember the goal of this revolution was not one to get rid of the Gadhafi regime and to create chaos," he says. "This would be a disaster, an ultimate betrayal to our guys who fell in the fight for freedom and to establish an advanced modern state."
The objectives may seem lofty at times, but Friday, Libyans are taking stock in what they have already gained.
"We never believed that this revolution will come and now it's a reality so we feel like we are in a dream," says Minister of Planning Essa Tuwegiart.
Journalist Ramadan Jarbou, however, knows it's very real. He no longer has to dote on each word, consider its consequences. No one bothers him after he publishes an article.
The Benghazi writer erupts in stinging statements about Gadhafi's neglect of Libya. "I can express myself," he says.
And that, he says, was why the revolution was worth it.TPP leak: states give companies the right to repeal nations' laws
A new Wikileaks-published leak from the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty reveals a January 2015 draft "Investment Chapter" of the agreement, where the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms are set out. They allow companies to repeal nations' environmental, health and labor laws.
The ISDS work is led by the USA. Under its terms, a treaty-established tribunal would have the power to overrule national courts, and to award millions from tax-coffers to companies who believe that laws undermine their future profits.
The US Congress is preparing to hand Obama's trade rep fast-track authority to enter into TPP, though the terms of the deal can't be disclosed for at least four years (Congress only just got its first look at the TPP, and the USTR threatened to jail Members if they disclosed its contents to voters).
The TPP Investment Chapter, published today, is dated 20 January 2015. The document is classified and supposed to be kept secret for four years after the entry into force of the TPP agreement or, if no agreement is reached, for four years from the close of the negotiations... The Investment Chapter highlights the intent of the TPP negotiating parties, led by the United States, to increase the power of global corporations by creating a supra-national court, or tribunal, where foreign firms can "sue" states and obtain taxpayer compensation for "expected future profits". These investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) tribunals are designed to overrule the national court systems. ISDS tribunals introduce a mechanism by which multinational corporations can force governments to pay compensation if the tribunal states that a country's laws or policies affect the company's claimed future profits. In return, states hope that multinationals will invest more. Similar mechanisms have already been used. For example, US tobacco company Phillip Morris used one such tribunal to sue Australia (June 2011 – ongoing) for mandating plain packaging of tobacco products on public health grounds; and by the oil giant Chevron against Ecuador in an attempt to evade a multi-billion-dollar compensation ruling for polluting the environment. The threat of future lawsuits chilled environmental and other legislation in Canada after it was sued by pesticide companies in 2008/9. ISDS tribunals are often held in secret, have no appeal mechanism, do not subordinate themselves to human rights laws or the public interest, and have few means by which other affected parties can make representations.
Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) - Investment Chapter [Wikileaks]
EFF Action Center: Tell Congress not to fast-track TPP
(Thanks, JJ!)• ‘Heads of sporting federations deserve special recognition’ • ‘I wonder if corruption fight is continuation of 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids’
Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel prize for his stewardship of Fifa, Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired by the Swiss broadcaster RTS.
On Saturday, at a meeting with Putin in St Petersburg, Blatter said that Fifa, facing a major bribery scandal, had passed a resolution offering full support for holding the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Sepp Blatter says he trusts Russia to host great 2018 World Cup Read more
Russia’s president said of his Fifa counterpart: “We all know the situation developing around Mr Blatter right now. I don’t want to go into details but I don’t believe a word about him being involved in corruption personally,” he said. “I think people like Mr Blatter or the heads of big international sporting federations, or the Olympic Games, deserve special recognition. If there is anyone who deserves the Nobel prize, it’s those people.”
In June, Blatter announced he was standing down following a bribery scandal being investigated by US, Swiss and other law enforcement agencies that plunged Fifa into the worst crisis in its 111-year history. Officials have been indicted, although Blatter himself has not and he denies any misconduct.
The scandal has cast a cloud over the World Cups in Russia and Qatar but Russian officials have dismissed any suggestion they could be stripped of the tournament.
In May, when the scandal broke, Putin criticised the US investigation into Fifa as meddling in matters outside its jurisdiction. He rekindled that criticism in the interview broadcast by RTS and widened it to include Britain, noting that those two countries had bid to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“The way there is this fight against corruption makes me wonder if it isn’t a continuation of the bids for 2018 and 2022.”
An economic crisis has forced cutbacks in Russia’s World Cup preparations but Putin and Fifa officials have said this will not affect Russia’s ability to host the tournament.Donald Trump Jr. Donald (Don) John TrumpConservatives outraged after Facebook deletes former Breitbart editor's account 'in error' Trump Jr.: You'll be shot in 'about two seconds' wearing a MAGA hat in downtown Chicago Omarosa: There's a ‘big red line’ for Trump in Cohen's testimony MORE ripped America's universities and colleges during a speech Thursday in Alabama, blaming college professors for teaching students "how to become an actual fascist."
Speaking at a benefit dinner for Faulkner University, President Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE's eldest son said that statements such as "we need borders" or "our founders were great people" had become hate speech on some college campuses.
"We'll teach you how to pretend to be an anti-fascist and how to become an actual fascist," Trump Jr. said Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump Jr. also attacked "spineless" college administrators and faculty for what he described as a refusal to stand up to demands from student groups.
They "have given up trying to rein in the madness," Trump Jr. said.
Trump Jr. blamed the universities for fostering a political climate that has left the president's supporters afraid to admit that they backed him.
"I was amazed at the people who came up to me and whispered that they were going to vote for my father," Trump Jr. told the crowd.
Such hatred has become "socially acceptable," he added, before mentioning comedian Kathy Griffin's photo with a fake severed head that resembled President Trump.
General admission for the event was $150, and top-level sponsors were able to take a picture with Trump Jr. after the event.
Trump Jr.'s speech was part of a sold-out annual fundraiser for Faulkner University, a private, Christian liberal arts school in Montgomery, Ala. Trump Jr. spoke for about 35 minutes and did not take questions from the audience afterwards.You can absolutely dispute it and take it to court if you wish.
I would urge you to be mindful of the impact that would have on the child, though. You're still going to be married to your wife, and for all intents and purposes you're still going to be a (step?)father to this child. While I can absolutely understand why you would want to make it clear that she had an affair, because that's a damage to your relationship that can be hard to overcome, you're still a significant part of that child's life. Should the biological father of this child contribute to his or her welfare, education, etc.? ABSOLUTELY. He should also probably be given the opportunity to be a part of the child's life!
It's a tough situation. The "guilty" parties -- your wife and the father of the child -- should absolutely take responsibility for the situation. They've created quite the tangled web for themselves, for you, and for the child. But again, please remember the child that is in the middle of this. It would be a terrible thing to grow up with the belief that the man who is essentially your father (by virtue of being married to your mother) doesn't want you. I do understand why you would want the child's father to take responsibility legally, I would sincerely hope you'd try (at least in time) to have a positive relationship with the child.Deborah Samuel
NEXT NIGHT, walking out where it happened, I found her little red bow.
I brought it in, threw it down on the table, said: My God my God.
Take a good look at it and also I'm looking at it, said Uncle Matt. And we won't ever forget it, am I right?
First thing of course was to find the dogs. Which turns out, they were holed up back of the--the place where the little kids go, with the plastic balls in cages, they have birthday parties and so forth--holed up in this sort of nest of tree debris dragged there by the Village.
Well we lit up the debris and then shot the three of them as they ran out.
But that Mrs. Pearson, who'd seen the whole--well she said there'd been four, four dogs, and next night we found that the fourth had gotten into Mullins Run and bit the Elliotts' Sadie and that white Muskerdoo that belonged to Evan and Millie Bates next door.
Jim Elliott said he would put Sadie down himself and borrowed my gun to do it, and did it, then looked me in the eye and said he was sorry for our loss, and Evan Bates said he couldn't do it, and would I? But then finally he at least led Muskerdoo out into that sort of field they call the Concourse, where they do the barbecues and whatnot, giving it a sorrowful little kick (a gentle kick, there was nothing mean in Evan) whenever it snapped at him, saying Musker Jesus!--and then he said okay, now when he was ready for me to do it, and I did it, and afterwards he said he was sorry for our loss.
Around midnight we found the fourth one gnawing at itself back of Bourne's place, and Bourne came out and held the flashlight as we put it down and helped us load it into the wheelbarrow alongside Sadie and Muskerdoo, our plan being--Dr. Vincent had said this was best--to burn those we found, so no other animal would--you know, via feeding on the corpses--in any event, Dr. Vincent said it was best to burn them.
When we had the fourth in the wheelbarrow my Jason said: Mr. Bourne, what about Cookie?
Well no I don't believe so, said Bourne.
He was an old guy and had that old-guy tenderness for the dog, it being pretty much all he had left in the world, such as for example he always called it friend-of-mine, as in: How about a walk, friend-of-mine?
But she is mostly an outside dog? I said.
She is almost completely an outside dog, he said. But still, I don't believe so.
And Uncle Matt said: Well, Lawrence, I for one am out here tonight trying to be certain. I think you can understand that.
I can, Bourne said, I most certainly can.
And Bourne brought out Cookie and we had a look.
At first she seemed fine, but then we noticed she was doing this funny thing where a shudder would run through her and her eyes would all of a sudden go wet, and Uncle Matt said: Lawrence, is that something Cookie would normally do?
Well, ah... said Bourne.
And another shudder ran through Cookie.
Oh Jesus Christ, said Mr. Bourne, and went inside.
Uncle Matt told Seth and Jason to trot out whistling into the field and Cookie would follow, which she did, and Uncle Matt ran after, with his gun, and though he was, you know, not exactly a runner, still he kept up pretty good just via sheer effort, like he wanted to make sure this thing got done right.
Which I was grateful to have him there, because I was too tired in mind and my body to know what was right anymore, and sat down on the porch, and pretty soon heard this little pop.
Then Uncle Matt trotted back from the field and stuck his head inside and said: Lawrence do you know, did Cookie have contact with other dogs, was there another dog or dogs she might have played with, nipped, that sort of thing?
Oh get out, get away, said Bourne.
Lawrence my God, said Uncle Matt. Do you think I like this? Think of what we've been through. Do you think this is fun for me, for us?
There was a long silence and then Bourne said well all he could think of was that terrier at the Rectory, him and Cookie sometimes played when Cookie got off her lead.
WHEN WE GOT to the Rectory, Father Terry said he was sorry for our loss, and brought Merton out, and we watched a long time and Merton never shuddered and his eyes remained dry, you know, normal.
Looks fine, I said.
Is fine, said Father Terry. Watch this: Merton, genuflect.
And Merton did this dog stretchy thing where he sort of like bowed.
Could be fine, said Uncle Matt. But also could be he's sick but just at an early stage.
We'll have to be watchful, said Father Terry.
Yes, although, said Uncle Matt. Not knowing how it spreads and all, could it be we're in a better-safe-than-sorry type of situation? I don't know, I truly don't know. Ed, what do you think?
And I didn't know what I thought. In my mind I was all the time just going over it and over it, the before, the after, like her stepping up on that footstool to put that red bow in, saying these like lady phrases to herself, such as Well Who Will Be There, Will There Be Cakes?
I hope you are not suggesting putting down a perfectly healthy dog, said Father Terry.
And Uncle Matt produced from his shirt pocket a red bow and said: Father, do you have any idea what this is and where we found it?
But it was not the real bow, not Emily's bow, which I kept all the time in my pocket, it was a pinker shade of red and was a little bigger than the real bow, and I recognized it as having come from our Karen's little box on her dresser |
FIOST Free In/Out and Trimmed. Charterer pays for cost of loading/discharging cargo, including stowage and trimming.
FIOT Free In/Out and Trimmed. As per FIOS but includes trimming the leveling of bulk cargoes
Fish plate A triangular-shaped steel plate used to strengthen the connection between the towing bridle and the towing hawser.
FIT Free In Trimmed
FIW Free In Wagon
Fixed costs Costs that do not vary with the level of activity. Some fixed costs continue even if no cargo is carried; for example, terminal bases, rent, and property taxes.
FIXING Chartering a Vessel
Flag State The nation in which a vessel is registered and which holds legal jurisdiction as regards operation of the vessel, at home or abroad.
Flagstaff Flag pole, usually at the stern of a ship, carries the ensign.
Flame screen A corrosion-resistant fine wire mesh screen used to cover certain openings on tank vessels to prevent the passage of flame into the tank.
Flange The turned edge of a shape or girder, which acts to resist bending strain.
Flare Outward curvature or widening of the hull above the waterline present in the bow section (of a conventional bow) to avoid shipping water.
Flare The spreading out from the central vertical plane of the body of a ship with increasing rapidity as the section rises from the waterline to the rail.
Flared bow A bow with an extreme flare at the upper and forcastle deck.
Flat A small partial deck, built level, without curvature.
Flemish down To coil flat down on deck, each fake outside the other, beginning in the middle and all close together.
Floating drydock A U-shaped dock with double skins which is filled by opening up the sillcocks, and allowed to settle sothe middle section will be lower than the keel of the ship so that repairs can be made on her hull.
Floodable length The length of the hull, at any point, that can fl ood without immersing the margin line. Important in studying the safety of ships.
Floor Vertical transverse full-breadth plating between inner bottom and bottom shell plating.
Floor plan A horizontal section, showing the ship as divided at a water or deck line.
Floors Vertical flat plates running transverse of the vessel, connecting the vertical keel with the margin plates or the frames to which the tank top and bottom shell is fast-ened.
Flotsam The parts of a wrecked ship and goods lost in shipwreck, both found floating.
FLT Full Liner Terms Shipowner pays to load and discharge the cargo
Fluke The palm of an anchor. The broad holding portion which penetrates the ground.
Flush deck A deck running from stem without being broken by forecastle or poop.
Flush deck hatch Hatch in a deck with no coaming.
Flush deck ship Vessel having an upper deck extend continuously from bow to stern.
Flux A substance such us as borax, used in welding to help in the melting of the metal. Flux also serves to stabilize the electric arc, steady the flow of the filler metal into the weld and protect the weld from oxidation.
FMC Federal Maritime Commission US government agency
FMS Fathoms 6 feet
FO (IFO) Fuel Oil/Intermediate FO
FOB Free on Board. Seller sees the goods “over the ship’s rail” on to the ship which is arranged and paid for by the buyer
Fo’c’sle A modem version of the old term “forecastle,” or bow section of the ship, where the crew lived.
Fodley hatch Hatch around smokestack and uptake.
FOFFER Firm Offer
FOG For Our Guidance
Fog horn A sound signal device (not necessarily mechanically operated).
Fog-bound Said of a vessel when forced to heave to or lie at anchor due to fog.
FOQ Free On Quay
FOR Free On Rail
Force majeure The tittle of a common clause in contracts, exempting the parties from nonfulfillment of their obligations as a result of conditions beyond their control, such as earthquakes, floods, or war.
FORCE MAJEURE Clause limiting responsibilities of the charterers, shippers and receivers due to events beyond their control.
Fore and aft Parallel to the ship’s centerline.
Fore peak The narrow extremity of a vessel’s bow. Also the hold space within it.
Fore peak tank Tank (often for ballast/trimming) forward of the collision bulkhead.
Fore rake The forward part of the bow which overhangs the keel.
Fore, forward Toward the stem. Between the stem and amidships.
Forebody That part of a hull forward of amidships.
Forecastle Raised and enclosed forward superstructure section of the hull.
Forecastle A short structure at the forward end of a vessel formed by carrying up the ship’s shell plating a deck height above the level of her uppermost complete deck and fitting a deck over the length of this structure.
Forecastle deck A deck over the main deck at the bow.
Foredeck Foremost section of exposed main deck.
Forefoot The forward end of a vessel’s stem which is stepped on the keel.
Forehook Or breast hook.
Forepeak bulkhead The bulkhead nearest the stem, which forms the after boundary of the forepeak tank. When this bulkhead is extended from the bottom of the ship to the weather deck, it is also called the collision bulkhead.
Forest product carrier Vessel designed for the transportation of processed timber with large hatchways simplifying stowage and transfer of cargo.
Forging A mass of metal worked to a special shape by hammering, bending, or pressing while hot.
Fork beam A half beam to support a deck where hatchways occur.
Formal safety assessment (FSA) A process for assessing the safety of a ship by studying the risks, their likelihood and consequences.
Forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) Unit of measurement equivalent to one forty-foot container. Two twenty foot containers (TEUs) equal on FEU.
Forward Towards or at the fore end of a vessel. (Abbr. Fwd or For’d.)
Forward perpendicular A line perpendicular to the keel line, and intersecting the forward side of the stem at the designed load water line.
FOT Free On Truck
Foul Jammed, not clear.
Fouled hawse Said of the anchor chain when moored and the chain does not lead clear of another chain.
Found To fit and bed firmly. Also, equipped.
Founder To sink (out of control).
FOW (1) First Open Water
FOW (2) Free On Wharf
FPD Fall Preventing Device
FPSO Floating production, storage and offloading vessel.
Frame Vertical structural component supporting and/or stiffening hull side plating and maintaining the transverse form.
Frame head The section of a frame that rises above the deck line.
Frame lines Lines of a vessel as laid out on the mold loft floor, showing the form and popsition of the grames. Also the line of intersection of shell with heel of frame.
Frame spacing The fore-and-aft distances between frames, heel to heel.
Frame station(s) Points at which transverse frames (or floors) are located, indicated on the baseline, numbered from zero at the aft perpendicular and terminating at or beyond the forward perpendicular. Stations abaft the aft perpendicular are numbered negatively.
Frames The ribs of a ship.
FRC Fast Rescue Craft
FREE OUT Free of discharge costs to Owners
Freeboard Vertical measurement from the vessel’s side amidships from the load waterline to the upperside of the freeboard deck.
Freeboard deck The uppermost complete deck exposed to weather and sea, which has permanent means of weathertight closing of all openings in the exposed part, and below which all openings in the vessel’s sides are fitted with permanent means of watertight closing.
Freefall lifeboat Some ships have freefall lifeboats, stored on a downward sloping slipway, dropping into the water as holdback is released. Such lifeboats are considerably heavier to survive the impact with water. Freefall lifeboats are used for their capability to launch nearly instantly and high reliability, and since 2006 are required on bulk carriers that are in danger of sinking too rapidly for conventional lifeboats to be released. Tankers are required to carry fireproof lifeboats, tested to survive a flaming oil or petroleum product spill from the tanker. Fire protection of such boats is provided by insulation and sprinkler system, which has pipe system on top, through which water is pumped and sprayed to cool the surface. This system, while prone to engine failure, allows fireproof lifeboats to be built of fiberglass and not only metal.
Freeing port A large opening in the bulwark on an exposed deck of a seagoing vessel which provides for the rapid draining of water from that deck.
Freeing ports Heles in the bulwark or rail, which allow deck wash to drain off into the sea. Some freeing ports have swing gates which allow water to drain off but which aytomatically close from sea water pressure.
Freight, demurrage, and defence Class of insurance provided by a protection and indemnity (P&I) club that covers legal costs incurred by a shipowner in connection with claims arising from the operation of the ship.
Freighter A ship designed to carry all types of general cargo, or “dry cargo.”
FSE Free Surface Effect
FSG Floating Systems Group
FSI Flag State Implementation
FSS Fire Safety Systems
FSU Floating Storage Unit
Funnel External fairing through which exhaust ducting is conducted.
Furrings Strips of timber or boards fastened to frames, joists, etc., in order to bring their faces to the required shape or level, for attachment of sheating, ceiling, flooring etc.
FWAD Fresh Water Arrival Draft
FWDD Fresh Water Departure Draft
FYG For Your Guidance
FYI For Your Information
G.I. Anything of Government Issue.
GA General Average
Gadget A slang term applied to various fittings.
Gage A standard of measure.
Galley Kitchen compartment aboard a vessel.
Galvanizing The process of coating one metal with another, ordinarily applied to the coating or iron or steel with zinc. The chief purpose of galvanizing is to prevent corrosion.
Gang board Same as gang plank.
Gang plank A board with cleats forming a bridge reaching from a gengway of a vessel to the wharf.
Gangway The opening in the bulkwarks of a vessel through which persons come on board of disembark. Also a gang plank.
Gantline A line rove through a single block secured aloft.
Gantry High level structure supporting a traversing lifting appliance.
Garboard strake Strake (line) of shell plating immediately adjacent to the keel (centreline) plating.
Garboard strake A strake which ends before reaching the stem or stern post. Such strakes are laid at or near the middle of the ship’s sides to lessen the spiling of the plating.
Gas carrier Tanker designed for the transportation of liquefied gases.
Gas free The process of removing all hazardous gases and residues from the compartments of a vessel
Gasket An elastic packing material used for making joints watertight.
Gaskets Packing materials, by which air, water, oil, or steam tightness is secured in such places as on doors, hatches, steam cylinders, manhole covers, or in valves, between the flanges of pipes, etc. Such materials as rubber, canvas, asbestos, paper, sheet lead and copper, soft iron, and commercial products are extensively used.
Gateway A point at which freight moving from one territory to another is interchanged between trasportation lines.
Gather way To attain headway (to get going or pick up speed).
Gauge A waterway marker which measures the level of the water in foot increments; also refers to the specific measure on the gauge.
GBS Goal Based Standard
Gear The general name for ropes, blocks and tackles, tools, etc. (things).
General arrangement Highly detailed plan drawings of the general layout of a vessel.
GHG Green House Gas
Gib A metal fitting that holds a member in place, or presses two members together.
Gilguy (or gadget) A term used to designate an object for which the correct name has been forgotten.
Gipsey (gypsey) A drum of a windlass for heaving in line.
Girder (1) Longitudinal continuous member with a vertical web providing support of deck beams. (2) Longitudinal continuous vertical plating on the bottom of single- or double-bottomed vessels.
Girth The distance measured on any frame line, from the intersection of the upper deck with the side, around the body of the vessel to corresponding point on the opposite side. The half gith is taken from the center line of the keel to the upper deck beam end.
GISIS Global Integrated Shipping Information System
Glass Term used by mariners for a barometer.
Glory hole Steward’s quarters.
GLS Gearless
GMDSS Global Maritime Distress Safety System. The GMDSS is an internationally agreed-upon set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft. GMDSS consists of several systems, some of which are new, but many of which have been in operation for many years. The system is intended to perform the following functions: alerting (including position determination of the unit in distress), search and rescue coordination, locating (homing), maritime safety information broadcasts, general communications, and bridge-to-bridge communications. Specific radio carriage requirements depend upon the ship’s area of operation, rather than its tonnage. The system also provides redundant means of distress alerting, and emergency sources of power.
GMPHOM Guide to Manufacturing & Purchasing Hoses for Offshore Moorings
GN (or GR) Grain (capacity)
GNCN Gencon a standard BIMCO charter party form
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite Systems
GO Gas Oil
Go adrift Break loose.
Golden Slippers Tan work shoes issued to U.S. Maritime Service trainees
Gooseneck A return, or 180o bend, having one leg shorterthan the other. An iron swivel making up the fastening between a boom and a mast. It consists of a pintle and an eyebolt, or clamp.
Gouge Atool with an half round cutting edge used to cut grooves.
GPC General Purposes Committee
Grapnel A small anchor with several arms used for dragging purposes.
Grating A wooden lattice-work covering a hatch or the bottom boards of a boat; similarly designed gratings of metal are frequently found on shipboard.
Grating An open iron lattice work used for covering hatchways and platforms.
Graveyard watch The middle watch.
Graving docks A dry dock. The vessel is floated in, and gates at the entrance closed when the tide is at ebb. The remaining water isthen pumped out, and the vessel’s bottom is graved, or cleaned.
GRD Geared
Green sea A large body of water taken aboard (ship a sea).
Grids Metal protective bars of sea chests and propeller thrusters.
Gripe The sharp forward end of the dished keel on which the stem is fixed.
Grommet A reing of fiber usually soaked in red lead or some other packing material, and used under the heads of bolts and nuts to preserve tightness.
Gross registered tonnage A formula-derived measure of the internal (enclosed) volume of a vessel less certain excluded spaces. (Stated in volumetric tons where 1 ton = 100 ft3, 2.8317 m3.) (Abbr. grt.)
Gross tons The volume measurement of the internal voids of a vessel wherein 100 cu. ft. equals one ton.
Ground tackle A term used to cover all of the anchor gear.
Grounding Running ashore (hitting the bottom).
Groundways Large pieces of timber laid across the ways on which the keel blocks are placed. Also the large blocks and plans which support the cradle on which a ship is launched.
Groupage The grouping together of several compatible consignments into a full container load. Also referred to as consolidation.
GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic
GRT Gross Registered Tonnage
GSB Good Safe Berth
GSP Good Safe Port
GTEE Guarantee
Gudgeon A metallic eye bolted to the stern post, on which the rubber is hung.
Gunwale The upper edge of a vessel or boat’s side.
Gunwale (gunnel) That part of a barge or boat where the main deck and the side meet.
Gunwale bar A term applied to the bar connecting a stringer plate on a weather deck to the sheer strake.
Gusset A steel plate used for reinforcing or bracing the junction of other steel members.
Gusset plate A tie plate, used for fastening posts, frames, beams, etc., to other objects.
Gutter ledge A bar laid across a hatchway to support the hatches.
Gutterway The sunken trough on the shelter deck outer edge which disposes of the water from the deck wash.
Guys Wire or hemp rope or chains to support nooms, davits, ets., laterally. Guys are employed in pairs. Where a span is fitted between two booms, for example, one pair only is required for the two.
GZ The distance from the centre of gravity to the line of action of the buoyancy force. It is a measure of a ship’s ability to resist heeling moments.
HA Hatch
HAEMHF Hose Ancillary Equipment & Managing Hoses in the Field
Hail To address a vessel, to come from, as to hail from some port (call).
Half deck A short deck below the main deck.
Half model A modle of one side of a ship, on which the plate lines are drawn in.
Half-breadth plan A plan or top view of half of a ship divided longitudinally. It shows the water lines, bow and buttock lines, and diagonal lines of construction.
Half-mast The position of a flag when lowered halfway down.
Halliards or halyards Ropes used for hoisting gaffs and sails, and signal flags.
Hand A member of the ship’s company.
Hand lead A lead of from 7 to 14 pounds used with the hand lead line for ascertaining the depth of water in entering or leaving a harbor. (Line marked to 20 fathoms.)
Hand rail A steadying rail of a ladder (banister).
Hand rope Same as “grab rope” (rope).
Hand taut As tight as can be pulled by hand.
Hand-over Term used in contracts, meaning the process of providing exclusive, unencumbered, peaceful, and vacant possession of and access to a concession area and the existing operational port infrastructure and also all rights, title and interest in all the movable assets and all the facilities by the government or the port authority on the hand over date for the conduct of terminal operations.
Handybilly A watch tackle (small, handy block and tackle for general use).
Handymax Dry bulk carrier of 35 – 50,000 tonnes deadweight, popular for full efficiency, flexibility and low draft (<12 m).
Handysize A term applied to bulk carriers of 40 000–65 000 DWT.
Hang from the yards Dangle a man from one of the yard arms, sometimes by the neck, if the man was to be killed, and sometimes by the toes, if he was merely to be tortured. A severe punishment used aboard sailing ships long ago. Today, a reprimand.
Hard patch A plate riveted over another plate to cover a hole or break.
Harpings The fore parts of the wales of a vessel which compass her bows and are fastened to the stem, thickened to withstand plunging.
Hatch Opening in a deck providing access for cargo, personnel, stores, etc.
Hatch bars The bars by which the hatches are fastened down.
Hatch coaming Raised rim of vertical plating around a hatchway to prevent entrance of water, the upper edge of which forms a sealing surface with the hatch-lid or cover.
Hatchway One of the large square openings in the deck of a ship through which freight is hoisted in or out, and access is had to the hold. There are four pieces in the frame of a hatchway. The fore-and-aft pieces are called coaming and those athwartship are called head ledges. The head ledges rest on the beams and the carlines extending between the beams. There may be forward, main and after hatcheays, according to the size and character of the vessel.
Hawse The part of a ship’s bow in which are the hawse holes for the anchor chains.
Hawse buckler An iron plate covering a hawse hole.
Hawse hole A hole in the boow through which a cable or chain passes. It is a cast steel tube, having rounded projecting lipe both inside and out.
Hawse pipe Steel pipe duct through which the anchor cable is led overboard.
Hawse plug or block A stopper used to prevent water from entering the hawse hole in heavy weather.
Hawse-pipes A pipe lead-in for anchor chain through ship’s bow.
Hawser A large circumference rope used for towing or mooring a vessel or for securing it at a dock.
Hawser-laid Left-handed rope of nine strands, in the form of three three-stranded, right-handed ropes.
HCFC Hydro Chloro Fluoro Carbons
HDWTS Half Dispatch Working Time Saved
Head (1) The bow of a vessel. (2) Term given to toilet facilities usually in the smaller craft context.
Head ledges See Hatchway
Head of navigation The uppermost limit of navigation from the mouth of a waterway.
Head room The height of the decks, below decks.
Headlog The reinforced, vertical plate which connects the bow rake bottom to the rake deck of a barge or square-stemmed boat.
Heart The inside center strand of rope.
Heave The vertical movement of a ship, as a rigid body, in a seaway.
Heave around To revolve the drum of a capstan, winch or windlass. (Pulling with mechanical deck heaving gear).
Heave away An order to haul away or to heave around a capstan (pull).
Heave in To haul in.
Heave short To heave in until the vessel is riding nearly over her anchor.
Heave taut To haul in until the line has a strain upon it.
Heave the lead The operation of taking a sounding with the hand lead (to find bottom).
Heave to To bring vessel on a course on which she rides easily and hold her there by the use of the ship’s engines (holding a position).
Heaving line A small line thrown to an approaching vessel, or a dock as a messenger.
Heavy-lift vessel Vessel designed specifically for the loading/discharge and transportation of very heavy cargoes.
Heel Inclination of a vessel to one side. [Alt list.]
Height Vertical distance between any two decks, or vertical distance measured from the base line to any water line.
Helm A term applied to the tiller, wheel, or steering gear, and also the rubber.
Helm port The hole in the counter of a vessel through which the rubber stock passes.
Hemp Rope made of the fibers of the hemp plant and used for small stuff or less than 24 thread (1.75 inch circumference). (Rope is measured by circumference, wire by diameter.)
HGWG Mercury Working Group
High, wide and handsome Sailing ship with a favorable wind, sailing dry and easily. A person riding the crest of good fortune
Hip towing (hipping) A method of towing whereby the vessel being towed is secured along-side the towboat
HMS Heavy Metal Scrap
HNS Hazardous and Noxious Substances
HO Hold
Hog A scrub-broom for scraping a ship’s bottom under water.
Hog frame A fore-and-aft frame, forming a truss for the main frames of a vessel, to prevent bending.
Hog sheer The curve of the deck on a vessel constructed so that the middle is higher than the ends.
Hogged A ship that is damaged or strained so that the bottom curves upward in the middle opposite of sagged.
Hogging A ship is said to hog when the hull is bent concave downwards by the forces acting on it. Hogging is the opposite of sagging.
Hoist away An order to haul up.
Hold That part of a ship where cargo or supplies are carried.
Hold beams The beams that support the lower deck in a cargo vessel.
Hold fast A dog or brace to hold objects rigidly in place.
Holiday An imperfection, spots left unfinished in cleaning or painting.
Holy stone The soft sandstone block sailors use to scrub the deck, so-called, because seamen were on their knees to use it.
Hood A covering for a companion hatch, scuttle or skylight.
Hooding-end The endmost plate of a complete strake. The hooding-ends fit into the stem or stern post.
Hopper barge Barge designed with a single hopper type hold for the transport of bulk cargo and where the cargo is discharged (dumped) through the bottom of the vessel.
Hopper tank Lower side ballast tank in a bulk carrier, shaped and positioned to create a hopper form to the cargo hold.
Horn cleat A fitting, usually with two horn-shaped ends, to which lines are made fast. The classic cleat is almost anvil-shaped.
Horning Setting the frames of a vessel square to the keel after the proper inclination to the vertical due to the declivity of the keel has been given.
Horse latitudes The latitudes on the outer margins of the trades where the prevailing winds are light and variable.
Horsepower A standard unit of power which is often classified in connection with engines as brake, continuous input, intermittent, output, or shaft horsepower.
Horseshoe plate A small, light plate fitted on the counter around the rubber stock for the purpose of preventing water from backing up into the rudder trunk. Frequently it is made in two pieces.
Hounding That portion of a mast between the deck and the hounds.
Hounds The mast head projections which support the trestle trees and top. Also applied in vessels without trestle trees to that portion at which the hound band for attaching the shrouds is fitted.
House To stow or secure in a safe place. A top-mast is housed by lowering it and securing it to a lowermast.
House flag Distinguishing flag of a merchant marine company flown from the mainmast of merchant ships.
Housing That portion of a mast below the surface of the upper deck.
Hovercraft Vessel designed to ride on a cushion of air formed by downthrusting fans.
HP Horse Power
HRU Hydrostatic Release Unit
HSSC Harmonised System of Survey and Certification
Hug To keep close.
Hulk A worn out vessel.
Hull The main body or primary part providing global strength, buoyancy and hydrodynamic qualities of a vessel.
Hull down Said of a vessel when, due to its distance on the horizon, only the masts are visible.
Hull girder Combined hull structure contributing to the longitudinal global strength of a hull treated as analogous to a girder.
Hurricane Force of wind over 65 knots.
Hurricane deck Same as bridge.
HW High Water
HWP Hot Work Permit
Hydrofoil High-speed craft with immersed foils for developing hydrodynamic lift at speed and a consequential reduction in resistance.
Hydrographic vessel Vessel designed for the survey of seabed topography, currents, etc., relevant to marine navigation.
Hydroplane Rotatable lateral fin providing vertical directional control for submersible craft.
Hydrostatic test A pressure test employing a static head of water applied to various compartments or components of a vessel.
IAAP International Air Pollution Prevention
IACS International Association of Clasification Societies
IADC International Association of Drilling Contractors
IAMSAR International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual
IAPH International Association of Ports and Harbors
IATA International Air Transport Association
IBC Intermediate Bulk Container
I-Beam A structural shape with cross section resembling the letter I.
IBTS Integrated Bilge Treatment System
Ice breaker Vessel designed for transiting sea ice or for the purpose of creating a channel in polar or winter ice for the passage of other vessels.
Ice-bound Caught in the ice.
ICS International Chamber of Shipping
ICSW International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare
Idolphin A term applied to several piles that are bound together situated either at the corner of a pier or out in the stream and used for docking and warping vessels.
IEA International Energy Agency
IFO Intermediate Fuel Oil
IFSMA International Federation of Shipmaster’s Association
IHO International Hydro graphic Organization
IIP International Ice Patrol
ILG Industry Lifeboat Group
IMB International Maritime Bureau
IMDG International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code
IMHA International Maritime Health Association
IMO International Maritime Organisation
IMOSAR IMOPhoto: David Goddard/Getty Images.
Amnesty International, Liberty and Privacy International have announced today they are taking the UK Government to the European Court of Human Rights over its indiscriminate mass surveillance practices.
The legal challenge is based on documents made available by the whistle-blower Edward Snowden which revealed mass surveillance practices taking place on an industrial scale.
"The UK government’s surveillance practices have been allowed to continue unabated and on an unprecedented scale, with major consequences for people’s privacy and freedom of expression. No-one is above the law and the European Court of Human Rights now has a chance to make that clear," said Nick Williams, Amnesty International’s Legal Counsel.
The UK government’s surveillance practices have been allowed to continue unabated and on an unprecedented scale, with major consequences for people’s privacy and freedom of expression. No-one is above the law and the European Court of Human Rights now has a chance to make that clear. Nick Williams, Amnesty International’s Legal Counsel. Share this Twitter
Facebook
Email
The organizations filed the joint application to the Strasbourg Court last week after the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which has jurisdiction over GCHQ, MI5 and MI6, ruled that the UK legal regime for the UK government’s mass surveillance practices was compliant with human rights.
However, the Tribunal held considerable portions of the proceedings in secret.
“It is ridiculous that the government has been allowed to rely on the existence of secret policies and procedures discussed with the Tribunal behind closed doors – to demonstrate that it is being legally transparent,” said Nick Williams.
Having exhausted every legal avenue in the UK, and amid increasing signs that the government’s legal position is unravelling, the organizations submitted the joint application to the European Court of Human Rights.
“Mass surveillance is a violation of our fundamental rights. Intercepting millions of communications every day, and secretly receiving millions more from the NSA by the back door is neither necessary nor proportionate,” said Carly Nyst, Legal Director of Privacy International.
“While the IPT sided with GCHQ and against the rights of millions of people, Europe’s highest human rights court has a strong history of ensuring intelligence agencies are compliant with human rights law. We hope that the Court continues this tradition and GCHQ is finally held accountable for its unfettered spying on the world’s communications.”
The joint application asserts that UK domestic law, which governs the UK intelligence agencies’ interception of communications and its intelligence sharing practices with the USA, is in breach of the human rights to privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights.
“The government has consistently said – ‘trust us, we’re acting in the interests of national security’ – but national security and fundamental human rights are not mutually exclusive,” said Nick Williams.
“In fulfilling its duty to protect people, the government must not discard its other human rights obligations and must allow us to hold it up to public scrutiny and accountability.”
A report by the UK Intelligence and Security Committee, the UK parliamentary committee with responsibility for oversight of UK intelligence released on 12 March, echoed Amnesty International’s concerns about the lack of transparency in existing legislation and proposed a fundamental review of the existing legal framework.
However, it also defended GCHQ’s mass surveillance programme as a legitimate intelligence-gathering tool. Amnesty International refutes this on the basis that indiscriminate mass surveillance constitutes a fundamental breach of the human right to privacy and freedom of expression as it is inherently disproportionate.
GCHQ’s mass surveillance programme, TEMPORA, gives the government access to huge amounts of data on millions of people.
“It is thanks only to Edward Snowden’s revelations, and the scant disclosures we and the other claimants have been able to prise from the Government, that we know anything whatsoever about what the intelligence services are up to,” said James Welch, Legal Director for Liberty.
“The Tribunal believes that there are sufficient safeguards to protect us from industrial-scale abuse of our privacy. We disagree, and hope the European Court will finally make clear to our security services that they cannot operate in near complete secrecy.”
“This industrial scale mass surveillance makes it increasingly difficult for organizations like Amnesty International to carry out human rights work. It is critical that we are able to seek and receive information of public interest from our confidential sources, free from government intrusion,” said Nick Williams.
Legal flaws
During 12 months of litigation between the government and the NGOs significant flaws in the UK’s legal regime have been exposed. They include:
Previously secret "arrangements" which allow the UK intelligence service to obtain access to bulk data from foreign intelligence agencies like the US National Security Agency without a warrant whenever it would "not be technically feasible" for the government’s agencies to obtain it themselves.
UK law also allows for the intelligence services to obtain general warrants authorizing indiscriminate mass surveillance, approved by the Secretary of State and renewed on a rolling basis.
The UK government considers it justifiable to engage in mass surveillance of every Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube user in the country, even if there is no suspicion that the user is involved in any offence, by secretly redefining the UK’s use of them as "external communications"
The new legal action follows recent developments in the cases brought by Amnesty International and which represent critical setbacks to the UK government’s legal position:
On 6 February, the IPT found that UK intelligence services acted unlawfully in accessing millions of people’s personal communications collected by the US National Security Agency. The decision was the first time ever that the IPT ruled against the UK intelligence and security services.
On 18 February, the UK Government conceded that the regime governing the interception, obtaining and use of legally privileged material violates the Human Rights Act.
Read more:Share. Able to log into another's account without the password. Able to log into another's account without the password.
Exit Theatre Mode
A five-year-old boy who discovered a security vulnerability on Xbox Live has been thanked by Microsoft.
In an interview with San Diego's KGTV station, Kristoffer Von Hassel explained how he discovered a way to log into his father's account and make purchases without knowing the correct password.
Exit Theatre Mode
He discovered that entering the wrong password at the log-in stage would cause a second verification screen to pop up. Filling this by pressing the space bar rather than entering any letters or numbers allowed him to get access to the account.
His father, Robert, passed details of the incident onto Microsoft. Upon receiving the report, the company fixed the flaw and also added Kristoffer's name to a list of security researchers thanked for their contribution to keeping Microsoft secure.
He also received four free games, $50 and a year-long Xbox Live Gold Membership.
Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter.After more than a decade, a new Los Angeles State Historic Park is getting ready to rise on a 32-acre green space, known for years as the "Cornfield." A groundbreaking ceremony was held Saturday to mark the start of the $18-million construction project funded by Proposition 84. Construction will begin April 13.
"We hope what we've created will be even more enticing for the people in the neighborhood," said Amy Schuessler, architect for California State Parks during an open house to showcase the final plans for the park last Thursday.
Sandwiched between Chinatown to the west and the L.A. River to the east, the eye-shaped parcel of land holds special meaning to its community. In 2001, residents, environmentalists and activists overturned a plan to transform the land into yet another series of warehouses. Their efforts also preserved precious open space for the community. Since then, the sliver of land has been used flexibly, hosting pick up games, overnight camping, music festivals and art shows. Despite not having the pristine, well thought out amenities of other parks, it still gave the neighborhood a place to enjoy open space. Given the site's history, it's no wonder the open house, held at Goodwill San Fernando just across the river from the park, was filled with community members.
The new park is set to open sometime in 2015 after a year of construction. The design shows a far simpler plan than what was originally proposed before the economic downturn. "It includes a pedestrian thoroughfare running throughout the park. It will have lots of topography and a cluster of native plantings," explained Schuessler.
Children's Play Area and Concession Area
Angeles Crossing Plaza
Rail Road Street Crossing & Concession Cafe
Other features include a welcome pavilion (which will be home to an interactive exhibition by UCLA's Interpretive Media Laboratory), a flexible space that can be used for community events and other festivals, a citrus grove, and a wetland area. It will become home to a long-gone waterwheel system by artist Lauren Bon. A pedestrian overlook is also in place on the northwest side of the park. The ramp would be a slowly ascending spiral structure that would elevate pedestrians, giving them a view of downtown on one side and mountains on the other.
Schuessler says California State Parks is looking to build a connection between Broadway and the park. Currently, residents have to take the long way around just to get to the State Historic Park, which is just across the street but on the other side of the tracks for the Metro Gold Line.
"I like it," said Lewis MacAdams, founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River. He helped mobilize community groups against developers in the early 2000s. "It's a lot less designed than when they started. [State Parks] started with trees and grass, then it changed into something more elaborate, and now it's back to trees and grass. That's good. It'll eventually be a valuable connection to the river."
During the over-a-decade effort, State Parks has reached out to many members of the community, ensuring that whatever is designed is something that is appropriate for the community. When I spoke with locals, everyone expressed cautious optimism. No one faults the design, yet they wonder what will happen when it comes to programming.
"It looks great," said Diane Valencia, who has worked at the native plant garden, called the Anabolic Monument, that used to be on the interim space, "but it's going to be different. I worry that they aren't looking at what community assets there are before building on top of it." Valencia is waiting to see what programs they'll have available |
National Cemetery
In his first Memorial Day speech as president, Donald Trump paid tribute to fallen soldiers and the families they left behind. (Published Monday, May 29, 2017)
Trump — who has frequently struggled with showing empathy — has emphatically rejected claims that he was disrespectful. But he started the latest controversy this week when he boasted about his commitment to calling service members' next of kin and brought Kelly into the issue by wondering aloud if President Barack Obama had called the former Marine general after the death of Kelly's son.
Kelly confirmed Thursday that Obama had not called him, but he made clear "that was not a criticism."
"That's not a negative thing," he said. "I don't believe all presidents call. I believe they all write."
In fact, the chief of staff said that when Trump took office, he advised him against making those calls: "I said to him, 'Sir there's nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families.'"
But Trump wanted to make the calls, and asked Kelly for advice on what to say. In response, Kelly told him what General Joseph Dunford, now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told him when Robert Kelly was killed. Kelly recalled that Dunford told him his son "was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what the possibilities were because we're at war."
And Kelly added that Dunford told him that "when he died, he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. That's what the president tried to say to four families the other day."
Trump, McConnell Discuss Legislative Priorities, GOP Unity
President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stood together Monday as a show of solidarity during an impromptu question-and-answer session with reporters. The two have publicly feuded in recent weeks, but now, as they're trying to advance the GOP agenda, they say they're closer than ever. (Published Monday, Oct. 16, 2017)
Kelly said the Defense Department is investigating the details of the Oct. 4 ambush that killed four American soldiers, including Johnson, in Niger.
Islamic militants on motorcycles brought rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, killing the four and wounding others after shattering the windows of unarmored U.S. trucks. The attack happened in a remote corner of Niger where Americans and local counterparts had been meeting with community leaders.
Kelly said Thursday that small groups of U.S. military personnel are being sent overseas, including to Niger, to help train local people to fight the IS group "so that we don't have to send large numbers of troops."
His speech was a rebuke to Wilson, who was in the car with the family of Johnson when Trump called on Tuesday. She said in an interview that Trump had told Johnson's widow that "you know that this could happen when you signed up for it... but it still hurts." Johnson's aunt, who raised the soldier from a young age, said the family took that remark to be disrespectful.
The call came in as they drove to Miami's airport to receive the body. At the airport, widow Myeshia Johnson leaned in grief across the flag-draped coffin after a military guard received it.
A spokeswoman said Thursday that Wilson stood by her earlier comments. The congresswoman herself, asked by WSVN-TV in Florida about Kelly's remarks, replied only indirectly.
Full Remarks: Khizr Khan Addresses Democratic National Convention
Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. soldier who was killed in action, addressed the 2016 Democratic National Convention. (Published Friday, July 29, 2016)
"Let me tell you what my mother told me when I was little," Wilson said. "She said, 'The dog can bark at the moon all night long, but it doesn't become an issue until the moon barks back.'"
Kelly also accused Wilson of grandstanding at the dedication of a Miami FBI office in 2015.
The White House chief of staff said he was so upset by her criticism of Trump's call that he went to walk "among the finest men and women on earth" in a 90-minute visit to nearby Arlington National Cemetery, among the graves of service members, including some who died under his command.
Kelly began his remarks by recounting in painstaking detail what happens after a soldier is killed in overseas combat. The dead soldier's body is wrapped in a makeshift shroud by his colleagues, Kelly said, and then flown by helicopter to a nearby air base, where it is packed in ice. It is then flown to a second base, often in Europe, and put in more ice before it is transported to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The body is then embalmed and dressed in military uniform, complete with medals before heading home.
Kelly said the next of kin are notified by a casualty officer, who "proceeds to break the heart of a family member."
Robert Kelly, 29, was killed when he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan's remote Helmand province. Kelly said his family got calls from Robert's friends in Afghanistan attesting to his character. Those calls, he said as he fought back tears, were the most important.
Trump to Arrive in Hanoi for US-N.Korea Summit
President Donald Trump is slated to arrive at Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday for a second summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un aimed at denuclearizing North Korea. Trump is confident that North Korea would surrender its nuclear weapons, despite U.S. intelligence saying otherwise. (Published Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019)
After his dramatic opening statement, Kelly then took questions from reporters, asking first if any of them were Gold Star parents or siblings, meaning relatives of slain service members. When no one raised a hand, Kelly then said he would take questions only from those who knew a Gold Star family.
Kelly, whose frustration with the distractions created by Trump on other subjects led him to deny last week that he was considering quitting, also bemoaned how the nation no longer held things sacred, from life to religion to women. He said the respect given to Gold Star families "left in the convention over the summer," an apparent reference to the bitter election exchanges between the Trump campaign and a family whose military son had been killed.
Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman in Washington and David Fischer in Miami contributed reporting.
Copyright Associated PressRELEASE: GStreamer Core, Plugins and RTSP server 1.4.0 (source & binaries)
The GStreamer team is pleased to announce the first release of the stable 1.4 release series. The 1.4 release series is adding new features on top of the 1.0 and 1.2 series and is part of the API and ABI-stable 1.x release series of the GStreamer multimedia framework. Binaries for Android, iOS, Mac OS X and Windows are provided together with this release. The stable 1.4 release series is API and ABI compatible with 1.0.x, 1.2.x and any other 1.x release series in the future. Compared to 1.2.x it contains some new features and more intrusive changes that were considered too risky as a bugfix. The versioning scheme that is used in general is that 1.x.y is API and ABI backwards compatible with previous 1.x.y releases. If x is an even number it is a stable release series and all releases in this series will only contain important bugfixes, e.g. the 1.0 series with 1.0.7. If x is odd it is a development release series that will lead to the next stable release series 1.x+1 and contains new features and bigger changes. During the development release series, new API can still change. Changes since 1.2: New API: • GstMessageType has GST_MESSAGE_EXTENDED added. All types before that can be used together as a flags type as before, but from that message onwards the types are just counted incrementally. This was necessary to be able to add more message types. In 2.0 GstMessageType will just become an enum and not a flags type anymore. • GstDeviceMonitor for device probing, e.g. to list all available audio or video capture devices. This is the replacement for GstPropertyProbe from 0.10. • Events accumulate the running-time offset now when travelling through pads, as set by the gst_pad_set_offset() function. This allows to compensate for this in the QOS event for example. • GstBuffer has a new flag "tag-memory" that is set automatically when memory is added or removed to a buffer. This allows buffer pools to detect if they can recycle a buffer or need to reset it first. • GstToc has new API to mark GstTocEntries as loops. • A not-authorized resource error has been defined to notify applications that accessing the resource has failed because of missing authorization and to distinguish this case from others. This change is actually already in 1.2.4. • GstPad has a new flag "accept-intersect", that will let the default ACCEPT_CAPS query handler do an intersection instead of subset check. This is interesting for parser elements that can handle incomplete caps. • GstCollectPads has support for flushing and a default handler for SEEK events now. • New GstFlowAggregator helper object that simplifies handling of flow returns in elements with multiple source pads. Additionally GstPad now always stores the last flow return and provides an API to retrieve it. • GstSegment has new API to offset the running time by a specific value and this is used in GstPad to allow positive and negative offsets in gst_pad_set_offset() in all situations. • Support for h265/HEVC and VP8 has been added to the codec utils and codec parsers library, and was integrated into various elements. • API for adjusting the TLS validation of RTSP connection has been added. • The RTSP and SDP library has MIKEY (RFC 3830) support now, and there is API to distinguish between the different RTSP profiles. • API to access RTP time information and statistics. • Support for auxiliary streams was added to rtpbin. • Support for tiled, raw video formats has been added. • GstVideoDecoder and GstAudioDecoder have API to help aggregating tag events and merge custom tags into them consistently. • GstBufferPool has support for flushing now. • playbin/playsink has support for application provided audio and video filters. • GstDiscoverer has new and simplified API to get details about missing plugins and information to pass to the plugin installer. • The GL library was merged from gst-plugins-gl to gst-plugins-bad, providing a generic infrastructure for handling GL inside GStreamer pipelines and a plugin with some elements using these, especially a video sink. Supported platforms currently are Android, Cocoa (OS X), DispManX (Raspberry Pi), EAGL (iOS), WGL (Windows) and generic X11, Wayland and EGL platforms. This replaces eglglessink and also is supposed to replace osxvideosink. • New GstAggregator base class in gst-plugins-bad. This is supposed to replace GstCollectPads in the future and fix long-known shortcomings in its API. Together with the base class some elements are provided already, like a videomixer (compositor). Major changes: • New plugins and elements: ∘ v4l2videodec element for accessing hardware codecs on platforms that make them accessible via V4L2, e.g. Samsung Exynos. This comes together with major refactoring of the existing V4L2 elements and the corresponding infrastructure. The v4l2videodec element replaces the mfcdec element. ∘ New downloadbuffer element that replaces the download buffering feature of queue2. Compared to queue2's code it is much simpler and only for this single use case. A noteworthy new feature is that it's downloading gaps in the already downloaded stream parts when nothing else is to be downloaded. This is now used by playbin when download buffering is enabled. ∘ rtpstreampay and rtpstreamdepay elements for transmitting RTP packets over a stream API (e.g. TCP) according to RFC 4571. ∘ rtprtx elements for standard compliant implementation of retransmissions, integrated into the rtpmanager plugin. ∘ audiomixer element that mixes multiple audio streams together into a single one while keeping synchronization. This is planned to become the replacement of the adder element. ∘ OpenNI2 plugin for 3D cameras like the Kinect camera. ∘ OpenEXR plugin for decoding high-dynamic-range EXR images. ∘ curlsshsink and curlsftpsink to write files via SSH/SFTP. ∘ videosignal, ivfparse and sndfile plugins ported from 0.10. ∘ avfvideosrc, vtdec and other elements were ported from 0.10 and are available on OS X and iOS now. • Other changes: ∘ gst-libav now uses libav 10.2, and gained support for H265/HEVC. ∘ Support for hardware codecs and special memory types has been improved with bugfixes and feature additions in various plugins and base classes. ∘ Various bugfixes and improvements to buffering in queue2 and multiqueue elements. ∘ dvbsrc supports more delivery mechanisms and other features now, including DVB S2 and T2 support. ∘ The MPEGTS library has support for many more descriptors. ∘ Major improvements to tsdemux and tsparse, especially time and seeking related. ∘ souphttpsrc now has support for keep-alive connections, compression, configurable number of retries and configuration for SSL certificate validation. ∘ hlsdemux has undergone major refactoring and works more reliable now and supports more HLS features like trick modes. Also fragments are pushed downstream while they're downloaded now instead of waiting for each fragment to finish. ∘ dashdemux and mssdemux are now also pushing fragments downstream while they're downloaded instead of waiting for each fragment to finish. ∘ videoflip can automatically flip based on the orientation tag. ∘ openjpeg supports the OpenJPEG2 API. ∘ waylandsink was refactored and should be more useful now. It also includes a small library which most likely is going to be removed in the future and will result in extensions to the GstVideoOverlay interface. ∘ gst-rtsp-server supports SRTP and MIKEY now. ∘ gst-libav encoders are now negotiating any profile/level settings with downstream via caps. ∘ Lots of fixes for coverity warnings all over the place. ∘ Negotiation related performance improvements. ∘ 800+ fixed bug reports, and many other bug fixes and other improvements everywhere that had no bug report. Things to look out for: • The eglglessink element was removed and replaced by the glimagesink element. • The mfcdec element was removed and replaced by v4l2videodec. • osxvideosink is only available in OS X 10.6 or newer. • On Android the namespace of the automatically generated Java class for initialization of GStreamer has changed from com.gstreamer to org.freedesktop.gstreamer to prevent namespace pollution. • On iOS you have to update your gst_ios_init.h and gst_ios_init.m in your projects from the one included in the binaries if you used the GnuTLS GIO module before. The loading mechanism has slightly changed. Release tarballs can be downloaded directly from: http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gstreamer/gstreamer-1.4.0.tar.xz 23c39fdc2b24f889b07cab0449825384fef7592a121e180729fd9025ec45c695 gstreamer-1.4.0.tar.xz http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gst-plugins-base/gst-plugins-base-1.4.0.tar.xz 5daed4b983b64e4e3fbe9cd29063e4302812cd03ba685a15b06a790911d04c1e gst-plugins-base-1.4.0.tar.xz http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gst-plugins-good/gst-plugins-good-1.4.0.tar.xz 48a62e7987fffa289a091dfc8ccc80b401d110632b8fc1adce5b82fc092f2685 gst-plugins-good-1.4.0.tar.xz http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gst-plugins-bad/gst-plugins-bad-1.4.0.tar.xz ff2cb754f7725b205aec66002b1406e440f3a03194b6cad2d126ef5cd00902f9 gst-plugins-bad-1.4.0.tar.xz http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gst-plugins-ugly/gst-plugins-ugly-1.4.0.tar.xz 5314bb60f13d1a7b9c6317df73813af5f3f15a62c7c186b816b0024b5c61744d gst-plugins-ugly-1.4.0.tar.xz http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gst-libav/gst-libav-1.4.0.tar.xz c82c7a657863f2e27ac5cba539b0bd0a8114ad6bd4ba33bae777e4dbfab9e380 gst-libav-1.4.0.tar.xz http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/src/gst-rtsp-server/gst-rtsp-server-1.4.0.tar.xz 800a93ee6de8ca3946fbb2fa3878e41af44e27dde76c9399e30b93ba3e0bffe8 gst-rtsp-server-1.4.0.tar.xz Binaries for Android, iOS, Mac OS X and Windows are available from here: http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/pkg/android/1.4.0/ 40dea53bce37cc1416723a725018a78d31ed7384204463ac09bbd3e47b003382 gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-debug.tar.bz2 f78f752323cc143be9c3f34ced8fff28e5959abbc929fb707896f1783c712682 gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-debug.zip 8a7c3bdb1ea8898c5a01e22c434772397a3c136645f89b402e18178176fd9b63 gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-release.tar.bz2 3682fa9c3ca25d5ea6344d75f4499103dcbfd5e4d1a5df3891c1ae265bc0e0b3 gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-release.zip 83ad0c47eec8bba0dd6bb3300d35a26ebe129abd28dfbe385a126c3185e1340d gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-debug-runtime.tar.bz2 cc2813f886cbf58ca2bcc474a3bd5a2251e93895b59121acfc71dc43bcb66284 gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-debug-runtime.zip 131cd8940d6c46c6dd36de52bff37afb1779a78609020a8c5e4648533a5acfdf gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-release-runtime.tar.bz2 4052e033daae8cadae26cc4a0e25828abbb487834a0875388c898f88658860e4 gstreamer-1.0-android-arm-1.4.0-release-runtime.zip http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/pkg/ios/1.4.0/ ceac69b0f12e182d0b34a55adf6bb427e036be113490fdae5a10691bf3c81156 gstreamer-1.0-devel-1.4.0-ios-universal.pkg http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/pkg/osx/1.4.0/ f6a1142254e248a15e2bf5b7ec3a99d0c3bf56acff1b018ae7709869a3bd28bc gstreamer-1.0-1.4.0-universal.pkg 78b9eb47b7124506d48deaed3b15bdf94ede2aa404e361a45f06f0629bb09022 gstreamer-1.0-devel-1.4.0-universal.pkg 35914862f8f0420baa14fd5f093aa4a69da568e5de3e63554f56cd3f2ca46ce0 gstreamer-1.0-1.4.0-universal-packages.dmg http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/data/pkg/windows/1.4.0/ da70bbdedf152fc53de8b4e07eb9ba6db80433bb25d91063f39446d48970c3c3 gstreamer-1.0-x86_64-1.4.0.msi 0f3fd1f0c9751f6dca13c41dcecc6df7ce22ba1a72cfd331453800310a8c98c6 gstreamer-1.0-x86-1.4.0.msi 76d64fbf744f1c6dd311a3970e09475541d52705743a64c9dcda29012e3c36f3 gstreamer-1.0-devel-x86_64-1.4.0.msi d6e8b80b8aeab8400477ecf4016b6de3d23ea7d26b03d2859f613b1d541fce32 gstreamer-1.0-devel-x86-1.4.0.msi 7007cd2b99717a48ada8ad9599cde3dd0423b4e8a2ab3271055b38c791c24fa5 gstreamer-1.0-x86-1.4.0-merge-modules.zip b53ce215e919452594a026d9fdf4b571b2d3dba5d3fba293d8f0c3c0d45ac880 gstreamer-1.0-x86_64-1.4.0-merge-modules.zip As always, please let us know of any issues you run into by filing a bug in Bugzilla: http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/bugs/ -- Sebastian Dröge, Centricular Ltd - http://www.centricular.com Expertise, Straight from the Source -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 949 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part URL: <http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/gstreamer-devel/attachments/20140721/03f11265/attachment-0001.sig>“Dear Meredith,
I’m 39 and have been single for something like four years now. Dating used to be a fairly exciting, positive, and rewarding experience. However, as years progress and I’m creeping closer to 40, I get fewer requests for dates and am less in demand. Nothing about my situation has changed drastically; I work in academia, I hear I’m attractive, I believe I’m kind, thoughtful, etc. Even so, the people I find interesting and would want to pursue seemingly are no longer looking for me; they either want to meet someone who’ll be in a position to start a family on a very specific timeline, or have already done that and are looking for casual encounters (nothing serious!).
I’m indifferent about producing children, which used to work in my favor with men. That’s no longer true. I’m beyond tired of short-term and casual relationships. That was fun before, but now just feels like killing time. For context, I *have* dated single dads, the recently divorced, and ethically non-monogamous men in an effort to give myself more options. I’m convinced I find myself in an invisible population of women. Who’s looking to date me? I really have no idea. Maybe you or your readers can offer some suggestions. Perhaps this is how women turn to cradle robbing or find themselves paired off with senior citizens. How much do you have to “expand your options” before you run the risk of settling? Is it time to embrace cynical spinsterhood?”Sign me up for news alerts
A 40-year-old woman has been charged with making bomb threats to the University of Kent.
Vanessa Relton, of Cromwell Road in Whitstable, is alleged to have made hoax calls to the campus three times, including twice this week.
She is also accused of leaving suspicious packages at the Canterbury site.
Bomb scare at the University of Kent on September 23
She faces three counts of communicating false information and two counts of placing an article with intent.
Relton is accused of leaving a suspicious package "with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property", contrary to the Criminal Law Act, 1977.
The most recent incident happened yesterday when a suspicious phone call was made at 8am.
The day before, the library was among the buildings evacuated after a suspicious package was discovered on campus at 10.45am.
The university was evacuated on December 1 and 2
And on Wednesday, September 23, staff cleared buildings after a suspicious phone call was made to the university at 10.40am. The library was again one of the buildings cleared.
Relton is due to appear at Margate Magistrates Court on January 14.More than 10 million Americans have gained health insurance coverage because of expansions to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
Medicaid is a government-run health insurance program that primarily serves low-income Americans. If Congress repeals the law known as Obamacare and replaces it with the leading Republican proposal, there could be as many as 14 million fewer Medicaid enrollees by 2026, compared to projections under current law, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, says the CBO analysis is wrong.
"The CBO score assumes that if you are on Medicaid today that you choose to get off Medicaid after the mandate goes away," Mulvaney said to reporters March 13, speaking of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most individuals purchase insurance. "Does that make sense to anybody? That you are on a free program — because the plan doesn't get rid of Medicaid expansion."
We decided to fact-check Mulvaney’s claim that the leading House Republican proposal — the American Health Care Act — "doesn’t get rid of Medicaid expansion." We found his claim misleading.
While the legislation doesn’t explicitly repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, it reduces federal funding for the program to the point that many states would likely find continuing it unsustainable.
How the Republican proposal stifles Medicaid expansion
Individual states administer their own Medicaid programs, with financial assistance from the federal government, and each state sets its own specific parameters for Medicaid eligibility. Since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, 31 states and the District of Columbia opted to expand those parameters to include all people with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty line.
On average, the federal government matches 57 percent of each state’s Medicaid expenditures. But it pays at least 90 percent for additional Medicaid enrollees who were made eligible by the expansion.
The House Republican health care proposal says states can keep their expanded eligibility parameters. However, starting in 2020, the federal government would no longer pay extra for new Medicaid enrollees who are eligible because of the expansion — doing away with a vital component of the policy, the money.
That means Medicaid costs would go way up for state governments that opted to continue their expanded programs. In order to maintain their current level of coverage, it would cost states an additional $253 billion over 10 years, according to estimates by the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
As a result, the CBO and independent experts anticipate that states will decide to pull back from the Medicaid expansion, and states that were considering expanding their eligibility requirements in the coming years will decide against it.
"States don't have the wherewithal to pick up all of the substantially increased burden — especially when the next recession comes," said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University.
Further, in seven states — Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Washington — state law requires ending Medicaid expansion if the federal government lowers its funding rate, or if the state has to take action to keep its own Medicaid costs from going up, according to Edwin Park, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Michael Cannon, health policy studies director at the libertarian Cato Institute, presented a different outcome in a blog post criticizing the House proposal as "Obamacare lite — or worse." Cannon predicted that by allowing the expansion to continue until 2020, voters, state officials and special interests will resist eliminating it.
The House proposal says the federal government would pay the enhanced rate for Medicaid expansion enrollees who got into the program prior to 2020, as long as they maintain continuous coverage. However, changes in income and family situation, and thus Medicaid eligibility, happen frequently among low-income adults. Experts anticipate few individuals enrolled before 2020 will be able to maintain continuous coverage — especially given that the law would add more stringent requirements for coverage renewal.
"While this may seem like a reasonable way to protect coverage for those who already have it, in practice this means that the Medicaid expansion would wither on the vine and could shrink to nearly nothing in just a few short years," wrote Harvard University health policy professor Benjamin Sommers in the Washington Post.
Our ruling
Mulvaney said the House Republican health care "plan doesn't get rid of Medicaid expansion."
The House Republican health care proposal does not explicitly repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. But by wringing out the funding that supports the expansion starting in 2020, experts predict states will have little choice but to abandon some or all of the expansion. In seven states, it’s actually required by state law.
Mulvaney’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate it Mostly False.Video
Born and raised in one of the poorest areas of the United States, Jovan "Bonna" Lamb admits that during his teenage years in Miami's Overtown neighbourhood he was "a young hoodlum becoming a thug".
Now 35 and a self-taught street photographer, Lamb has created for himself the kind of success that eluded many of his peers.
His talent and commitment to his community have made Lamb the "go-to guy" when anyone in Overtown wants a visual document of an event - from a baby shower, to a political rally, to a wake. "I try to be down for everybody," he says. "They become my sculptures and I become their artist."
Confessing only that he acquired his first camera as a result of some "criminal activity", Lamb says the shooting deaths of his brother and cousin led him to a personal epiphany that changed his perspective and likely kept him both alive, and out of prison. "Out of the blue I grew a conscience," he says.
Produced by Charles "Stretch" LedfordLebanese soldiers and policemen stand guard at the site of an explosion, at Nocean restaurant in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre, early April 23, 2012. REUTERS/ Haidar Hawila
TYRE, Lebanon (Reuters) - Five people were injured and a building was damaged when a bomb exploded in a restaurant in the south Lebanon coastal town of Tyre early on Monday, a Lebanese security source said.
There has been a spate of bombings in majority-Muslim Tyre in the last few months of clubs, shops and restaurants that sell alcohol, whose consumption is forbidden by Islam, and several restaurants have stopped serving alcohol as a result.
The latest bomb detonated shortly after midnight in the Nocean, a restaurant serving alcohol, on the third storey of a commercial complex in the east of the city, shattering the windows of nearby cars.
“Five employees were injured, but only lightly,” the source said, adding that four of them were discharged from hospital on Monday morning.
Lebanese security forces cordoned off the area, where large chunks of concrete had fallen onto the streets.
“I was on my way to the restaurant in my car, talking on the phone. I heard an explosion and then something fell on the car,” Nocean owner Zahi Zaydan told Reuters.
Two bombs detonated in a nightclub and a liquor shop in Tyre in November, and a restaurant selling alcohol was targeted in December. The majority of Tyre residents are Shi’ite Muslims but members of Lebanon’s Christian and Sunni Muslim communities also live in the city.TOKYO -- An underwater robot entered a badly damaged reactor at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant Wednesday, capturing images of the harsh impact of its meltdown, including key structures that were torn and knocked out of place.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the robot, nicknamed "the Little Sunfish," successfully completed the day's work inside the primary containment vessel of the Unit 3 reactor at Fukushima, which was destroyed by a massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
TEPCO spokesman Takahiro Kimoto praised the work, saying the robot captured views of the underwater damage that had not been previously seen. However, the images contained no obvious sign of the melted nuclear fuel that researchers hope to locate, he said.
Japan struggles in cleanup of Fukushima meltdown
The robot was left inside the reactor near a structure called the pedestal, and is expected to go deeper inside for a fuller investigation Friday in hopes of finding the melted fuel.
"The damage to the structures was caused by the melted fuel or its heat," Kimoto told a late-night news conference held nine hours after the probe ended its exploration earlier in the day.
The robot, about the size of a loaf of bread, is equipped with lights, maneuvers with five propellers and collects data with two cameras and a dosimeter. It is controlled remotely by a group of four operators.
The robot was co-developed by Toshiba Corp., the electronics and energy company charged with helping clean up the plant, and the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, a government-funded consortium.
It was on a mission to study the damage and find the fuel that experts say has melted, breached the core and mostly fallen to the bottom of the primary containment chamber, where it has been submerged by highly radioactive water as deep as 20 feet.
The robot discovered that a grate platform that is supposed to be below the reactor core was missing and apparently was knocked down by melted fuel and other materials that fell from above, and that parts of a safety system called a control rod drive were also missing.
Fukushima radiation found in U.S. waters
Remote-controlled robots are key to the decades-long decommissioning of the damaged plant, but super-high levels of radiation and structural damage have hampered earlier probes at two other reactors at the plant.
Japanese officials say they want to determine preliminary methods for removing the melted nuclear fuel this summer and start work in 2021.
Scientists need to know the fuel's exact location and understand the structural damage in each of the three wrecked reactors to work out the safest and most efficient ways to remove the fuel.
Powerful MIT robot could help as a first responder
Robots tested earlier became stuck inside the two other reactors. A scorpion-shaped robot's crawling function failed and it was left inside the plant's Unit 2 containment vessel. A snake-shaped robot designed to clear debris for the scorpion probe was removed after two hours when its cameras failed due to radiation levels five times higher than anticipated.
The robot used Wednesday was designed to tolerate radiation of up to 200 sieverts - a level that can kill humans instantly.
Kimoto said the robot showed that the Unit 3 reactor chamber was "clearly more severely damaged" than Unit 2, which was explored by the scorpion probe.A Syrian cameraman and rescue worker whose documentary about the White Helmets has been nominated for an Oscar will not attend the awards ceremony because Damascus has cancelled his passport, the civil defense group said Sunday.
Khaled Khatib was given a visa by the US to visit the country for the Oscars' ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night, and he was to be joined by fellow rescue worker and group leader Raed Saleh.
However, in a statement early on Sunday, the White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defence, said that Saleh would not be able to leave his work because of the high intensity of air strikes while Khatib could not attend because Syria's government had cancelled his passport.
Khaled Khatib, 21, was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday to attend the Oscars, where his film is nominated for Best Documentary Short
Khatib updated the news of his travel plans on Saturday. He said he was at an airport for three days because his passport was not accepted, despite having a U.S. visa
'The Syrian Civil Defence are grateful for the platform the film 'The White Helmets' is providing for their humanitarian message to reach around the world,' the statement said.
The White Helmets operate a rescue service in rebel-held parts of Syria, which have been subjected to fierce bombardment by the government and Russia's air force during the country's civil war that has leveled whole city districts.
Their harrowing 40-minute Netflix documentary gives a glimpse into the daily lives of the volunteers.
Syria's government under President Bashar al-Assad has accused the group of being a front for al Qaeda and of faking footage of the aftermath of air strikes for propaganda purposes, charges the White Helmets deny.
It was initially believed Khatib had been barred from entering the US by immigration authorities.
The 21-year-old was preparing to make his way to Los Angeles when there was a last-minute decision to block him from traveling because officials found 'derogatory information' on the young Syrian.
The White Helmets' harrowing 40-minute Netflix documentary gives a glimpse into the daily lives of the volunteers
The White Helmets has been nominated for Best Documentary Short. If the film wins the Oscar, the |
QBs: Russell Wilson was steady in 2013, while Colin Kaepernick surged with the return of Michael Crabtree. (Kaepernick scored 16.1 FP in 11 games without Crabtree and 19.3 FP in eight games with his WR1.) Robert Griffin III figures to benefit from another year removed from ACL surgery, but he’ll have to deal with a new offensive scheme under HC Jay Gruden.
Finally in the “pocket passer” category, Philip Rivers (#7 in PPG, #5 overall) should remain in the QB1 conversation along with Tony Romo, who has posted back-to-back #11 QB seasons in both total points and PPG. I’d love to see these two run the 40-yard dash.
In total, these first three tiers contain 14 signal callers, so savvy fantasy owners will once again be able to wait until the middle rounds to get a quality QB. To put this depth in perspective, Michael Vick was the 14th QB selected in 2013 and he was going in the 9th round. Owners should be able to get Rivers, Ryan, Romo or RG3 at that point in 2014 drafts.
THE COMMITTEE-TYPES
15. Jay Cutler, Bears
16. Alex Smith, Chiefs
17. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
18. Andy Dalton, Bengals
19. Eli Manning, Giants
20. Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins
Jay Cutler was the #6 QB through the first six weeks, but finished with the #22 PPG on the year. I’d wager his early season play is more representative of his potential in Marc Trestman’s offense, assuming he can stay injury-free. He has a ton of talent around him and Trestman loves to throw.
Ben Roethlisberger had another solid season, finishing in the top 16 in PPG for the fifth straight year. If he loses Emmanuel Sanders, it would hurt. As for Andy Dalton, he finished #4 overall but given his playoff meltdown and loss of OC Jay Gruden, he’ll be hard pressed to finish that high again in 2014.
Alex Smith posted the #12 average (17.3 PPG) on the season. Prior to the Chiefs' Week 10 bye, he averaged 213 yards and 1.0 TD. After the bye (and including the playoffs), he averaged 253 yards and 2.6 TD. That's 22.7 PPG -- for reference, Drew Brees averaged 22.6 PPG in 2013. Smith is likely to be a great value on draft day. Eli Manning was pretty dreadful for several different reasons, but prior to his #21 finish in 2013, he had finished in the top 15 for eight straight seasons, so he’s a definite bounce back candidate.
Through the first 15 weeks, Ryan Tannehill was the #12 QB in fantasy. Unfortunately, he stunk it up in the final two weeks of the season, posting just 286 yards to go along with one TD and three picks in the final two games combined as the Dolphins skidded out of a playoff spot. Josh Freeman’s 2012 late-season swoon was similar, but the Dolphins seem more committed to Tannehill than the Bucs were to Freeman.
MORE COMMITTEE-TYPES
21. Carson Palmer, Cardinals
22. Joe Flacco, Ravens
23. Sam Bradford, Rams
Sam Bradford posted the best PPG of this tier, but Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco actually played a full season, so they had more value as part of a QB streaming strategy. Flacco should benefit from the return of a healthy Dennis Pitta, but needs the running game to get going to open up things downfield. As for Palmer, he was the #22 QB through eight weeks, but was #6 from Week 10 to Week 17, after the team’s Week 9 bye. Still, it’s hard to get too excited about Palmer as anything more than a committee type given the fact that one-quarter of his schedule consists of matchups against the Seahawks and 49ers.
THE REST
24. Mike Glennon, Buccaneers
25. Geno Smith, Jets
26. E.J. Manuel, Bills
These three rookies had their moments in 2013, but consistency was a major problem. Take Geno Smith, who was the #14 QB through the first five weeks. After that solid start, he only had one touchdown pass from Week 6 to Week 13. E.J. Manuel struggled with an injury, but managed four multi-TD games in 10 starts.
Mike Glennon should be the best of this bunch given his solid receivers and his #17 ranking since Week 6, but there is a new coaching staff in town so there’s no guarantee that his job is 100 percent safe. Given his 18-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio, he should be back under center in 2014.
Note: I didn’t bother to rank any of the quarterbacks from the Titans, Browns, Raiders, Texans, Vikings or Jaguars given their relative fluidity at the position.
Quarterback has never been deeper than in recent years, and that trend should continue in 2014. While it definitely pays to get the right QB early in fantasy drafts — just ask any Peyton Manning owner — there’s no reason to reach when a solid QB or duo can be had in the 9th/10th rounds. QBs tend to go later in leagues with more experienced owners, so sometimes the right move is to draft Cam Newton in the 6th round. It all depends on your particular draft and how QBs are valued in your league.TO BE identified with a distinctive position is an academic career’s crowning achievement. Hilary Putnam did better than that: his intellectual odyssey meant that on some of the most important controversies in modern philosophy he had defined and defended positions on both sides of the argument.
His Socratic self-questioning was notable, but his hallmark was thought experiments. He posited iron-willed, poker-faced Spartans to show that pain was not just about expression. To prove that meaning in language was not solely about what is intended, he proposed identical twins living on identical planets, which differed only in that water on one of them was not H 2 O but another substance with similar properties. Each twin would refer to “water”, intending the same meaning—but they would be referring to different things.
Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks.
By modern, hyper-specialised academic standards Mr Putnam ranged widely. His work included logic, ethics, metaphysics, political thought, mathematics, and the philosophy of science, of mind, of economics, of literature, of language and of religion. His early stance was that if humans can be said to have mental states, then it is impossible to say that machines do not. This was the basis of what became known as functionalism—the idea that what matters about mental states is what they do, not what they are made of.
Over time he became less keen on thinking of the mind only in terms of what happens inside the brain. Instead he adopted externalism: “meanings just ain’t in the head”. Refining Wittgenstein, he posited a linguistic division of labour, analogous to Adam Smith’s thinking in economics. The people best able to determine a word’s meaning do so on the basis of expertise. Others then rely on their usage. As a Harvard philosopher, he might have no idea how to tell an elm from a beech, but he could confidently use the words with the assurance that botanists knew exactly what they meant.
A related example of the tension between knowledge and reality came with another thought experiment: a sceptic might wonder whether she were no more than a brain in a vat, artificially nourished, and stimulated with a bogus but utterly convincing version of the real world. How could one prove that this is not so? The answer is that our brains are more than just perception machines, and meaning depends on what other people think too. So a brain in a vat might exist, but it could not meaningfully say that it was merely a brain in a vat. Philosophers would call that epistemological externalism: factors outside the mind are crucial to what it can be said to “know” and “think”.
Many saw parallels between that controversy and “The Matrix”, a successful Hollywood film which bridged science fiction and philosophy. It portrayed a dystopia in which machines have subdued humans by trapping them in a simulated reality while their bodies languish in vats.
Mr Putnam was surprised and flattered by the film-makers’ interest. He was not a populariser, liking the quip: “any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs in one.” But he wanted philosophy to relate to the real world. It should fit the complexity of human existence and civilisation, and not the other way round.
Reloaded
That was a reaction to the arid logical positivism he was taught as a student—the idea, once dominant in the English-speaking academic world, that philosophy is really a branch of science and that the only knowledge that matters is what can be empirically verified. One of his famous courses at Harvard was a direct challenge to the logical positivist approach: it featured “non-scientific knowledge”, exploring the philosophy of aesthetics and ethics.
In his case involvement in the real world mostly took the form of left-wing politics, where his views were almost as versatile as his philosophy. Born to communist parents (his father was a columnist for the Daily Worker), he lived in a commune, campaigning against the Vietnam war and joining the Progressive Labour Party, an exotic outfit for those who found the Communist Party too staid. He would stand outside factory gates in the early morning, trying to sell magazines and to discuss politics with the workers. He baffled his students by sitting among them during lectures, though later he took to the podium to brandish Mao’s “Little Red Book”. Harvard tolerated him more than he tolerated disagreement: he disrupted a colleague’s lectures because researching inherited intelligence was racist.
He later recanted his communism, and also his fervent secularism (he once dismissed an Oxford philosopher’s argument that no machine could be an adequate representation of the mind with the scornful put-down: “If I believed that, I would have to be not only a Theist but an Episcopalian”). Yet the final great enthusiasm of his life was Judaism. He and his wife Ruth Anna were determined to recover the identity that his parents’ generation had rejected, and they created a Jewish household for their children. Mr Putnam himself had his own bar mitzvah in 1994, aged 68. He learned Hebrew, and wrote a book on Jewish philosophy as a guide to life: seeking proof, he argued, missed the point of religion. It was what it did that mattered.By Tracy Epton
People engage in many behaviors that are bad for their health such as smoking, not exercising, eating unhealthily or drinking too much alcohol. What is intriguing is that people continue pursuing an unhealthy lifestyle even when they are confronted by information that tells them that these choices are bad for them; they minimize the risks or even deny them altogether. Self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988) offers an explanation of why people do this.
Self-affirmation theory states that people are motivated to maintain their self-integrity (i.e., a positive self-image as “adaptively and morally adequate”, Steele, 1988, p. 262). Certain types of information threaten self-integrity; for example information that suggests that our lifestyle choices are bad for our health would indicate that we were not adaptively adequate (after all, why would someone intentionally continue to do something that is harmful to their health). In these circumstances we act defensively to avoid accepting the health information and the fact that we might be behaving irrationally and putting our health at risk. Although defensive responses are good for maintaining self-integrity; choosing not to change our risky health behavior is detrimental to long-term health.
What’s really interesting about self-affirmation theory is that it suggests a technique for overcoming defensiveness to threatening health-risk information. “Affirming” the self (i.e., reflecting on positive aspects of the self) gives a sense that our self-integrity is intact which acts as a buffer when threatening health-risk information is presented. In other words, once secure in our overall self-integrity, we are better able to handle threats. This allows us to accept there is a risk and change our behavior accordingly.
Self-affirmation and health studies typically involve comparing a group who have completed a self-affirming task (e.g., writing about a personal value) with a control group who have completed a non-affirming task. Then both groups are given health-risk information to read before completing dependent variables such as measures of message acceptance, intentions and actual behavior.
Several published studies have shown promising results, with self-affirmation leading to more appropriate responses to risk information about a range of health issues, including alcohol consumption, caffeine consumption, unsafe sex, poor diet, and cigarette smoking. However, it’s important to provide a quantitative review of this literature to determine if, overall, self-affirmation impacts on health behavior change.
In a recent paper (Epton, Harris, Kane, van Koningsbruggen, & Sheeran, 2014) we reviewed the self-affirmation and health literature to determine if self-affirmation really works and can improve message acceptance, change intentions, and and lead to more appropriate health behavior.
To locate published and unpublished literature we searched databases (i.e., Web of Knowledge, PubMed, PsycInfo), reference sections of selected papers and made requests for unpublished studies via LISTSERVs. We included all papers that (i) compared a self-affirmation condition with a non-affirming control (that differed only in the presence/ absence of a self-affirmation task), (ii) measured at least one of three outcome variables: message acceptance, intentions, health behavior and (iii) included sufficient information (or information was provided by the author) to calculate an effect size. From an initial 894 papers, 41 met the criteria and were included in the review.
We took the data from each paper and calculated an effect size to compare the difference between the self-affirmation and control group on each of the variables. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate an overall effect size. We found that self-affirmation does indeed improve message acceptance, intentions, and behavior.1
We also examined if any factors influenced the effectiveness of self-affirmation on health behavior change. We found that self-affirmation was more effective in changing behavior when the health risk was proximal. As self-affirmation works by reducing defensive responding when people feel threatened, it could be that self-affirmation is most effective on more proximal health risks as they are perceived as more threatening (e.g., they are perceived as more vivid and relevant) than more distal risks.
Self-affirmation was also slightly more effective among samples with smaller proportions of white participants. It is possible that self-affirmation, in addition to reducing the threat from the health risk information, also reduced stereotype threat that may be felt by non-white participants who may regard some health behaviors as less typical of themselves than of white people (Oyserman, Fryberg & Yoder, 2007). Self-affirmation was also most effective when the affirmation task was a values essay.
The impact of self-affirmation on health behavior change was not affected by other characteristics of the sample such as: the gender of the sample, the occupation of the sample (i.e., student only or mixed samples), or the percentage of the sample who were not meeting guidelines. Self-affirmation was also effective regardless of how it was delivered (e.g., one-to-one or other) and the time interval between the intervention and measurement of the behavior.
This review demonstrates that self-affirmation is an effective and robust health intervention tool that can be used with existing health promotion materials. Self-affirmation interventions lead to positive responses to health information from improving message acceptance, to increasing intentions to act and subsequent behavior change. Furthermore, self-affirmation interventions are effective across a range of health behaviors and for a variety of populations.
Tracy Epton is a social psychologist at the Manchester Centre for Health Psychology, University of Manchester, UK. Her research focuses on changing behavior including developing and testing theoretically based health behavior interventions.
1message acceptance (k = 34, N = 3,443, d =.17, CI =.03 to.31), intentions (k = 64, N = 5,564, d =.14, CI =.05 to.23), and behavior (k = 46, N = 2,715, d =.32, CI =.19 to.44). [ ]1 Seydou Doumbia [left]
Tottenham and Chelsea are among four clubs harbouring realistic ambitions of signing CSKA Moscow hitman Seydou Doumbia, according to the player’s agent.
Doumbia, 26, has been deadly in front of goal over the past few seasons. He netted 50 league goals in just two seasons at Young Boys, the Swiss club, before taking his prolific exploits to Russia, where he top-scored in the 2011/12 season with 28 goals from 42 outings. He already has 13 league strikes in 15 appearances this term.
talkSPORT told you earlier this week that Newcastle United and Everton are on his trail, but his representative Malik Arutyunov believes the Ivory Coast international could instead be heading to London in the summer.
When asked about mooted interest from Turkish giants Galatasaray, he told Radyospor: “[The interest of] Galatasaray about Seydou Doumbia? I do not know if it is genuine interest. I know that he is followed by Napoli, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea but I cannot say any more.”
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been critical of his existing group of strikers and is expected to sign a top-class forward in the summer, while Tottenham may look to axe £26m flop Roberto Soldado and bring in a new attacker.In my last post, I talked about one of the biggest questions facing the church in America today: whether gay and lesbian relationships should be affirmed as a faithful expression of God’s love.
I concluded that the Bible can be read more than one way, and that neither of the traditional objections to homosexual activity (it doesn’t lead to procreation, and isn’t seen as “complementary” in the same way a heterosexual marriage is) is necessarily biblical or reasonable.
Today I want to go a little further, and ask another important question: Is the traditional concept of gender as a binary (male or female, with nothing in between) still workable in today’s world?
The experiences of people who are transgender (identifying with a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth) or genderqueer (identifying as neither male nor female, or some combination of both) have led many to conclude that gender is more of a spectrum (with many points between completely male and completely female) than a binary.
This presents quite a challenge to the church, which has traditionally understood gender in binary terms.
Traditionalists often reference Genesis 1:27-28, which says that “God created (people) in His own image; male and female He created them.” This verse, it is claimed, says that male and female are specific and complementary genders – with no third option, and nothing in the middle.
This is a pretty weak argument, in my opinion. It’s essentially an argument from silence. This verse says that male and female are a part of God’s creation; it doesn’t say, or even imply, that God never made anything else!
Other Bible verses affirm people who are gender-ambiguous in some way. They biblical term for such people is eunuchs.
As I noted in my last post, Jesus mentions three types of eunuchs: those who have been so from birth, those who have been castrated, and those who have chosen not to marry or raise children (Matt 19:12).
It’s commonly acknowledged by most medical professionals that some people are born with indistinct genitalia, appearing to be both sexes. Such people (whose existence is completely denied by a lot of Christians) are called intersex; and they certainly fit Jesus’ description of “eunuchs who have been so from birth.”
Similarly, there are people who have characteristics of both sexes in their genetic code or brain chemistry. These people also fit Jesus’ description, since their gender ambiguity makes it difficult for them to find a suitable marriage partner.
To all such “eunuchs,” the prophet Isaiah gives this amazing promise:
“Thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 56:4-5).
This is pretty revolutionary when we consider the context. The idea that eunuchs could “hold fast the covenant” of God was quite a revelation to ancient Israel, who had previously been told that “no one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord” (Deut 23:1)!
This last verse reflects an idea prevalent in many ancient cultures – that in order to preserve the life of the tribe, everyone needs to procreate. Anyone unable or unwilling to do this “duty” is cut off from the people.
By the time of Isaiah, however, the people of Israel had come to realize that their God is in fact the Creator of all people – and that the survival of humanity isn’t threatened by people unable to have children, or who defy gender norms in some similar way.
But Isaiah goes further than this. Not only is there a place for “eunuchs” among God’s people, he says, but they actually have a place of honor – “a name better than sons and daughters” (Isaiah 56:5)!
Similarly, many Native American tribes have historically honored transgender people as “two-spirits,” whose gender complexity actually makes them closer to God (who transcends all ideas of gender).
It’s high time that Christians recover some of these ancient roots, and make a space for those who don’t have a place in the binary world of “male” or “female.”
Yes, God created men and women with some natural differences; this was necessary in order to create and raise children.
But beyond this, gender is largely a social construct; and in an age of overpopulation, we may well question what purpose can be served by continuing to force people into rigid gender roles.
As for those who refuse to make accommodations for such people, I ask a simple question: who would be harmed by a more inclusive approach?
You may say that you’re only concerned about the safety of children, that you don’t want a “man in a dress” in the restroom with your daughter; but I call bullshit. Your sons have shared a restroom with men all their lives. Where’s the concern for your boys?
I’m afraid that the resistance to transgender rights has little to do with family values, protection of children, or any such high ideals. At the core it’s often simple misogyny; a plain and simple hatred for the feminine.
After all, no one bats an eye when women act like “tomboys”; but God forbid a man betray his gender and act like a “sissy!” And it’s well documented that homophobia is more common among men than women.
All of this is a rejection of the values of Jesus – who teaches us not to judge by external factors such as gender, but by the motives of the heart.
The God revealed in Jesus is a God who could care less whether we identify as male, female, or something else entirely.
All that God asks of us is that we be open to His/Her love – and that we share that love with others. Everything else is secondary.
Does it matter, then, how we express our gender identity? Does it matter what sex or gender the person we choose as a spouse happens to be? As long as we act in love, I would say no. But “acting in love” isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
(Coming Next – Jesus and Sex, Part Five: True Love Waits? Premarital Sex in View of Eternity)
AdvertisementsPreviously announced as Ace Attorney 5, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies comes to both North America and Europe in Fall 2013. According to the press release, this will be a digital release for the 3DS. Utilizing the 3D visuals in the 3DS, the title will allow players to view crime scenes in various perspectives. In addition, Phoenix will be joined by Ace Attorney 4 star Apollo Justice as well as newcomer Associate Attorney Athena Cykes, who is the basis of the game’s new “mood matrix” system that allows players to compare a witness’s given statement along with his mood. No word yet on whether or not the title will see a retail release as well, but we can only hope as the game nears its Fall 2013 release.
The series has always been a popular cult hit, being one of the more successful visual novels to come west. For players interested in checking out past iterations and have not done so yet, they’re widely available on the DS for all to check out.
Source: Press ReleaseThough many predicted a smaller tablet out of Redmond at Tuesday's event, Microsoft went in the opposite direction, unveiling an even bigger Surface tablet. Dubbed the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft once again shoehorns ultrabook-class components into a relatively thin and light touch-screen slate. The new 12-inch Surface Pro 3 was made to replace your laptop and your tablet with one sleek, work-ready device. And despite divergent target markets and purposes, the comparisons with Apple's iPad Air are inevitable. So how do the two stack up? Read on for a side by side breakdown.
Since these two devices are so different in nearly every way, let's start with the one area they share some common ground: design. They're both essentially slick, metal-clad tablets, but they fight in two completely different weight classes. With its 12-inch screen, the Surface Pro 3 (11.5 x 7.93 x 0.36 inches) is considerably larger than the iPad Air (9.4 x 6.6 x 0.29). It's also more than 75 percent heavier at 1.76 pounds to the iPad Air's 1 pound flat. That's going to make a big difference for handheld use, as most tablets come in at under 1.5 pounds.
Name Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Apple iPad Air Lowest Price $1299.00 MSRP $499.00 MSRP Editors' Rating Dimensions 11.5 x 7.93 x 0.36 inches 9.4 by 6.6 by 0.29 inches Weight 1.76 lb 16.86 oz Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 Apple iOS CPU Intel Core i5-4300U Apple A7 Processor Speed 1.9 GHz 1.4 GHz RAM (as Tested) 8 GB 1 GB Screen Size 12 inches 9.7 inches Screen Resolution 2,160 x 1,440 pixels 2,048 by 1,536 pixels Screen Pixels Per Inch 216 ppi 264 ppi Storage Capacity (as Tested) 256 GB 16 GB Camera Resolution 5MP Front; 1080p Rear-Facing 5 MP Rear-Facing; 1.2 MP Front-Facing Video Camera Resolution 1080p 720p Front; 1080p Rear Wi-Fi (802.11x) Compatibility 2.4GHz/5GHz 2.4GHz/5GHz Read the Review Read the Review
Microsoft's new tablet sports a 2,160-by-1,440-pixel display, which is close to the iPad Air's 2,048-by-1,536-pixel display in pure pixel count, but the bigger display on the Surface Pro 3 means a lower pixel density (216 ppi vs. 264 ppi). That's still pretty close, though, and initial impressions indicate that Microsoft has another solid display on the Surface Pro 3.
Beyond physical design and display, there really isn't a lot of commonality between the Surface Pro 3 and iPad Air. The former uses an x86, ultrabook-class chip from Intel (Core i3, i5, and i7), while the latter uses a custom ARM-based chip (Apple A7). Both use 64-bit architecture, but they're completely different beasts.
At every turn, it's clear that the Surface Pro 3 is meant for mobile productivity and getting real work done. And while you can certainly make a case for the iPad Air as a productivity device, you'll likely have to make some sacrifices to get the job done. They're designed with different purposes in mind, so whichever is best for you really depends on why you need a tablet. Think the Surface Pro 3 will replace your ultrabook and your tablet? Let us know why in the comments below.For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON – Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle released the following statement today:
“I have been following the Occupy protesters, who call themselves the ‘99%’, with interest.
“It’s true that 99% of Americans do not enjoy the special benefits of crony capitalism. Crony capitalism is very different from real capitalism. In crony capitalism, government hands out special favors and protections to politically well-connected businesses.
“The TARP bailouts, Solyndra, and the military-industrial complex are all facets of crony capitalism.
“Libertarians love free markets and hate crony capitalism.
“Unfortunately, hypocritical Republican politicians have taught a lot of Americans to think that ‘free markets’ means freedom for government and big business to engage in crony capitalism.
“That’s not what free markets are. A free market is where the government leaves businesses alone, does not attempt to pick winners and losers, does not stifle competition, does not hand out corporate welfare, and does not absolve businesses of liability for their actions. Most of our economy today does not resemble a free market at all.
“It’s unfortunate that so many businesses today go to the government begging for handouts and special treatment. I wish they wouldn’t. But the real problem is the politicians who choose to give those favors to them, at everyone else’s expense.
“I hope the Occupy protesters will start to direct their anger away from Wall Street and big businesses, and toward our government, which has done so much to destroy free markets and entrench crony capitalism.”
For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.
The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.
###As we previously reported, Petco underwent some construction changes — but that’s not the only thing that’s changing at Petco, as several of this year’s offsites being held inside the convention are also shaking things up.
We’ve confirmed that Nerdist Industries will be using the Main Concourse along Left Field and the 3rd Base sideline sections, used in previous years by The Nerd Machine and Nerd HQ. Although at this year’s WonderCon, Chris Hardwick announced they’d be using the entire lower level, there was some question as to exactly which area this referred to.
There’s no word yet on what Nerdist has planned for the space, but last year’s Nerdist event was held on the top level of Petco Park, where they teamed up with 2K and Gearbox Software to hold a Borderlands themed laser tag area.
Also making larger use of Petco this year is Walker Stalker Fan Fest, which will be using the Right Field side of the park for the Fest and for The Walking Dead Escape, which will be shorter than previous years but more immersive in the world of The Walking Dead. The Fest will also be using seating along the 1st base side for panels Friday and Saturday of Comic-Con, and also for concerts, including an Emily “Beth” Kinney in concert on Friday, July 10.
During opening week for the San Diego Padres, we were able to explore the construction changes made to Petco Park leading up to the new baseball season. The primary change was the installation of a new, massive, scoreboard:
Nerd HQ attendees are familiar with the area underneath the new scoreboard, Section 130, as the Nerd HQ Main Stage in 2013 and 2014. The section underwent construction in the off-season and had several rows removed to add in bar seating, which was possibly in factor in Nerd HQ’s decision to move away from this particular space.
More information about Walker Stalker Fan Fest can be found at walkerstalkerfanfest.com and you can also enter our contest to win passes (open until May 4). Tickets are also on sale now for The Walking Dead Escape at thewalkingdeadescape.com.
Have a thought on these Petco Park changes? Let us know in the comments.Bill Maher exposes numbers that would give pause to Americans when they are lied into war
Once again Bill Maher exposed an inconvenient truth. If we had a real news media the military industrial complex and the warmongers would be unable to lie Americans into a state of perpetual war.
"Every time I say that the locals should handle this themselves," Bill Maher said. "The locals being the other Sunni countries. I wouldn't even bring Iran into this. The experts say to me 'Oh Bill it would be great if that could happen but I am afraid they just can't do it'."
Maher then asked the deeper question. Specifically, why are Muslim armies in the Middle East so useless except for ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban. Except for the ones that believe in Islamic fundamentalism. "Those are really good armies," Maher said. "We can't defeat them."
Maher then went on to show the following charts. The charts show that Sunni countries have orders of magnitude more people in their armies than does the entire ISIS contingent. Yet America is investing taxpayer dollars and American lives to defeat ISIS.
Sizes of Sunni Armies
ISIS vs Sunni Armies
To be clear, I am not sure where Bill Maher got his numbers. The most recent numbers from Global Fire Power index shows vastly different numbers.
These number do not change the calculus as it still shows the Middle Eastern armies having orders of magnitude more troops. The question then remains, why should American lives be risked? The answer can be inferred. War is profitable and the absence of war is not. Those supported by the military industrial complex depend on America being in a state of perpetual war. The corporate media and warmongering politicians are responsible for this continuous fraud perpetuated on every American taxpayer.Salman, 30, said she was present when he bought ammunition and had driven him on
The family home of Noor Zahi Salman, the wife of Orlando killer Omar Mateen, 29, has been raided by the FBI.
Officers pulled up in a dark gray Dodge Charger car at the address, in Rodeo, California, at approximately 3.15pm local time Tuesday.
The home is currently thought to be occupied by Zahi Salman, 50, and one of her daughters – both of whom were visible through the open door.
Three FBI agents went inside the house. Two female agents were the first to approach the home, shout FBI, and enter to and speak to the occupants. They left after an hour and a half without comment.
The arrival of the FBI in California is the latest twist in a dramatic day of developments, which include the revelation that Salman, 30, knew about her husband's plans but did not turn him in.
Scroll down for video
Agents on the scene: Two women were the first to enter the house after shouting 'FBI'. The terrorist's mother-in-law and one of her daughters were thoguht to be at homr
Mother-in-law: Zahi Salman, a Palestinian-born American opened the door to a third agent. Her daughter has told the FBI she knew of her husband's plan in advance and 'tried to stop him'
Question: The three FBI agents spent an hour and a half at the home, where Zahi Salman, a widow, lives. At least one of her daughters was thought to be with her at the time
Questions: The FBI agents parked outside the suburban home in Rodeo, CA, to question the Salman family after Mateen's wife revealed she knew he was planning an attack and did not call 911
At home: Zahi Salman, 50, who let a woman believed to be a nurse into her family home before the FBI raid, earlier told Daily Mail Online the family are 'ok'
Suburban: The Salman family home is in Rodeo, in northern California, on a suburban street. Zahi Slamna has four daughters - one of whom, Noor, was married to Orlando gunman Omar Mateen
Brief visit: The agents left after an hour and a half. Federal prosecutors are convening a grand jury to consider charges against the shooter's wife
'Kept it secret': Noor Zahi Salman (left) has reportedly admitted to the FBI that she was aware of her husband Omar Mateen's plans to commit a massacre, and even helped him buy ammunition and scout locations
This morning, FBI sources told NBC and ABC that the mother-of-one had driven her husband on scouting missions to the Pulse nightclub as well as on a visit to Disney Springs accompanied by her three-year-old son.
But despite being present when Mateen purchased the guns used to mow down 49 people and injure a further 53 in the early hours of Sunday morning, she failed to inform the authorities – and could now face charges herself.
A grand jury is being convened by federal prosecutors, Fox News reported.
The family home in Rodeo, a small town 40 minutes north of San Francisco, was quiet this morning when Daily Mail Online arrived with the windows shuttered.
A woman, believed to be Zahi, came to the door when this website visited but refused to say anything beyond that the family are 'OK'.
She added: 'We are OK but we don't want to say anything. I am waiting for my daughter and to hear of her son. We will be OK.'
Shortly after the FBI departed, a neighbor Chuck Surman, 54, approached the house to leave a bunch of flowers on the mat.
Asked why, he said: 'I wanted to do something for her [Zahi]. You can't help what your kids do. I was shocked when I heard.'
Salman, a second-generation American with family ties to Palestine, grew up in Rodeo and many of her extended family still live in the area, including her uncles Bassam, Abdallah and Ossama.
The family is believed to have moved to the US in the 1970 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.